COMLEX PE paranoia

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glorytaker

glorytaker

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OK, I'm taking the COMLEX PE in a few days and I just have this horrible feeling that I'm going to get the difficult patients and tougher grading because I'm taking it in late March instead of 6 months ago like a lot of my classmates. Like they think I'm a slacker for scheduling it late so they'll fail me on purpose or something. ARGH, why am I stressing over this exam so much?!?! :(
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Take a deep breath. :)

Introduce yourself
Use "pt's" name
Drape pts
Be empathetic
Answer their question
Do some kind of OMM if they bring it up...even just soft tissue
Have some kind of logic to your differential and plan (2 other people who I tested with had different dx/plan on the same pts...we all passed)


You should be fine. I've not heard of any "harder" scoring or cases depending on the time of year taken. :)
 
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But if it's a woman who's like 21, do I refer to her as Miss, Ms. or by her first name? Frick, why am I worry over this? What the heck am I supposed to do for leg somatic dysfunction? Frickin' do a soft tissue massage on their calf?!?! The fear of having to pay another $1000 + flight and hotel makes me more anxious than the shame of failing itself.
 
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You apparently didn't take the deep breath. ;)

Ms is always a safe bet.

Soft tissue counts as OMM. That's what I tried to stick to but I also did articulation & a very basic muscle energy technique. Don't make this too complicated :)
 
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:luck: Don't sweat the small stuff...just remember, you've been doing this kinda stuff for the last 2 years. Best of luck on the test, it's really not that bad...anticipation is a killer!! :luck:
glorytaker said:
OK, OK. Breathe.... 1 2 3... Breathe.... 1 2 3... :)
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Do you have First Aid for the CS? If you can get it, it might make you feel better about taking the exam. The book is a real quick read and felt that the cases presented in that book were very similar to the cases I had. Just relax and you will do fine. Also if yo forget to do something in the exam but remember while you are writing your note, just put that in your note.
 
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F that exam...what a joke. Think it's more about your communication skills anyway. On one patient after I did OMT and asked if it feels better...she said..."not really"....I promptly replied...."good you'll just have to come back tomorrow and pay another co-pay"...now get the f out of my clinic!!!!! Wouldn't stress it too much playas!!!
 
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Idiopathic said:
Take it seriously. My only advice.
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True.
Despite the fact that both the patients an we exam takers are "acting" during the entire exam, if you don't take it seriously (or if they *think* you didn't take it seriously) it could bite you in the @ss...even if you technically did things correctly. This exam is largely subjectively scored and that cannot be discounted.
 
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I'm only a second year, but what would be the correct thing to do/say if your "patient" says there is no improvement after you perform OMM for the COMLEX PE?
 
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futuredo32 said:
I'm only a second year, but what would be the correct thing to do/say if your "patient" says there is no improvement after you perform OMM for the COMLEX PE?
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The same thing happened to me. I tried 2 more omt techs, without any improvement I suggested an MRI :laugh: . Needless to say, I still passed.
 
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Yeah, I'm reading First Aid. I've read it once already and I'm almost done with my second run through. I plan on reading it during the 5 hour plane ride and in the hotel room. I'm way over-stressing this exam. Maybe if there was a testing center closer to me I wouldn't stress it too much.

Regarding the OMT, how about I just not ask if it's better, thereby assuming it worked correctly.
 
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glorytaker said:
Yeah, I'm reading First Aid. I've read it once already and I'm almost done with my second run through. I plan on reading it during the 5 hour plane ride and in the hotel room. I'm way over-stressing this exam. Maybe if there was a testing center closer to me I wouldn't stress it too much.

Regarding the OMT, how about I just not ask if it's better, thereby assuming it worked correctly.
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I just did some omt, then said that they probably would need more treatments, so we would schedule that for them. When asked if they felt better, most patients said "a little."

Testing in Philly just sucks, except for the cheesesteaks...save that for after the test though!!!! :D Again, good luck, you'll do fine. :luck:
 
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Hey, I'm taking it even later than you (late next month) so probably will be into internship before the score even comes back! I do know a classsmate that failed the darned thing but didn't do OMM on a single patient- so I plan on doing it as much as I can or if don't have the time plan to tell the patient that I'm scheduling him or her for follow up OMM!
 
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glorytaker said:
Did anyone do cranial OMT for headaches?
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I can't remember if anyone had a headache, but I mostly did soft tissue and some muscle energy. Remember to explain what you are doing, some of these "patients" have never "had omt" before. :smuggrin:
 
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Seriously, the test is a joke! If you can talk and write, you'll pass this test. You'll be able to figure out what the "patient" has before you sit down, their problems are so obvious. DO NOT STUDY!!! Relax and thank God you didn't pay to take this ridiculous waste of time.
 
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Its largely "standardized" meaning it shouldnt be harder certain parts of the year and easier at other times.

As was probably emphasized earlier, history is important.

care
 
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I perfomed a total cholectomy on a patient during my PE because I suspected Toxic Megacolon. Think I'll still pass? :laugh:
 
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Regarding headaches, if you wanted to do OMT, you could do suboccipital release. I think I actually did do that on one of my "patients" when I took the exam.

And regarding the pt saying they don't feel better, you could just say, "Well, you may not feel better immediately and my actually have some pain at first," which we all know is true (the first time I had lumbar HVLA done on me my back actually hurt more for a little bit). Or you could say, "We could have you come back next week for another treatment."

Seriously, there is no need to stress out about this exam - although I was stressed out too! And driving to Philly when there was a threat of a snowstorm didn't help! :rolleyes:

Good luck, you'll do fine. :luck:
 
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DOtobe said:
Regarding headaches, if you wanted to do OMT, you could do suboccipital release. I think I actually did do that on one of my "patients" when I took the exam.

