Comlex level 1 2010 experiences

[Dr1216]

I just realized that we haven't gotten one started year (at least I didn't find one with the search). So, for those of you who have taken it already, please share your experiences (subject break down, types of questions, what resources you used and would recommend , additional advice, etc).

Congratulations on being done!

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[2001bmw330xi]

egh...scheduled to tackle both COMLEX and USMLE in the next week! (starting to get nervous about it)

finishing up uWorld (first time through) tomorrow. After that, going back through the incorrects.

Looking into COMSAE / NBME tests for the end of the week.

 

[Eudjinn]

can anyone comment on Combank or Comsae and the utility of either one for the COMLEX?

 

[2001bmw330xi]

can anyone comment on Combank or Comsae and the utility of either one for the COMLEX?

I spent the better part of my afternoon searching on here for answers from past threads. Some SDNers report that the COMSAE underpredicted their score (some even up to 100 pts!). A few scored lower on the COMLEX compared to the COMSAE.

There was some talk in the past also about errors in the COMSAE key, in particular for a behavioral sciences section so everybody's scores were skewed - not sure what to make of it or how students even figured that out seeing as we don't get to see the answers and which questions we got right or wrong, lol. The info is a little all over the place

 

[PistolPete]

For anyone taking the COMLEX in the coming weeks, please post your experience! I know I will. I'm sure many students will appreciate it.

Good luck slaying the two beasts next week, 2001bmw330xi!

 

[DiverDoc]

For the above poster I have completed COMBANK and have also took a COMSAE exam.

COMBANK did a good job of representing the COMSAE, I thought the comsae questions were worded better. I was surprised at my comsae score (in a good way) and hope I follow the trend of scoring higher on COMLEX. Ill repost after I take it in a few weeks.

 

[randommedstu]

what are your combank averages? i'm stuck at around 60% and am freaking out!

 

[DiverDoc]

what are your combank averages? i'm stuck at around 60% and am freaking out!

I sent you a PM

 

[Gpan]

I've been neglecting the COMLEX material (OMM and other stuffs) for the USMLE prep. Now i only have about 2 weeks left until my test date. I have been doing pretty much Uworld questions and haven't even done 1 COMLEX style question yet.
I just want to know how much different are these questions? What are the highest yield subjects on the COMLEX? I heard they have tons of radiographs and OMM treatment questions, is that correct? Any advice on what to do besides starting reading the green book? I plan on buying a COMSAE test and do it 1 week in, is that enough?

 

[ItzaMiracle]

I would say based on my studying experience, the questions are really diff, but i would actually purchase COMBANK $75 and do those instead of COMSAE $50, and just read the greenbook. I think you would be fine.

 

[Eudjinn]

I have been preparing mostly by doing UW. From what I heard from upperclassmen, COMLEX questions tend to be more vague and poorly written. Hardcore USMLE studying via UW and then adding green book for OMM +/- Combank should "overprepare" you for the COMLEX. This is my strategy. I have been studying geared toward USMLE. The week before COMLEX, I will probably do Combank and read the green book.

I am actually somewhat worried that I am "spoiled" with good information from UW stems that a one line question on the COMLEX might throw me off. Who knows...

 

[2001bmw330xi]

I am actually somewhat worried that I am "spoiled" with good information from UW stems that a one line question on the COMLEX might throw me off. Who knows...

That's what i'm worried about too. The uWorld questions usually give you more than one piece of information you need to figure out the answer or the organism (for micro let's say). After taking one of the COMSAEs, it confirmed in my mind what others had said - COMLEX-style questions give you the bare minimum many times. Sometimes I was reading "questions" that didn't even feel like "questions".

The other thing that I was not prepared for was up to 4 questions 'linked' together. But it is different from uWorld/USMLE:

On uWorld, two questions will be linked together (as evidenced from the box around the two question numbers and it telling you so). When you move on to the 2nd question, your answer from the first one becomes locked in. But, the second question gives you new information usually. There's a better chance here that you could answer one correctly and one incorrectly (or ideally both correctly!) since you are getting some new information.

