2013 COMLEX Level 2 Thread

[willen101383]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Post your COMLEX Level 2 scores, and everything pertaining to Lvl 2 here. Took my CE on 4/24. 4 weeks out and still waiting for my score.

 

[SpringDO]

Post your COMLEX Level 2 scores, and everything pertaining to Lvl 2 here. Took my CE on 4/24. 4 weeks out and still waiting for my score.

Please tell us how you studied and what you found helpful. Also without going into specifics how was your exam ?

 

[Trogghunter]

Specifics would be appreciated.

 

[willen101383]

I studied for about 5 weeks. For 2 months I was rotating at a site that was like over an hour away with traffic, so I only got a few hours done a day. For my primary reading I read Step up. I got about 2.5 passes through the book total. Did all the UW questions with a 69% overall. No COMLEX specific q bank for me since the USMLE was my "primary" exam (want to match allo). In the last week I ripped through secrets once. Ended up with a 241 on my USMLE, and am awaiting comlex, I am 4.5 weeks out at this point.

The exam was a LOT of OMM. But the OMM was fairly straight forward. Typical stuff, those 2 innervation charts from savarese, ankle motions, posterior fibula=peroneal n., all the typical stuff that gets asked. So know your OMM, lots of easy points there. Lots of random ethics/med law type questions. Power of attorney, end of life, dealing with upset/irate pts type stuff. Not cut and dry, always multiple plausible answer choices as is typical with comlex. I left the exam feeling pretty good. Im shooting for 600s but we will see as many people say their comlex 2 scores often go down from step 1. Feel free to shoot any other questions my way.

 

[willen101383]

I think step up and secrets are great for COMLEX. If i was redoing things I would have read step up for medicine for the USMLE, but for the comlex these 2 books get into sufficient detail. However, I found that only like 65% of COMLEX was studyable info. The rest were BS type comlex questions that arent in any commonly used review books.

 

[teacherman84]

I posted this a few months ago...but no one else took Level 2 so soon...

So I had all my core rotations and 6 COMATs in the first half of 3rd year followed by a light rotation and 2 week winter break so i took a gamble and took Level 2 very early.*I took the test in early January and got my scores back 2 weeks later.

I took the following COMATs June-November with my raw score (national average the month i took it)FM 79 (69.3)IM 70 (63.3)OB 76 (70.9)GS 72 (64.5)Peds 67 (63.9)Psych 72 (54)I used Case Files for a few of these but mostly used Comquest and read up on what i saw each day.I took COMSAE B right after this, figured if i passed i would study for 6 weeks and take it. I got just below 450.I studied redoing all of comquest a few times, watched some of the Step 2 DIT, got through FA and took COMSAE A a few days before the test and scored in the 560s.

I took it Jan 10th, felt alright about it. I was shocked to get an email today saying scores were released just 2 weeks out. I wanted to break 550, ended up getting a 510, which was right where I was at for Level I.

 

[willen101383]

I posted this a few months ago...but no one else took Level 2 so soon...

So I had all my core rotations and 6 COMATs in the first half of 3rd year followed by a light rotation and 2 week winter break so i took a gamble and took Level 2 very early.*I took the test in early January and got my scores back 2 weeks later.

I took the following COMATs June-November with my raw score (national average the month i took it)FM 79 (69.3)IM 70 (63.3)OB 76 (70.9)GS 72 (64.5)Peds 67 (63.9)Psych 72 (54)I used Case Files for a few of these but mostly used Comquest and read up on what i saw each day.I took COMSAE B right after this, figured if i passed i would study for 6 weeks and take it. I got just below 450.I studied redoing all of comquest a few times, watched some of the Step 2 DIT, got through FA and took COMSAE A a few days before the test and scored in the 560s.

I took it Jan 10th, felt alright about it. I was shocked to get an email today saying scores were released just 2 weeks out. I wanted to break 550, ended up getting a 510, which was right where I was at for Level I.

Thanks for the addition! I thought I was early! Going on 5 weeks this coming wed for me.

 

[willen101383]

Got my score yesterday, 538. Completely shocked and disappointed. 241 on CK. No idea what went wrong. I left the exam feeling totally confident and that I smoked it. Evidently this wasnt the case. Oh well. I think my main shortcoming with COMLEX is that I sort of regarded USMLE as my primary exam being that I am pursuing an ACGME res. I didnt do any COMELX specific q bank. I think this definitely hurt me, in that I didnt know the "comlex way" to answer certain question types....ie the questions that have 2 or 3 equally plausible answers. So for future takers who are targeting studying toward the USMLE, I would do some combank etc questions. Good luck all!

