2009 Comlex Experiences

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Have not seen any posts with peoples' experiences this year. What questions did you use and was it helpful? Was it neuro heavy as before?

Waiting to hear some experiences,

Thanks
 
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Hey, I am fairly new to SDN so I'm not sure where to post this Q:


As a DO student, if I register for but then decide not to take the USMLE on top of the COMLEX, when I do my ERAS applications will I have to declare that I ever considered/registered for the USMLE?
 
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I just took USMLE this past Thursday (see my write up in the USMLE experiences thread) and COMLEX is tomorrow so I'll compare and contrast in this thread when I get a chance.
 
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joeylux said:
I just took USMLE this past Thursday (see my write up in the USMLE experiences thread) and COMLEX is tomorrow so I'll compare and contrast in this thread when I get a chance.
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GOOD LUCK! I can't wait to here about your COMLEX experience. I'm taking mine this Friday May 29th...😱
 
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fozziewan said:
GOOD LUCK! I can't wait to here about your COMLEX experience. I'm taking mine this Friday May 29th...😱
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It's a great benefit for DO students.

Wish you guys the best of lucks and DON'T FORGET TO SHARE your experiences. Lastly, anyone who take both USMLE/COMLEX, please also give some thoughts on both exams.

Thanks👍
 
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Just finished the exam and first off I must say that I felt better leaving the USMLE than I did leaving the COMLEX. It's been said over and over again but where the USMLE will try to get you to think and reason through a problem via multiple steps the COMLEX seemed to want to trick me by witholding information (e.g. stains, too short of a vignette, obscure fungi). I'll run through each system to see what I can remember.

Embryo - none.

Behavioral - Didn't have one equation that I had to solve, no biases either. I did have one question on sleep cycles but paging through FA that's all I seem to remember from this section. Thinking back on it I don't think I had any "What would you do if a patient came in and said this" type questions either.

BioC - One vitamin question then a few tricky ones involving gluconeogenesis, lactic acidosis, ketoacidosis - personally the USMLE BioC questions that I had were more of the big diseases e.g. a lipodystrophy, so for me personally I would say that the COMLEX had harder BioC (much to my surprise)

Micro - Yuck, and I thought I liked micro. You were given the bare bones to solve what organism they were talking about. I had a tinea or two but none of the "major" clues such as pseudo hyphae, rose bush, germ tubes, midwest etc, more so what it looked like on the head but no microscopic image for me. There were the obligatory HBV questions which weren't a problem and an HIV complication or two but not much else in terms of viruses. My advice is to be very clear on aerobes vs non, the "most common cause of x" as well as its ORIGIN as I got quite a few questions on what should be done to prevent its spread or how it got onto or into the body. Frankly I think USMLE had more "buzz words" in micro than COMLEX.

Immuno - had maybe 10 immuno questions, one was a set of IL's and function which was a relief to know. These were not tricky and I'd say FA is plenty.

Path - So little Path questions it was disappointing after bathing in it while studying for USMLE. I don't think there were any unfamiliar diseases and FA + BRS or RR is plenty. Probably the worst part of path was all the chest x-rays I got with half being obvious and half being wtf. Had several clotting questions, a few on polyps, not much on cardiovascular, several endocrine, and 1-4 each of repro, m/s, and renal if my recollection is correct.

Physio - Again, not many questions and not very difficult, I woudn't lose sleep over it.

Pharm - Probably the one subject comparable to the USMLE. How's this drug work... what's the major side effect... what should you use for this infection, etc.

OMM - probably the area I was least prepared for seeing as I studied for USMLE and USMLE alone until my test April 21st and couldn't push myself like I had been these few days in between. I didn't have one sacrum question, had a few innominates, one cranial, and just some other random areas like shoulder, wrist, etc. The hardest questions weren't the diagnoses they were the contraindications when given all the comorbidities. I'm not sure where this is emphasized to heavily but I haven't been exposed to it. Also, the "what's the next step" type questions weren't my favorites either. I used Savarese the last few days but mostly just for the questions in the back and had FA for COMLEX which I used mostly for M/S diagnosis because it has excellenct pictures and explanations.

