Comlex 2008 step 1 experiences thread

[PlasticMan]

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Anyone taken the COMLEX this year and want to comment on it? What are they emphasizing this time around? What was your preparation(UWORLD, COMSAE, Kaplan,USMLERx, etc.) and how did it compare?

 

[ImNoSuperman]

I think i had the same test as the others who took it yesterday. Dead on with what was on it. I got screwed on the viscero-somatic stuff, I didn't take the time to look at those beforehand. I swear there were like 10 of those things where you had to choose what dermatome/tenderpoint level. 3 or 4 blood supply things to the brain/spinal chord, a couple lesions/syndromes too. 3 EKGs like above, about 10 micro questions it seemed had the same bug options (Listeria, Staph, Strep, NG), kid meningitis. FA was good for Micro. Rectal prolapse parasite, some Gyn micro. The micro pictures except for 1 or 2where terrible, head CT's with bleeds were pretty good though, and plentiful. A few extremity nerve questions, spinal level nerve injuries, 4 or 5 Calcium/Vit D/PTH Q's, 4 or 5 sacral dysfunction questions. Some weird old counterstrain points like listed above, I still have no clue. Like 2 or 3 murmur questions. A couple platelet factor questions, 2 biochem q's, no REAL math, a couple cranial questions on Dx what you would use it for, contraindications of OMM in a pregnant woman that has certain problems, scoliosis q, low back pain all over the place, regular type 2 dysfunction q's, ovarian cancer stuff & others, ended with plenty of time left. That's all I can remember. I was ticked about the several questions for 1 situation, especially if I didn't know what it was! Every time you get to question 35 or so, there are a few of those.

Basically, if I were to retake the same exam I would have focused on dermatome/chapman's, skim savarese, Micro most commons in young adults & peds, Pharm cards (psych, seizure meds), Musculoskeletal/neuro/anatomy basics. However, that's where I felt I was deficient, and it's possible they could be choosing 1 exam for that day and changing it up. Seems some of the above from days before weren't exactly like ours, but close. Good luck!

Yeah guster, I think we had the EXACT same exam. As I was reading your post I started having flashbacks of Thursday and freaking out; it was like reliving it all over again. Neuro's the name this year. And in retrospect, getting all freaked out about boards is a waste of norepinephrine. Just pack them vesicles o' NE away for the first code you run. 😎

 

[jtre506]

I love seeing OUCOM on here. Nice work Papa,
Im in Irvine trying not to lose my damn mind. Y arnt the damn objectives covering the topics for boards???????

 

[gouda]

So I took the exam today and had taken the usmle last week...I am exhausted...

Most of what I have to report is just echoing the same sentiments of previous posters.

NEURO: I would have to say the most of the exam is based on neuro. I think HY neuro and FA are good resources, but there are still some gaps in the knowledge required for this exam and those books. Had very little imaging.

ANATOMY: about 10% of the exam. Some where obvious, others not as clear. Usually a description with a mech of injury.

OMM: it really isn't worth neglecting this subject. It felt like I had a substantial number of questions on this subject. If you know your VS you will be in pretty sound shape, other than problem 10 random OMM questions. Had no cranial.

No math. One biostats and maybe 3 ethical.

EKG stuff - only had 3, but they all were irritating. They were not straightforward...

PHARM: It felt like they went out of their way to pick drugs or MOA not in FA. Overall I think I did okay and was able to narrow down choices well enough.

MICRO: Abundant, but for the most part straighforward. Some stuff not in FA, but I am not sure it is worth looking elsewhere for it. Supplementation w/a good Q bank should narrow any gaps.

BIOCHEM: maybe 10 ?'s and extremely reasonable using FA.

If I remember more, I will post. I followed Taus plan + BRS pharm cards + BRS micro cards. Never took the COMSAE and don't regret it. Walking into the exam I was worried about passing, walking out I have no doubt I did. I started my rotation this week and the hours have been long, so I almost completely stopped studying since last Sat. Thankfully all my previous studying paid off and I wasn't screwed.

 

[oreosandsake]

that was a miserable exam.

