This thread is for anyone that continues to have trouble with COMLEX 3, and has failed many many times.
I am here to give some light of guidance in the darkness, and tell you that I believe in you, and you should never ever give up, no matter how bad things seem or what other people tell you!!
I too have had multiple failures with this exam, and would not be here if I listened to the confusing advice of others. I have literally read every step 3 board review book out there, agonized over what question bank is best to prepare with (used all of them), and spent hours scouring through SDN posts looking for a solution for what to do in the predicament of continuously not passing the COMLEX 3. I know most of you know your medicine, and will make good doctors, after all, you would not have graduated and gotten into residency otherwise. However, I am also sure you missed passing the exam by just a few points, and are disheartened by the frustration of what you are doing wrong, and how no one else can, or will tell you what is the next best course of action to take.
I recommend you take the time to look at the NBOME COMLEX 3 examination blueprint: http://www.nbome.org/comlex-cbt.asp?m=can#a1
http://www.nbome.org/Dimension_1_outline.asp
http://www.nbome.org/Dimension_2_outline.asp
COMLEX combines multiple elements of dimension 1 (patient/presentation-medical topics) with dimension 2 (physician tasks) and can present the questions under the guise of clinical medicine or Osteopathic principles and practice vignettes. What this means is that there are literally some question combinations that you will never have thought of, read about, or seen in your clinical experience. You can try to read every book and do the "right" question bank and hope you have studied the correct 400 high yield topics out of the possible 31,000+ combinations of topics needed to pass this exam. If you have tried that option, I know the feeling of what it means to be only human, mentally exhausted from trying to study everything, only to be told that you are just dumb or lazy by your colleagues that have passed, when you ask them for help on failing the COMLEX 3. Maybe you are luckier, and are only given vague advice from a friend, when you ask them what they did to study, and are told a list of the very things you have already tried to do and failed. You know the popular SDN advice, "dude I just read X book and did Y question bank the week before and got a 899!!!"
I am here to tell you that your previous score is no reflection of your capability as a physician, and that taking multiple choice tests is just a skill, and the real problem is your test preparation, and not your knowledge base.
What worked for me was preparing with Boards Boot Camp (BBC).
http://www.boardsbootcamp.com/ultra_program_level3.php
And since this is SDN, you can check my post history, as I do not work for this company and am a real D.O.
The company has a 99.9% passing rate for COMLEX 3. Initially I was very skeptical, because the website looks like it was built sometimes in the 90's and there is not a lot of info out there on SDN about their COMLEX 3 review course. However, I literally could not afford to fail again, and this was the only prep course exclusively for COMLEX 3 by D.O.'s offering a near 100% passing rate if you follow their course exactly. Instead of wasting time on which COMLEX question bank is better to buy, I wish I had just taken that money and purchased the prep course earlier. I could have avoided not passing another COMLEX 3.
The BBC course comes with a study guide, and has three "phases". The first phase assesses where you are at in COMLEX 3 study, the second phase strengthens your overall knowledge base, and the third phase refines your high yield knowledge, and improves and hones your test taking skills so that you can "see" the right answer choices on the actual COMLEX 3.
The course is a lot of work. It includes 2700 pages of study, and over 75+ hours of excellent videos taught by Dr. Dolinski that give you an "attending level big picture", and make you a better clinician, even if you have already studied all the popular Step 3 materials on the market. The course website states it takes 11-14 weeks of study to be completed while on rotations, and 3-5 weeks if you are off from rotations. I had time off, and followed the Ultra course exactly, and it took me 6+ hours everyday of studying for 3 months, so please plan to schedule your actual COMLEX 3 date accordingly. The faculty/staff is very nice and super supportive. They will literally write you a multiple page email going over the breakdown of your test taking skills, weaknesses, etc. The Ultra course videos are not flash based, are very large files to buffer, and did cause technical difficulties if you are watching them over wi-fi. They have a view count of 2 times and it could sometimes get frustrating when your video froze and it counted as a view. However, the technical staff is great and will help you 24/7 via email. If you are deciding on which option to get, I think you should go for the videos if you have the time. Dr. Dolinski is that good (like Goljan for COMLEX)! Also the videos are not where the magic is, that happens in phase 3, when all the test prep from phase 1 and 2 is summarized and combined. I am grateful BBC allowed me to achieve my dream of becoming a physician, and I would totally recommend the course to anyone who has to retake the COMLEX 3 and wants to pass!
In addition, I did all the UWORLD questions, but that is not going to help you very much with the fine details of OMT techniques, cranial, viscerosomatics, chapman's reflexes, etc. All the info found in Savareese is also in the Handbook of OMT review book that comes with the Boards Boot Camp course. The course prepares you so well, that you can have a bad night the day before, and you will still pass.
Please feel free to P.M. me if you need any help, or want to ask me any questions. Do not give up, I know you will succeed. You are just one more attempt away from passing!
PS. Don't fall for the hype on SDN forums about which product is "superior " to prepare with. Do your own research at the site, http://cramfighter.com/stats/ , for objective evidence as to what people actually use to get ready with and prepare for the exams.
