COMLEX Step 3 Prep

[jon62781]

As a fourth year student preparing for internship, I begin to look at that final COMLEX hurdle to licensure.

What texts/resources did those of you who have taken the test feel was the best preparation?

Any suggestion on when to take it? I've thought about taking it early (August/Sept) to get it out of the way.

Thanks for everyone's help!

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[Heeed!]

Savarese is a given, I'm sure. I am interested to know what to study as well. Hey, all you licensed DOs...help us out!

 

[andwhat]

Savarese is a given, I'm sure. I am interested to know what to study as well. Hey, all you licensed DOs...help us out!

you know other than the ccs portion, Premier Review covers alot on the test, and its good for mcq section you guys dont have a clinical section is that accurate? that is the craziest part, you will sit there and do labs for like ten or so minutes, and stabilizing the patient, finally to take one of two roads, follow down the MI road or DKA. Overally its definitely a doable test. Comlex I am not sure, but my friends told me the pretty much same questions, such as Meralgia Paresthetica and later femoral cutaneous nerve entrapment, etc....

 

[DrMom]

As a fourth year student preparing for internship, I begin to look at that final COMLEX hurdle to licensure.

What texts/resources did those of you who have taken the test feel was the best preparation?

Any suggestion on when to take it? I've thought about taking it early (August/Sept) to get it out of the way.

Thanks for everyone's help!

I reused my boards and wards from step 2, savarese, and bought the NMS step 3 review question book. That was all plenty.

If I were you, I'd definitely take it early. It had a lot of overlap with step 2.

 

[wook]

I reused my boards and wards from step 2, savarese, and bought the NMS step 3 review question book. That was all plenty.

If I were you, I'd definitely take it early. It had a lot of overlap with step 2.

Agreed. Re-used my step 2 stuff (Boards and Wards) and Saverese. Also added in USMLEWorld in Tutor mode gettting through and understanding as many questions as I could.

Definitely take it early as not only does it have overlap with Step 2, it's also closer to med school, so it may be more fresh.


Wook

 

[OUsooner]

Know the levels of all the viscerosomatic reflexes. They are all over the test. I only used the cram pages from drsimmons.net. Studied omm for about an hour and feel it was more than enough. I dont think Savarese is a must.

 

[LovelyRita]

1. Boards and Wards from Step 2
2. QBank
3. drsimmons.net cram pages and a little of Savarese
4. 10 vanilla latte's and lots of procrastinating over about 5 days
5. had my hands on some blueprints texts with good intentions but never used.

Passed.

Honestly, as usual, the "part 3" questions are NOTHING like USMLE style questions, they are much shorter and many times you narrow it down to 2 answers, one being what you do at your hospital and the other being what might be the "right" answer.

woo hoo!

 

[flux=rad]

Just passed this lovely test as well. Savarese, Boards and Wards, Crush Step 3. For whatever reason I'm not a big fan of questions so I didn't do any. Studied randomly and ineffectively during night float, then 4-5 hours a day for one week before the test. As mentioned above, probably could have taken this the day after Step 2 and passed.

 

[wook]

Just passed this lovely test as well. Savarese, Boards and Wards, Crush Step 3. For whatever reason I'm not a big fan of questions so I didn't do any. Studied randomly and ineffectively during night float, then 4-5 hours a day for one week before the test. As mentioned above, probably could have taken this the day after Step 2 and passed.

Dude:

Congratulations!!!


Wook

 

[community]

For those of you that studued in 5 days, how many practice questions were you able to do in that time period? It doesn't sound like you would be able to do that many in such a short period.

 

[Heeed!]

What is the format of this test? Do we have the CCS sections? Is it just like step 2?

 

[wook]

What is the format of this test? Do we have the CCS sections? Is it just like step 2?

The exam format is like COMLEXII. No CCS. There are OMM related questions. There are poor images (like COMLEXII).


Wook

 

[VentdependenT]

studied about 30min a day for 3.5 weeks while I pooped on the toilet and then crammed for 4-5 days before the exam. Got in the 90's percentile wise. I ran outta that test center as soon as I was done. Its an awful test.

sources:
1)strong medicine, BEST SINGLE RESOURCE IMHO
2)crush step II, reread the pertinent sections. Memorized the gold standard tests, diagnostics, etc. Crush III is the same book but slimmed down.
3) flew through my boards and wards. I didn't stop and smell the roses.
4) bought and crammed High Yeild OBGYN in 2 days or so. awsome book.
5) Had an NMS step III book. Did about 25% of it. The questions were great however. Not nearly as devastating to the ego as prior NMS question books.
6)Memorized Saverice autonomics and triggerpoints again then flew through the rest of the book in 2-3 hours. Skipped the cranial and the sacral stuff entirely.



