Studying only for COMLEX

[Rickettsia]

Hello Everyone,

Just wondering what books and question banks are most helpful when preparing specifically for COMLEX (I assume they are probably mostly the same as the best ones for USMLE). Are there any changes you would make to the standard step 1 study advice (besides covering OMM)? Do people like the question banks made specifically for COMLEX (such as COMBANK)? Thanks.

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[Deepa100]

I took comlex only. Did combank and kaplan qbanks. There are no other qbanks for comlex only that are good to my knowledge.

 

[bleeker10]

Goljan, BRS phys, FA for USMLE (not COMLEX), Savarese OMT Review (green book), COMBANK and Bug Cards. Pretty much all I studied and I did well (>650). Also did Kaplan Comlex Qbank but I got it for free from my school.

 

[DarkHorizon]

Goljan, BRS phys, FA for USMLE (not COMLEX), Savarese OMT Review (green book), COMBANK and Bug Cards. Pretty much all I studied and I did well (>650). Also did Kaplan Comlex Qbank but I got it for free from my school.

This will be ample to do well i.e >500... But if I'd add uworld as well if you want a 650+..... I thought uworld made a huge difference in how high the people scored.. At least the people I know. Those who did uworld scored significantly higher on the COMLEX than those who did not, regardless of their preclinical grades or class rank.

 

[ShyRem]

There are several comlex qbanks. Combank, comquest are two. There are also specialized comlex board prep courses. However, most folks use a comlex qbank and savarese for all levels. Other resources used depends on which level of the comlex you are studying for.

 

[bleeker10]

This will be ample to do well i.e >500... But if I'd add uworld as well if you want a 650+..... I thought uworld made a huge difference in how high the people scored.. At least the people I know. Those who did uworld scored significantly higher on the COMLEX than those who did not, regardless of their preclinical grades or class rank.

UW can be helpful for learning the material, but it does nothing for the type of question and interface of the COMLEX. I did some UW questions (~40%) towards the beginning of my studying. I abandoned it pretty early on because it wasn't going to help me with the COMLEX questions. For this, I did Kaplan COMLEX Qbank and COMBANK twice each.

Btw, how annoying is it on COMBANK that you can't skip a question without answering, but have to answer it instead to go on to other questions

 

[Dissected]

UWorld ftw. It's about the content, not the question style when using this to prepare for the comlex. If you are looking for question style practice, add combank. Those + FA got me >650, and I am not in the top 25% of my class.

 

[sylvanthus]

UWorld ftw. It's about the content, not the question style when using this to prepare for the comlex. If you are looking for question style practice, add combank. Those + FA got me >650, and I am not in the top 25% of my class.

Agreed. The classmates that focused on the "pure omm" qbanks were generally the ones who did poorer on the COMLEX overall. Stick with UW and then COMBANK to figure out the style of questions on the COMLEX.

 

[SHuffDO]

I've done my research about the same and it appears that COMQUEST has been the gold standard for COMLEX Level 2 and 3 for some time. I'm not sure what Level you're preparing for, but to my knowledge, they don't offer a Level 1 question bank yet.

 

[sylvanthus]

I've done my research about the same and it appears that COMQUEST has been the gold standard for COMLEX Level 2 and 3 for some time. I'm not sure what Level you're preparing for, but to my knowledge, they don't offer a Level 1 question bank yet.

Ya that is my understanding also. After awhile they all blend together so she prob just overlooked that.

 

[AD04]

Should I even bother doing Kaplan USMLE question bank then or is the Kaplan COMLEX question bank enough?

 

[sylvanthus]

Do them both, but not in preference to UW. The more questions you do, the higher your score.

 

[bleeker10]

Should I even bother doing Kaplan USMLE question bank then or is the Kaplan COMLEX question bank enough?

One consensus that most of us can agree on is the more questions you do, the better off you will be. If you can do at least 5,000 questions, you will be fine. It's not going to hurt you to do USMLE questions on top of COMLEX questions. It's all about exposure to the material and seeing trends in the topics they ask. Plus you will be ready on the COMLEX when they ask some zebras since there's a good chance you have seen the question before. Remember there are only so many ways they can ask questions about high yield topics.

If you are going to use UW as your main source for practice questions, make sure you do some COMLEX questions so you can get used to the style of question they ask. COMLEX only gives the least amount of info needed to answer the question.

 

[DarkHorizon]

I agree with this, I did Kaplan usmle and comlex both in addition to uworld and combank and got a score very close to 650.

