comlex 1 2002

[adjsmj]

now that we have a little more time on our hands until rotations, I was just wondering how everyone thought the comlex exam was. Personally there were some very easy questions and some very hard ones. I tend to only remeber the hard ones which will make the next six weeks tough. I thought the went a lot deeper than we learned in Path. Much to much on psych. pharmacology, and not enough really important clinically relevant material, but I guess thats what part 2 is for. I have one question, how is the test scored exactly I have read that they will give you a "standard" score based on the number you got correct, and 400 is the passing "standard" score. Does that number actually equal 400 correct responses or what?

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[prwunecom]

well, I agree with you that the comlex was tough on the pharm, however I enjoyed the Psych stuff --of course this was an answer to prayer for me since I want to do psychiatry and have quite a bit of background in it. I really do not understand the reason why board exams don't give trade names as well as generic names for pharm. We are going to be using the trade names as much if not more than the generics once we get out there.

As far as what is passing, you need a 55% which this year equals 400 questions, since there weren't quite 800 questions. I think there were three sections of 189 questions and one of 187, something like that. Good luck with the waiting. Enjoy what time off that you have and best wishes with your rotations!

 

[Boomer]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by prwunecom:
•well, I agree with you that the comlex was tough on the pharm, however I enjoyed the Psych stuff --of course this was an answer to prayer for me since I want to do psychiatry and have quite a bit of background in it. I really do not understand the reason why board exams don't give trade names as well as generic names for pharm. We are going to be using the trade names as much if not more than the generics once we get out there.

As far as what is passing, you need a 55% which this year equals 400 questions, since there weren't quite 800 questions. I think there were three sections of 189 questions and one of 187, something like that. Good luck with the waiting. Enjoy what time off that you have and best wishes with your rotations!•••••Probably don't need quite 400 questions to get to that 55% level, considering that there are (an unidentified number of) "experimental" questions.

 

[adjsmj]

How do the experimental questions work? Do you get credit for them if you get them right? If not how do they factor in?

 

[SYD]

Can anybody have a rough breakdown of USMLE I
I heard PATH, PHARM, PHSIOLOGY take the most.

Any comments ..
THanks in advance

 

[CardioKing]

On scoring the comlex I have heard several different thing. One being that the 400 you need to pass is not a raw score, it is a scaled score. Questions are thrown out and the exam is curved in a sence. Has anyone head this. Am I completly off base here. Let me know.

 

[adjsmj]

Thats basically the impression I get. The scaled score is based on previous exams which may or may not be 50%. Your percentile rank is based on how everyone did that particular test. So I am assuming that a standard passing percentage is required probably like the USMLE somewhere around 55 to 65%. That minimum score will be 400 and based on the results of all test takers you will be ranked. Yes the test is curved around a mean of 500 and the minimum 400 I'm not sure what the max is.

 

[adjsmj]

I forgot to mention the SD is 71 according to the NBOME.

 

[adjsmj]

I forgot to mention the SD is 71 according to the NBOME.