Comlex pe scheduling help

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lunallena

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Hey all:
when is the best month to take the COMLEX PE? i'm taking the comlex CS next yr in august 11. thought about studying for this july 11-aug 11, so i signed up for the PE for august 31(because there are no other good dates available before then). But i thought that maybe november would be better to get more clinical experience before taking the test? also, our school only allows us to miss 2 days per each rotation, so if i miss a day or 2 in september then i was thinking perhaps that would limit the amount of days that i would have for interviews? . what you all think? thanks!!!!!!!!!

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Hey all:
when is the best month to take the COMLEX PE? i'm taking the comlex CS next yr in august 11. thought about studying for this july 11-aug 11, so i signed up for the PE for august 31(because there are no other good dates available before then). But i thought that maybe november would be better to get more clinical experience before taking the test? also, our school only allows us to miss 2 days per each rotation, so if i miss a day or 2 in september then i was thinking perhaps that would limit the amount of days that i would have for interviews? . what you all think? thanks!!!!!!!!!

You should take it ASAP. Being a fourth year, you really do not need any more clinical experience to pass this test. Go over First Aid book for CS & do some OMM techniques on the side & you are good.
The reason for taking it early is that you have no idea whether you are going to pass or fail. The vagueness of the exam, the lack of proper direction from the NBOME & the variations b/w each school's different OMM techniques make for a fun wait for your score to say the least. If you take it early & do not pass, you at least have the option of retaking it before graduation date.
There have been a couple of people at my school that failed & could not retake it & had to wait a year, while others who had to start their residencies late.
 
Is it a good idea to wait until after you finish all your third year required rotations? Are there certain rotations that you should defintely have before taking the comlex pe?
 
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Best one to do just prior to this would be FP although most people that I know that failed was for one of two reasons
1) Humanistic portion
2) Documenting that they did something when they hadn't

So the actual SOAP writing is fairly easy, it's just the stupid "drape the patient the correct way, even though the NBOME has never said what the correct way is" crap that is the COMLEX PE, that gets people.
 
You should take it ASAP. Being a fourth year, you really do not need any more clinical experience to pass this test. Go over First Aid book for CS & do some OMM techniques on the side & you are good.
The reason for taking it early is that you have no idea whether you are going to pass or fail. The vagueness of the exam, the lack of proper direction from the NBOME & the variations b/w each school's different OMM techniques make for a fun wait for your score to say the least. If you take it early & do not pass, you at least have the option of retaking it before graduation date.
There have been a couple of people at my school that failed & could not retake it & had to wait a year, while others who had to start their residencies late.

Excellent advice. Take it at the end of 3rd year if you can.
 
here I am sitting in my Hotel room on Conshohocken PA, counting down the minutes untill I need to be there at 130 this afternoon! :thumbdown:xf::barf::barf:
 
I did not realize how fast the dates fill up and the only dates left for the comlex PE are in April or november. Would it be better to take it in April near the end of my third year or in november of my fourth year? Thanks for any suggestions.
 
I did not realize how fast the dates fill up and the only dates left for the comlex PE are in April or november. Would it be better to take it in April near the end of my third year or in november of my fourth year? Thanks for any suggestions.

Definitely do April. You do not want to risk a "fail" & not being able to retake before graduation.
Try to get a good FP/IM rotation for the month prior but that is not a necessity.
 
I did EM as my first rotation of fourth year (June) and then took the PE at the end of that. It was excellent preparation in being efficient. Like FutureInternist said, FP would probably be good preparation, too, for the type of focused encounters that the PE has. (Even better if you do some OMT on the rotation -- that was my rustiest skill, though good enough to pass).

I know the dates vary from field to field, but I'm pretty sure you won't have interviews in September, so don't worry about that. November is interview time, though, so you don't want to be worrying about it then.

April seems a little early, depending on what rotations you've done, but if you're deciding between April and November, it's no contest. Get it over with early.
 
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