I took the usmle on tuesday and walked out thinking, "not that bad..."

taking the comPlex was like pulling teeth for 8 hours (6 really, I couldn't stand it and blew through it)

at least for me... I felt like I had a lot of really hard to answer questions. It's rare to see answer choices on one of these exams that you've never heard of.

I had at least a handful of those.

OMM physical exam tests that I had never heard of in school or in savarese.

about 10Q on PID, 5 on chlamydia, 5 on neisseria, maybe 3 biochem questions.

MOA on psych drugs that you wouldn't usually study very intensely.

 

[ImNoSuperman]

that was a miserable exam.

I took the usmle on tuesday and walked out thinking, "not that bad..."

taking the comPlex was like pulling teeth for 8 hours (6 really, I couldn't stand it and blew through it)

at least for me... I felt like I had a lot of really hard to answer questions. It's rare to see answer choices on one of these exams that you've never heard of.

I had at least a handful of those.

OMM physical exam tests that I had never heard of in school or in savarese.

about 10Q on PID, 5 on chlamydia, 5 on neisseria, maybe 3 biochem questions.

MOA on psych drugs that you wouldn't usually study very intensely.

Ha!!

Yeah... and then after the teeth pulling, you think you're done and WHAM! You have to take a frickin' survey! Just let me go!!!

 

[nvshelat]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your input so far.

I'm also taking the USMLE, and preparing for the neuro pt using HY neuro since I figure that'll help with the comlex too -- my question is, how long do i need to cram in Saverese/OMM? 2 days? 3 days?

Thanks

 

[oreosandsake]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your input so far.

I'm also taking the USMLE, and preparing for the neuro pt using HY neuro since I figure that'll help with the comlex too -- my question is, how long do i need to cram in Saverese/OMM? 2 days? 3 days?

Thanks

i gave myself 3 days between the exams since i thought i would just "power through"

guess again. after the usmle, the only thing i wanted to do was sit in front on my tv and watch the nba championships

i decided yesterday afternoon to finally dig up the motivation to crack open my savarese. thankfully, you really only have about 100 pages to skim through. doesn't mean I did well on the OMM part tho (even if i did well on that part of the comsae)

i would have postponed it if it didn't cost 230 bucks to do it. my advice? give yourself 2 days to blow off steam before you start up again. and, it wouldn't hurt to review esoteric anatomy prior to the comlex as well

 

[DaveinDallas]

Well, it's over.....8 hours of frustration and more than one 'What the hell are you talking about?!!!'. Yeah, I took the COMLEX Level 1 today....and I need to vent.....

I really don't know what I could have done that would have helped on one of the worst exams that I've ever seen. I don't just mean content as in 'Dave, you don't know your subject'...but in 'I'd like to buy a vowel, Pat?'....I mean, is it the practice of the COMLEX to give you as little information as possible and no crystal ball or divining rod to determine what the question writer was trying to get at when writing the question.

I made the mistake of spending valuable time doing Kaplan questions. That was a BIG mistake....at least they gave you information that you could piece together and when you viewed the answer in tutor mode, you could see that they were testing concepts and some details. I really feel like some, well, make that a majority of COMLEX questions were trying to determine a 2nd year medical students ability to make leaps to diagnosis with minimal information. You know....there are two possible right answers and gee whiz, Ringo Rangers, that's THE right answer......

I had prepared based on what the Kaplan course and other sources had indicated would be solid preparation. Not so. Again, I really can't think of anything I could have done.....

The only thing I can compare it to is to some OMM exams I have taken. It's almost like you needed an OMM to English translator....this seemed like OMM on 'roids with an attitude.....across all subjects....

It's over now.....should a passing score come my way, it'll be a God thing......it'll have to be....

Oh, by the way, First Aid and Step Up are not enough. Once you can spit all the information in there back verbatim to the nth detail, then you're ready to START studying.....FA/StepUp just lay the foundation, nothing more......

 

[DaveinDallas]

it wouldn't hurt to review esoteric anatomy prior to the comlex as well

That is right as rain....I crap you zero ounces.......

 

[Red Beard]

that was a miserable exam.

