COMLEX 3 new format experiences?

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I'm taking COMLEX 3 in a few weeks and I get this email from the NBOME about an "Exciting" addition with CCS cases. Has anyone taken the new test ? Any input?
Thanks
Sox
 
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Im currently a 4th year who is trying to go to as many interviews as she can. However, with a failure on the PE, my invites have been less. Should I buy a year of comquest and combank for step 3 just to study whenever I can. I have finished my auditions and am just doing our school shelf exams and required ICU and ER rotations.

I figure i took level 2 at the end of august so if I do the questions for level 3 it should be easier and maybe a comsae by the time i graduate. i feel like **** about the comlex pe so i want to do something besides just wait anxiously for my retake score.

i feel like people arent giving me a chance with my comlex pe.


should i do combank or comqust? i found combank better for level 2 prep purposes. i mean come on comquest, how many centuries will it take you to develop a mobile app?
 
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Passed with a 654!!!! Not sure how I did so well given the crapiness I felt after that exam. Stoked to be finished with the NBOME forever!!
 
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No more NBOME. No more Chapman's points. No more type 1 this rotated right that. I want to rinse out my brain of that crazy business.
 
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Time to burn my green book and say goodbye to the NBOME and their nonsense forever.
 
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Superman DO said:
Passed with a 654!!!! Not sure how I did so well given the crapiness I felt after that exam. Stoked to be finished with the NBOME forever!!
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Same. I thought I barely passed and, well, did extremely well, just a bit shy of 700.
 
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Bacchus said:
Same. I thought I barely passed and, well, did extremely well, just a bit shy of 700.
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I was happy with a just a 350 going into the test, but I decided to pursue a fellowship after I took it. So, I'm pretty happy that I didn't completely bomb it. Though, I'm not sure how much this score matters anyways. Now, I can look forward to the dreaded peds boards. . . .
 
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So, took my test today. . . and no new section. I thought this was a thing now, wtf? Also that test set a new bar for stupid. Hope I passed.
 
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chet said:
So, took my test today. . . and no new section. I thought this was a thing now, wtf? Also that test set a new bar for stupid. Hope I passed.
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Oh that's interesting. Did you get an email before your test about changes like people had said? Exam was Stupid has in the questions were really vague and esoteric or easier than you expected? I'm sure you studied well and did fine.
 
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balash said:
Oh that's interesting. Did you get an email before your test about changes like people had said? Exam was Stupid has in the questions were really vague and esoteric or easier than you expected? I'm sure you studied well and did fine.
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I don't think I got a message, but I thought I read hear that other people were upset about not getting the message then seeing the changes on the test. . . I could be making that up though.

Stupid as in I was a little frustrated post test, its not easier or harder than expected, just typical comlex type frustratingly random points of emphasis.
 
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chet said:
I don't think I got a message, but I thought I read hear that other people were upset about not getting the message then seeing the changes on the test. . . I could be making that up though.

Stupid as in I was a little frustrated post test, its not easier or harder than expected, just typical comlex type frustratingly random points of emphasis.
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Yea your right...even if you do study the major things they still have off the way questions that you can't find in any board study book so you really don't know if all those random questions that you may get can significantly affect you. Step 1 comlex seemed more straight forward...if you studied First Aid well enough you would most likely be fine but Step 2 didn't feel that way. I guess Step 3 is like that and maybe even more random/off the way questions?
 
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anyone have any ideas on studying for Step 3? will doing most of Combank or comquest be the best option especially with the limited time you get to study during residency or if you were able to just pass step 2 doing that method do we need to do more for Step 3? Asking about step 3 in general because i don't think there is a way right now to study for the new changes that recently took place. Any input would be great!
 
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Took it today and no new section for me. Just reviewed some of my weak areas and did questions to prep, but I don't think it would have made any difference if I took it cold. It was typical comlex nonsense and I'm just hoping for a pass so I never have to deal with this BS again.
 
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Took it today as well. Already finished prelim med and now in pmr residency. I'm have no clue,what that was. Guessed on 60% at least. A lot of the "high yield" questions were completey absent. Lots of knowing what health agencies to contact for infectious diseases, TB precautions, HIV, and although there was a lot of ob, it wasn't similar to previous exams. No sacrum questions or chapmans points. Almost all omm questions involved treatment positions (Especially pelvis). Just need that 351. I did comquest once with 66% average which is a bit above average and then retook about 300 questions later plus redid omm questions. Honestly I don't think it mattered.
 
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Took it today. Studied about a week, and, honestly, not sure studying any more would have done me much good. Thought it was a fair test. Even distribution among topics. Very level 2 like. Wished I had taken level 2 and 3 back-to-back....would have done better. Combank was really good prep. Don't neglect your OMM.
 
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Psych Intern who just completed most of his medicine months. Took exam today, and felt it was just as random as step II. Used UWorld and Comquest, felt comquest was overall more representative of the exam. Studied 1-2 hours per night (sometimes skipped), and ~4-5 hours on weekends for 1-2 months prior to exam. A LARGE portion of my exam was pediatrics, wayyyyy more than what it should have been IMO. I crammed Savarese the day before, helped with a HUGE chunk of the questions, make sure to study Savarese. Lots of viscerosomatic reflexes, almost no chapmans pts. Many questions asking which "department' you would contact in certain situations.
 
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Any idea if there is any talk about making the additional case section standard and if so timeline for doing so?
 