There were no A/V questions and only one EKG.

I marked questions as I went along because time was not an issue at all and on average I'd say I marked 7ish/section that I was not 90% sure on. It doesn't seem that bad now that I've typed that out but the last section I bet I marked 13+ so that's the impression that I left with I suppose.

If I could re-prepare I would read MMRS again I suppose. Though my approach was to study for USMLE and then do a few days of OMM and this should be plenty... little did I know micro would be so tough.

The obligatory disclaimer is that every test is going to be different, certainly don't use my words as a study guide. Did I get my 600? I really can't say. If anyone has any questions I should be around today/tonight but then I'M GOING TO VEGAS, BABY!
 
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Thanks for the detailed post!

Were there a lot of anatomy and innervation questions?

Enjoy your vacation before rotations!
 
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jp104 said:
Thanks for the detailed post!

Were there a lot of anatomy and innervation questions?

Enjoy your vacation before rotations!
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Yes, a fair amount of anatomy. 15 or so questions with 1/3rd being "wtf how would I know that?" There were a fair amount of brachial plexus, lumar/sacral innervation questions so make sure you have those areas down.

I forgot to mention that at least half of the OMM questions were 'levels' as we like to say which was heavily emphasized in my curriculum and were a breeze on the exam.
 
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first off I must say that I felt better leaving the USMLE than I did leaving the COMLEX
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:bang: It's just way too close to my exam to be hearing that right now....


But, thanks for taking the time to write that post... and so soon after your exam was over!
 
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Wow, It seems like the quote: " COMLEX is easier than USMLE" (people used to say that) is no longer true heh?

I thought straight-forward Qs are easier than multiple-step ones but after I heard this, I am like😱:scared:. Just kidding.

Anyway, Well done and go gambling now. 😀
 
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TXDO said:
Wow, It seems like the quote: " COMLEX is easier than USMLE" (people used to say that) is no longer true heh?

I thought straight-forward Qs are easier than multiple-step ones but after I heard this, I am like😱:scared:. Just kidding.

Anyway, Well done and go gambling now. 😀
Click to expand...

I'm sure much of this has to do with how I approached boards. My take was that if I was ready for USMLE then I was ready for COMLEX, I guess they're more different than I gave them credit for. I've never heard of some complex rhythm strips showing up on USMLE but on COMLEX these are certainly fair game. I was used to working through questions ala UWORLD but I probably would have been better off broadening my approach and looking at many outside sources (outside of FA that is) for COMLEX. I don't think I could say COMLEX is harder but it's MUCH broader.
 
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For the MD students in the audience, could a DO student explain the principal difference between the USMLE and COMLEX? Also, why would you take both?
 
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joeylux said:
I'm sure much of this has to do with how I approached boards. My take was that if I was ready for USMLE then I was ready for COMLEX, I guess they're more different than I gave them credit for. I've never heard of some complex rhythm strips showing up on USMLE but on COMLEX these are certainly fair game. I was used to working through questions ala UWORLD but I probably would have been better off broadening my approach and looking at many outside sources (outside of FA that is) for COMLEX. I don't think I could say COMLEX is harder but it's MUCH broader.
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I would still stick with this assertion. Barring the random, "guess-what-the-heck-we're-thinking" Q's, the COMLEX Qs are much much easier (barely 2 step processes) than the USMLE.
For those weird Qs, no amount of studying is going to prepare you for it anyway......So my take would be prepare for USMLE, do 2 days of Savarese & then take the COMLEX.
 
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theophylline said:
For the MD students in the audience, could a DO student explain the principal difference between the USMLE and COMLEX? Also, why would you take both?
Click to expand...

covering the same classes/material...we had the same classes, etc. Used the same prep books plus one that addresses the manipulation, etc
The difference in the tests are that USMLE tends to be more molecular in what I have heard, Comlex can be more clinical?...
you will get a bunch of answers to this question.
the consistent opinion though is that USMLE is a clearer, better written test. All my schoolmates that are one year ahead of me that took both tests said that the COMLEX was sort of a mystery with wierd questions....USMLE was the straight up science we spent 2 years learning....

as far as taking both tests...it sucks. I am taking both as I am looking to go try and get into some EM allopathic residencies(allo-due to geographic concerns). In areas where there are a lot of DOs (midwest, east) you can use your comlex to apply to allo residencies but some still like to see a USMLE score...some DO students take both, some don't...
 