I took the usmle on tuesday and walked out thinking, "not that bad..."

taking the comPlex was like pulling teeth for 8 hours (6 really, I couldn't stand it and blew through it)

at least for me... I felt like I had a lot of really hard to answer questions. It's rare to see answer choices on one of these exams that you've never heard of.

I had at least a handful of those.

OMM physical exam tests that I had never heard of in school or in savarese.

about 10Q on PID, 5 on chlamydia, 5 on neisseria, maybe 3 biochem questions.

MOA on psych drugs that you wouldn't usually study very intensely.

I came on here to write something about my test, but see that you've taken the words right out of my mouth.

I may have done pretty well on USMLE and bombed COMLEX. How frustrating.

 

[PlasticMan]

that was a miserable exam.

I took the usmle on tuesday and walked out thinking, "not that bad..."

taking the comPlex was like pulling teeth for 8 hours (6 really, I couldn't stand it and blew through it)

at least for me... I felt like I had a lot of really hard to answer questions. It's rare to see answer choices on one of these exams that you've never heard of.

I had at least a handful of those.

OMM physical exam tests that I had never heard of in school or in savarese.

about 10Q on PID, 5 on chlamydia, 5 on neisseria, maybe 3 biochem questions.

MOA on psych drugs that you wouldn't usually study very intensely.

I have to agree with all you guys on this. I've spoken to a number of friends, who just took the exam this week and we all felt we had a bunch of things we've never heard of before. Maybe it's that we're just so tired by the end of the day, but it seemed to be for us that most of these questions of things we've never heard of we're focused mostly in the 8th block of the exam. Anyone else feel the same way? I was thinking maybe the 8th block is where they stick the experimental questions?

 

[nudmamer]

I took this test yesterday and one of my answers was "building related illness" if that dosen't say it all I don't know what does. I don't know how any one did well on this exam yesterday. A bunch of took this pile of crap and we all agreed "what the hell was that." The first two blocks were flat out simple, 3 not so bad than disaster struck. Pt comes with stomach ache what do they have? You can't be serious. Spelling errors, i think incorrect images (a alledged reed sternberg that looked like cmv or something), answers like "athlete's heart" What in the flying f&*() is athlete's heart? This test was hard because it was about the most random crap ever, the answers took absolutely no thinking you either knew every OMM disease and every single anatomy vessel and innervation and origin or you didn't. Hopefully most people did not because I certainly didn't.

 

[PlasticMan]

I took this test yesterday and one of my answers was "building related illness" if that dosen't say it all I don't know what does. I don't know how any one did well on this exam yesterday. A bunch of took this pile of crap and we all agreed "what the hell was that." The first two blocks were flat out simple, 3 not so bad than disaster struck. Pt comes with stomach ache what do they have? You can't be serious. Spelling errors, i think incorrect images (a alledged reed sternberg that looked like cmv or something), answers like "athlete's heart" What in the flying f&*() is athlete's heart? This test was hard because it was about the most random crap ever, the answers took absolutely no thinking you either knew every OMM disease and every single anatomy vessel and innervation and origin or you didn't. Hopefully most people did not because I certainly didn't.

Hearing other people had similar experiences to me makes me feel a little better I guess. The majority of the people taking this test do pass, right? I had questions on counterstrain tenderpoints I have NEVER heard of before after 2 years of OMM at NYCOM and reading the entire Savarese book. I felt some of the behavioral questions you really needed some clinical experience for - I read the entire HY behavioral and still had questions that I had no clue what to do. The annoying thing was, I felt that no matter how much I would have studied, I still would get these questions wrong. 😕

 

[DaveinDallas]

I took this test yesterday and one of my answers was "building related illness" if that dosen't say it all I don't know what does. I don't know how any one did well on this exam yesterday. A bunch of took this pile of crap and we all agreed "what the hell was that." The first two blocks were flat out simple, 3 not so bad than disaster struck. Pt comes with stomach ache what do they have? You can't be serious. Spelling errors, i think incorrect images (a alledged reed sternberg that looked like cmv or something), answers like "athlete's heart" What in the flying f&*() is athlete's heart? This test was hard because it was about the most random crap ever, the answers took absolutely no thinking you either knew every OMM disease and every single anatomy vessel and innervation and origin or you didn't. Hopefully most people did not because I certainly didn't.

