Failed Comlex PE, Advice? Sympathy? Encouragement?

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ZebraMidge

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About 5 days ago I was a confident EM applicant with good grades, board scores, and good feedback from audition rotations, then I found out that I failed the Comlex PE. I have no idea how I failed and the feedback has been "we don't give feedback". I have rescheduled my PE but results won't be available until January. I am scrambling to try to arrange face time with as many programs as I can now so they don't just look at a failed PE and disregard my application completely. Is there anyone out there with experience with this kind of predicament that can offer some advice, encouragement, or just some sympathy?

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I am so sorry, ZebraMidge. Can't imagine going through that... Reflecting on the exam do you have some thoughts as to what happened? Not washing hands, not draping correctly, etc? Do you know if the score verification would be applicable?
 
... Is there anyone out there with experience with this kind of predicament that can offer some advice, encouragement, or just some sympathy?

Yeah they don't provide very good feedback on why people fail. Generally they only state which of the two (or both) domains someone has failed. Here is a breakdown of what these two domains mean.

The Biomedical/Biomechanical Domain measures skills in Data-Gathering, osteopathic manipulative treatment, and written SOAP Notes. Osteopathic principles are incorporated into each of the three areas.
  • The Data-Gathering component reflects skills in history-taking and physical examination.
  • The OMT portion represents performance in osteopathic assessment and manipulative treatment in select cases. The following areas are assessed globally for OMT: Osteopathic Examination/Evaluation, Patient/Physician Position for Treatment, OMT Modality Selected, OMT Technique, Treatment Repetition/Duration, Post-Treatment Assessment.
  • The written SOAP Note measures written communication (synthesizing information gathered in the clinical encounter), clinical problem-solving, integrated differential diagnosis and formulation of a therapeutic plan.

The Humanistic Domain measures doctor-patient communication, interpersonal skills, and professionalism.
  • One dimension assesses the candidates’ ability to elicit information, including the ability to ask questions in an articulate, understandable, straightforward manner, the appropriate use of open-ended questions and facilitative prompts, and a good command of spoken English.
  • A second dimension is that of listening skills, assessing the ability to both listen to and respond appropriately to the patient’s statements and questions.
  • The next dimension is giving information, described as the ability to effectively communicate clear explanations and counseling with regard to the patient’s concerns and to facilitate appropriate closure.
  • Next is respectfulness, differentiated as the ability to treat the patient in a polite, sensitive and collaborative manner; honoring other’s choices and rights, demonstrating appropriate cultural competence, and holding the patient in high regard or esteem.
  • The fifth dimension is empathy, defined in this context as the ability to demonstrate and communicate (verbally/non-verbally) understanding, concern and interest in the patient’s medical problem and life situation.
  • The last dimension is professionalism, which in this context assesses the ability to show an altruistic interest in the patient’s welfare, the ability to appear both appropriately confident and therapeutic, and to ensure patient confidentiality and ethical principles.
I would recommend speaking to an advisor/dean at your school and analyzing which of the two domains you have failed. Prepare accordingly by either doing a few OSCE's, practice encounters with friends, or purchasing the the COMLEX PE Review Guide or the new COMBANK PE video series.
 
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It doesn't help that they just changed the passing scores rubric...like several weeks ago.
 
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About 5 days ago I was a confident EM applicant with good grades, board scores, and good feedback from audition rotations, then I found out that I failed the Comlex PE. I have no idea how I failed and the feedback has been "we don't give feedback". I have rescheduled my PE but results won't be available until January. I am scrambling to try to arrange face time with as many programs as I can now so they don't just look at a failed PE and disregard my application completely. Is there anyone out there with experience with this kind of predicament that can offer some advice, encouragement, or just some sympathy?

I have seen a few otherwise competitive applicants fail Step 2 CS (the MD equivalent of Comlex PE). In these cases, they simply retook the exam and passed it. It did not seem to impact their residency match. However, this may be because the programs were not aware of the failure at all since the scores were not automatically transmitted to them. In any case, the most important thing to do now is to ensure you pass the second time.
 
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