My COMLEX is in 3 months, 4 weeks, and 2 days (but who's counting right) so I can't say 100% yet as I haven't sat for the exam. However, based on the amount of prep and practice board questions I've done up until now, I would say that you're asking the question backwards. The better way to think about it is: if I am prepared for the way the content is tested at UIWSOM, will I be prepared for COMLEX level 1? And the answer to that is...maybe. I don't think any medical school FULLY prepares you for level 1 to the extent that you could walk out of the last day of class and into the exam room for COMLEX. You will always be, in part, responsible for your own learning. Some schools likely do a better job at minimizing how much extra work you have to do to learn material de novo, but you'll need to constantly review material and assimilate it into your studying as you move forward in any medical program.
Our tests are 2 essay blocks + 1 multiple choice block. The 2 essay blocks seem stressful when you take your first couple of exams. But with time, you learn quickly what types of things are commonly tested in essay format. I think being able to write and explain concepts is much easier than multiple choice (where I am often stuck between what seems like 2 very correct answer choices, even though all MC questions only ever have 1 right answer). Writing sentences forces you to think, reason, and explain - all of which are important to do for COMLEX even though ultimately you're graded only on whether you got the correct answer. Since you can receive partial credit on the short answer exam blocks, it's also protective of your grade since you can earn enough partial credit to pass the exam, even if you didn't know any one topic completely. I actually enjoy short answer tests now!
