Combank

[BMW19]

Any new thoughts on this for Level II? I was thinking of getting it since it seems like USMLE WORLD is overkill and I'm not even taking USMLE. Anyone care to share good experiences with this who actually took the exam already?

Thanks,

B-

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[coreynbr]

yeah, its definately worth the money it was pretty much just like the test when I took it on July 7th. Are you still set on ER

 

[BMW19]

Thinking of Critical care now, how bout you Cardio?

yeah, its definately worth the money it was pretty much just like the test when I took it on July 7th. Are you still set on ER

 

[marie337]

I've been using Combank for a couple of weeks. It seems like a decent Comlex review. We'll see how well it worked in a few weeks!

 

[hammertoe]

The questions on COMBANK totally kick-but. There are written just like the ones on COMLEX. Very similar style and the advice they give in the questions really helped me too.

 

[coreynbr]

no i decided on surgery

 

[BMW19]

Really? General or you want to specialize?

no i decided on surgery

 

[FutureInternist]

Not sure if someone can hijack their own thread but...... .

 

[osucomdustin]

The questions on COMBANK totally kick-but. There are written just like the ones on COMLEX. Very similar style and the advice they give in the questions really helped me too.

The advice is good, but it's funny how similar the information they give in their explanation is taken from First Aid Step 2 CK.

 

[COMBANK]

Just ran accross this thread and I just wanted to note that we have never opened a First Aid 2 CE book in all of the making of COMBANK. We use numerous sources during the question-writing process, such as Harrison's internal medicine and Blueprints OB/GYN to name a couple, but we have never taken any advice from First Aid. All of our "COMLEX advice" comes directly from the experience of our authors and through personal contacts. Just wanted to set the record straight. It's all 100% original.

 

[FutureInternist]

The grammatical errors & misspelled words do get annoying after a while.
Also they do not have a good way of navigating between Qs. If I had to stop reviewing at Q 23 of 54 , because Family Guy was on, I have to click through all 23 again. There is no way to go over just the incorrect ones, and the number of Qs seems pretty low, specially if you buy anything more than a month long subscription.
The main guy that runs it, is pretty open to comments & suggestions which will allow this Q bank to become that much better as time passes.

 

[COMBANK]

Future...ya, we have been working hard for about a month now to smooth out some of the grammatical errors that slipped through the cracks. Our authors publish questions in real-time (sometimes on weekends; sometimes in the middle of the night during call) so occasionally it takes a few days for us to catch these after the questions go live. In the upcoming few months, we will be implementing a "phase 2" version of COMBANK that is very smooth and has a lot of added features. For example, you will be able to predict your actual COMLEX score based on your overall COMBANK percentage. Our goal is to make this the best it can be for DO students across the country and we will do anything and everything possible to make that happen. I would encourage you guys to send me a PM with any suggestions you would like to like to see on our upcoming version. We take these very seriously. Best of luck to everyone on your exams and in the match.

 

[theKirk]

I've been enjoying Combank for a while now. I'm hoping it pays off.

Question for those who took II already and used COMBANK:

I'm hearing a lot of complaints of the weird medico-legal-ethics questions on COMLEX II so far, this year. Are the med/ethics questions on COMBANK spot-on to prepare for this?
I find those pretty annoying and out-there, so I figure those might help prepare me.

Similar?

BTW, Brian and Corey get a room up there will ya?

 

[ShyRem]

So how many quesitons does COMBANK have in it these days? I'm trying to decide if I should get UWorld for the shelf exams and save COMBANK for closer to the end of 3rd year for Step 2.

 

[BMW19]

The Kirk,

I find it a little unsettling that you are having a lot of problems with the med/ethics Q's, Should GA worry about you when you come back to practice!! JK.....

I have heard they are pretty close from some resources. You can join Corey and I if you want.....You still thinking the ER route?

B-

I've been enjoying Combank for a while now. I'm hoping it pays off.

Question for those who took II already and used COMBANK:

I'm hearing a lot of complaints of the weird medico-legal-ethics questions on COMLEX II so far, this year. Are the med/ethics questions on COMBANK spot-on to prepare for this?
I find those pretty annoying and out-there, so I figure those might help prepare me.

Similar?