Good Luck Doctor!!
I am here to give some light of guidance in the darkness, and tell you that I believe in you, and you should never ever give up, no matter how bad things seem or what other people tell you!!
I too have had multiple failures with this exam, and would not be here if I listened to the confusing advice of others. I have literally read every step 3 board review book out there, agonized over what question bank is best to prepare with (used all of them), and spent hours scouring through SDN posts looking for a solution for what to do in the predicament of continuously not passing the COMLEX 3. I know most of you know your medicine, and will make good doctors, after all, you would not have graduated and gotten into residency otherwise. However, I am also sure you missed passing the exam by just a few points, and are disheartened by the frustration of what you are doing wrong, and how no one else can, or will tell you what is the next best course of action to take.
I recommend you take the time to look at the NBOME COMLEX 3 examination blueprint: http://www.nbome.org/comlex-cbt.asp?m=can#a1
http://www.nbome.org/Dimension_1_outline.asp
http://www.nbome.org/Dimension_2_outline.asp
COMLEX combines multiple elements of dimension 1 (patient/presentation-medical topics) with dimension 2 (physician tasks) and can present the questions under the guise of clinical medicine or Osteopathic principles and practice vignettes. What this means is that there are literally some question combinations that you will never have thought of, read about, or seen in your clinical experience. You can try to read every book and do the "right" question bank and hope you have studied the correct 400 high yield topics out of the possible 31,000+ combinations of topics needed to pass this exam. If you have tried that option, I know the feeling of what it means to be only human, mentally exhausted from trying to study everything, only to be told that you are just dumb or lazy by your colleagues that have passed, when you ask them for help on failing the COMLEX 3. Maybe you are luckier, and are only given vague advice from a friend, when you ask them what they did to study, and are told a list of the very things you have already tried to do and failed. You know the popular SDN advice, "dude I just read X book and did Y question bank the week before and got a 899!!!"
I am here to tell you that your previous score is no reflection of your capability as a physician, and that taking multiple choice tests is just a skill, and the real problem is your test preparation, and not your knowledge base.
What worked for me was preparing with Boards Boot Camp (BBC).
http://www.boardsbootcamp.com/ultra_program_level3.php
And since this is SDN, you can check my post history, as I do not work for this company and am a real D.O.
The company has a 99.9% passing rate for COMLEX 3. Initially I was very skeptical, because the website looks like it was built sometimes in the 90's and there is not a lot of info out there on SDN about their COMLEX 3 review course. However, I literally could not afford to fail again, and this was the only prep course exclusively for COMLEX 3 by D.O.'s offering a near 100% passing rate if you follow their course exactly. Instead of wasting time on which COMLEX question bank is better to buy, I wish I had just taken that money and purchased the prep course earlier. I could have avoided not passing another COMLEX 3.
The BBC course comes with a study guide, and has three "phases". The first phase assesses where you are at in COMLEX 3 study, the second phase strengthens your overall knowledge base, and the third phase refines your high yield knowledge, and improves and hones your test taking skills so that you can "see" the right answer choices on the actual COMLEX 3.
The course is a lot of work. It includes 2700 pages of study, and over 75+ hours of excellent videos taught by Dr. Dolinski that give you an "attending level big picture", and make you a better clinician, even if you have already studied all the popular Step 3 materials on the market. The course website states it takes 11-14 weeks of study to be completed while on rotations, and 3-5 weeks if you are off from rotations. I had time off, and followed the Ultra course exactly, and it took me 6+ hours everyday of studying for 3 months, so please plan to schedule your actual COMLEX 3 date accordingly. The faculty/staff is very nice and super supportive. They will literally write you a multiple page email going over the breakdown of your test taking skills, weaknesses, etc. The Ultra course videos are not flash based, are very large files to buffer, and did cause technical difficulties if you are watching them over wi-fi. They have a view count of 2 times and it could sometimes get frustrating when your video froze and it counted as a view. However, the technical staff is great and will help you 24/7 via email. If you are deciding on which option to get, I think you should go for the videos if you have the time. Dr. Dolinski is that good (like Goljan for COMLEX)! Also the videos are not where the magic is, that happens in phase 3, when all the test prep from phase 1 and 2 is summarized and combined. I am grateful BBC allowed me to achieve my dream of becoming a physician, and I would totally recommend the course to anyone who has to retake the COMLEX 3 and wants to pass!
In addition, I did all the UWORLD questions, but that is not going to help you very much with the fine details of OMT techniques, cranial, viscerosomatics, chapman's reflexes, etc. All the info found in Savareese is also in the Handbook of OMT review book that comes with the Boards Boot Camp course. The course prepares you so well, that you can have a bad night the day before, and you will still pass.
Please feel free to P.M. me if you need any help, or want to ask me any questions. Do not give up, I know you will succeed. You are just one more attempt away from passing!
PS. Don't fall for the hype on SDN forums about which product is "superior " to prepare with. Do your own research at the site, http://cramfighter.com/stats/ , for objective evidence as to what people actually use to get ready with and prepare for the exams.
Good Luck Doctor!!