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Hey People That Took The Test Already or That Heard,

Do we have to know the muscle charts from Appendix B in Savarese? As in, would it be helpful to go over all those insertions...Or stick with innervations/actions? I really dread the thought of this....Just don't have a solid sense of what the COMLEX wants in terms of anatomy and especially musculoskeletal. My assumption was to know upper/lower extremity common fractures and such, but I suppose knowing anatomy in FA and UW won't be enough? The Taus method does say anatomy in FA seemed to be enough, but I worry.
 
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I got home bloodied and beaten but I can now say I slayed the beast known as COMLEX yesterday. I just hope it doesn't come back for more...Here's what I had during my fun-filled day:

Embryo - none.

Behavioral - Didn't have one equation that I had to solve, no biases either. I had a few questions on sleep cycles and their characteristics, going thru FA was sufficient enough to answer them. I had one totally random question about advice I would give to a mother in a foreign country regarding female circumcision (should she ask the local physicians, should she not put her daughter thru it, stuff like that), I had a handful of psych questions. A couple dealt with depression, schizophrenia, and personality disorders.

BioC - Two or three vitamin questions and a few random tricky ones involving gluconeogenesis, ketoacidosis, lead poisoning/heme synthesis

Micro - Um seriously, I felt I had Micro down cold...little did I know COMLEX had different plans for me. You were given the bare bones to solve what organism they were talking about. I had a few Neonatal infections to tease out from the bare bones information. Had an HIV complication or three, something I thought was Hep A and a few other viral questions. Be able to distinguish aerobes, anaerobes, etc from basic information provided. No bug pictures/gram stains.

Immuno - I too had maybe 10 immuno questions, one was a set of IL's and function where you match them with a disease, function, etc. FA has a good list of ILs to learn and know.

Path - I had some really interesting pictures. A couple chest x-rays that did not help at all with the question stem. A couple clotting questions, a few on polyps, a couple on cardiovascular, several endocrine, a lot of repro, a couple msk, and a few renal.
I had several hemorrhage questions and imaging to coincide with maybe 2 or 3 of them as well as 1 gross "autopsy" type picture. A couple subdural, epidural and a subarachnoid.

Physio - Nothing really.

Pharm - Some straightforward, a few not so much. I felt pretty comfortable with this material prior to the exam. I can't really say I felt comfortable afterward. I had a lot of cardio drugs, psych drugs, a few pain meds, and a couple anti-virals.

OMM - I went thru Savarese a couple times while studying for my OMM final exam and in the week leading up to my COMLEX. I had a few Sacral torsion questions, rib dysfunctions, how to treat directly and indirectly based on the diagnosis, KNOW YOUR SPINAL LEVELS I had a LOT on them. Also, had several chapman reflexes and maybe a couple cranial questions. If you go through savarese and know the touch points for cranial you should be fine.
I had a couple that were really out there that left me staring and cursing at the screen.

There were no A/V questions. I had 3 or 4 ECG questions.

I am a bit of a slow test taker b/c I like to take my time in reading the questions, look at the pictures, etc. I did not have an issue with finishing. I did not take a break between sections 2 & 3 or between 6 & 7. I only used 30 of the 40-minute lunch break. Just enough time to eat and blow off some steam b/c I was not a happy camper after the 4-hour block.

The obligatory disclaimer is that every test is going to be different, this was my experience. I hope everyone has a better experience than I did. I'm happy to be done with it and ready for a vacation.
Cheers!
-S
 
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For those who have already taken COMLEX, did you use a question bank? If so, was it similar to the questions on the actual exam?
 