On the COMSAE (and I'm assuming COMLEX is the same way), it will provide one question stem, and then 2, 3, or even 4 questions with no NEW information. Additionally, the questions are more like follow up questions, so if you didn't get the first one, it's unlikely you'll get the subsequent ones. They'll put in corresponding answer choices for what you might have incorrectly picked in the first question, and then since you didn't get any new information about the case, you'll keep thinking along that same incorrect pathology and pick the corresponding answers that are also incorrect.

I really wasn't prepared for that when I took the COMSAE and I have to say that I dislike it. The only advantage I saw here was that if you later had an "Ah Ha!" moment, you could go back and change the answers. It also made the sections go by faster since I didn't have to read a new question stem as often. Maybe that's how they justify the 50 questions per section versus 46/48? hah

 

[Gpan]

FOr those who have tanke the test, what is a good percentage on COMBANK to get above average on the real COMLEX? I just took a test and got 70%. It's above passing but.................

 

[ppatel1185]

I sent you a PM

I'm also stuck at 60% on the COMBANK and am freaking out!!!

 

[digitlnoize]

I'm also stuck at 60% on the COMBANK and am freaking out!!!

Agreed. My lows are at around 60%, my average is around 70%, and the highest I ever get is ~80%.

Anyone have any idea how this correlates to the real thing?

 

[singinfifi]

If the COMSAE is underestimating scores I think it probably has to do with the fact that the means get adjusted after a bunch of people take the test, which brings me to a question...if I take the COMLEX in may and my buddy takes it in September, is there something in the scoring metric for that?

I'm taking this thing on June 5th, took a COMSAE and I kind of want to jump off a bridge........but I may just bump my test day back a week instead. I'm not sure that'll actually CHANGE much, but it might make me feel better.

If anyone has not yet seen cramfighter (http://www.cramfighter) I highly recommend it.

 

[desijigga]

I just bought combank, done like 60 q's today and I have to say its alot better then the Kaplan Comlex Qbank I been using. The otm somatic dxns in kaplan comlex in every question gets very annoying, and throws me off sometimes. The questions in combank are much harder and better written. Albiet nothing like UW, which is the best q bank but just shatters your confidence lol..

Although I just came across a horrible q on Combank..

Which of the following prolongs the QT interval?

A) qunidine
B) sotalol
C-E) def wrong ans

I put quinidine, since thats the one that is better known and is tested heavily. NOPE, the ans was Sotalol....WTF!!

 

[blahwhatever]

Does anyone know whether there are experimental questions in the COMLEX? Is it similar to Step 1 where they have a few experimental questions every block?

 

[digitlnoize]

I just bought combank, done like 60 q's today and I have to say its alot better then the Kaplan Comlex Qbank I been using. The otm somatic dxns in kaplan comlex in every question gets very annoying, and throws me off sometimes. The questions in combank are much harder and better written. Albiet nothing like UW, which is the best q bank but just shatters your confidence lol..

Although I just came across a horrible q on Combank..

Which of the following prolongs the QT interval?

A) qunidine
B) sotalol
C-E) def wrong ans

I put quinidine, since thats the one that is better known and is tested heavily. NOPE, the ans was Sotalol....WTF!!

Wasn't there a reason for picking the beta-blocker though. They both prolong the QT, but I think there was a rational for going with Sotalol...read the explanation...maybe I'm wrong :/

 

[radiodoc99]

Both COMBANK, COMQuest do an okay job with content. The COMLEX covers much more information and has questions which are more detailed, a it longer (question stem) and involves a lot more two to three step thinking. Dont expect to have questions repeated on the COMBANK and COMQuest on the real exam. Pick one and do more reading. Also, I felt they were helpful for OMM. Saverese has a lot of good information, but so do these question banks. Using class notes or material you are familiar with may be helpful. More reading, higher score. The question banks are ok. COMSAE is good but do it timed and as if you are taking the real exam. It has no answers. Read material you are familiar with in detail.

 

[desijigga]

Wasn't there a reason for picking the beta-blocker though. They both prolong the QT, but I think there was a rational for going with Sotalol...read the explanation...maybe I'm wrong :/

I know that it does cause longer QT, but my point is that Qunidine is more widely known for QT prolongation and torsades. The question is bad IMO because it had 2 right answers... Their explanation was that since Sotalol blocks K+ channels better than Qunidine, it is a better choice.

