COMLEX PE - worried :/

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#hopeful

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Just took it last week and essentially I walked out almost crying. Guess I'm looking for a little reassurance, or maybe advice on how to tackle a retake at this point. I keep reliving it over and over again in my head. It went so badly. Here is a decently long list of what I did wrong during my test (I don't think these violates the confidentiality agreement, but if it does let me know so I can edit appropriately):

- Stumbled on my questions a lot, paused a lot in between to think of questions
- A few patients I had no idea what the problem was - I gave a quick diagnosis most of the time with vague explanation of the plan afterwards. one patient I straight up said I don't know what the issue is, I'm just gonna go with this diagnosis for now and get a bunch of other tests to check out other diagnoses.
- OMM - I sucked so badly, two of the patients I don't even know what the appropriate technique was. I just kinda made it up and didn't have enough time to treat them properly. I asked really quickly in the room if it helped and the patients said "a little"
- Ran out of time a few times in the interview, probably 3-4 times.
- Ran out of time on SOAP notes. I got something in each box each time, but the subjective I would run out of time. Probably at least 4 times that happened.
- Forgot to drape two patients - i apologized the first time. second time I ran out of time, thanked the patient and just walked away.
- Patients were clearly getting annoyed with me with my questions and what I was saying - maybe that was a test but I tried my best to be nice about it
- Not sure if I answered patients questions appropriately/to their liking.

Just it was a mess. I could feel the nervousness kick in each time. Lord knows what nervous ticks I had that I didn't even realize I was doing that might have hurt me. If you read it this far, thank you so much. Just advice or others experiences of people who made similar mistakes and it was okay in the end. The whole thing was so traumatic, I don't even know how I'd be able to take it again. :(
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I can't commiserate with you much as I haven't taken it, but I'm hoping the best for you. Take some solace in that the pass rate is pretty high and you're not the only one who was insanely nervous and not the only one to make mistakes. Hang tough.
 
Yeah, I know everyone generally makes mistakes. But it's hard not to think that the ones I made were bad ones. Especially when you see people failing this thing without knowing why. Just frustrated because I actually prepared for the test. Watched the combank videos, practiced cases, practiced soap notes. And because of nervousness, I might not even match. I won't get my score for awhile, and if I have to retake it, I won't have a passing score in time for the AOA match. feels like 3 yrs of hard work down the drain.
 
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I felt absolutely awful after taking it. My exam skills seemed iffy and my assessment and plans were flat out wrong a few times. I passed.

:) i think we all felt that way after walking out of the exam
 
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Yeah, we all felt that way. I had a rather obvious life threatening emergency on my hands, knew what it was in my head but had no idea WTF to do -- so for some reason known only to God, I laid homeboy on his side and checked his PMI. Yeah, real good job, super trooper -- dudes about to croak if you don't get him in an ambulance to the ER RFN and you check his PMI -- genius level work, I tell you, genius level work -- DeBakey would be impressed...or at least amazed...probably at the level of stupidity.

"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" --- King James English for "Let's not borrow trouble" -- no use worrying/ruminating over it now....wait for the results -- if you pass, it's Miller Time. If you fail, you'll have time then to a) worry or b) do something productive like get feedback from your clinical medicine department and practice, practice, practice.
 
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#hopeful said:
Yeah, I know everyone generally makes mistakes. But it's hard not to think that the ones I made were bad ones. Especially when you see people failing this thing without knowing why. Just frustrated because I actually prepared for the test. Watched the combank videos, practiced cases, practiced soap notes. And because of nervousness, I might not even match. I won't get my score for awhile, and if I have to retake it, I won't have a passing score in time for the AOA match. feels like 3 yrs of hard work down the drain.
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We hope you pass. When you get the results, make sure to post back in this thread and tell us how you did. I'm sure tons of people will be in your situation in the future and it'll help those who are searching for similar answers.
 