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Fitcubanita said:
For those who have already taken COMLEX, did you use a question bank? If so, was it similar to the questions on the actual exam?
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Our school paid for access to Kaplan QBank and this included their USMLE, COMLEX, physio, and vignette questions. I finished the USMLE q's and also did 90% of UWORLD but only did 300 or so of the 1100 COMLEX q's. I'd say the COMLEX versions were somewhat representative. The questions stems were shorter than the real thing and Kaplan seemed to think it was chic to sprinkle in a dash of OMM findings on every nearly every question where as on the real thing it was not nearly that frequent. I'd say it was closer to the Kaplan USMLE questions than anything else especially since there's quite a few "wtf how would I know that" found in both.
 
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How does COMBANK compare to Comlex? I've heared its pretty good for comlex level 2 but I don't know how it is for Comlex 1.
 
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I just took USMLE 5/18 and COMLEX 5/21 I used UW and Combank. I'd say the tests were so similar except for OMM of course that UW is plenty sufficient if you use it. Combank was ok just for another source but most of their questions were one step thinking and not well written at all. Like I said, I had almost 50 questions that were near identical on each and many of the same topics and concepts
 
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DORK7 said:
How much anatomy did you get? what about neuro? were those two very high yield?
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Anatomy: I cannot recall any pure anatomy q's perse. I would review the brachial plexus and the nerve distributions to the UE. I had a couple cases revolving around Carpal tunnel syndrome, trauma to the hand, lateral epicondylitis, and a crush injury to the elbow. Most of those case scenarios wanted me to identify an anatomical structure (nerve and/or artery) associated with the trauma/lesion. Pretty straightforward actually.

Neuro: I did not have any q's about specific tracts or nuclei. I did have a q about spinal muscular atrophy and a few hemorrhage q's as I outlined in my previous post.

Hope this helps!
-S
 
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congrats on finishing man! I am just a few doors down but in a very different position...sort of freakin a little. 😱

good luck, see you around, and enjoy time with littlefozziebear
d
 
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Approximately how many OPP questions have the veteran COMLEX test takers seen? Or anyone who may have heard about this.
 
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GatorDoc25 said:
Approximately how many OPP questions have the veteran COMLEX test takers seen? Or anyone who may have heard about this.
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I'd say that approximately 20% of my COMLEX consisted of OMM questions. A majority of them were very very similar to the type of questions from the Savarese OMT book. I highly recommend knowing your Chapmans points, Viscerosomatic reflex spinal levels, and know how to treat your rib dysfunctions (ie: inhalation dysfunction v exhalation dysfunction in regards to what is the "key rib") also, for rib tenderpoints know that you treat for 120-seconds. I had maybe 1 or 2 cranial q's (easy peasy) and q's on how to set up direct and indirect treatments based on the SD diagnosis presented.
Feel free to contact me with more q's if you like. GOOD LUCK!

-S
 
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dgriss1 said:
congrats on finishing man! I am just a few doors down but in a very different position...sort of freakin a little. 😱

good luck, see you around, and enjoy time with littlefozziebear
d
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Danke!

It was not fun but its done and so am I!! Good luck bro! Lemme know when you are done, we'll drink some adult beverages and grill up some good food. My daughter would love to play with your dogs.

-S
 
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fozziewan said:
I'd say that approximately 20% of my COMLEX consisted of OMM questions. A majority of them were very very similar to the type of questions from the Savarese OMT book. I highly recommend knowing your Chapmans points, Viscerosomatic reflex spinal levels, and know how to treat your rib dysfunctions (ie: inhalation dysfunction v exhalation dysfunction in regards to what is the "key rib") also, for rib tenderpoints know that you treat for 120-seconds. I had maybe 1 or 2 cranial q's (easy peasy) and q's on how to set up direct and indirect treatments based on the SD diagnosis presented.
Feel free to contact me with more q's if you like. GOOD LUCK!

-S
Click to expand...

I wonder how high yield is physio and path on Comlex. As I am studying thru kaplan books for physio, there are a lot of equations and calculations. For eg, right now I am studing cardiac tracing, pressure volume loops, heart murmurs, etc and I start to doubt if I am wasting way too much time. I wonder if Comlex has graphs and calculations to do. Kaplan comlex qbank doesn't have much physio questions.
As I am gearing toward the exam, I started to wonder if I am spending way too much time on stuffs that won't even be on the exam.
 