And regarding the pt saying they don't feel better, you could just say, "Well, you may not feel better immediately and my actually have some pain at first," which we all know is true (the first time I had lumbar HVLA done on me my back actually hurt more for a little bit). Or you could say, "We could have you come back next week for another treatment."

Seriously, there is no need to stress out about this exam - although I was stressed out too! And driving to Philly when there was a threat of a snowstorm didn't help! :rolleyes:

Good luck, you'll do fine. :luck:
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Yeah, I know what you mean. I checked the forecast on weather.com and it said it's supposed to be sunny with no chance of precipitation. Looks like I lucked out since the whole reason I scheduled it in late March was to avoid a blizzard.

One other question, did you guys leave your baggage at the hotel front desk or did you bring it and put it in the locker?
 
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ericdopt said:
Seriously, the test is a joke! If you can talk and write, you'll pass this test. You'll be able to figure out what the "patient" has before you sit down, their problems are so obvious. DO NOT STUDY!!! Relax and thank God you didn't pay to take this ridiculous waste of time.
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Ummm, everybody PAYS to take this stupid exam, no? I know i'm paying for it.
 
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Well, guys, this is it. I'm flying out in a little while and taking it tomorrow. Wish me luck and I'll post how I felt in a couple of days. Thanks for the input and trying to help me calm down! :)
 
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glorytaker said:
Well, guys, this is it. I'm flying out in a little while and taking it tomorrow. Wish me luck and I'll post how I felt in a couple of days. Thanks for the input and trying to help me calm down! :)
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So how did it go for you?
 
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It was a lot better than I thought it would be. I don't know why I stressed so much about it. It's funny, because I was worried about "What if I get a patients with X?" And my first patient was exactly that!!! Overall, I think I passed. (I better have passed, *grumble*)
 
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glorytaker said:
It was a lot better than I thought it would be. I don't know why I stressed so much about it. It's funny, because I was worried about "What if I get a patients with X?" And my first patient was exactly that!!! Overall, I think I passed. (I better have passed, *grumble*)
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Glad you're feeling better now that it is done.:)
My first PE pt was something that I was really hoping wouldn't be on the exam, too! :laugh:
 
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Anyone who took the exam in February get their results back yet?
 
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DireWolf said:
Anyone who took the exam in February get their results back yet?
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Took mine in February. Just looked on-line at NBOME site and........I PASSED! Thank God! I did not want to go through that experience again. I thought the cost was ridiculous and the tesing location SUCKED.
 
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DrMom said:
Take a deep breath. :)
Drape pts
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Can someone tell me how to darpe pts, since we never drape pts in my country.
Put cloth on the pts? What is the cloth look like? How to do it?
 
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cskychen said:
Can someone tell me how to darpe pts, since we never drape pts in my country.
Put cloth on the pts? What is the cloth look like? How to do it?
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It's probably going to be a paper drape. Respect patient's privacy and help them to feel more comfortable. Cover private areas.

Wook
 
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What an exhausting trip to get to Philly and back! Don't come and go ina 24 hr period with the test squeezed in between- I did that and got a serious case of the jet lags! I think I did okay, but on 3 of the notes I hadn't quite finished when they called time. Hope I passed 'cuz I don't want to do it again!
 
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Anyone who took the exam in March get their results back? Took mine March 3rd and still nothing. THe website just says exam taken. Some classmates have already gotten their scores back.
 
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Ice-t,

I agree with ya...if you can manage it try to spend the weekend and once you've completed the exam party it up a little bit. Philly has a really nice downtown area.
 
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Good blog. One thing that really got me was that you couldn't turn off the lights for a fundoscopic exam. First, their eyes are not dilated and now they want us to try to see something with the lights on!!!
 
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They don't really want you to see anything. They want you to go through the motions and pretend like you know what you are doing. They don't know if you are doing it properly or not.
 
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I checked the NBOME website and it had my score up. I passed!!! :) Now, I can sell my First Aid book for it. Man, I feel silly getting so anxious over this test.
 
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glorytaker said:
I checked the NBOME website and it had my score up. I passed!!! :) Now, I can sell my First Aid book for it. Man, I feel silly getting so anxious over this test.
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Congrats! How long did it take to get your score?
 
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Thank goodness that test is now over and I passed. I can't believe I was forced to pay $1000 to take it and a bunch more just to get there. I have heard from numerous sources that the allopaths are going to drop their version of this test, if so maybe the AOA will come to its senses and not inflict this ridiculous matter on the students after us!
 
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Ice-1 said:
Thank goodness that test is now over and I passed. I can't believe I was forced to pay $1000 to take it and a bunch more just to get there. I have heard from numerous sources that the allopaths are going to drop their version of this test, if so maybe the AOA will come to its senses and not inflict this ridiculous matter on the students after us!
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I hope you're right on the MDs quitting that exam, and hope it flows over into the AOA. I thought the test was stressful....I never got comfortable. I talked to an MD buddy of mine who took the CS exam 2 weeks ago. He had 15 mins/10 mins. How ridiculous is it for DOs to have 14/9 mins??!!!! :rolleyes: So ******ed. I just hope I passed.
 
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Heeed! said:
I hope you're right on the MDs quitting that exam, and hope it flows over into the AOA. I thought the test was stressful....I never got comfortable. I talked to an MD buddy of mine who took the CS exam 2 weeks ago. He had 15 mins/10 mins. How ridiculous is it for DOs to have 14/9 mins??!!!! :rolleyes: So ******ed. I just hope I passed.
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That's so typical. I can just see all those old geezers up in their Chicago ivory tower, rubbing their gnarly old hands together, sneering, "Well, anything YOU can do WE can do better! We're going to make them do it in 14/9 minutes instead of 15/10! So, THERE!! Hahahahah!!"
 
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