Sounds like everyone got hammered yesterday.....except mine was lousy from the start.....

I've heard from classmates that some people, depending on exam date, got easy,cheesy exams....others got 'ok, get the name of the bus that just ran over me' type of exams.....is there any way to comment on these exams in a respectful manner to the powers that be?

 

[DO it right]

Sounds like everyone got hammered yesterday.....except mine was lousy from the start.....

I've heard from classmates that some people, depending on exam date, got easy,cheesy exams....others got 'ok, get the name of the bus that just ran over me' type of exams.....is there any way to comment on these exams in a respectful manner to the powers that be?

it seems like that those who took it earlier got a more reasonable exam 🙁

 

[jw83]

I took this test yesterday and one of my answers was "building related illness" if that dosen't say it all I don't know what does. I don't know how any one did well on this exam yesterday. A bunch of took this pile of crap and we all agreed "what the hell was that." The first two blocks were flat out simple, 3 not so bad than disaster struck. Pt comes with stomach ache what do they have? You can't be serious. Spelling errors, i think incorrect images (a alledged reed sternberg that looked like cmv or something), answers like "athlete's heart" What in the flying f&*() is athlete's heart? This test was hard because it was about the most random crap ever, the answers took absolutely no thinking you either knew every OMM disease and every single anatomy vessel and innervation and origin or you didn't. Hopefully most people did not because I certainly didn't.

Glad to hear someone else had the same exam! (Although, I think all 12 people at the testing center I was at had the same one too.) Just glad it's over!

 

[hooperg]

I take the COMLEX Friday in Morgantown, WV. I'm a PBLer (Pabst-based Learner) from WVSOM and was wondering if any OUCOM or LECOM-ers would be in the area. This thread has definitely got the pucker-factor up, but to help assuage fears, perhaps these odd questions are the experimental ones...

 

[MikeyLu2010]

i also take it friday, hoping for an easy exam ..wish me luck!..its like the lottery! lol

 

[ShyRem]

Thursday here! I'll post that night and tell y'all how it went.



Unless I'm too drunk. 🙄

 

[freesolo]

does every1 at a test center take the same test? is every1 taking the same test on that day?

 

[nvshelat]

We don't need a permit or anything, do we? I dont think I ever got one. What do we have to bring to the test center besides ID?

 

[PlasticMan]

We don't need a permit or anything, do we? I dont think I ever got one. What do we have to bring to the test center besides ID?

That's it. And I was allowed to wear a digital watch. You stuff all your stuff in a locker.

 

[jtre506]

where are all the student D.O.'s this week?

 

[ShyRem]

Taking it tomorrow. Trying like crazy to relax today and not obsess.

 

[MikeyLu2010]

Taking it tomorrow. Trying like crazy to relax today and not obsess.

gluck shyrem, let us know how it is!

 

[wAxIe]

Taking it tomorrow. Trying like crazy to relax today and not obsess.

Good luck. 👍

 

[ShyRem]

Ok. Just took the !(@* thing. Overall, doable. I'm tired, so please forgive my disjointed ramblings that follow (but I did promise to post).

I had about 4 EKGs. Simple. One was flat out "what is it", one went with s/s from the patient (and you didn't even really need the EKG to figure out the answer), one was "pt shows up with this EKG, and a history of ___, what drug is he on that causes this".

I had a FREAKIN TON of renal and eye crap. I swear to god, I had no less than 4 retinal pictures. Lots of renal: pt has this disease or these s/s, what will you find on biopsy? or 'what is decreased in the pt's blood'. Just a lot of nephrotic, nephritic, pharm side effects that were renal what what caused them, etc. etc. Lots of what would be deposited where and where in the tubule does this work, and side effects (and counteracting them) of diuretics.

I had a bunch o' cranial questions. Go figure. 'Pt has a headache, how would the sphenoid present?'. Several 'which foramen is compressed if the pt has these findings on cranial' type questions. Jaw stuff dealing with cranial. I was hoping for only 3 or 4 cranial questions - I must'a had a dozen or more.