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honestly, don't worry about it. a lot of people feel like **** afterward--including me. all you can really do is just be polite.

i really think they just randomly assign 2-6% of students to fail. there never seems to be rhyme or reason as to who they choose.
 
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Wow, thanks for the responses everyone! It always helps knowing that I'm not the only one who felt this way about this test. Such a rough experience. I guess it's just a waiting game at this point. Leaving it up to fate now. I'll definitely post on here what ends up happening to let others know that it'll be okay/dont be like me.
 
Just took this test recently. My god, I think we all felt stressed going into it, but the angst of that two month wait is already making me neurotic. Especially with each passing day, I keep thinking back to the SPs and all the things I did wrong. Best of luck to all of you who are in this waiting game with me.
 
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JustPlainBill said:
Yeah, we all felt that way. I had a rather obvious life threatening emergency on my hands, knew what it was in my head but had no idea WTF to do -- so for some reason known only to God, I laid homeboy on his side and checked his PMI. Yeah, real good job, super trooper -- dudes about to croak if you don't get him in an ambulance to the ER RFN and you check his PMI -- genius level work, I tell you, genius level work -- DeBakey would be impressed...or at least amazed...probably at the level of stupidity.

"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" --- King James English for "Let's not borrow trouble" -- no use worrying/ruminating over it now....wait for the results -- if you pass, it's Miller Time. If you fail, you'll have time then to a) worry or b) do something productive like get feedback from your clinical medicine department and practice, practice, practice.
Click to expand...


Do you actually get emergent cases? Like if it seems like someone is dissecting, what are you supposed to do? "Um I'm going to get my attending". Seems silly.
 
Rekt said:
Do you actually get emergent cases? Like if it seems like someone is dissecting, what are you supposed to do? "Um I'm going to get my attending". Seems silly.
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You are the attending. You send them to the ED. Just make sure you notice that they aren't already in the ED. The settings change, sometimes you're in the clinic, other times you may be in the ED. If you find they are in some sort of emergent situation, after the history and physical you say, this is what I'm concerned about, I'm calling an ambulance to take you to the ED.
 
As long as you washed your hands (foamed in), were polite / humanistic, and attempted OMT I'd give you a >90% chance of passing. Everyone feels awful after taking it because you only remember the bad stuff. I bet your list of good stuff is much longer.
 
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#hopeful said:
Just took it last week and essentially I walked out almost crying. Guess I'm looking for a little reassurance, or maybe advice on how to tackle a retake at this point. I keep reliving it over and over again in my head. It went so badly. Here is a decently long list of what I did wrong during my test (I don't think these violates the confidentiality agreement, but if it does let me know so I can edit appropriately):

- Stumbled on my questions a lot, paused a lot in between to think of questions
- A few patients I had no idea what the problem was - I gave a quick diagnosis most of the time with vague explanation of the plan afterwards. one patient I straight up said I don't know what the issue is, I'm just gonna go with this diagnosis for now and get a bunch of other tests to check out other diagnoses.
- OMM - I sucked so badly, two of the patients I don't even know what the appropriate technique was. I just kinda made it up and didn't have enough time to treat them properly. I asked really quickly in the room if it helped and the patients said "a little"
- Ran out of time a few times in the interview, probably 3-4 times.
- Ran out of time on SOAP notes. I got something in each box each time, but the subjective I would run out of time. Probably at least 4 times that happened.
- Forgot to drape two patients - i apologized the first time. second time I ran out of time, thanked the patient and just walked away.
- Patients were clearly getting annoyed with me with my questions and what I was saying - maybe that was a test but I tried my best to be nice about it
- Not sure if I answered patients questions appropriately/to their liking.