 

[digitlnoize]

I know that it does cause longer QT, but my point is that Qunidine is more widely known for QT prolongation and torsades. The question is bad IMO because it had 2 right answers... Their explanation was that since Sotalol blocks K+ channels better than Qunidine, it is a better choice.

Yeah, I know, it's ambiguous...unfortunately there are many similar q's on comlex, from what I hear, so get used to it! I think combank puts theirs in on purpose though...

 

[Dr1216]

Both COMBANK, COMQuest do an okay job with content. The COMLEX covers much more information and has questions which are more detailed, a it longer (question stem) and involves a lot more two to three step thinking. Dont expect to have questions repeated on the COMBANK and COMQuest on the real exam. Pick one and do more reading. Also, I felt they were helpful for OMM. Saverese has a lot of good information, but so do these question banks. Using class notes or material you are familiar with may be helpful. More reading, higher score. The question banks are ok. COMSAE is good but do it timed and as if you are taking the real exam. It has no answers. Read material you are familiar with in detail.

Thanks for your input radiodoc. Did you just recently take your exam or did you take it during one of the previous years? Based on what you're saying, would you say that UW or Kaplan Qbank are more representitive than Combank/Quest?

 

[Gpan]

Just FYI, the answer for question #1 in Chapter 3 is actually C, and Not A (in the green OMT review book)

NM, I made a stupid mistake by not reading the question carefully enough. It's A. They asked for the transverse process, not spinous. My bad.

 

[DC DOC]

Yeah, I know, it's ambiguous...unfortunately there are many similar q's on comlex, from what I hear, so get used to it! I think combank puts theirs in on purpose though...

I believe it is because when you compare the Class 1A antiarrhythmics to the class III, like sotalol which is an atypical beta blocker you get prolonged repolarization due to K+ efflux reduction. This increases the ERP as well as the QT interval far more than quinidine would. Also class I drugs effect phase 1(Na spike) whereas the class III effect phase 3(K+ efflux).

I agree, poorly worded question.

 

[randommedstu]

bump..did anyone take it this week?

 

[digitlnoize]

Getting some reports coming in from friends who took it today. Here's what I've heard so far:

Person 1: "Much harder than USMLE which I took earlier in the week. I just thought a lot of questions were way way too clinical and kinda out of left field."

Person 2: "Lots of micro and cardiac. First Aid Pharm. Not too many wtf questions, but not easy."

Person 3 & 4 (same test): "Full of micro pretty much every 3rd or 4th question...like, 20 question on OMM and 100 on micro. Didn't have any levels, they had 3 or 4 exhalation disfunction and what muscle you'd use, they had some innomnate stuff and 3 questions on sacral, i had one about medicaid and medicare, i'm not kidding like every 3rd or 4th question was micro"

Edit: Sound like Persons 2, 3, and 4 all had the same test. 3/4 ammended their report to include cardio. Bupropion for smoking cessation (twice!). Diabetes.

Person 5: Mine had spinal levels...

Edit 2: Getting more details...sounds like they all had the same test. Person 1 says, yes...LOTS of micro."

Thank god I didn't go today.

 

[Dr1216]

Finally! Some insight. Thank you digitlnoize! If anyone else has any similar input, even if it is from others, please share!

Getting some reports coming in from friends who took it today. Here's what I've heard so far:

Person 1: "Much harder than USMLE which I took earlier in the week. I just thought a lot of questions were way way too clinical and kinda out of left field."

Person 2: "Lots of micro and cardiac. First Aid Pharm. Not too many wtf questions, but not easy."

Person 3 & 4 (same test): "Full of micro pretty much every 3rd or 4th question...like, 20 question on OMM and 100 on micro. Didn't have any levels, they had 3 or 4 exhalation disfunction and what muscle you'd use, they had some innomnate stuff and 3 questions on sacral, i had one about medicaid and medicare, i'm not kidding like every 3rd or 4th question was micro"

Edit: Sound like Persons 2, 3, and 4 all had the same test. 3/4 ammended their report to include cardio. Bupropion for smoking cessation (twice!). Diabetes.