BTW, Brian and Corey get a room up there will ya?

 

[Taus]

I've been enjoying Combank for a while now. I'm hoping it pays off.

Question for those who took II already and used COMBANK:

I'm hearing a lot of complaints of the weird medico-legal-ethics questions on COMLEX II so far, this year. Are the med/ethics questions on COMBANK spot-on to prepare for this?
I find those pretty annoying and out-there, so I figure those might help prepare me.

Similar?

BTW, Brian and Corey get a room up there will ya?

does combank have questions dealing w/ that medico-legal stuff?....a lot of my classmates have had it on their tests and I really am not sure how to prepare for it (well..besides the KY)

 

[coreynbr]

Well, first the good news, by doing combank I kinda had an idea, more like i was in the area of a decent guess, but the bad news is its still the comlex- fellas and ladies (Kirk) so expect the unexpected and look up all the answer choices on the qs

does combank have questions dealing w/ that medico-legal stuff?....a lot of my classmates have had it on their tests and I really am not sure how to prepare for it (well..besides the KY)

 

[theKirk]

So how many quesitons does COMBANK have in it these days? I'm trying to decide if I should get UWorld for the shelf exams and save COMBANK for closer to the end of 3rd year for Step 2.

Here's the current number of ques by topic:
Cardio - 54
GI - 36
ID - 35
Neuro - 44
Peds - 61
Rheum - 23
Endo - 33
Heme-Onc - 28
Neph - 20
OMM - 55
Pulm - 48
Derm - 16
Gyn - 49
Med Ethics/Law - 42*
OB - 39
Psy - 33
Surg - 38

And they are randomly adding questions every few days, I guess as they are being submitted.
So as you can see, it's a work in progress. But my take is simple: when I take practice tests, the questions are frustratingly written and vague on purpose, so I think it must be spot-on. Seems like good training for an NBOME test! I take it Aug 8th, so I will be back here to give my humble review of it as a study resource.

(i've been told in a phonecall tonight that the Peds, OB, GYN, Medlaw, and OMM questions in combank make it worth the money this year.)


And yes, BMW, I am rural ER bound. South GA ER = the closest thing to a General Practioner this country still has, but with better guarantee of actually getting paid for it.

 

[ShyRem]

Looks like I'm better off getting UWorld through the 3rd year rotations and getting COMBANK a month before step 2. Thanks for the info!

 

[TOXOSIS]

I thought combank was okay... certainly not inclusive and far from enough for the comlex. Doing UW during the school year and combank at the end isnt a bad idea. Some cons on combank: spelling errors, the software is very slow - takes about twice or three times as long to read answers and go from one question to the next when reviewing. No highlighting. No choice to redo wrong questions or even review only wrong questions. You have to go to individual tests and go through them to find stuff worthy. pros: short question stems, vague, good legal questions. I would use it but definately in addition to other sources (books and qbanks)

 

[HollywooDO]

it was worthwhile for me. still awaiting the official score. but it helped me orient to the COMLEX in comparison to USMLE World, which was more of a pimp your knowledge type bank. there was no way to prepare for certain questions on COMLEX, such as medical-legal. i never saw those answer choices in my life, and i never missed a class.

 

[theKirk]

As promised:

first off, COMBANK = worth the money. As I was foretold, it was solid for the OB, Gyn, OMM and medlaw sections.
And yes, some questions showed up that I swear were verbatim (rabies and squirrels, anyone? )
I will be buying COMBANK for III, no doubt.

Second, sadly, it IS still a NBOME test. A friend who took COMLEX II same day as me, agreed that if we had a few more weeks to study, we wouldn't have done any better, or even done anything more to prepare for the unpredictable, poorly written questions that you will face. While COMBANK is the closest, their still is no simulation that will capture the absurdity.

May the ghost of AT Still be with you.

 

[Raggaman]

Since the makers of COMBANK are online, this is for them (which I am sure they already know):

Good:
1) Questions very similar to COMLEX II
2) Good insights and answers

Some suggestions:

1) No way to "mark" and review questions like the real deal
2) Security on webpage was lax. I was able to send links to people with their own accounts. Combank didnt log me out once over a period of 30 days!
3)If I logged on to another computer without logging out on another, the 1st computers 'open' test would get 'highjacked' by the other and get erased. (Some might claim its my own fault having so many computers)
4) Combank servers were overloaded with requests and would crash frequently.
5) More questions needed.