My exam was heavy on the bacT. I had a plague question. Rose gardener's infection. Know your reservoirs for your bacteria. Know your Gram +/- charts. Well. Had 4 or 5 histo slides literally "what is this". Had some very weird bacT stuff that was barely mentioned in my class and only got one or two sentences in the MMRS book. I just checked. Literally 2 sentences. Lots of "what is the most likely pathogen" questions.

The OMM was doable (except the cranial). I had one sacral question. One innominate question. Lots of innervations, several 'where would you expect to find TART findings' type of questions. Two treatment questions. 3 or 4 contraindication to OMM questions. Several "you've done the ShyRem test and it was positive, what does it mean?". So know the names of your physical tests.

I had about 10 OB questions, and another 15 or so neonate questions.

STDs galore. LOTS of STDs. Chandelier's sign was popular today.

Trauma was well represented. Pt fractures this, what s/s would you expect to find? (regarding the nerves that go along that bone). Hand stuff was big. Knee well represented. Spine, of course. Only 3 or 4 bleed questions, and no CTs with a bleed showing. I had 5 or 6 tumor questions tho.

Plenty of thyroid, and most were "which test would you order to confirm the diagnosis" type questions.

Heme - I had about 10 different anemia questions. No lymphomas or leukemias.

OH! and Pharm - I had 4 or 5 graphs with pharm kinetics on it. And a couple graphs with hormones on the x and y axis with several points labeled where you had to answer what you would expect the hormone levels to be based on pt presentation.

bunch o' drug withdrawal questions. Not simple ones, but ones like "pt takes more medication than prescribed for 4 months, what would you expect to be elevated in the liver/kidney/blood etc.?" and things like 'pt admits to heavy use of marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and alcohol and is also taking more than the prescribed amount of every opiod, barbiturate, and amphetamine known to mankind but hasn't taken any in 3 days and presents like crap, which drug or enzyme is causing their symptoms?'

A couple psych questions, mostly simple. Two very easy psych pharm questions where they asked you which drug worked on point A on a fully labeled pathway (basically do you know the names of the drugs).

Plenty on HTN. Very little on asthma. Very little on cancer.

I had 10 matching questions where I was asked to match ILs and cytokines to their actions.

10 HIV related questions. Weird ones.

Very little biochem. I think 3 questions.

No embryo. Zero. Zip. Zilch.

neuro wasn't too bad. Tumors, bleeds, TIAs, pretty straight forward. Except the "which foramen do the nerves that caused the patient's symptoms course through?" which was straight forward if you knew it. I didn't.

Very little virology.

Ok. Enough rambling. Off to drink the bad memories away.

 

[BusterDO]

congrats ShyRem! thanks for the feedback. i'm sure you did awesome! 👍

 

[BBear]

I just took it today as well. Here's the breakdown of my test:

75% of my test was anatomy, neuro, OMM, and micro!
- STDs for micro was HUGE!
- 5 CT scans for neuro
- couple of derm photos related to anatomy
- a LOT of OMM, mostly symp and parasympathetic innervations, about 10 "what is the best tx" type questions, 4-5 "contraindications for tx" type questions, 1 cranial question and 4 sacrum/pelvis questions
- a lot of very detailed anatomy of the brain and the skull bones
- also had about 10 cases that tied in the neuro, OMM treatment, and anatomy

The rest of my test was this:
- 1 EKG
- 15 - 20 pharm questions, of those mostly renal, a few antipsychs, a few drugs of abuse.
- few OB/GYN
- Couple of thyroid questions
- couple of asthma/COPD questions
- Couple of neoplasms
- Only 3 biochem questions related to thiamin deficiency
- couple of medical-legal questions
- 1 schizophrenia symptoms question
- 2 major depression vs. dysthmia questions
- 1 anion gap calculation
- No HIV/immunosuppression, no embryology

 

[gobiggreen]

Took mine yesterday...

Mine had to have at least 30% OMM...I usually liked the OMM questions but it was getting out of hand.

I also was shocked to have about 20-30 biochem/genetics questions...definitely wasn't prepared for that but on the other hand they were rather straight forward.