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HristosKaran said:
Psych Intern who just completed most of his medicine months. Took exam today, and felt it was just as random as step II. Used UWorld and Comquest, felt comquest was overall more representative of the exam. Studied 1-2 hours per night (sometimes skipped), and ~4-5 hours on weekends for 1-2 months prior to exam. A LARGE portion of my exam was pediatrics, wayyyyy more than what it should have been IMO. I crammed Savarese the day before, helped with a HUGE chunk of the questions, make sure to study Savarese. Lots of viscerosomatic reflexes, almost no chapmans pts. Many questions asking which "department' you would contact in certain situations.
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took it today and pretty much echo the same thing. peds coming out of my ears. i just kept thinking "dang...ANOTHER peds question?!?!"

i'll be happy with a 350 so i can be done with these tests for good
 
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chet said:
So, took my test today. . . and no new section. I thought this was a thing now, wtf? Also that test set a new bar for stupid. Hope I passed.
Click to expand...

Got my score today, passed with a 853/98.

I realize this makes me look like a douche for whining after the test, but I think it should be mandatory for us whiners to update that everything turned out ok so people don't get freaked out.

As far as studying I read MTB 3 x 1, read over the OBGYN and Peds notes I took for Step II which helped a lot. Then I did about 3/4 of comquest, I think I was getting 70-80%. All this took about a month of 1-2 hours/day.
 
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chet said:
Got my score today, passed with a 853/98.

I realize this makes me look like a douche for whining after the test, but I think it should be mandatory for us whiners to update that everything turned out ok so people don't get freaked out.

As far as studying I read MTB 3 x 1, read over the OBGYN and Peds notes I took for Step II which helped a lot. Then I did about 3/4 of comquest, I think I was getting 70-80%. All this took about a month of 1-2 hours/day.
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wow that's an amazing score! but you are probably a good tester? and did well on previous comlex and/or usmle exams?
 
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Took it 12/5. Enormous amount of OMM (probably 50% of the exam). As someone in IM who hasn't even thought about OMM since step 2.... Yikes.
 
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anyone have audio murmurs on their test recently? any suggestions on how to study for these?
 
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I had a few. Just know location of max intensity and if systolic/diastolic and it should narrow choices.
 
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Took the test today did not have the new section on my test as well, lots of OMM (Treatment and setup) plus the usual OB and pediatric session

Just a quick question after you guys finished the test did the prometric center give you a confirmation paper saying the test was completed, I could not recall if we had previously received it when we took Level 1 and 2 but do remember getting it for USMLE. thanks
 
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dreamer02140 said:
Took the test today did not have the new section on my test as well, lots of OMM (Treatment and setup) plus the usual OB and pediatric session

Just a quick question after you guys finished the test did the prometric center give you a confirmation paper saying the test was completed, I could not recall if we had previously received it when we took Level 1 and 2 but do remember getting it for USMLE. thanks
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negative. the chicks behind the desk were saying" uh....does he get a confirmation sheet? i'm not sure.....I cant remember. hold on a sec while we check.....nope, looks like you dont get one so have a nice day"
 
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Hey guys I am scoring 60% on comquest. the average is 65%. I take my exam on the 17th of Jan. Im thinking of rescheduling. What are your opinions?
 
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Well I passed easily (600). See above for how I studied, I still feel the test is hard to prep for because it's so random. Goodbye OMM!!

To the guy above me, I would take it. I thought comquest was great for step 2, but didn't find it had similar questions to comlex 3. That said, I did slightly better on step 3 somehow.
 
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Received my score today. EM intern. 1200 COMBANK questions at approximately 72%. Master the Boards III x 1. Score: > 650.

I had been told that COMBANK was better for level III, and, for me, I thought that advice was spot on. Especially for the OMM. The question style was also very similar to the real thing. I recommend it.

Advice: For new interns next year, take this test early on in your intern year or the first rotation where you have a reasonable amount of downtime. It's very Level 2 like. Study plan that I think will work: COMBANK + Master the Boards III + Savarese + no more than a few weeks. A word to the wise: Don't neglect your OMM. Those questions are easy points if you just do a little review and do the COMBANK questions, but you can also lose a significant amount of points really quickly if you don't review. There is a significant amount of OMM on the test.

As a caveat, being an EM resident was definitely an advantage on this test.
 
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done and DONE!!!! scored way better than i did on the first two, so even though i would have been happy with a 350 it was a nice cherry on the top. good bye and good riddance nbome!!!!!!!!

cant agree more with the above post. take it early. that was the exact combo i used to study. OMM was easy points and there were quite a few questions so dont neglect it. I've talked to quite a few residents that made comments along the line of "there were a lot that i was pretty sure of, but if i would have at least just revieved some OMM it would have been a cinch"

and peds....study that stuff
 
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absolutdokta said:
done and DONE!!!! scored way better than i did on the first two, so even though i would have been happy with a 350 it was a nice cherry on the top. good bye and good riddance nbome!!!!!!!!

cant agree more with the above post. take it early. that was the exact combo i used to study. OMM was easy points and there were quite a few questions so dont neglect it. I've talked to quite a few residents that made comments along the line of "there were a lot that i was pretty sure of, but if i would have at least just revieved some OMM it would have been a cinch"

and peds....study that stuff
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Did you guys have the new portion of the exam?
 
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So I took the exam this last Saturday and there was no CDM! I got to block 8 prepared to deal with it and that block was just like the others. So I have to ask....WTF?

Also tons of peds on this exam. Some questions that I am not sure how you could study for. OMM questions were not nearly as difficult on previous levels.

See you all in a month when I get my score...........
 
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