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MCATTT said:
I wonder how high yield is physio and path on Comlex. As I am studying thru kaplan books for physio, there are a lot of equations and calculations. For eg, right now I am studing cardiac tracing, pressure volume loops, heart murmurs, etc and I start to doubt if I am wasting way too much time. I wonder if Comlex has graphs and calculations to do. Kaplan comlex qbank doesn't have much physio questions.
As I am gearing toward the exam, I started to wonder if I am spending way too much time on stuffs that won't even be on the exam.
Click to expand...

Dude......SKIP that S***. It's the COMLEX 🙂
Micro, Pharm, Neuro, anatomy.....much much higher yields
 
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Took COMLEX today and like was about 20% OMM. I had a few foot and ankle questions, cranial, sacral, and maybe 50% of the OMM questions were sympathetic spinal levels and viscerosomatics. Nothing too strange. A few questions on diagnostic testing such as the Thomas and Finklestein tests.

Anatomy: A handful of questions and they were always associated with pathology.

Physiology: Again just a handful and very straight forward, no calculations and I wish I only put a day for reviewing.

Micro: 20% of the test seemed related to drugs and bugs. Know how to ID bugs and know antimicrobial Rx. HBV/HAV serology. I wish I spent more time on micro, but nothing was too difficult. Even if I was unsure, I was either able to narrow it down to two or eliminate all the wrong answers.

Neuro: Decent amount of pathology along with head CTs (SAH, tumors)
and drugs. I had a few ALS questions, decent amount on reflexes.

Pharm: A lot on alpha, beta, etc receptors, a half life question

Development: None

Psych: maybe 10-15 questions, mostly were associated with some sort of anxiety disorder

Biostats: None

Immunology: Maybe 10 questions, but were just along the lines of "which cell receptor is found on B-cells"

Path: Very heavy on endocrine. Decent amount of cardio, pulmonary, and OB. A few heme/onc and just a handful of questions on the remaining systems (almost no renal and GI).

Histo: 1 or 2 questions

Biochem: 10-15 questions and were all covered in FA

Like others have already stated, the Savarese book covers what you need to know for OMM so it is a must. After doing all those USMLEworld questions, I felt short changed, but I won't complain! Overall, I only had a few WTF are they talking about and or poorly written questions. I didn't notice any questions that required a deep understanding of anything. Hope it all goes well for those still studying!
 
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thanks so much for all the helpful information! congrats on finishing and rest up well! I wish I started using studentdoctor.net earlier! 10 days and counting until my exam... 🙂
 
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Were there any chapmans points that were not covered in savarese? or did they only ask for the 5 in that chapter?

Thanks!
 
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Also, was there any microbio bugs that arent seen on the FA? One comsae question had a dental question! I was like we are not dentists!!
 
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By "reflexes", are you referring to stuff like golgi tendon reflex, myotatic reflexes etc? Thanks for your post.
 
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Hey guys. I'm basically only using FA for USMLE, Savarese, and paging through Netter's. Do you think that will be enough to get a good score? If not, anything high yield that I could add quickly? Thanks
 
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Did any of you guys do the COMSAE examinations prior to taking the COMLEX as part of your studying?? How similar were the exams in scope and question style?


Thanks for any input.
 
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How prepared will i be with FA as a primary study tool for micro? i have MMRS and microcards....but time seems to be of the essence right now.
 
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Question to those who took the COMLEX recently:

I know that tests differ, due to randomization, but how important is it to know EKG's? This is an area that seems to differ from the USMLE, which seems to only have very basic EKG's. In older threads detailing the COMLEX, I've seen anywhere from 4 to 20 questions, some of which are significantly beyond the basics of AFIB, VTACH, VFIB, and name the CA that is blocked in pt w/ AMI. I'm looking over Dubin anyway, but I just want to know how much to focus on it, in case I'm one of the unlucky ones that get 20 EKG questions.
 
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