Person 5: Mine had spinal levels...

Edit 2: Getting more details...sounds like they all had the same test. Person 1 says, yes...LOTS of micro."

Thank god I didn't go today.

 

[PistolPete]

Thanks for that update! Keep 'em coming if any of you guys find out anything more!

 

[2001bmw330xi]

sounds like there is less variability among questions/forms on COMLEX than USMLE - I had a few friends take it today who told me very similar things, including the medicare/medicaid question.

Honestly, I too am starting to believe that I will find COMLEX more difficult than USMLE.

 

[ppatel1185]

First of all, thanks for all this great info!!! When you say first aid pharm, are you speaking in reference to the book "First Aid for the USMLE" or do you actually mean drugs that would be used as a first aid?? Thanks!

Getting some reports coming in from friends who took it today. Here's what I've heard so far:

Person 1: "Much harder than USMLE which I took earlier in the week. I just thought a lot of questions were way way too clinical and kinda out of left field."

Person 2: "Lots of micro and cardiac. First Aid Pharm. Not too many wtf questions, but not easy."

Person 3 & 4 (same test): "Full of micro pretty much every 3rd or 4th question...like, 20 question on OMM and 100 on micro. Didn't have any levels, they had 3 or 4 exhalation disfunction and what muscle you'd use, they had some innomnate stuff and 3 questions on sacral, i had one about medicaid and medicare, i'm not kidding like every 3rd or 4th question was micro"

Edit: Sound like Persons 2, 3, and 4 all had the same test. 3/4 ammended their report to include cardio. Bupropion for smoking cessation (twice!). Diabetes.

Person 5: Mine had spinal levels...

Edit 2: Getting more details...sounds like they all had the same test. Person 1 says, yes...LOTS of micro."

Thank god I didn't go today.

 

[desijigga]

Honestly, I too am starting to believe that I will find COMLEX more difficult than USMLE.

Amen brother!!

I have heard this from everyone of my friends who took it last year also. The consensus was Micro, Neuro, pharm (psych pharm and Antibiotics especially), OMM, and the test is either cardio or renal heavy. Also comlex loves ob/gyn questions like we all want to go into ... So seeing the early feedback I am assuming they are following the same format, well back to it with kaplan pharm videos and Micro Flash cards.

 

[digitlnoize]

First of all, thanks for all this great info!!! When you say first aid pharm, are you speaking in reference to the book "First Aid for the USMLE" or do you actually mean drugs that would be used as a first aid?? Thanks!

lol...yeah First Aid for USMLE. Pretty much everything you need to know is in there. I made flashcards of that stuff a while back and once I memorized them, my pharm scores went way up. Still not perfect, but it gets you most of the way there...

 

[2001bmw330xi]

Another friend who took it yesterday said only this to me, "know your bugs and drugs, and drugs FOR bugs".

 

[dav86]

Took the comlex yesterday and I can agree with what others are saying. A ton of micro and OMM, felt like those two subjects made up about half of my test. Then Neuro, Pharm and Repro made up the majority of the second half. The first 4 hour block felt pretty good, I finished with like 46 minutes left but the second four hour block I felt like I got my ass kicked, only finished with 5 minutes to spare. There were a lot of straight forward questions, but I think I made some stupid mistakes and some of the questions were just ridiculous. Like poorly written and they took straight forward important subjects (like pneumonia or otitis media) and made them overly difficult and I felt like I was second guessing and even changing some really easy stuff b/c the second part of a lot of my questions was not matching up with the first part. I also had some medicare and medicaid plus like HMO/PPO questions, so study that stuff its definitely fair game. I also had a really really really weird repro ques and I thought for the most part the matching stuff was not like combank at all, just like more random and difficult. I didnt fell good at all leaving the test, but I honestly didnt know what else I could have done. I took the USMLE this past tuesday and felt much better about it. I hope I can reproduce my NBME on that one, but the comlex at this rate I would be happy passing (I mean I should have passed I scored over a 500 on my comsae), but I was expecting so much more from this test and expecting to do better considering I feel like I have been prepping for this for the past three months and I go to a DO school and they have supposedly been preparing me for the past two years. I guess we will see in four to six weeks. If anyone has ques just let me know and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability. Good luck to people that have not taken it and I am just glad step 1 is over for ever.......hopefully...

