Anyone worried about the new COMLEX lvl 1?

[bbos]

So I'll be taking the new version of COMLEX lvl 1. Truelearn COMBANK has updated it's questions to reflect the new test. Should I focus on truelearn instead of UWORLD?

I would like to hear what others are doing to prepare for the new COMLEX

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[moyamoya6]

You should still focus on UWorld since the quality of questions is better. Then go through some COMBANK questions a month before. Do all the OMM questions.

 

[NecrotizingFasciitis]

I got that e-mail from TrueLearn too about their new QBank & the new COMLEX. You have to keep in mind that TrueLearn is a business, & part of their business plan is capitalizing on the neuroticism of anxious medical students like us.

"Oh geeze, you better buy all of our, oh geeze - oh man - UPDATED QBANKS *arm flail* 'cause we just updated them for - OH GEEZE *eye twitch* - new COMLEX & you'll FAIL if you DON'T. GIVE US UR LOANNNSSS."

Spare me, TrueLearn.

 

[sunshinefl]

My main takeaways about the change are:

1-They’re trying to stick to the blueprint percents better (good! Not so lopsided exams hopefully).
2-they’re arbitrarily making the question stems longer (so more than ever take a look at the question at the end and see if you even need all the blah blah to answer before you read it).

 

[bbos]

My main takeaways about the change are:

1-They’re trying to stick to the blueprint percents better (good! Not so lopsided exams hopefully).
2-they’re arbitrarily making the question stems longer (so more than ever take a look at the question at the end and see if you even need all the blah blah to answer before you read it).

the Q stems are already longer than step1, now they're making it even longer?! doesn't this mean Uworld, with it's concise Q stems, will deviate even more from the new COMLEX?

 

[908377]

UWorld will always be better than any "DO" q-bank.

 

[IntheClouds4ever]

COMSAEs sucked last year and were nothing like the COMLEX. Hopefully they are redoing the comsaes to more accurately reflect the comlex (longer stems). Still, UFAP plus green book would be my route. The diseases and material hasn’t changed...

 

[Medic741]

COMSAEs sucked last year and were nothing like the COMLEX. Hopefully they are redoing the comsaes to more accurately reflect the comlex (longer stems). Still, UFAP plus green book would be my route. The diseases and material hasn’t changed...

The stems in the COMSAE (101) I just took were on average 5-8 sentences long. Great job to the powers that be

 

[IntheClouds4ever]

The stems in the COMSAE (101) I just took were on average 5-8 sentences long. Great job to the powers that be

That’s a better start. They deliberately put in extraneous information that made the stems 2-3 paragraphs long. At least with the new comsaes it’ll prep classes as a whole to read the question first and find the information needed to answer it. Skip the OMM bs if it’s not an OMM question :shrugs: I wouldn’t freak about the scores though.. just do the tried and true stuff and as long as your qbank % align historically with the rules of thumb, I wouldn’t be worried the national avg won’t magically fall to 450 or something like that

 

[samac]

That’s a better start. They deliberately put in extraneous information that made the stems 2-3 paragraphs long. At least with the new comsaes it’ll prep classes as a whole to read the question first and find the information needed to answer it. Skip the OMM bs if it’s not an OMM question :shrugs: I wouldn’t freak about the scores though.. just do the tried and true stuff and as long as your qbank % align historically with the rules of thumb, I wouldn’t be worried the national avg won’t magically fall to 450 or something like that

Right? For the love of god on the COMLEX always read the question first. The stems are long and about half the time the question is straight forward and you don’t need any info from the paragraph or it’s an OMM question and all you need is to find where it says ribs or a vertebra etc

 

[mandym00]

I just took COMLEX on Monday. I did mostly UWorld but wish I did more TrueLearn COMBANK. Like others have said, read the question before you read the entire stem. What I normally do is read the first sentence (maybe two), to get an idea of what the patient is presenting for. Then read the question. Sometimes it will given you a 2 paragraph stem and the last 2 sentences will say, you prescribed this med now what side effect would you expect. Meaning you can just skim the paragraph for any relevant information regarding the patient (comorbidities, other meds, vitals, etc.). Secondly do all of OMM questions on COMBANK and I also suggest doing all the Micro. Practice doing 50 question within an hour on COMBANK (random assortment of questions). Timing was the most difficult part of COMLEX for me as I was used to doing 40 questions in an hour with much shorter question stems.

 

[samac]

I just took COMLEX on Monday. I did mostly UWorld but wish I did more TrueLearn COMBANK. Like others have said, read the question before you read the entire stem. What I normally do is read the first sentence (maybe two), to get an idea of what the patient is presenting for. Then read the question. Sometimes it will given you a 2 paragraph stem and the last 2 sentences will say, you prescribed this med now what side effect would you expect. Meaning you can just skim the paragraph for any relevant information regarding the patient (comorbidities, other meds, vitals, etc.). Secondly do all of OMM questions on COMBANK and I also suggest doing all the Micro. Practice doing 50 question within an hour on COMBANK (random assortment of questions). Timing was the most difficult part of COMLEX for me as I was used to doing 40 questions in an hour with much shorter question stems.

Now timing wasn’t an issue for me because I didn’t bother reading any of the stem if the question was straight forward. No need to know what the patient is presenting for is the last sentence is “and what gram +, catalase - organism likely caused the infection?” And bam only 1 choice is gram + and catalase -, doesn’t even matter what the 2 paragraphs + vital signs say. I finished with about 45 minutes left.

 

[mandym00]

Now timing wasn’t an issue for me because I didn’t bother reading any of the stem if the question was straight forward. No need to know what the patient is presenting for is the last sentence is “and what gram +, catalase - organism likely caused the infection?” And bam only 1 choice is gram + and catalase -, doesn’t even matter what the 2 paragraphs + vital signs say. I finished with about 45 minutes left.

That is very true for questions like that. I went through those fast, probably in less than 30 seconds, to catch up for my lack of self-discipline in timing in the first 2 blocks of the day. If I had done more practice blocks in COMLEX format I don't think I would have ran into this problem though.

 

[deleted978973]

Do PDs look down on you if you take Step 1 after your 3rd year?