Help - failed COMLEX Step 1 twice

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Apelila

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Hello everyone,

I failed COMLEX Step 1 twice now :( and need some advice on how to study my third time around. The first time I used Goljan audio, FA 2012, ComBank, and UWorld. The second time around I used Goljan audio, FA 2012, DIT w/the added OMM, ComQuest, and the remainder of my UWorld. This time I am not sure what to use. I am looking into the PassProgram that our school highly recommends, and I am also looking into BoardBootCamp. If anyone has some good insight on these programs, any others, or advice in general that would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You for the help in advance!
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Apelila said:
Hello everyone,

I failed COMLEX Step 1 twice now :( and need some advice on how to study my third time around. The first time I used Goljan audio, FA 2012, ComBank, and UWorld. The second time around I used Goljan audio, FA 2012, DIT w/the added OMM, ComQuest, and the remainder of my UWorld. This time I am not sure what to use. I am looking into the PassProgram that our school highly recommends, and I am also looking into BoardBootCamp. If anyone has some good insight on these programs, any others, or advice in general that would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You for the help in advance!
Click to expand...

Is this another plug for PassProgram?
 
costales said:
Is this another plug for PassProgram?
Click to expand...

No. I know I just signed up today, but this is a student. My school raves about PassProgram, but I am not entirely sold on it. A professor at our school really likes BoardBootCamp. So I am trying to see if there is anyone out there with experience from both and what they think. I meet with the Deans Thursday to discuss options and would like to have more of an understanding from student experiences than from the assistant Dean who has never taken COMLEX or gone through medical school. Also, it would be nice to hear from anyone that has been in my same position and shed some light as to how they jumped this hurtle while feeling horrible.
 
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Apelila said:
No. I know I just signed up today, but this is a student. My school raves about PassProgram, but I am not entirely sold on it. A professor at our school really likes BoardBootCamp. So I am trying to see if there is anyone out there with experience from both and what they think. I meet with the Deans Thursday to discuss options and would like to have more of an understanding from student experiences than from the assistant Dean who has never taken COMLEX or gone through medical school. Also, it would be nice to hear from anyone that has been in my same position and shed some light as to how they jumped this hurtle while feeling horrible.
Click to expand...

I used boards boot camp and did ok but if you can afford Pass then I would use that program
 
"the rest of my uworld" stuck out to me. you need to get through uworld at least twice. back to back. its the best source for LEARNING the material, not just memorizing buzz words. I'd pair pathoma and uworld and whichever comlex specific qbank is best.

and youre right about the deans, they have no idea what theyre talking about. the best people to get info from are students that have taken the test and done well within the last 2-3 years.
 
At this point you want to figure out what your doing wrong and what you should do to be able to pass. I hard the Pass Program is helpful and they really help people that are in your type of situation.

I'm not recommending it because I don't know much about it but I definetly think you need some sort of private tutoring/pass program type thing since studying on your own isn't working.

Best of luck!!! If you passed all your classes 2 years, I know you can pass this exam!!!
 
I'm not a med student but from these forums I've heard FA 2012 is full of errata so maybe look into FA 2013?
 
curious what school ur from

..
 
Imo, my advisor was completely out of the loop on the current board prep recommendations apart from his advice of "less is better". These are the types of people who advise the deans. I'd still say Uworld x3 + FA should be your core study resource. What I've heard of Pass, Falcon, board bootcamp, etc. is not great. If you need a laid out study plan DIT isn't bad. One thing I would add is lippincotts microbio cards imo are a requirement to do well on COMLEX and Savarese. COMLEX 1 is know for Bugs, drugs, + OMM. The drugs you can get out of FA. OMM savarese, bugs lippincotts. Use those three (bugs/drugs/omm lippincotts micro cards/FA pharm/savrese) as a core just to pass) and the rest as gravy on top. COMQUEST was not worth it imo and I'd rather have done UWorld again though it was great for ethics questions so I'd look into it for those.
 
I'd recommend reading and watching the pathoma videos once through then read and memorize your annotations a second time. Memorize all of first aid, do all of uworld and comquest at least once and memorize savarese especially viscerosomatics and chapmans. Seems like you never did savarese and it's a book everyone I know used including myself. Theres a lot of omm questions on comlex... perhaps you missed a big chunk of them and that's What caused you to fail? They're easy point boosters if you tackle omm correctly... in fact I think the reason I got good scores for comlex 1&2 is because I consistenly did very well on omm even though I was a c student in omm at best in real life lol.. good luck.
 
