An advantage for DO's on USMLE?

[NebelDO]

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hey guys i wanted to get some thoughts on this..This may have been brought before so sorry if its redundant. The other day Dr. Raymon, one of the kaplan professors said that we should have an advantage when taking the usmle because we take the Comlex as well. he said that basically if you study more biochem for usmle then after comlex everyone should be "primed" using his word for the Usmle.

aside from there being no OMM on usmle, for those of us taking comlex first, is it a stretch to call the COMLEX one big 2 day practice test before USMLE?

i realize that you have to study some extra things for usmle but for those that the tests have in common i think that it will serve us well going into usmle.

what do you guys think?

 

[mountaindew2006]

just out of curiosity... why do you all take the COMLEX and the USMLE ? is it required ? or do you all take the USMLE in order to go into specialities that are MD ?

Reason...i've noticed a lot of DOs are taking both and its been killing me to ask why. 😀

hats of to ya'll....keep it up 👍

 

[AlexRusso]

Don't know about all that but Dr. Raymon was awesome when he did some lectures here. Guy can teach path, biochem, pahrm, and god knows what else. Gets up there talk for like 6 hrs. w/o breaking his stirde. I was impressed

 

[VentdependenT]

COMLEX is more medical trivia with lots of regurgitation. Plenty of Cases as well, but less of a thinking exam. The USMLE is more of an applied knowledge exam with some medical trivia. This inherent difference in the tests doesn't lend much creedence to the idea that the COMLEX prepares you for the USMLE. Material is same, application is different.

Its nice to have taken the COMLEX as a preperation for the testing experience per se. All your gitters are gone and your stamina is built up.

Why take both? If an osteopath wants to persue an allopathic residency taking the USMLE allows program directors to compare applicants on a more level playing ground. Apples to apples so to speak. Thats why I took it and I believe it was the right move as corroborated by multiple interviewees.

Venty

 

[jakstat33]

COMLEX is more medical trivia with lots of regurgitation. Plenty of Cases as well, but less of a thinking exam. The USMLE is more of an applied knowledge exam with some medical trivia. This inherent difference in the tests doesn't lend much creedence to the idea that the COMLEX prepares you for the USMLE. Material is same, application is different.

Its nice to have taken the COMLEX as a preperation for the testing experience per se. All your gitters are gone and your stamina is built up.

Why take both? If an osteopath wants to persue an allopathic residency taking the USMLE allows program directors to compare applicants on a more level playing ground. Apples to apples so to speak. Thats why I took it and I believe it was the right move as corroborated by multiple interviewees.

Venty

Vent- last i checked AZCOM isn't a DO school... did you take the COMLEX as an MD student?

 

[unc12]

Usually when a school has COM at the end i.e AZCOM it is any osteopathic medical school.

 

[DrQuinn]

Vent- last i checked AZCOM isn't a DO school... did you take the COMLEX as an MD student?

Woah Vent you lucky bastard! Not only are you going to be able to sell your lab coat for a peso but you can now be called an MD!

Q, DO <--------- d'oh!

 

[VentdependenT]

Eh-hem, uhh yes thats correct, AZCOM is a MD/DO combined degree school. I just wanted to take the COMLEX for the hell of it. Ya know, 16 hrs of hell.

 

[jakstat33]

Usually when a school has COM at the end i.e AZCOM it is any osteopathic medical school.

COM can also stand for "COLLEGE OF MEDICINE"...

 

[jakstat33]

Eh-hem, uhh yes thats correct, AZCOM is a MD/DO combined degree school. I just wanted to take the COMLEX for the hell of it. Ya know, 16 hrs of hell.

AZCOM = Arizona College of Medicine???

 

[unc12]

I agree. Do you guys know anyone from HCOM? (Harvard College of Medicine) or YCOM (Yale College of Medicine) Just kidding man.

Hey Vent....what is your opinion on Qbank and how it correlates to your actual score on the USMLE? I am averaging a 71% (all random) through 1400 ?'s. I am shooting for a 220-230. Is this possible?

Thanks.

 

[VentdependenT]

Unc12, I can't answer your question as I didn't fork out the cash for Step I Q-bank (I used some burnt BSS just to get the feel of computer test taking down). Sounds excellent though. If you feel you've hit first aid and your other sources hard, are comfortable with the amount of material you've covered scoring, then a 220-230 should be very very attainable.

You are your own best judge for how hard you've worked. Once I got to those tests I was so tired of studying and had so much info neatly packed into my head I knew there was nothing more I could have done.

You'll be fine. When are you taking the test? I had no idea how I did after I finished it. All I know is that I got outta the USMLE with an hour to spare and each section of COMLEX I&II cleared out 1.5 hours early...there was drinking to be done.

 

[unc12]

I'm taking the USMLE june 4 and the comlex june 8/9. I have been averaging around 10 hrs/day for the last 3 weeks. I have been doing a ton of ?'s and using First Aid as my main source along with a few other books (brs physio, mmrs, goljan rapid review path). What do you recommend I focus on in this last week before the test. I was thinking about using only First Aid and trying to know it cold. At any rate, I can't wait until i'm done with this.

Thanks in advance.

Later man.

 

[VentdependenT]

Hit whatever you want man. Just keep at it. I know you can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it sounds to me like you have been studying appropriately. Packen in first aid and goljan path sounds great to me brotha.

These tests blow, but once your done its fat city...well at least 2nd half of 4th year is.

 

[osteotitan]

rumor is.....

you are REQUIRED now to report your USMLE scores. so DO's that don't do well/or fail don't have the luxury of not reporting USMLE scores. can anyone else substantiate this???????