Overall I think combank was great and would recommend it to anyone. I know its brand new and most of what I have said is probably being worked on already. I just want it to be ready by Step III!!

 

[COMBANK]

Since the makers of COMBANK are online, this is for them (which I am sure they already know):

Good:
1) Questions very similar to COMLEX II
2) Good insights and answers

Some suggestions:

1) No way to "mark" and review questions like the real deal
2) Security on webpage was lax. I was able to send links to people with their own accounts. Combank didnt log me out once over a period of 30 days!
3)If I logged on to another computer without logging out on another, the 1st computers 'open' test would get 'highjacked' by the other and get erased. (Some might claim its my own fault having so many computers)
4) Combank servers were overloaded with requests and would crash frequently.
5) More questions needed.

Overall I think combank was great and would recommend it to anyone. I know its brand new and most of what I have said is probably being worked on already. I just want it to be ready by Step III!!

Raggaman,

Yes we are. We've been SDNers for most of our pre-medical and medical careers and we're not going anywhere now. This post is great....it targets all of the areas we're improving as we speak. Our new servers will launch this Saturday night and we are expecting them to be lightening fast. We have a lot of exciting things planned for the upcoming year. Here are a few that will emerge in the upcoming weeks/months:

1) Lots of new questions based on the most up-to-date "research" coming in from the most recent exams.

2) Charting that will correlate your COMBANK score with what you will likely get on the real exam. We will be able to tell you (for example) that if you score a 65% on COMBANK, you will score between a two-digit score of 82-85 on the actual COMLEX.

3) Features that allow you to mark questions as you go through exams and move freely between questions.

4) A section on our homepage full of reviews from actual medical students/residents discussing their particular exams in terms of what topics were focused on and developing trends. It will be an open forum consisting of the latest examination reviews.

5) Bottom line: We are YOUR advocates and will do everything in our power to make Osteopathic students throughout the country have a better alternative for taking live practice COMLEX examinations. We are sick and tired of only having USMLE-knock-offs to study from. It's about time DO's have their own questions to use to study for their own examination. Don't you agree?

Sincerely,
Joshua Courtney, DO
COMBANK Medical Inc.

 

[Determined]

Is Combank down for anyone else? I have a feeling that I am getting kicked out because they are trying to display a renewal reminder when I login, but it just craps on me and gives me a wonderful error message.... I've been trying since yesterday with no luck (which is not a good thing at all when you finally get a full day for questions and you can't even use the question bank).

I finally tried to submit a ticket using their 'Contact Us' page, but when I hit submit it takes me right back to the Contact Us page with no confirmation or anything?? (And tried all of this from several different computers)

Other than not being able to use the question bank...., I like it.

Just in case anyone else gets an error when they're using it, here's the start of one I'm getting (notice it says 'Renewal Reminder'):

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
RenewalReminder.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) +34

I'd love to renew if my time is coming due! But It doesn't look like I can get that far

 

[COMBANK]

Determined...Currently, there is no automatic renewal built into the system (we are building this feature into our new software). Once your subscription expires, we have to set it up manually for you. Send us an email through the "contact us" link and we will discuss. Thanks.

 

[marie337]

I thought COMBANK was an adequate preparation for COMLEX-Step 2. I used USMLE World periodically throughout 3rd year and then used COMBANK for 1 month prior to my exam. I was able to get through all of the questions at least once and some of the questions were very similar to real test questions. My only other criticism that hasn't been mentioned is the ability to pause an exam and reopen it later. A couple of times I had to exit an exam and it just completely deleted the exam. Other than that, I was very happy with the questions. I agree that the COMLEX is a terrible exam and no amount of preparation will really be enough!

 

[Osteopathology]

Any promotional code for this COMBANK? I mean 85 for 30 days is a little steep considering the quality of USMLE-WORLD.

I am all about COMBANK -- but would love to see a promotional code for all the SDNers? Anything out there yet?

 

[BMW19]

It is an excellent bank regardless of a promotional code or not. USMLE world maybe great quality but not for our test

 

[NJWxMan]

I hear from many that going through UWorld is complete overkill. I'm worried that I may put too much thought into this exam.