PLEASE do NOT attempt a third time until you are absolutely confident you will pass. Most states have a "3 failures and you're out" rule for licensing and I would be surprised if your school didn't have the same rule for promotion.
The very FIRST thing I would do is analyze your performance scores on COMLEX 1 both attempts. If you have any areas that are "high pass", ignore those--don't waste any more time. Your "low" scores and "marginal" scores (I don't remember the actual designations) need the most attention. Concentrate on those areas with the test blueprint and UWORLD.
I passed COMLEX quite easily but I have counseled lots of PA students who had difficulty with PANCE (the PA certification exam). It's the same idea--focus on the blueprint and on your areas of weakness.
Personally I did not find COMQUEST or COMBANK to be similar to the actual COMLEX question styles at all. I think UWORLD is the very best prep and IMO you should go through it at least twice if not three times and you need to review your wrongs at least that many times! The explanations in UWORLD are gold and if you are glossing over these you are wasting your time.
Finally, consider whether test anxiety is contributing to your failures. This is not something you can afford to risk a third time. I had some test anxiety during M1 year and found hypnosis very effective. I wish you the best!
 
Starry said:
I'm not a med student but from these forums I've heard FA 2012 is full of errata so maybe look into FA 2013?
Click to expand...
FA publishes corrections to the Errata so if you don't want to get a new FA book you can just look at the errata and spend a couple hours correcting them. the info is largely the same except I think the newer versions have color pictures and tabs which is nice...

As far as what I recommend, you should definitely limit the number of resources you are using as other posters have mentioned. This is the combination I would say is most straightforward and high yield:

FA + Pathoma (vids/book) + UWorld (at least once through ALL questions with read-through of explanations and annotations in FA as needed) + COMLEX-specific QBank of your choosing + Savarese

If time, for bugs and drugs (high yield for COMLEX): Lange Pharm and Micro flashcards

You should be able to pass if you use the above effectively. I'm sure you've done this already but be sure to really hone in on your low-scoring subjects and study those twice as hard.
 
Apelila said:
Hello everyone,

I failed COMLEX Step 1 twice now :( and need some advice on how to study my third time around. The first time I used Goljan audio, FA 2012, ComBank, and UWorld. The second time around I used Goljan audio, FA 2012, DIT w/the added OMM, ComQuest, and the remainder of my UWorld. This time I am not sure what to use. I am looking into the PassProgram that our school highly recommends, and I am also looking into BoardBootCamp. If anyone has some good insight on these programs, any others, or advice in general that would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You for the help in advance!
Click to expand...


If you don't mind me asking what school do you go to? What was your MCAT?
 
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Makati2008 said:
I can understand the school portion but why an interests in his or her Mcat? The Mcat is a useless predictor for med school success.
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MCAT is a difficult standardized test, step 1 is a difficult standardized test. If someone has a 21 MCAT, that indicates poor standardized test prepping/taking skills.
 
EMDO2018 said:
MCAT is a difficult standardized test, step 1 is a difficult standardized test. If someone has a 21 MCAT, that indicates poor standardized test prepping/taking skills.
Click to expand...

Have to disagree with you. The subject materials are totally different on Mcat vs COMLEX. I know several people with higher than 25+ Mcats that are no longer in medical school due to failing steps or not making through the program. While I know people with lesser scores doing residencies such as EM and GS
 
EMDO2018 said:
MCAT is a difficult standardized test, step 1 is a difficult standardized test. If someone has a 21 MCAT, that indicates poor standardized test prepping/taking skills.
Click to expand...

There no correlation between the two. You're talking about the COMLEX here.
 
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I don't think there is any secret program to follow. If you are failing comlex after passing the first 2 years without difficulty its either lack of knowledge/retention or severe test anxiety. Read first aid. Know the bugs and drugs well. Green book for OMM. Thats it. As others have said, make sure you test yourself before you take it again because you can run into licensing trouble if you fail a 3rd time.
 
the science sections correlate with MCAT
 
I think that your problem is that you have too many resources. You listed most of the top study sources people use (ALL AT ONCE). If i were you i would focus on a qbank or two (with at least one comlex one to practice the question style/ awful question writing). Then pick one major study source and focus on that. I did DIT/FA (because they correlate) for comlex 1.

Also look at why you failed... were you just overwhelmed... are you just bad at answering questions... did you feel like you knew nothing or just couldnt decipher the awful questions...are you just not studying effectively? That is probably the key to making sure this next one is a pass.
 
i dont believe this....
i scored a 26 on the mcat -8 B, 8 P, 10 V -(not great, i know)
I scored 570's on comlex 1, 680's comlex 2.

A mediocre mcat score does not doom you to a poor board scores. You just have to study your butt off and be determined and not have a test full of organic chem and physics :p
 
Thank you everyone for your responses. I do not feel I need to list my school nor my MCAT score. I am a good student that has horrible test anxiety. I am going to take all of your suggestions to heart and find what is best for my situation. Basically the school is requiring I use a study program that requires my attendance than studying on my own. Thus asking if PassProgram or BoardsBootCamp. Doing one of these may actually help me work on test taking skills. Again I thank you all and hopefully I will be back on to help others who have gone through the same thing.
 
Please get the test anxiety treated. You can't afford to fail again! Hypnosis worked well for me, meds for some folks. It's just critical that you address this NOW. Best wishes.
 
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