1 virus question, almost all bacteria but a lot of microbio.

0 embryology.

The rest was pretty evenly mixed. Overall it was a weird test. I found that about 50% of the questions were pretty straight forward...some of them seemed even too simple, I hope I wasn't overlooking something. 25% of the questions were difficult but I hope I worked myself down to a correct answer. The other 25% of the questions were "where did these come from questions".

Anyway, it's nice to be done.

 

[djnels01]

Took the beast today, just got back. A few notes:

-0 embryo questions - don't even waste your time studying it for COMLEX
-I had ~10% of my questions based on OMM topics (VS reflexes, treatments, etc.) and hardly any of them were easy. No cranial questions either; lots of weird fibular head ones, and 1 or 2 sacrum questions that had no right answer... seriously. And I consider myself well versed in the OMM propaganda too.
-The theme of my test seemed to be renal, thyroid, and pregnant women/neonates with bacterial infex. Hardly any viral ?'s, and those that I had were practically all VZV. A few zoonoses that were worthlessly hard. Know your staining procedures for all bugs! And know your treatment regimens and mechanisms of ABx resistance...
-Neuro made up about 15% of my exam - nothing too hard, a few blood supply to certain parts of the brain questions but they were doable.
-The only heme questions I got were about anemias, maybe one question on Hodgkin's.
-Oh and apparently I didn't study enough cell signaling mechanisms and Gestational Diabetes effects. Some nitpicky BS right there.

I left this test thinking "Man, I really have no clue how I did." Which is weird because I felt good about it during the lunch break. Maybe it has something to do with getting mentally exhausted by the end of the day? I can't figure out if the questions were actually harder at the end or if I was just getting more tired. So anyways, I hope I passed.

I definitely get why people say "You either know the answers to the COMLEX questions right away or you don't." It's so true. I don't think I really could have studied any particular subject any more than I did and done any better. Felt like I was playing the slots.

I used First Aid 2007 for most subjects, Kaplan Pharm was a lifesaver, and I attended all Kaplan lectures at my campus. Did the Kaplan COMLEX Qbank and Qbook. Ended up with 72% on the Qbank, got 60's on the Qbook tests (much harder than the joke questions on the Qbank).

Oh and I took COMSAE and got 602. Wish I would've saved my money, but at least it gave me an idea about the lunacy of the questions

 

[samnite]

I just took it and really thought it was reasonable. If you have done UW and read/understand the explanations you will be more than prepared for this test. I found myself amazed at how easy some questions were compared to the hell of UW (though I was far from complaining...lol).

 

[samnite]

Took the beast today, just got back. A few notes:

-0 embryo questions - don't even waste your time studying it for COMLEX
-I had ~10% of my questions based on OMM topics (VS reflexes, treatments, etc.) and hardly any of them were easy. No cranial questions either; lots of weird fibular head ones, and 1 or 2 sacrum questions that had no right answer... seriously. And I consider myself well versed in the OMM propaganda too.
-The theme of my test seemed to be renal, thyroid, and pregnant women/neonates with bacterial infex. Hardly any viral ?'s, and those that I had were practically all VZV. A few zoonoses that were worthlessly hard. Know your staining procedures for all bugs! And know your treatment regimens and mechanisms of ABx resistance...
-Neuro made up about 15% of my exam - nothing too hard, a few blood supply to certain parts of the brain questions but they were doable.
-I totally got the "pregnant woman with STD X" what is safest to drug to treat with: Amox or Azithro (among others)? I picked Azithro cause Kaplan said it's safe in Preggers.
-The only heme questions I got were about anemias, maybe one question on Hodgkin's.
-Oh and apparently I didn't study enough cell signaling mechanisms and Gestational Diabetes effects. Some nitpicky BS right there.

I left this test thinking "Man, I really have no clue how I did." Which is weird because I felt good about it during the lunch break. Maybe it has something to do with getting mentally exhausted by the end of the day? I can't figure out if the questions were actually harder at the end or if I was just getting more tired. So anyways, I hope I passed.

I definitely get why people say "You either know the answers to the COMLEX questions right away or you don't." It's so true. I don't think I really could have studied any particular subject any more than I did and done any better. Felt like I was playing the slots.

