Comlex Level III

[docmartin]

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Anyone out there taken Comlex III on the computer yet? If so, how was the format, similar to Qbank? I am taking it in two weeks. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[blondarb]

Anyone out there taken Comlex III on the computer yet? If so, how was the format, similar to Qbank? I am taking it in two weeks. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

BUMP!! I'm taking it in 4 days. Curious how it goes.

 

[1astmanstanding]

come on guys...a little more feedback here

 

[VentdependenT]

come on guys...a little more feedback here

Isn't it the first time its being offered?

 

[DOtobe]

Wow, you guys are early!
I'm planning on taking it sometime in December. I don't feel ready yet!

 

[docmartin]

Alright, seeing how y'all were so helpful posting information. I figured I'd share the wealth. It's basically like USMLE. You have 8, 50 question blocks to complete in 9 hours including breaks and lunch. The format was a little different, I had a hard time figuring out how much time I had left for each block. But there was plenty of time for each set. You get an optional 10 min break between your 2nd and 3rd set of question blocks. You get an optional 40 min lunch, and then another 10 min break between your 6th and 7th block. I started at 8:15 am, did the tutorial, and was done by 1:45pm. I only took the two ten minute breaks. The pictures were fair to poor (e.g. CXR, EKGs, other films, etc), but you could basically figure out what they wanted based on the question. Don't forget lots of OMM stuff, prob 10-15% of the exam.

Well good luck to all, better to take it earlier than later. Yeah baby, I'm all done!

 

[DOtobe]

Thanks for the info, docmartin!

I'm taking it on December 10th. It will be nice to start 2006 with no more exams to take! (for a while, at least)

 

[double elle]

Just took it Thursday. Leave it to the good ol' NBOME to give questions that lack in history. There were certain questions that said something like "which of the following would you recommend to the patient?"....okay....so, you could eliminate 3 of the 5...that takes you down to two possible choices. You either could pick and dumbest, obvious choice and assume your patient is a total ***** and couldn't come up with this on his/her own....or you could pick the choice that actually makes sense IF they are smart enough to do the other choice on their own. For example...if someone can't sleep....narrow the choices down to 1)advise them to turn the light off or 2) tell them to get out of bed if they can't sleep and read or do something else productive. Um.....see what I mean? #2 is recommended for good sleep hygiene...but #1 is important, too......but, do I REALLY need to tell my patient to make sure the lights are out?????? I picked number 1.....I tried to take the questions at face value...but, again (just like the previous 2 exams), it was difficult. A LOT of OMM, I thought. Didn't have much cranial, a LOT of sacral stuff.

I was frustrated because the stuff I had to guess on....there's no way I could have studied for.....ethic stuff, interdisciplinary stuff (home health, etc). Some of the medical questions that I can remember having to guess at...I still haven't been able to find the answer to.

Best of luck. Hopefully I passed. Hospital paid for this time....I'd have to pay for the next one!

 

[staydin]

What did you guys use to prepare for the exam? Both for the subject matter, and the computer format?

Thanks

 

[blondarb]

I agree with the above posts. Nothing too surprising on this test. I never had any incredibly strange questions as above, but as always I wasn't sure what the OMT questions were looking for. I seemed to do a lot of sacral manipulation on my test.

Anyone else notice that on the NBOME website the test still says "scheduled". Makes me a little apprehensive. I would rather it said "Pending" or some such thing.

Just glad the stupid thing is over.

What did you guys use to prepare for the exam? Both for the subject matter, and the computer format?

Thanks

I just did the basic Crush the Boards Step 3 and NMS Questions Step 3.

 

[docmartin]

I too used Crush 3, some OMM notes I had, and I got Kaplan Q bank which was overkill. In hindsight, I could have used that 149 bucks towards something else. Honestly, I really only studied the day before the exam, reminds me of med school exams. But remember you only have to pass and from what I remember, 350 is passing for Level III...woohoo for underachieving!

I agree with the above poster, I don't like how my Comlex Level III status still appears as though I haven't taken the exam on the website. I assume it'll be a few months before we get our results back...sigh.

 

[1 D.O.]

Wow, you guys are early!
I'm planning on taking it sometime in December. I don't feel ready yet!

DOtobe:

I,m another DO preparing for step three in the area are you intrested in maybe getting together and comparing notes? If so email me @ [email protected] I have seen the paper/pencil version of this test before.

 

[GMO2003]

What did you guys use to prepare for the exam? Both for the subject matter, and the computer format?

Thanks

passed very comfortably by doing crush step III, kaplan q bank, and savarese...the test basically blows no matter how much you try to prepare for it...some people are just better at taking test than others...I was never a great test taker...hence my straight 50-55%tiles on all 3 steps...step III is definitely a test I DO NOT want to take over...it's like a hang nail you want to get rid of so you can move on with the next phase of your training 👍

 

[VentdependenT]

NMS step III
Crush Step II
Strong Medicine

Done deal

 

[joaquin13]

when do all of you suggest is the best time to take Step III?

 

[1 D.O.]

Sorry "to be gave you the wrong email try [email protected] or you
can call me at my office 412-262-4694 ask for Dr. Alexander, hope to hear
from you.


1D.O.

 

[DOtobe]

Bumping...

Has anyone else taken COMLEX-III yet? I'm already starting to get nervous for my December exam date.

1 D.O., where are you a resident? Are you in Pittsburgh?

 

[colchicine]

Bumping...

Has anyone else taken COMLEX-III yet? I'm already starting to get nervous for my December exam date.

