Just the COMLEX or will I need both?

[GUH]

Agreed. But. The fact that so many don't take it and the fact that the #1 reason they don't is because they know they won't do well on it, reflects poorly on all DOs.

What other reasons could there be not to take it?

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[Mjolner]

What other reasons could there be not to take it?

I can't think of any other good reasons. Cost I suppose and laziness.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I can't think of any other good reasons. Cost I suppose and laziness.

I think partially it's because SDN isn't a good indicator of the average DOs desires to match. There's a good amount who can pass it won't take it because they don't honestly feel like they need it to match where they want to go in life. And despite plenty saying that you should take it because you don't know where you will end up, most probably have a good clue and or want FM and for many a decent acgme or aoa program in their area of the country is more than enough for them to be happy.

In either case, I wouldn't be so keen on playing the blame game or otherwise. I think we need to respect that plenty of people just don't take it because in truth they won't need it. Now if it were the only test(personally I believe it should be the sole test), this would be a different story.

 

[Brorthopedic]

The COMLEX

• The COMLEX examination will continue to be the osteopathic board examination.
• Recall that the purpose of the COMLEX is not as a tool for residencies to stratify student qualifications, but rather as a set of examinations to prove to the public that graduating physicians meet a minimum standard of competency to practice medicine in the United States.
• The above statement considered, SOMA understands that board examination scores are used by residency programs to evaluate candidates. At present, 77% of ACGME programs accept COMLEX scores to satisfy their applications requirements. With the implementation of single accreditation, this percentage will rise. COMLEX will likely also be accepted by more programs who have historically not accepted it, as the visibility of DOs in the ACGME increases.

 

[deleted564680]

The COMLEX

• The COMLEX examination will continue to be the osteopathic board examination.
• Recall that the purpose of the COMLEX is not as a tool for residencies to stratify student qualifications, but rather as a set of examinations to prove to the public that graduating physicians meet a minimum standard of competency to practice medicine in the United States.
• The above statement considered, SOMA understands that board examination scores are used by residency programs to evaluate candidates. At present, 77% of ACGME programs accept COMLEX scores to satisfy their applications requirements. With the implementation of single accreditation, this percentage will rise. COMLEX will likely also be accepted by more programs who have historically not accepted it, as the visibility of DOs in the ACGME increases.

"Accepting" the COMLEX is much different than treating it as equal. Having two applicants that are roughly the same and one with a 220 USMLE and the other with a 500 COMLEX...I think they take the USMLE person despite the COMLEX score being "higher."
You can see this rather easily by looking through FREIDA where many programs will list minimum requirements of USMLE 230 and COMLEX 600 (many examples of similar numbers). These are obviously not equal.

 

[Makati2008]

"Accepting" the COMLEX is much different than treating it as equal. Having two applicants that are roughly the same and one with a 220 USMLE and the other with a 500 COMLEX...I think they take the USMLE person despite the COMLEX score being "higher."
You can see this rather easily by looking through FREIDA where many programs will list minimum requirements of USMLE 230 and COMLEX 600 (many examples of similar numbers). These are obviously not equal.

Agree wholeheartedly.

 

[Mjolner]

I think partially it's because SDN isn't a good indicator of the average DOs desires to match. There's a good amount who can pass it won't take it because they don't honestly feel like they need it to match where they want to go in life. And despite plenty saying that you should take it because you don't know where you will end up, most probably have a good clue and or want FM and for many a decent acgme or aoa program in their area of the country is more than enough for them to be happy.

In either case, I wouldn't be so keen on playing the blame game or otherwise. I think we need to respect that plenty of people just don't take it because in truth they won't need it. Now if it were the only test(personally I believe it should be the sole test), this would be a different story.

So I should respect the "every man for himself" philosophy?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

So I should respect the "every man for himself" philosophy?

Or just accept that SDN is really a poor indicator of what ppl want to match or where they want to match. I think a small hospital with and a decent flow of patients probably will train a FM doctor well enough and for many people that along with matching where they want to live one day is more important than matching at a stronger university based program half way across the state or in a different state.
I mean when half your class is either married, engaged, or has kids I think the priority really is on settling down and growing some roots. This is rarely talked about on SDN and it's basically espoused that only the very weakest of students are going to go for non-academic centers.

But that's my defense of the students. I think in many cases it is probably better to take the USMLE step 1 because it does seem that based on step 2 statistics a good deal ( ~10-15% at my school) of people somewhat regret not taking step 1.

 

[Mjolner]

Or just accept that SDN is really a poor indicator of what ppl want to match or where they want to match. I think a small hospital with and a decent flow of patients probably will train a FM doctor well enough and for many people that along with matching where they want to live one day is more important than matching at a stronger university based program half way across the state or in a different state.
I mean when half your class is either married, engaged, or has kids I think the priority really is on settling down and growing some roots. This is rarely talked about on SDN and it's basically espoused that only the very weakest of students are going to go for non-academic centers.

But that's my defense of the students. I think in many cases it is probably better to take the USMLE step 1 because it does seem that based on step 2 statistics a good deal ( ~10-15% at my school) of people somewhat regret not taking step 1.

I would think for those who are married with kids and looking to either go home or find a place to settle down, having more variety in residencies to match into would be better.
If you know you want to go back to SoCal in the end. Why not match there and get the ball rolling? A good USMLE will only increase the number of locations for you.
However, if your dodging it because you can't do well, that's something that should be addressed.

I think you're right about about people regretting not taking it much of the time, but hindsight is 20/20.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I would think for those who are married with kids and looking to either go home or find a place to settle down, having more variety in residencies to match into would be better.
If you know you want to go back to SoCal in the end. Why not match there and get the ball rolling? A good USMLE will only increase the number of locations for you.
However, if your dodging it because you can't do well, that's something that should be addressed.

I think you're right about about people regretting not taking it much of the time, but hindsight is 20/20.

When it comes down to it I think the issue fundamentally is about the COMLEX, not the USMLE.

I have no doubt that 90% of DOs would probably pass the USMLE if their school trained them for it and gave them a review course and or adequate time to prepare.