 

[DiverDoc]

Took the comlex yesterday and I can agree with what others are saying. A ton of micro and OMM, felt like those two subjects made up about half of my test. Then Neuro, Pharm and Repro made up the majority of the second half. The first 4 hour block felt pretty good, I finished with like 46 minutes left but the second four hour block I felt like I got my ass kicked, only finished with 5 minutes to spare. There were a lot of straight forward questions, but I think I made some stupid mistakes and some of the questions were just ridiculous. Like poorly written and they took straight forward important subjects (like pneumonia or otitis media) and made them overly difficult and I felt like I was second guessing and even changing some really easy stuff b/c the second part of a lot of my questions was not matching up with the first part. I also had some medicare and medicaid plus like HMO/PPO questions, so study that stuff its definitely fair game. I also had a really really really weird repro ques and I thought for the most part the matching stuff was not like combank at all, just like more random and difficult. I didnt fell good at all leaving the test, but I honestly didnt know what else I could have done. I took the USMLE this past tuesday and felt much better about it. I hope I can reproduce my NBME on that one, but the comlex at this rate I would be happy passing (I mean I should have passed I scored over a 500 on my comsae), but I was expecting so much more from this test and expecting to do better considering I feel like I have been prepping for this for the past three months and I go to a DO school and they have supposedly been preparing me for the past two years. I guess we will see in four to six weeks. If anyone has ques just let me know and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability. Good luck to people that have not taken it and I am just glad step 1 is over for ever.......hopefully...

What OMM was emphasized? Cranial or sacrum/innominates? Or spinal levels?

 

[dav86]

Ribs, Muscle Energy, and Points (V-S mostly, not many Chap), then some really random ones

 

[Dr1216]

Congratulations on being done! I'm sure that you passed.

Would you say that there were certain resources (ie: Combank, First Aid, etc) or things that you did, that helped you? And others that you wouldn't recommend?

Took the comlex yesterday and I can agree with what others are saying. A ton of micro and OMM, felt like those two subjects made up about half of my test. Then Neuro, Pharm and Repro made up the majority of the second half. The first 4 hour block felt pretty good, I finished with like 46 minutes left but the second four hour block I felt like I got my ass kicked, only finished with 5 minutes to spare. There were a lot of straight forward questions, but I think I made some stupid mistakes and some of the questions were just ridiculous. Like poorly written and they took straight forward important subjects (like pneumonia or otitis media) and made them overly difficult and I felt like I was second guessing and even changing some really easy stuff b/c the second part of a lot of my questions was not matching up with the first part. I also had some medicare and medicaid plus like HMO/PPO questions, so study that stuff its definitely fair game. I also had a really really really weird repro ques and I thought for the most part the matching stuff was not like combank at all, just like more random and difficult. I didnt fell good at all leaving the test, but I honestly didnt know what else I could have done. I took the USMLE this past tuesday and felt much better about it. I hope I can reproduce my NBME on that one, but the comlex at this rate I would be happy passing (I mean I should have passed I scored over a 500 on my comsae), but I was expecting so much more from this test and expecting to do better considering I feel like I have been prepping for this for the past three months and I go to a DO school and they have supposedly been preparing me for the past two years. I guess we will see in four to six weeks. If anyone has ques just let me know and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability. Good luck to people that have not taken it and I am just glad step 1 is over for ever.......hopefully...

 

[dav86]

I mean I used the resources I used for the USMLE. FA, Goljan, Green book (OMM), Uworld, Combank, took Comsae B (scored over nat avg, so felt decent and that was like a month ago), pharm note cards, BRS phsyio, the typical stuff. I thought the OMM was fairly represented by Combank, but that was about it, I mean the other questions on the exam were close to combank, but I thought combank dumbed it down quite a bit and there were some like Medicare/Medicaid I just was not prepared for or payment options for docs. Umm, I think all you need is FA, combank/world, and brs phsyio. People really like a supplemental for micro, but our school taught micro really well and I thought FA was enough, there was just a lot of micro on my exam. Other than that the ques I got wrong I dont know if any other resources or qbanks would help. I think there are just some either you are lucky enough to know it or you have to guess. Its a manageable exam, I was just expecting to easily get over nat avg with the work I put in (over three months) and from what I had done with the USMLE, we will see if that happens