1 D.O., where are you a resident? Are you in Pittsburgh?

Well I just took it today...
I've never used Qbank or took the MD boards so it was pretty new to me but basically, it's 8 sections of 50 questions each divided in 4 am sections and 4 pm sections. You have 4 hours for the am sections and 4 hours for the pm ones. In addition to the 40 min lunch break between am and pm sections, you are allowed to take two 10 min breaks (between sections 2 and 3 in the am and 6 and 7 in the pm). Now, what I didn't know is that these 10 minutes are deduced from the 4 hours. However finishing the exam is not really an issue.
It was my first time taking a computerized exam and I personnaly prefer the paper and pencil format. My eyes were getting very red by the end (the fact that I wear contacts doesn't help the matter). How do radiologists do it...having to look at films 8 hours a day ???

However, overall, the test itself wasn't too bad. I found one of the sections to be very hard (the very first one...which is not a great way to build confidence) but all the other ones were manageable.

I focused the bulk of my studying (2 full weeks) on OBGYN, Peds and OMT since I've had very little exposure in these areas if any at all in the past couple of years...
And apparently I did the right thing since these 3 topics covered about 1/2 to 2/3 of all the questions.
Know your OBGYN cold but after all, you should all be used to it by now...they've done this to us on every Step !!!
But personnaly I don't mind cause OBGYN does make sense to me...

Peds and Peds ER were EXTREMELY emphasized...so know it pretty well

There was quite a bit of Psych also (I would say at least 10% of my exam)...know all the criteria on how to diagnose different psych conditions...comlex always gets you with these...for example the symptoms are the same but it's schizophreniform if it lasts between 1-6 months and therefore you can make the diagnosis schizophrenia ONLY if it's been lasting for more than 6 months etc...also know when to use SSRI's versus TCA vs buspirone etc...also, know the side effect profile of all the psych meds...
A LOT of child psychology conditions and how to manage them...a lot of questions on poor school performance and what to do next etc...

Medicine was not really emphasized except for GI...I felt like over half of the medicine questions were GI questions and a lot of them were like "what's the diagnotic test you would order"...barium enema vs upper GI series vs EGD vs bleeding scan etc..

Not much surgery at all, quite a few ER questions however...a lot of Qs started with " A child or a man comes to the ER with this and that...what's the first thing you would do or order..."

A few EKG's, CXR and Derm pictures as well...I felt the EKG's were WAY easier than on step 2 which is kind of ironic...


Hopefully this was a bit more detailed than what's been posted on COMLEX 3 so far...

Good luck to all of you taking it...

 

[1 D.O.]

Bumping...

Has anyone else taken COMLEX-III yet? I'm already starting to get nervous for my December exam date.

1 D.O., where are you a resident? Are you in Pittsburgh?

family practice in coraopolis PA right down the road!

 

[1 D.O.]

Bumping...

Has anyone else taken COMLEX-III yet? I'm already starting to get nervous for my December exam date.

1 D.O., where are you a resident? Are you in Pittsburgh?

family practice in coraopolis PA right down the road! Coraopolis Health Center
412-262-4694.

 

[DOtobe]

Thanks for the info, colchicine! 👍

 

[colchicine]

Thanks for the info, colchicine! 👍

No problem...it was my pleasure !!!

Also I gotta say, I used the following sources:

Boards and wards...the single best comprehensive source in my opinion !!!
High Yield OBGYN
1st Aid Pediatrics
Savarese for OMT
Crush the Boards
I also had bought 1st Aid Step 3 but I didn't like it at all...such a waste of money !!!

I didn't do many questions...basically only the ones NBOME gives you (the booklet and the ones posted on their website), I always felt these were pretty similar to the ones on the exam although quite a bit easier than the real thing...

DOtobe, which hospital in Pittsburgh are u doing your internship at ?

 

[DOtobe]

Colchicine-
I am at UPMC St. Margaret.

Sorry it took me a while to write back. I am on night float and barely know my name right now.

I chickened out and decided to reschedule my COMLEX. December is too soon for me, and November is only two days away...so now I am taking it a lot later, in March.

Have the PA state OMT exam coming up next weekend, and I'm nervous about it 👎

 

[colchicine]

Colchicine-
I am at UPMC St. Margaret.

Sorry it took me a while to write back. I am on night float and barely know my name right now.

I chickened out and decided to reschedule my COMLEX. December is too soon for me, and November is only two days away...so now I am taking it a lot later, in March.

Have the PA state OMT exam coming up next weekend, and I'm nervous about it 👎

Well that's ok, especially if your program only requires you to sit for it by PGY2. My rotating internship program really didn't care but my residency program next year requires me to have it passed before PGY2 so I wanted to take it ASAP, but I hear we're not getting our scores back till February. However, it's a good feeling to get it over with.
Well, best of luck with the OMT state exam, I can't believe you have to take such an exam...
If you have any more questions...let me know

 

[blondarb]

Anyone get there scores back? The nbome website now says I'm approved to take the test, but it has not told me if i passed yet.

 

[blondarb]

So I just called the nbome and they told me the people who took the first round of computerized tests (step 3) will not have their scores until February.

Hope you weren't holding your breath for your score.

 

[apellous]

Anyone use swanson's family med? Is it worth it or should I just use crush and NMS like the masses?

 

[docmartin]

That sucks...but i'm not surprised...stupid nbome..

 

[drNascent]

Just finished the COMLEX III, study USMLE First Aid for Step III, Savareese for OMM, and then go through COMBANK for focused relevant questions and answers... qBank is overkill and questions were not relevant to the test.

You should be able to cram through these three things in a week or two and do great. cheers - drNascent

 

[Dello]

Way to bump a 5 year old thread 🙄