 

[Soccer171983]

Having taken both usmle and comlex. I would say it depends on if you are referring to step I or II. Fa will help you crush the comlex because it is overkill. Comquest and combank are great for practicing the much shorter and more vague comlex. I would hit savarese a week before the exam. Books are fa for step 1 for sure. Bw and secrets are excellent for step 2. Goljan is excellent for usmle 1 but not as great for comlex 1. Any q's feel free to pm.

 

[Igor4sugry]

I would not bother with Kaplan. Their question banks are tailored to make you buy their review books (they reference specific pages in their question explanations). In general, they are all about sucking out as much money as possible by selling the idea that their prepbooks are most used and the best.Their questions are too simple and not well worded.

Go with U-World. If you are prepared for usmle, you will have no problem taking comlex (just study some saverese).

BTW, why are you not taking the USMLE? You are already using all the prep books that people use for usmle?

-make sure you take usmle, it will open many many opportunities for you.

 

[Bones DO]

What is FA?

 

[Soccer171983]

First aid for the usmle. Great resource!

 

[Bones DO]

First aid for the usmle. Great resource!

oh! duh, thanks!

 

[Bones DO]

One consensus that most of us can agree on is the more questions you do, the better off you will be. If you can do at least 5,000 questions, you will be fine. It's not going to hurt you to do USMLE questions on top of COMLEX questions. It's all about exposure to the material and seeing trends in the topics they ask. Plus you will be ready on the COMLEX when they ask some zebras since there's a good chance you have seen the question before. Remember there are only so many ways they can ask questions about high yield topics.

If you are going to use UW as your main source for practice questions, make sure you do some COMLEX questions so you can get used to the style of question they ask. COMLEX only gives the least amount of info needed to answer the question.

When you say 5k questions, do you include redoing questions in that figure, or 5k unique questions?

 

[MrBeauregard]

unique

 

[Powdermonkey]

I took both for step/level 1 and 2.

Step 1 - FA for USMLE, UW, COMBANK, Kaplan Qbank, DIT, Goljan, pass program videos, Guyton and Hall physiology, Clinical Micro made ridiculously simple. I had myself spread too thin over the resources, but I managed to do above average ~550 on COMLEX and I passed but barely on USMLE. I should have just done more questions for the USMLE. USMLE Rx is a good source too. More questions is key though and is by far the best advice. However, I'm of the camp that studying for the USMLE + Savarese =/= studying for COMLEX. You still need to add in and fully complete at least one COMLEX qbank because of the ridiculousness of the exam and because of the lack of information you get in the stem vs. USMLE.

Step 2 - Mild studying throughout 3rd year and for shelfs, DIT step 2, Step up to Step 2, COMQUEST, UW 2. COMQUEST was a better qbank than COMBANK, but they don't offer a step 1 version. Again, I wish I would have done more questions. And I really needed more time. I wasn't completely finished studying when I took COMLEX and I had some unexpected call weekends leading up to the test. Plus my PE was 3 days before and my ride bailed 1.5 days before so I ended up losing those two days of driving/studying driving myself. I passed, though my score dropped ~60ish points or so. I had another four weeks to finish studying for the USMLE and do as many questions as I could. I still didnt finish UW and I wish I would have. Finished up my studies and the last day or three of DIT 2 and managed to bump my USMLE score up ~20 points. Again, studying for USMLE =/= studying for COMLEX. The tests are different enough that you really need to use a COMLEX specific question bank for COMLEX. HOWEVER, using UW for content I think is a very good/controversial idea. Whether or not you take the USMLE, the tougher, more in depth and intricate questions will do nothing but be beneficial.

All IMHO, of course. But I'm going to be allowed to be a doctor soon. .

 

[Dr Dazzle]

Do you guys advise doing q-banks with classes during years 1-2? I know it's advised to "save" u world for closer to exam.

What order should all the qbanks be done if we have time? Especially if planning to do qbanks with class content.

 

[Tizoc]

Holy thread necromancy, Batman!

My friends who purchased QBank subscriptions for 2nd year barely used them - too busy with actual schoolwork. I don't know if you'll have the time so if you do plan on it, so if you want to do that don't purchase an entire year to start. Get a month or two and see how much use you get out of it.

As for order, do USMLE banks first, then switch to COMLEX banks later. The USMLE will give you the content, but you'll need some experience with the COMLEX question format. Then again, you could take a COMSAE to see what COMLEX questions are like and if you don't find the questions to be too confusing, you can skip the COMLEX banks altogether.

Wait, you're a pre-med still? Goodness me, my current recommendation is to not worry about this now and go do something fun while you still can.