 

[The kitchen sink]

Got my score yesterday, 538. Completely shocked and disappointed. 241 on CK. No idea what went wrong. I left the exam feeling totally confident and that I smoked it. Evidently this wasnt the case. Oh well. I think my main shortcoming with COMLEX is that I sort of regarded USMLE as my primary exam being that I am pursuing an ACGME res. I didnt do any COMELX specific q bank. I think this definitely hurt me, in that I didnt know the "comlex way" to answer certain question types....ie the questions that have 2 or 3 equally plausible answers. So for future takers who are targeting studying toward the USMLE, I would do some combank etc questions. Good luck all!

Hey willen did you use DIT with step up to step 2? or just read Step up to step 2 on your own with secrets and UW?

thanks

 

[Lewist02]

Willen:

Dont feel bad about it. Literally got the same score and took it the same day. I felt super ****ty about the test overall. I did COMBANK and COMQUEST and felt like neither were like the questions. In fact, I felt like I would have performed the same without studying. It was just a poorly written exam and didn't test important content IMO. I commented on numerous questions and wrote them a book at the end in the comments section. A 241 on the USMLE will be perfectly fine. I really doubt many ACGME programs would regard a 600 on the comlex greater than a 241 on USMLE.

 

[DoctorV]

hey Willen and Lewis. im currently prepping for comlex step 2 and def want >600. Currently using Uworld and kaplan. will start comquest later. Aiming for a >600 score as I had a 650+ on step 1. after reading your posts that uworld and comquest arent enough what do you guys mean by that? retrospectively speaking would you guys have done something else or extra? I cannot afford a <600 as im aiming for a competitive AOA residency. meaning should i be focusing a lot more on peds ob and infectious dz and less on int. medicine?

 

[willen101383]

Thanks 🙂 I feel like a baby complaining about a 538, being that people likely failed. I just had my expectations pretty high for step 2. I totally agree the test was bs. Another classmate of ours and I were literally talking about the same thing with regard to how studying wouldn't have done a damn thing. I had multiple questions on who would call a pt to tell them test results, or who would give pts a ride home from the office (all with equally acceptable answers obvi). Oh well, at least we both passed! Thanks for the kind words sl it made me feel better.

 

[willen101383]

Hey willen did you use DIT with step up to step 2? or just read Step up to step 2 on your own with secrets and UW?

thanks

I didn't do dit. I tried dit for step 1 and found that it didn't really suit my learning style. I just read step up and did around 92 uw questions a day.

 

[willen101383]

hey Willen and Lewis. im currently prepping for comlex step 2 and def want >600. Currently using Uworld and kaplan. will start comquest later. Aiming for a >600 score as I had a 650+ on step 1. after reading your posts that uworld and comquest arent enough what do you guys mean by that? retrospectively speaking would you guys have done something else or extra? I cannot afford a <600 as im aiming for a competitive AOA residency. meaning should i be focusing a lot more on peds ob and infectious dz and less on int. medicine?

I honestly have no idea what you could do. I am completely puzzled by my score. My buddy got a 244 on usmle, but then beat me by like 100 pts on comlex. So I think it has a lot to do with understanding the nbomes ridiculous questioning style. But lewist used the appropriate q banks and still she thinks she was under prepared for the questions. If you look at the other usmle world and step 2 scores thread there are a few people who got 250+ on usmle but only got 550s on comlex. It is a horrible test of medical knowledge.

 

[fruity933]

Just FYI, PE scores until April 30 have been released.

(http://www.nbome.org/score-release.asp)

 

[willen101383]

Specifics would be appreciated.

Just know a lot about which secretary does what around an average DO's office, and which of several perfectly acceptable statements you can say to calm down an irate patient. Nobody can give you real specifics because it goes against the agreement we "signed" when we took the exam. I wouldnt want to feel the wrath of the NBOME.

 

[fruity933]

Hi all....just took a COMSAE C and boy oh boy did I bomb it! I see mixed reviews on the COMSAEs, but no recent posts on it so thought I would get your feedback. I felt really confident but the score didn't correlate. I have been mostly using UWorld (gone through it 2x) and COMBANK. Any thoughts or just keep chugging along with the question banks? 🙂 Thanks!!!

 

[willen101383]

Hi all....just took a COMSAE C and boy oh boy did I bomb it! I see mixed reviews on the COMSAEs, but no recent posts on it so thought I would get your feedback. I felt really confident but the score didn't correlate. I have been mostly using UWorld (gone through it 2x) and COMBANK. Any thoughts or just keep chugging along with the question banks? 🙂 Thanks!!!

