COMLEX step III and USMLE step II

[Sara Bellum]

I am an intern who's in the process of applying to allopathic residencies for next year. I took USMLE step I but not step 2. I am trying to decide if I want to go through the headache of taking USMLE step 2 when I take COMLEX step 3. I'm not sure if it would help my application or not.
How different are the two exams? Would studying for both be a feasible idea for an otherwise busy year? Would the information in studying for USMLE step 2 help with COMLEX step 3?
Thanks

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[mountainDOc09]

Hi Sara, I think that you would be ok to take both. Studying for USMLE II certainly wouldn't hurt prep for step three; I actually used my Crush step 2 book to study for COMLEX III (and comquest q bank). And taking them early in your internship year is a GREAT idea. You won't have forgotten as much about the specialties you aren't interested in.

Depending on what specialty you are shooting for, having a USMLE II score may open more doors for you, as sad as that is.

On a slightly different note, I highly suggest comquest if you want a comlex-specific q bank for step III. That was my prep, and I actually scored 100 pts higher than my step I score, and 200 pts higher than my step II. They have about 1000 questions, and I went through them once in less than a month.

If you have a light month coming up, and can see yourself doing lots of prep questions, I'd get scheduled for them both. It will help you through your internship too.