Just it was a mess. I could feel the nervousness kick in each time. Lord knows what nervous ticks I had that I didn't even realize I was doing that might have hurt me. If you read it this far, thank you so much. Just advice or others experiences of people who made similar mistakes and it was okay in the end. The whole thing was so traumatic, I don't even know how I'd be able to take it again. :(
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I'm right there with you, i also took the PE during october and ill be waiting for my result same date as you (early next month) and I'm terrified because i made a ton of mistakes as well and i really prepared for this test. I feel like no matter how hard you prepare its still so challenging battlingg being tired/nervousness. Ive been nervous about it every day : (. I hope we both get good news!
 
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Oh gosh! I took the exam last month, and I just remembered I didn't reassess after OmT, I just asked them if they felt any better or pain improved and they said yes. I hope it's not a deal breaker


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Pisiform said:
Oh gosh! I took the exam last month, and I just remembered I didn't reassess after OmT, I just asked them if they felt any better or pain improved and they said yes. I hope it's not a deal breaker


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I did same thing as you except 1/3 I checked rib motion. I don't think I wrote anything like tissue texture changes I would write "lumbar somatic dysfunction" in my assessment or something like that

Although I'm not positive I would think asking how they feel counts as reassessing
 
I had an obvious OMT case (patient was hinting at how "a previous doctor did something with her hands that really helped...do you think that might help here?"). IT band if I remember correctly. Anyway, I couldn't for the life of me think of anything to do, so I basically told the patient I wasn't familiar with a technique to treat her problem, but that I could try something and if it didn't help, I'd prescribe RICE and bring her back and have a treatment ready at that time.

I was certain that was going to get me failed, but I passed! I'm hopeful you will too OP!
 
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SLC said:
I had an obvious OMT case (patient was hinting at how "a previous doctor did something with her hands that really helped...do you think that might help here?"). IT band if I remember correctly. Anyway, I couldn't for the life of me think of anything to do, so I basically told the patient I wasn't familiar with a technique to treat her problem, but that I could try something and if it didn't help, I'd prescribe RICE and bring her back and have a treatment ready at that time.

I was certain that was going to get me failed, but I passed! I'm hopeful you will too OP!
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so you only did it on 2 patients?
 
grapefruit17 said:
so you only did it on 2 patients?
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Yep.

Well technically I tried to improvise a technique. But patient said it didn't help (which tells me I didn't do what they expected I should do in that scenario) so I said "rest, ice, NSAID, etc. and I'd bring the patient back and be ready with a better treatment next time.
 
is there anyone that doesn't feel like complete crap after this test? I'm a grown man and wanted to cry after at the airport haha. every case i can think of at least one thing i should have done differently
 
I have this test coming up in a month. Reading all these post-test experiences are making me nervous!
 
SLC said:
I had an obvious OMT case (patient was hinting at how "a previous doctor did something with her hands that really helped...do you think that might help here?"). IT band if I remember correctly. Anyway, I couldn't for the life of me think of anything to do, so I basically told the patient I wasn't familiar with a technique to treat her problem, but that I could try something and if it didn't help, I'd prescribe RICE and bring her back and have a treatment ready at that time.

I was certain that was going to get me failed, but I passed! I'm hopeful you will too OP!
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I know different schools have a different level of emphasis on omm. Would you say the exam is easier for those that come from schools with a high level of emphasis on omm?
 
Yadster101 said:
I know different schools have a different level of emphasis on omm. Would you say the exam is easier for those that come from schools with a high level of emphasis on omm?
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No.

I think the OMM is very basic. Shouldn't be an issue as long as you're a DO.
 
I took the PE on Oct. 24 and feel like I failed. I keep thinking of stupid things I should have done and going over humanistic things obsessively. I am also feeling like the interviews I'm attending will be for naught if I fail! I know how you all feel!
 
