Advantages of taking both COMLEX and USMLE?

[rubisco88]

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What are the advanatages of taking both the COMLEX and USMLE? If you take the USMLE and get into an MD residency, do you become a DO and an MD? Are there particular specialities in which you should strongly consider taking the USMLE in order to have more options for residencies?

 

[Velocity]

What are the advanatages of taking both the COMLEX and USMLE?

Potentially versatility.

If you take the USMLE and get into an MD residency, do you become a DO and an MD?

No, you'll still be a DO.

Are there particular specialities in which you should strongly consider taking the USMLE in order to have more options for residencies?

Pediatrics; there may be others.

 

[tideleonheart]

Potentially versatility.


No, you'll still be a DO.


Pediatrics; there may be others.

Surgery if you want to have a shot.

 

[the alchemist]

Surgery if you want to have a shot.

Pathology since there are zero DO residencies and some won't take COMLEX. I hear that you might want to take if you wanna do MD radiology and had friends take it who matched into MD anesthesiology.

DOs don't take USMLE for licensing (ie - you won't get an MD degree even if you take all the USMLEs and I doubt anyone ever takes Step 3) but just to match at MD programs that either might not accept COMLEX or that highly prefer USMLE b/c they don't know what an equivalent score is since they have different scoring systems (COMLEX is out of 800 and USMLE is out of maybe 300?) or b/c they don't think that the content is of similar difficulty and breath. DOs have to take COMLEX Steps 1, 2-CE, 2-PE, and 3 to be on track to get licensed.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

DOs don't take USMLE for licensing (ie - you won't get an MD degree even if you take all the USMLEs and I doubt anyone ever takes Step 3) but just to match at MD programs that either might not accept COMLEX or that highly prefer USMLE b/c they don't know what an equivalent score is since they have different scoring systems (COMLEX is out of 800 and USMLE is out of maybe 300?) or b/c they don't think that the content is of similar difficulty and breath. DOs have to take COMLEX Steps 1, 2-CE, 2-PE, and 3 to be on track to get licensed.

Not entirely true. I am licensed via USMLE pathway and i never took COMLEX III.

 

[DocEspana]

Not entirely true. I am licensed via USMLE pathway and i never took COMLEX III.

Agreed. Since Step III/Level III tends to be a "take it during internship" thing, those who have already graduated only need to follow-through with whatever system they used to get into their residency. The program should be able to tell you what exactly they want you taking.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Not entirely true. I am licensed via USMLE pathway and i never took COMLEX III.

At this point, one needs to take CS to take Step III. Not sure if you had to or not...

But, I'm not gonna jump through that financial hoop.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

At this point, one needs to take CS to take Step III. Not sure if you had to or not...

But, I'm not gonna jump through that financial hoop.

I did not have to do any of the CS/CK stuff fortunately.

If you are licensed through an osteopathic medical board, then you almost certainly will need the full COMLEX series. Allopathic boards (in my experience and to my knowledge) don't really seem to care what pathway you use.

 

[group_theory]

These days, in order to graduate from a DO school, you need to have passed COMLEX 1, COMLEX 2 and COMLEX-2PE.

You just need to complete COMLEX-3 (1 day exam) to finish.

A lot of DO students take USMLE 1. Some take USMLE 2 CK. I don't see any advantage of taking USMLE 2-CS (since you have to take COMLEX 2 PE anyway) - it's another $1000 and it's pass/fail so it's not like you will use the result to "stand out" amongst applicants.

If you want to take USMLE 3, it's a 2 day exam, and you must have completed the previous USMLE exams (including CS). If you decide to complete the USMLE instead of COMLEX series, not only will it cost you more money (since you have to take USMLE 1, 2CK, 2CS) in addition to COMLEX, but a handfull of states will not recognize your USMLE for licensure purposes (just a handful with california, florida, pennsylvania, etc being among them)

So completing USMLE for licensure purpose makes NO SENSE - either financially or for licensure purpose. I would take USMLE 1 or 2 only if you are interested in an acgme residency and want to show programs that your knowledge is comparable to your MD peers.

If you want your MD colleagues to "respect" you for taking their boards, then do an ACGME residency and take the ABMS recognized board exam since it's considered the gold standard.

 

[the alchemist]

Agreed. Since Step III/Level III tends to be a "take it during internship" thing, those who have already graduated only need to follow-through with whatever system they used to get into their residency. The program should be able to tell you what exactly they want you taking.

wow, thanks for letting me know guys. i was told that i still had to take comlex step 3 even though i'm not doing an internship and have no choice but to apply MD (no DO residencies in path). i guess i'll double check with someone who i know who's on the abop/assoc of path chairs boards to see what the current rules are now. either way, some schools (esp the academic competitive/bigger programs) i'm applying to required me to take usmle step 1, 2-ck, and yes, 2-cs (but only a couple said 2-cs) so i already have that covered either way. for boarding in my specialty/fellowship, i'll prob just take the acgme/abms exams.

i don't think cali is one of the 4 states now that require a do internship (pa, fl, mi, ok) in which case, i think ppl take comlex step 3 during their internship. used to be 5 states when i started med school but wv got rid of that requirement.