COMLEX only for OB/GYN?

[dcratamt]

I am a 2nd year DO student and i was wondering if people in this forum believe that taking just the COMLEX will allow enough residency options in the future for OB/GYN? I think i would have a very hard time prepping for two sets of exams but i don't wanna kill my future res. chances. Any opinions would be great.

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[Flea girl]

I am a 2nd year DO student and i was wondering if people in this forum believe that taking just the COMLEX will allow enough residency options in the future for OB/GYN? I think i would have a very hard time prepping for two sets of exams but i don't wanna kill my future res. chances. Any opinions would be great.

I only took the COMLEX, and have had plenty of interviews. But did get rejections at some places because I did not have USMLE. It really depends on what part of the country your are looking at. West Coast definately would need USMLE, other parts of the country not as big of a deal. Also, beware of some programs that say they accept COMLEX scores on their website but will not interview you unless you have USMLE. Found this one out the hard way. Hope this helps. If you have any more Q's, you can PM me.

 

[community]

You should do a search on the OB forum. This was discussed on an earlier thread.

 

[florida_hokie]

It really depends on your residency desires. I only took the comlex and I feel I experienced more discrimination than I anticipated. I scored pretty well (85%tile step1 and >90th %tile of step 2) but failed to receive interview invites from many of the larger "more prestigous" institutions. Specifically, I was not invited to UVA, Wake, Duke, MUSC, nor Hopkins despite what I perceive as excellent credentials in all other areas of my application. All of my applications were limited to Maryland, Virginia, NC, and SC thus I have no ability to comment outside those areas.

If you will be happy at a "non-name" academic program or many of the better community programs in the mid-atlantic then you will be fine with comlex only, otherwise I would take the USMLE. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Kadyra]

I took the USMLE. I had some program directors thank me for doing this. They get relatively few DO applications at some programs so they don't know how to interpret the COMLEX and how it can help them compare us to the 99.9% of the rest of the applicants. It helps them measure us against the other DO applicants, but because they don't know what it means in relation to the USMLE, they don't know what to do with it. This is not the case with programs more experienced with the COMLEX. But if you are trying to open doors and pave the way for DO's in a program (UW, Colorado, anywhere in California, etc.), take the USMLE.