 

[theKirk]

yes, USMLEWorld is overkill...for comlex2. But it is still a great learning tool. I did COMBANK and UWorld. Just don't go into COMLEX thinking in-depth, or you will reason yourself out of answers.

See, I do USMLEWorld during clinicals for the learning. I also read Step, Crush, Secrets and Wards. Between rounds I flip Lange cards. I have a copy of OMM Foundations by my toilet and I have been known to sit in the corner of libraries and eat Netter's Cards. I have the ACLS algorithm tattooed on my lower back.

(by now you know I'm kidding but I swear some of the tools around here seriously say things like this.)

 

[BMW19]

But does USMLE WORLD give you Q's on Singultus! I think not......!!!

yes, USMLEWorld is overkill...for comlex2. But it is still a great learning tool. I did COMBANK and UWorld. Just don't go into COMLEX thinking in-depth, or you will reason yourself out of answers.

See, I do USMLEWorld during clinicals for the learning. I also read Step, Crush, Secrets and Wards. Between rounds I flip Lange cards. I have a copy of OMM Foundations by my toilet and I have been known to sit in the corner of libraries and eat Netter's Cards. I have the ACLS algorithm tattooed on my lower back.

(by now you know I'm kidding but I swear some of the tools around here seriously say things like this.)

 

[predodoc]

For those who have already got your scores back, what kind of scores on combank correlate to Comlex scores? I just did my first test and Im curious.


Also, i only have time for one review book and was thinking about secrets. Did anyone think that it was perfect for Comlex? too much? to little? doesnt matter b/c Comlex is too random?

 

[TOXOSIS]

For those who have already got your scores back, what kind of scores on combank correlate to Comlex scores? I just did my first test and Im curious.


Also, i only have time for one review book and was thinking about secrets. Did anyone think that it was perfect for Comlex? too much? to little? doesnt matter b/c Comlex is too random?

No such thing as perfect for Comlex... but it's worth the time to go through it.

 

[theKirk]

For those who have already got your scores back, what kind of scores on combank correlate to Comlex scores? I just did my first test and Im curious.


Also, i only have time for one review book and was thinking about secrets. Did anyone think that it was perfect for Comlex? too much? to little? doesnt matter b/c Comlex is too random?

Just one book? SAvarese then. That'd cover any OMM question. so that really about a s hi-yield as they come for comlex. Two books?
Honestly, if I had to choose one besides Sav , I'd say Crush. Especially the Radiology section (which is just 2 pages of charts). Memorize that and you got most the 'what study do you order now" questions. Crush just has the bare minimum facts, so you won't go overkill.

And Brian, yes!!! Singultus! Dr. Giglio never taught me that one, that b*stard.
And the answer to how to treat singultus?

Tell em please stop filling up my ER with idiot problems like this.

 

[LonePair]

COMLEX II 89, 594. COMBANK: 80% correct, world 64%
COMLEX I 86, 565.

no usmle.

 

[Future Doc B]

Here goes...

COMLEX Step 1 - 617
COMLEX Step 2 - 586 --> ~75-80% COMBANK (I don't remember exactly and I can't log back in); Kaplan Qbank (New) - 65%; COMSAE II predicted score ~700

IMO, I think COMBANK is good but you are still going to get the WTF kind of questions that are always on COMLEX that no preparation is going to help you with.

Now all I need is a big fat "Pass" on the COMLEX-PE and I'm graduating in May (barring any crazy happenings)...

 

[LONGHORN MAN]

COMLEX I 91, 635
COMLEX II 96,700

Combank average around 80%. U World 68%.
Did not waste my money on COMSAE

 

[predodoc]

Starting to get nervous. I am halfway done with combank and my % is only 68%. It seems like everyone else was making about 80. I did well on step 1(646) and wanted to break 600 on step2 but now Im just hoping to pass. I really dont know what Im doing wrong. I havn't put as much time into this test as step 1 but I thought nobody else does either. My test is in 2 weeks, Im about to start a difficult rotation, and I need some reassurance and/or advice.