I also:
-looked at some derm pictures on the internet of rashes. 10 minutes
-read some crap about COBRA. I don't even remember what that stands for. 10 minutes.
-crammed in pediatric fevers, gut stuff, breast feeding, primary care peds garbage.
- flipped open the Dubins to relearn some BASIC ekg stuff.
Forget swanson's. waste of time IMHO.


I did NOT want to take this thing again.

 

[BamaAlum]

I have seen several people mention that their experience as an intern is what make the difference on the test. I am a freakin' pathology resident, so that is not applicable. I did very well on Steps 1 and 2, but that seems like a lifetime ago. Should I plan on doing some hardcore studying since I haven't seen my stethoscope in more than a year? How should I approach this thing. I don't want to take it twice!

 

[Plinko]

I have seen several people mention that their experience as an intern is what make the difference on the test. I am a freakin' pathology resident, so that is not applicable. I did very well on Steps 1 and 2, but that seems like a lifetime ago. Should I plan on doing some hardcore studying since I haven't seen my stethoscope in more than a year? How should I approach this thing. I don't want to take it twice!

I just took it on Monday and thought that it was ridiculous. I literally have no idea what my score will be. I only felt like I knew the answer to roughly 40% of the questions. On 30% of the questions I maybe had some idea of what they wanted. The other 30% I was totally lost. I did okay on Step 1 and 2. Im finishing a transitional internship that is imho rather difficult. I've done all the primary care specialties and none of them were by any stretch an easy month. I average about 70 hours a week and on most rotations have quite a bit of autonomy. With all that said I still after taking the test have no idea how I could have studied for it. There were so many bs questions with atypical presentations. There were questions that you could in no way ever predict they would ask--e.g. diagnosing malignant otitis externa and then choosing the next course of action, the antibiotic, and the bug that is causing it, blah blah blah. Its absurd. How many interns have seen a case of MOE. Probably less than 1%. But you were never asked anything about CHF, AFib, Pneumonia, Respiratory Failure, Gastroenteritis, UTI, etc. There are so many question along the lines of the MOE one that it is impossible to study for. I would suggest what others have alreadydone on this forum: hit OBGYN and Peds hard. That is the only thing you can do to give yourself a leg up on the next guy. I didn't study at all. Because of the demands of my internship I simply didn't have time. But if I had I would have focused on Peds and obgyn. It would have made a big difference and I probably wouldn't be worried about passing right now. Being in Path you have a definite disadvantage. Medicine is such an expansive field I don't see how you could catch up with someone doing it 70 hours a week for the last year. Best to do questions related to medicine, study the peds and obgyn and hope your experiences in medical school kick in. The absolute joke that this test is is definitely more in favor of the less prepared than those who know their stuff.

 

[Gatsbygal]

I too am a path resident and found Step III decent, despite my lack of clinical experience in almost 2 years. I did Qbank and Savarese. In reality, the path actually helped me in a lot of questions. I had a few peripheral smears and some of the the lab tests they tested on, we see on CP, therefore, I don't necessarily think the path thing is too big a deal. I did not do as well on Step III as I did on I and II, but all I wanted was a "P".

 

[BamaAlum]

I too am a path resident and found Step III decent, despite my lack of clinical experience in almost 2 years. I did Qbank and Savarese. In reality, the path actually helped me in a lot of questions. I had a few peripheral smears and some of the the lab tests they tested on, we see on CP, therefore, I don't necessarily think the path thing is too big a deal. I did not do as well on Step III as I did on I and II, but all I wanted was a "P".

Thanks. That really makes me feel a lot better!

 

[Idiopathic]

The exam format is like COMLEXII. No CCS. There are OMM related questions. There are poor images (like COMLEXII).

Of note, I had no images on my test. This surprised me.

 

[wook]

Of note, I had no images on my test. This surprised me.

Dang! You don't know what fun you missed .


Wook