 

[desijigga]

I mean I used the resources I used for the USMLE. FA, Goljan, Green book (OMM), Uworld, Combank, took Comsae B (scored over nat avg, so felt decent and that was like a month ago), pharm note cards, BRS phsyio, the typical stuff. I thought the OMM was fairly represented by Combank, but that was about it, I mean the other questions on the exam were close to combank, but I thought combank dumbed it down quite a bit and there were some like Medicare/Medicaid I just was not prepared for or payment options for docs. Umm, I think all you need is FA, combank/world, and brs phsyio. People really like a supplemental for micro, but our school taught micro really well and I thought FA was enough, there was just a lot of micro on my exam. Other than that the ques I got wrong I dont know if any other resources or qbanks would help. I think there are just some either you are lucky enough to know it or you have to guess. Its a manageable exam, I was just expecting to easily get over nat avg with the work I put in (over three months) and from what I had done with the USMLE, we will see if that happens

Hey I am sure you did well, you been preparing for it for 3 months.

Its just annoying that they are trying to make the COMLEX so hard, that it is becoming a ridiculous exam. That is stupid that so many questions are so vague, if you want it to be hard atleast write better questions. BTW how were the other sections on the exam, Neuro, pharm, repro? where the questions for micro and omm just that vague or was the whole exam like that?

 

[dav86]

The micro and OMM weren't too bad to be honest, like I said I had studied micro a lot and we were really really well prepared, I am sure I missed some but I thought micro questions were actually not that bad, but repro I think killed me. I should have studied it more, but I felt I had a decent grasp of it, but they asked a lot of repro physio and path. Neuro was alright I think neuro is a hard topic no matter what so I didn't expect to kill that section. Pharm was straight forward but there was a lot of it and some of it was random but most of it was what you would expect. If you have a note cards or FA just read over it well I didnt feel that the psych drugs were tested heavily, but maybe I repressed those. If I had to do it again I would hit Micro, Pharm, Neuro, Repro, and OMM hard hard hard. within those I would know bugs more than worms/virus and know repro path/physio well, neuro was a broad topic not really focused on any one thing. Oh yeah and also endo was there too, not a ton but some endo ques were easy and some were tricky. But no biostats, not much immuno, no math, no audio, so very different than the USMLE. And expect ull get a quite a few you have no idea about (clinical presentations of brain tumors, clinical presentations of gait disturbances, PPO/HMO, medicare....just random ***** s***), if you expect that it won't shock you when you get them.

 

[CCOMER]

Just FYI, the answer for question #1 in Chapter 3 is actually C, and Not A (in the green OMT review book)

No A is correct. Draw verterbrae with spinous processes and you will see that A is correct. Confusing wording, I agree.

 

[2001bmw330xi]

Thanks dav86 for your detailed input. I'm sure a lot of people appreciate it. And don't worry - it seems like you prepared well for this exam, and if you found those particular issues to be confusing or difficult, I'm sure many others did as well!

Is there any good resource for the HMO/PPO, payment, and Medicare/Medicaid questions I keep hearing about? What about those topics do I need to understand?

 

[dav86]

The Medicaid/Medicare stuff is supposedly in FA 2010, as is the payment stuff I think. I used the 2009 version thinking that the new stuff wasnt that important, I mean I had none of that on the USMLE, but I guess they like it on the comlex, the ques were basically just what are they, but when you don't study it its hard to even try to reason it out. I understand why it is important, but I was surprised they had that on a Step 1 seems more of a Step II or III topic. The medicare/medicaid question was kind of like an ethics/application ques, like when can someone use medicaid type of thing not just what is medicaid, I have no idea where you could look for that answer, maybe the actual medicare/medicaid website?? I guess I was just ignorant, but never really thought that was fair game, it was only a few ques, but they would be easy if I had just known that was testable. I guess not much I can do now, I just hope I hit over a 500 so I can remain in the running for IM/ER type of residencies.