 

[Determined]

Starting to get nervous. I am halfway done with combank and my % is only 68%. It seems like everyone else was making about 80. I did well on step 1(646) and wanted to break 600 on step2 but now Im just hoping to pass. I really dont know what Im doing wrong. I havn't put as much time into this test as step 1 but I thought nobody else does either. My test is in 2 weeks, Im about to start a difficult rotation, and I need some reassurance and/or advice.

Several people from my school used Combank and did very well on Step 2 (600+), and none of them claimed 80% or above as an average their first time through Combank.

 

[LadyGrey]

Been using Combank for about a week, in addition to Qbank. Gotta relearn the damn Chapman points somehow. It seems pretty good overall, but the atrocious spelling and other typos are driving me crazy. And like Qbank, sometimes the answers are just plain wrong. (I look stuff up elsewhere if it seems questionable, so I'm not just saying it was wrong because I got it wrong). Especially in women's health stuff (also a weak area in Qbank, IMHO, where they think that's it cool to prescribe Accutane to a teenage girl who only uses condoms ). I had one today where they asked about ultrasound dating in the third trimester and the right answer included using the crown-rump length. Uh, nope.

I came across this in their explanation to a different question, which explains a lot: "Unless you are headed for a career in obstetrics, understanding procedures such as colposcopy, D&C, pap smears, and salpingoophorectomies may be your least favorite things to review." Speak for yourselves, guys. Maybe they need some female osteopaths on staff to help them out.

 

[Osteopathology]

Combank is a good bank of Qs ... little light for the price. Around 1k questions I believe ... never took the time to total them all up.

Written like the COMLEX -- thats for sure, typos ... etc. Vague vague vague. But honestly, it is on target ...

I am getting around 66% right and would love to get over 600 ... regardless I am glad I ordered it.

 

[ArcherM2]

Anyone else been getting "Parser Error" messages? This is the second time (right before I finished a question set)!! I'm taking my test tomorrow, so it's really not going to effect me all that much, but gosh!

 

[Milkofamnesia]

I'm currently working through COMBANK and I'd like to add a recommendation for their programmer. It would be helpful to secondarily rank questions on NBOME Dimension II classification since that's how score reports are returned to you. I'd love to hear how you differentiate which questions should be under the "history & physical" group versus the "management" and "scientific Understanding of Mechanisms: groups for example. Yet another strange aspect of COMLEX prep....

Also, I'd like to hear preliminary pass/fail ranges to help set a goal for COMLEX II-CE.

Keep up the good work and keep posting new questions!!!

 

[NJWxMan]

Questions weren't long enough on the COMBANK to simulate the real thing. COMBANK questions are vague which helps you practice "guessing what the question writer was thinking."

 

[Saki0067]

COMBANK was a good prep for my COMLEX. Several questions on the real test are significantly longer than the COMBANK though. COMLEX gives you bunch of "hints" as to what the answer is just like the COMBANK did.

If COMBANK reps get to read this - the strike out option on COMLEX was awesome and would be great in COMBANK.

 

[lasvegasDO]

I didn't pass the COMLEX 2 CE. I did the entire COMBANK. It is NOT representative of the real test. I did well on the COMBANK (over 70%). The only thing it helped with were the ethics questions. However, the COMBANK was too easy and the COMLEX is somewhere between the COMBANK and USMLEWORLD in terms of question style. The biggest flaw with the COMBANK is the OMM style questions. They are absolutely nothing like the real questions...not remotely close and I think the authors of the COMBANK are aware of that.

To be fair, it may still be worth getting because the ethics questions were very representative. And if you want an edge, I think the COMBANK will help. However, it shouldn't be viewed like USMLEWORLD because its not comprehensive and the style of questions are not representative. Use the COMBANK as an adjunct but don't use it like USMLEWORLD. That's what I did and I didn't do well.

The "tips" are kind of a joke. Nearly every "tip" was something along the lines of "Cardiology is highly tested on the COMLEX so know your Cardiology well" Well duh... Very rarely, was there a hint on something specific that wasn't common sense.