Get Step up. If you hit Step up hard in addition to questions you will learn all the medicine you need to know for the exam. I barely had any tough medicine. Step up is not enough for USMLE however. I did Secrets as well, and wish I had done Step up for Medicine. Oh well. Those COMSAEs are horrible for predicting score. On the 2 that I took for step 1, they both over predicted my score by like 120 fing points. Didnt bother taking any for step 2.

 

[sunny5]

I read somewhere that there were going to be changes to the COMLEX CE at the beginning of June. Does anyone know anything about this or did anyone notice any major changes that has taken it recently?

 

[BigSib]

I read somewhere that there were going to be changes to the COMLEX CE at the beginning of June. Does anyone know anything about this or did anyone notice any major changes that has taken it recently?

I haven't heard anything specific for Level 2. There are audio/visual questions on Level 3 now, so I wouldn't be surprised if they started showing up on Levels 1 and 2. There's a change to the testing screen for exhibits/images but it's nothing big. I've been noticing some questions that have more than 5 answer choices and also wouldn't be surprised if these showed up.

 

[sunny5]

Thanks BigSib!

Also, for the people that have taken it recently, was your exam heavy on Ob/Gyn or did y'all find that they emphasized another topic more?

 

[abcshawnxyz]

I'm also wondering how the COMSAEs correlate with level 2. I got a 689 on my level 1 so I'm trying to get a similar score on level 2. my test is in two weeks and i took comsae A yesterday and only got a 632. anyone have any input?

 

[BigSib]

I'm also wondering how the COMSAEs correlate with level 2.

The only correlation I've found published is for Level 1 (COMSAE Phase 1). I can't remember the exact number but think it was between 0.68-0.72. It depends if you take the test timed and take it seriously.

 

[DO3]

Mine was very well-balanced over every specialty. No subject was hit more than another. The distribution noted on the NBOME website was accurate.

 

[Trogghunter]

any last minute things to cover that are not typically seen in the review books? i am stuck between reading the tax code from last year vs the twilight series vs my grandpas old guns-n-trucks magazines for those off the wall topics.

but for real.

 

[Daedra22]

Any opinions on whether performance on COMATs have anything to do with performance on the COMLEX? I've actually done quite well on them, and did reasonably well on a COMSAE... yet I never feel confident when it comes to NBOME questions. I'm wondering if I'm actually preparing adequately or if it's all some kind of blind luck. Perhaps that's just the nature of the beast.

 

[DO3]

Comquest turned out to be a good predictor of how I did on the exam. If you are doing well on those questions, I wouldn't be worried. I'm not sure if COMAT grades correlate well with comlex. Compared with how I did on those, I did much better on comlex.

 

[sylvanthus]

Any opinions on whether performance on COMATs have anything to do with performance on the COMLEX? I've actually done quite well on them, and did reasonably well on a COMSAE... yet I never feel confident when it comes to NBOME questions. I'm wondering if I'm actually preparing adequately or if it's all some kind of blind luck. Perhaps that's just the nature of the beast.

No idea. I didnt take the comats seriously since they were so awful. I prepped for usmle.

 

[Mass Effect]

Comquest turned out to be a good predictor of how I did on the exam. If you are doing well on those questions, I wouldn't be worried. I'm not sure if COMAT grades correlate well with comlex. Compared with how I did on those, I did much better on comlex.

What's considered a good score on Comquest?

 

[MSUSpartan642]

Would love to hear what a good percentage is on Comquest? Or what people got on the real deal and their percentage.

 

[DO3]

I was at 76% and passing was not a problem. But I did about 70% of uworld before I did comquest.

 

[sunny5]

Has anyone that has taken the COMLEX recently encountered any audio questions or questions about agents of bioterrorism (anthrax, etc)? Thanks guys!

 

[DO3]

Has anyone that has taken the COMLEX recently encountered any audio questions or questions about agents of bioterrorism (anthrax, etc)? Thanks guys!

You are asking those of us who have taken the exam to violate the confidentiality agreement.

 

[sunny5]

You are asking those of us who have taken the exam to violate the confidentiality agreement.

No I certainly did not mean for it to be interpreted that way. I did not think something as vague as if they had several audio questions violated the agreement.

 

[buche13]

Anybody have any idea which set of guidelines they use for COMLEX ie PAP guidelines.

Gracias.

 

[Stewey]

Anybody have any idea which set of guidelines they use for COMLEX ie PAP guidelines.

Gracias.

I was actually wondering the same thing and was told to go with every 3 years starting at 21 years of age and that under the age of 21 is definitely the wrong answer.

 

[Trogghunter]

I would know the favorite ice cream flavor of the person creating those guidelines or Dr. Pap's favorite pet's name because that would more likely be a question regarding that high yield topic.