Singingpremed said:
I took the PE on Oct. 24 and feel like I failed. I keep thinking of stupid things I should have done and going over humanistic things obsessively. I am also feeling like the interviews I'm attending will be for naught if I fail! I know how you all feel!
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Yep I feel same. It's a scary test. First day of potential results and nothing so far so maybe tomm? If something did happen and we were able to reschedule in dec results would be in before rank list but let's not think about that until we get our results lol. I wish you the absolute best and I'm going through same stress for sure
 
Positive vibes guys ! We made through level 1 and level 2ce and shelf exams and clinical rotations -- we can DO THIS!!!!

PS: are there available dates in December just in case ? :/


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Nothing today looks like , it's stressing me out so much


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grapefruit17 said:
me too. Apparently test results are not released on fridays, saturdays or sundays. So down to 3 possible days..tomm thurs or monday
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So I recall hearing somewhere that they are usually released around noon on the first Thursday, but it could really be any time in those days listed. I have a feeling it'll be tomorrow at noon.
 
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hallowmann said:
So I recall hearing somewhere that they are usually released around noon on the first Thursday, but it could really be any time in those days listed. I have a feeling it'll be tomorrow at noon.
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I know last month it was released at noon I'll have to see if it was a Thursday
 
I feel like I am dying from the anticipation and stress. By the way, this is my retake so the pressure feels insurmountable.
 
IH8ColdWeath3r said:
I feel like I am dying from the anticipation and stress. By the way, this is my retake so the pressure feels insurmountable.
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When did you do yours? Yeah I saw your thread man I'm sorry to hear that I hope both of us pass. Did you at least feel better this time?
 
I'll be driving to interview number 9 tomorrow. My greatest fear is that I will cry uncontrollably on the interstate. I felt so bad walking out of the exam!
 
Singingpremed said:
I'll be driving to interview number 9 tomorrow. My greatest fear is that I will cry uncontrollably on the interstate. I felt so bad walking out of the exam!
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Yep I have an eight hour drive tomm so I feel your pain!! You're not alone!! We can do this.
 
I was checking all afternoon today in the middle of lunch at the interview
 
Passed.

I was terrified. But I guess I'm going to graduate.
 
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Hello all! Sorry for the delay in my responses, with interviews and away rotations I haven't checked in on sdn in awhile. Just wanted to posted on here really quickly that... I PASSED!!! There really is a higher power out there lol so for anyone who is feeling like crap and made some awful awful mistakes like I did, just remember you could still pass! Congrats to those that passed as well!! We are gonna graduate :)
 
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I passed! To say that I am relieved is an understatement. I am so happy that I get to graduate.

That being said, I will address my experience and what I learned from it to help future test takers. I will address this in full and my experience in full after the match. Best of luck to everyone taking this exam.
 
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IH8ColdWeath3r said:
I passed! To say that I am relieved is an understatement. I am so happy that I get to graduate.

That being said, I will address my experience and what I learned from it to help future test takers. I will address this in full and my experience in full after the match. Best of luck to everyone taking this exam.
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Congrats to you, and everyone else!
 
Good to have that follow up. There's lots of "Failed PE" posts on SDN without any follow up posts. Congrats!
 
Passed as well. I was incredibly scared/worried. Made TONS of mistakes on every case- prob not case went perfect for me at all. Take this test seriously and really study for it! I studied pretty hard for it and I'm glad i did, and STILL made a ton of mistakes lol.
 
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grapefruit17 said:
Passed as well. I was incredibly scared/worried. Made TONS of mistakes on every case- prob not case went perfect for me at all. Take this test seriously and really study for it! I studied pretty hard for it and I'm glad i did, and STILL made a ton of mistakes lol.
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What resources do people mainly use for this?
 
Rekt said:
What resources do people mainly use for this?
Click to expand...

Kauffman Combank Videos and the COMLEX level 2 PE book (it's red) written by Kauffman are more than enough. I would recommend doing the practice cases in them
 
Also, not to hijack the thread but I was wondering, does anyone know if the new score automatically gets uploaded on the ERAS or do I have to manually do something or contact someone to ensure that my passing score is now posted? Thank you!
 
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