 

[predodoc]

I agree with the other guys. I had lots of questions on the real test that were a good solid paragraph. Lots more reading than I was expecting. And on the combank, for some reason its harder to read. I dont know if its the font or if its that the questions on combank stretch across the screen instead of being bundled closer together.
My honest opinion of combank changed after taking the test. When studying, I felt like I really wasnt learning much. Either I already knew the answer or it was teaching me stuff that wasnt relevant. While taking the test I saw why ppl like it. Several questions covered very similar topics. Not tons of questions but maybe 4-5 each set.
Combank could be improved most by adding features of UW(tutor mode-awesome for UW, skipping to a question in the set when reviewing, knowing what % of people got a question correct, more questions, and a few questions need more in depth explanations of why answers are right/wrong. Also, if they could add in features that Comlex had like strikout ability, and marking questions to review you arnt sure about.

 

[BMW19]

I have to disagree here. I went up a good bit from my level I score and I do attribute a lot of it to COMBANK. I thought it was VERY much like the real thing even if the Q's were not exact they were very very similar and if you took time to go over all of the wrong answers on COMBANK you were sure not to mess it up on the real thing. I am surprised you did not pass after scoring 70% on COMBANK. Especially strong was the OB/GYN stuff on COMBANK which there was a huge chunk of on my real exam and I thought the bank did a great job of strengthening my weak points in this area.
some of the tips were generic but others were dead on. This is not a magic bullet but another tool to add to studying. Of course you have to do a good deal on your own.


B-

I didn't pass the COMLEX 2 CE. I did the entire COMBANK. It is NOT representative of the real test. I did well on the COMBANK (over 70%). The only thing it helped with were the ethics questions. However, the COMBANK was too easy and the COMLEX is somewhere between the COMBANK and USMLEWORLD in terms of question style. The biggest flaw with the COMBANK is the OMM style questions. They are absolutely nothing like the real questions...not remotely close and I think the authors of the COMBANK are aware of that.

To be fair, it may still be worth getting because the ethics questions were very representative. And if you want an edge, I think the COMBANK will help. However, it shouldn't be viewed like USMLEWORLD because its not comprehensive and the style of questions are not representative. Use the COMBANK as an adjunct but don't use it like USMLEWORLD. That's what I did and I didn't do well.

The "tips" are kind of a joke. Nearly every "tip" was something along the lines of "Cardiology is highly tested on the COMLEX so know your Cardiology well" Well duh... Very rarely, was there a hint on something specific that wasn't common sense.

 

[lasvegasDO]

I have to disagree here. I went up a good bit from my level I score and I do attribute a lot of it to COMBANK. I thought it was VERY much like the real thing even if the Q's were not exact they were very very similar and if you took time to go over all of the wrong answers on COMBANK you were sure not to mess it up on the real thing. I am surprised you did not pass after scoring 70% on COMBANK. Especially strong was the OB/GYN stuff on COMBANK which there was a huge chunk of on my real exam and I thought the bank did a great job of strengthening my weak points in this area.
some of the tips were generic but others were dead on. This is not a magic bullet but another tool to add to studying. Of course you have to do a good deal on your own.


B-

I agree with you. I think it's worth purchasing because it's relatively cheap and it can provide you with an edge particularly in regards to the medical ethics and legal questions. However, I still believe that it shouldn't be used as a primary source of study the way USMLEworld is used. And if someone was stressed for time, I would tell them to do the USMLEworld questions vs the COMBANK. I only did 700-800 of the USMLEworld and I felt those questions were more representative on the real COMLEX than the COMBANK. Nearly all the questions on the COMBANK are 1-3 sentences in length which was misleading because there were far more full paragraph USMLEworld style questions on the real COMLEX. Yes, I know USMLEworld is more difficult but in regards to the questions and topics that were tested, I thought it did a much better job. I did the entire COMBANK and aside from the medical ethics/legal questions, I didn't feel their questions were represenatitive at all. Since you brought up OB, let's use that as an example. On the real COMLEX, I had 4 or 5 questions asking you to interpret fetal monitor graphs; the COMBANK had maybe 1 question on that (at the time anyway which was July of 08); USMLEworld had several fetal monitor questions that assessed nearly every type of graph. The same can be said for EKG's. The COMBANK provided examples of the most easily identifiable EKGs (Afib, Torsades) while the EKGs on the COMLEX were much more complicated. The EKG questions on the USMLEworld were more representative of the type of EKG questions you will get on the COMLEX.