 

[absolutdokta]

took it today. studied well, did tons of questions, some COMSAEs, everything was showing things were looking good.....walked out of it feeling like driving my car off a cliff. so many vague questions and answer choices. we've been taking tests for 3 years straight on these topics and never have I felt so clueless about this stuff. 4 weeks of agony as I await results now

 

[Daedra22]

took it today. studied well, did tons of questions, some COMSAEs, everything was showing things were looking good.....walked out of it feeling like driving my car off a cliff. so many vague questions and answer choices. we've been taking tests for 3 years straight on these topics and never have I felt so clueless about this stuff. 4 weeks of agony as I await results now

Aaaaaand this is my greatest fear. I hear that a lot of people feel this way though... I hope it turned out a lot better than you think it did!

On a more self-serving note, is there anything you felt like you could have done differently, or was it one of those situations where it seems like there was no way to prepare?

 

[Isa84]

took it today. studied well, did tons of questions, some COMSAEs, everything was showing things were looking good.....walked out of it feeling like driving my car off a cliff. so many vague questions and answer choices. we've been taking tests for 3 years straight on these topics and never have I felt so clueless about this stuff. 4 weeks of agony as I await results now

I also took it today and felt exactly like you did. I thought Step I was vague but this definitely took the crown.

 

[Trogghunter]

I went as far as taking about 500 family med board questions and had only one come up on the comlex. It would've served me better to take the exam before medical school because that way I'd feel better about guessing.

 

[MSUSpartan642]

Some of the questions are not even a test of medical knowledge, just straight up out of left field. No way to study for them out of boards books or qbanks. Who knows how these effect the score though. Le sigh.

 

[absolutdokta]

Aaaaaand this is my greatest fear. I hear that a lot of people feel this way though... I hope it turned out a lot better than you think it did!

On a more self-serving note, is there anything you felt like you could have done differently, or was it one of those situations where it seems like there was no way to prepare?

I honestly don't think there was anything else I could have done. during my long drive home I kept thinking, "i can't even blame myself, I friggin studied!...this is BS!!!!"

 

[autumnsnow]

I was actually wondering the same thing and was told to go with every 3 years starting at 21 years of age and that under the age of 21 is definitely the wrong answer.

I was surprised with one of the answers on comquest so I just wanted to make sure I have this correct now.

So sexually active females younger than 25 and low risk = pap smear + G/C screening
sexually active females younger than 25 + high risk = pap smear + G/C screening + HIV + syphilis
sexually active females > 25y/o and low risk = pap smear
sexually active females > 25 + high risk = pap smear + G/C screening + HIV + syphilis

Do I have that right? I didn't think HIV and syphilis was part of the screening process but the question quoted USPSTF and that seems to be what they're getting at, but I'm not sure.

 

[DoctorV]

do we follow the ACOG guidelines or the USPSTF guidelines?

 

[sylvanthus]

Do they still have the random assed latin law terms on there or car seat question that you cant answer cuz it varies by state?

 

[Daedra22]

Do they still have the random assed latin law terms on there or car seat question that you cant answer cuz it varies by state?

When I was doing combank the explanation for carseats was basically backward facing until age 2 and forward facing till age 8-12... I figure if they want me to be more specific than that then I'll take the loss. Edit: here's the AAP's recommendations from 2011 which supports combank, no idea if it is the actual guideline for COMLEX http://www.healthychildren.org/Engl...000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR:+No+local+token

Taking the beast tomorrow. Once more unto the breach...

 

[paintballguy]

So how accurate is this supposed 4-6 week wait time for scores on comlex II?

 

[abcshawnxyz]

took this test last saturday and I thought it was very straight forward. each block probably had like 4-6 zebras but other than that, its a fair test. way better written than comlex I imo. i did both combank and comquest (x2) and either one would be a good single qbank source.

usmle step 2 on the other hand was more challenging. gave you sooo many distractors for EVERY question. comlex pretty much only wrote what was needed and the combo questions were a lot easier because if you didnt know the answer to question 1, u can skip to question 2 or 3 and how they asked the question gave u hints on the correct answer for question 1.

overall, its a manageable test to study for.

 

[Daedra22]

Finished up earlier this afternoon - I didn't feel horrible about it, but I'm not entirely sure how I did either. I felt like I got hammered on ophthalmology and cranial, but probably only because I got multiple questions on those subjects and I happen to be very bad at them, so I remember those questions more. Lots of kids, especially adolescents. Like a lot of people I got the weird legal questions, but I don't feel like I could have done much to prep for those. Now for the wait.