I used First Aid 2007 for most subjects, Kaplan Pharm was a lifesaver, and I attended all Kaplan lectures at my campus. Did the Kaplan COMLEX Qbank and Qbook. Ended up with 72% on the Qbank, got 60's on the Qbook tests (much harder than the joke questions on the Qbank).

Oh and I took COMSAE and got 602. Wish I would've saved my money, but at least it gave me an idea about the lunacy of the questions

dude, I think we had the same test....lol

 

[djnels01]

dude, I think we had the same test....lol

Agreed. I read your post and thought "man my post looks like doom and gloom compared to his!" I agree with you on all the questions you remembered, I had ALL of those answers to those questions too. I considered those questions "gimmies" as well. The easy ones were EASY.

 

[hooperg]

The exam, at least my version, represented well our past two years of Hell in the 9th Circle [the really, really cold one].

Neuro: 20%
GI: 10%
Micro: 10-15%
Female Repro: 10%
PHARM: Represents a sizable portion of each of the above. Know pharm inside and out. Pharm cards are good enough for about 9/10 of them, but some questions required Cecil's/Harrison's-level knowledge. I hope they were the experimental ones 🙂

OPP: 20%
Goljan-Relevant Path: 30%
I am not one to preach of the Cult of Goljan (Hallow be His name), but his audio lectures and Rapid Review book easily netted me about 15 questions of random pathology.


I'll post a score, personal stats, and study schedule (if worthwhile) when the scores arrive. Happy studies--happier binging!

 

[samnite]

Agreed. I read your post and thought "man my post looks like doom and gloom compared to his!" I agree with you on all the questions you remembered, I had ALL of those answers to those questions too. I considered those questions "gimmies" as well. The easy ones were EASY.

I also had some ?'s on ME setups for a restricted SC joint, after an inversion ankle sprain (?) too.

I remember those as well. I really was disappointed that they didn't have more straightforward sacral or hip diagnoses/treatments. I felt like all of that time I spent in OMM lab was a waste since they really only emphasize the viscerosomatics on the COMLEX.

 

[djnels01]

I remember those as well. I really was disappointed that they didn't have more straightforward sacral or hip diagnoses/treatments. I felt like all of that time I spent in OMM lab was a waste since they really only emphasize the viscerosomatics on the COMLEX. is this helping anyone?

Shoot, I missed a few of those ones... but got more right than wrong anyway. I also remember:

-2 beesting scenarios
-Pneumo/Meningitis (can't remember) in a guy that went to a football game in New York
-RMSFever versus primary Lyme disease - what's the difference
-I'm pretty sure I got a W.P.W. patient

 

[samnite]

Shoot, I missed a few of those ones... but got more right than wrong anyway. I also remember:

-2 beesting scenarios; what type of Hypersensitivity rxn, what Ig mediates it, how to treat acutely (Epi) and long term (steroids?)
-Contact dermatitis, again what type of Hypersensitivity rxn is it
-Bouts of diarrhea that include inflammation of the rectum = UC (Crohn's spare's the rectum)
-Pneumo/Meningitis (can't remember) in a guy that went to a football game in New York - choices were zebras but I picked Listeria from hot dogs they ate at the game maybe? no clue on that one
-Amniocentesis says baby is 46 XX, U/S shows male parts, how do you resolve this discrepancy?
-RMSFever versus primary Lyme disease - what do the rashes look like and which bugs are involved (Rickettsia vs Borrelia)
-I'm pretty sure I got a W.P.W. EKG too; pretty sure I saw some delta waves in there...

-I think I put IgE for the bee sting and epi acutely and loratadine long term (total guess on the long term management)
-I don't remember the football game one...hmmmm..maybe they do mix the tests up (or I am forgetting it..lol)
-I think I put SRY gene for the sex discrepancy
-I remember the rickettsia palm/sole rash question too
-I remember that EKG but I think I missed it and guessed

 

[jtre506]

Does any oe know how the test are scored? Todays test seemed easier than the versions dicussed earlier. Are todays test scored averaged against the other test? does any one know the percent correct to get a 600?