 

[digitlnoize]

The Medicaid/Medicare stuff is supposedly in FA 2010, as is the payment stuff I think. I used the 2009 version thinking that the new stuff wasnt that important, I mean I had none of that on the USMLE, but I guess they like it on the comlex, the ques were basically just what are they, but when you don't study it its hard to even try to reason it out. I understand why it is important, but I was surprised they had that on a Step 1 seems more of a Step II or III topic. The medicare/medicaid question was kind of like an ethics/application ques, like when can someone use medicaid type of thing not just what is medicaid, I have no idea where you could look for that answer, maybe the actual medicare/medicaid website?? I guess I was just ignorant, but never really thought that was fair game, it was only a few ques, but they would be easy if I had just known that was testable. I guess not much I can do now, I just hope I hit over a 500 so I can remain in the running for IM/ER type of residencies.

When all else fails: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicaid#Eligibility

It's not just for poor people. In fact, that's probably the wrong answer (if that's what they were asking). Eligible categories are: age, pregnancy, disability, blindness, income and resources, and one's status as a U.S. citizen. You only get HIV Medicaid after you develop AIDS (makes sense...shouldn't we pay to keep them OUT of AIDS...*****s). Kids, regardless of parent status.

That's the gist I got. Hope it's enough.

 

[radiodoc99]

COMSAE is a good predictor. The COMBank is based on many student's performance. Some students may delete a bad exam or redo an exam to boost their score inside COMBANK. Either way, knowing the content is key, not the actual scores. For test day, just make sure you know the COMBANK OMM and questions you got wrong. For any exam like your shelf exam knowing the Content is most important not relying on a test bank because what if someone took exams in an untimed mode or answered the same question in COMBANK or another question bank. Before exam day, on a paper write down facts you dont know and their answers. This will help you narrow down your material and organize it.

 

[InTheMaking]

How did people feel about the amount and depth of anatomy on the COMLEX?

 

[Dr1216]

From what i've heard, any anatomy on the comlex is associate with upper extremeties and lower extremeties, and anything else in between that can be tied to OMM (ie know brachial plexus well).

 

[singinfifi]

From what i've heard, any anatomy on the comlex is associate with upper extremeties and lower extremeties, and anything else in between that can be tied to OMM (ie know brachial plexus well).

Hehe. This made me giggle. "Just the shoulder and foot and everything in between" (I know that's not what you meant, it just struck me as funny when I read it). From what i've heard you are absolutely correct, you may want to learn the sacral plexus too (the notorious "foot drop: what did you injure" question. Though many ppl consider that part of the lower extremity. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

From those of you who took the exam, the "bugs" on the test - would you consider FA micro (or Kaplan Med-essentials) a good enough resource for the focused review? Or is another run through "micro made simple" necessary?

 

[Xamwell]

Hey All,

Just took COMLEX the other day. I was primarily studying for the USMLE (will take in two days) and used Kaplan's Q-Bank and COMBANK for combined material. Most of the reports seem accurate. I feel like there was a disproportionate amount of "bugs and drugs". I will say that while I laughed at COMBANK's 1st step reasoning, the real thing wasn't too far off. There were definitely more 2nd-3rd step reasoning questions but certainly not to the n-th degree as on USMLE q-banks. OMM seemed to center around VSM and Ribs stuff for my test. I had very few sacrum questions and they were bizzare. I also seemed to have an uncomfortable amount of cranial questions. There were, in fact, matching sections a'la COMBANK which were either free points or nail biters. I don't remember much psych or behavioral sciences. There were no biostats to speak of. Some strange questions were pulled from the first section of First-Aid (over stuff like physician payments). There were a good portion of clinical-heavy questions which actually had me checking the top of the screen to make sure it didn't say STEP 2. Some of these I was able to answer based off personal experience and others were in-doubt-charlie out. Overall I entered the test knowing I was prepared and left feeling there was nothing else I could have done differently. There were definitely a few WTF's which had me emphatically doing the WTF hands/shoulder shrug at the computer. I suppose it's difficult to condense two years of material evenly across a 400 question test. Either way it's done and after the experience I welcome the USMLE and its well-written questions.