Combank vs comquest

[docmd2010]

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Was wondering which one you guys thought was better. I've heard a lot of mixed opinions.

Pros/Cons of each? Would really appreciate your input

 

[DO bound]

I did comquest recently (Oct 2010 - Dec 2010). I was pleased with the difficulty of comquest. There were 908 questions total. Good variety, good interface, I would recommend. I heard that combank was too basic/easy and some had complaint about interface.

One complaint would be the way they report their stats. It reports stats on each question and then cumulative total average. The problem is that if you redo any question, it doesnt add that question into the calculation as a new question, it just replaces it.

i.e. If the Qbank was only 2 questions, and you went 1/2 = 50%. When you retake those 2 q's, and get them right, it posts your new score at 100% (2/2), instead of 75% (3/4).

I bring this up because it gives you the overall average of all q's as 66%. I finished 1st time through with 61% and feel really confident after taking exam last week (Ill try and correlate my comquest score with actual score when it gets posted). My problem with their stats is I went through all of my missed q's, and day before exam closed my account reading 908/908 (100%). This definitely skewed the actually 1st time pass of q's.

 

[RedEyez]

I did comquest and first Aid 8 days before the test, got a 751. The comquest questions were close to the real test. You only need a 350 to past this test

 

[hocapoca]

I heard Comquest is better than Combank in general.

 

[oreosandsake]

i wish in all the threads on this stuff, the people making the comments didn't have <20 comments..

 

[DD214_DOC]

Comquest was much better. Some of the questions on the real thing were very, very similar to comquest. Just remember that the explanations are where the money is at for CQ.

 

[FutureInternist]

For me, it's like choosing between a punch in the face & a punch in the groin.

Both TRY to simulate the COMLEX but COMLEX being what it is, defies any form of structure, consistency or logic.
I used COMBANK for Step 2 and there were LOTS of the same Qs in their Step 3 Q bank so I felt like I did not get my money's worth.
Between the 2 I would use COMQUEST but that's just me picking a punch to the face

Good Luck

 

[oreosandsake]

went through BOTH of them.

haven't taken the exam yet.

but, it seems like 80% of the questions between these two qbanks were essentially identical... 👎

not saying that someone copied the other's questions... But...

 

[studentdoctor24]

I have gone through BOTH as well and the two qbanks are REMARKABLY DIFFERENT.

It's like saying First Aid, Step Up, and Crush are essentially identical and copies of one another (all 3 books cover EKG's, esophageal perforation, GERD, etc... but in reality are VERY DIFFERENT books and teach each topic differently).

I'd recommend doing both question banks actually because as I said, they are quite different and it helped get familiar with the various ways each topic may be asked. If you want a completely different question bank, USMLE World is what you should do - although it's geared for a different test and may be overkill.

 

[stefspets]

I have not used the Qbanks since i am not a med student but my husband has used both so I wanted to add a little something.

I can't comment on specifics, but my husband is a psychiatry resident. He used Combank first and failed Step III. He took a study break and then started to study again using a few of the recommended Step III books (I couldn't name them but he found the recommendations on SDN) as well as Comquest. He improved his score by over 100 points, and passed the second time.

He says Comquest is a lot better. I'm sure that his score improved both due to the book choices and the question bank he used.

 

[fresh future]

I used combank for Step II and I felt like deja vu when I tried to use it for step III. I feel like I wasted my money; it has not been added to in the past two years and I remember alot of the questions from Step II. Worse, I found errors in the questions so at that point I stopped using it. I wish I could get a refund, big disappointment.

Univ of TX Psychiatry Resident

 

[oreosandsake]

no, they are remarkably the same. I went through them at the same time. and Yes, they did have the same questions re-worded. you could match them up...
independently, they also had a few wrong answers and internal contradicitons

and, took step 3 yesterday... unimpressed by the exam.

i think they should string all 3 of them back-to-back since most of the knowledge you knew for step1 could have gotten you through step 3.

no expectations of understanding real medical management... why was i looking at peripheral blood smears on step 3? what is this, 1970?

3 repeat questions on nuerosurg emergencies... OMT for MI's
convoluted ethical questions... seeing questions that are classic examples of step 1 cases, without the answer choices you expect...

 

[CaffeineIsGood]

To each their own I guess. I really liked Combank > Comquest. I emailed them about a question and got a pretty quick reply, although their in-exam comments took a lot longer to get a reply from. They replied to most of my comments so I figure they must be fixing errors.

Comparing my notes from level 2 studying, there was some overlap but definitely lots of new questions in level 3. I even saw a 2010 ACLS question, so they have to be adding new content. Looking at the NBOME blueprint, there is tons of overlap anyway between level 2 and 3.

Does anyone know how the two compare as far as those esoteric questions on how to best admit nursing home patients, or who can legally provide home care for a newborn after they leave the hospital, or how to best end a physician-patient relationship, and so on?

 

[larolita]

Combank is better for explanations, Comquest looks more like the COMLEX itself. Did both, over the course of 8 weeks, about 2 hrs per day, plus Master the Boards for Step 3 and Savarese.
Combank: 67.9% (spot on the average), completed all once, timed, 15-50 question sets, random and by subject
Comquest: 69.97% (average 64.86%), completed all once, timed, 50 question sets, random.
Score on Comlex III: 712
Previous scores on Comlex: I - 600, II - 520
Done!