 

[NDsUltimateJugg]

I agree that yesterday's last section sucked. I made it through and still had half the questions yet to be answered but lucky for me I'd made up some ground so I had some time. But yeah I was just brain dead by that point and there were a whole bunch of questions that were confusing the crap outta me.

 

[nvshelat]

Did you guys get a lot of CS/FPR tenderpoint questions? Finding it hard to remember all of these...

 

[lilzelda2]

Okay I have three days to learn OMM and Anatomy before the test.

Would I be in trouble if I just focus on chapman's points, Innervations, and Sacrum?

I know my Neuroanatomy well, what else should I know besides the limbs?

 

[ShyRem]

If my test was any indication, your focus looks fine. I would know cranial. WELL. And where all those *&#&$ nerves start, which foramen they run through, and what EXACTLY they innervate.

I think I had one or two CS points. I smiled when I saw "Still's technique" in my exam. That isn't covered much in classes generally, but I liked it. I had a couple FPR references too. No more than that.

Three days should be MORE than adequate for the OMM and Anatomy if you paid attention at all during your first two years of med school.

 

[lilzelda2]

Thanks for the input, man I hate OMM

 

[samnite]

I think I was being too specific about explaining test questions before. If anyone has questions about the test, djnels gave a pretty good breakdown without getting too specific. Good luck to all!

 

[DragonWell]

Anybody actually gotten a score back yet? I tested on the 22nd of May and I'm curious how long it's taking to receive scores this year. Getting antsy, I suppose.

 

[It'sElectric]

So is the COMSAE even remotely representative of the real deal? I'm simply asking because I did well enough on it to convince me to move up my exam, if it is in fact representative of what I'll ultimately see on the real deal. I just took the usmle, and I sort of dread waiting another week to take the comlex at this point.

Any opinions out there on this? Thanks in advance!

 

[It'sElectric]

So is the COMSAE even remotely representative of the real deal? I'm simply asking because I did well enough on it to convince me to move up my exam, if it is in fact representative of what I'll ultimately see on the real deal. I just took the usmle, and I sort of dread waiting another week to take the comlex at this point.

Any opinions out there on this? Thanks in advance!

I guess actually reading through this thread has basically answered my question. It sounds like most people think it's fairly representative of the comlex.

 

[lunallena]

Hey all:
took it today, lots of neuro esp limb injuries, head trauma, low back pain..(but no arterial blood supply questions) .Also was surprised with a bunch of stuff on genetics, like inheritance patterns, interpreting blots,etc...

I also got tons of physio questions, especially cardiac and endocrine physio TONS!!!!!! a LOT more physio than expected.

Zero EKG's!!!!! (was hoping for at least one) only 1 question about an interval and that's it!

I got a bunch of histo slides of colon,pancreas,prostate,skin,etc to actual photos of people with different diseases. i felt like many of the photos were needed in order to answer the question. tons of questions on metastasis too.

Some of the OPP questions were weirddddd, especially the cranial trauma ones...viscerosomatics straightforward. Lots of direct/indirect, symp/parasymp questions. Only 2 sacral questions. only 1CS question. Lots of what's the best OMT technique to use questions for certain medical condition.

A bunch of complications of pregnancy questions

I got a bunch of anatomy questions that were very picky regarding visceral organ blood supply as well as innervation.

Not much pharm on my test as i expected. And i felt like the pharm questions were either real easy or ridiculously picky, some weird psych drug indication questions in which i felt multiple answers were correct lol

If i could do it all over i would probably have read the kaplan physio and anatomy blue books, as i felt there was a lot of questions on material that was not covered on first aid or kaplan medssentials(my main study source)

I just hope i pass so i'll never again have to take this test, what a nightmare! I did have a bunch of questions that i felt were poorly written and or vague, there was one that i had no idea what they were talking about...it was an immunology question and i kept staring at it like for 2 mins until i was running out of time and decided to move on. lol

 

[daveyjwin]

Anybody actually gotten a score back yet? I tested on the 22nd of May and I'm curious how long it's taking to receive scores this year. Getting antsy, I suppose.

Patiently waiting here... Tomorrow will be 5 weeks exactly.