comlex very strong in but usmle helpful or harmful?

[sjagan1]

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Hey everyone. I am already very comfortable with comlex. But will crushing the comlex be sufficient for m.d residency matching? If not, how does usmle factor in?

If I am taking usmle for any specialty in the m.d match outside of psychiatry (which is very osteopathic friendly), what should my score be at least? I am not looking to do ultra competitive specialties such as surgery, radiation oncology, derm, etc. I understand I have yet to really experience a lot of clinical realities but I am strongly leaning towards internal medicine, psychiatry, neurology, and pediatrics.

I am confident I can "pass usmle" but I am skeptical just passing will give a good vibe even with an extremely high comlex score (which is a much more stronger test subject wise and for me personally). I scored a 52 percent in my school's diagnostic combank test in January and that was without psychiatry (school average was 39 percent and my pathway average was 45 percent) Immunology, microbiology, and pharmacology were my weakest areas. I struggle with the same things for usmle prep based off of uworld.
I have 1500 questions of uworld left and a lot of combank.

I am taking usmle may 27th and comlex may 30th.

When should be the time to decide drop usmle and what indicators should I use to gauge my usmle score? What are good indicators I will score a competitive score ( example 3 nbme full lengths by a week before my test date).

I would appreciate your advice on this. Thanks!

 

[Wolverines83]

Do usmle world. Then do nbme a 3-4 weeks out and another like two weeks out. If you're doing well on them, take the usmle. If not, drop it

 

[hallowmann]

If you're really not sure what you want, you should aim for average (right now ~230). Really you should aim for the highest you can get though. Most people I've talked to have said that if you can get 215-220 or above, then it's worth it as a DO to take Step 1. If you are getting that 2-4 weeks out, then I'd just go ahead and take it.

 

[TheFuture_22]

Hey everyone. I am already very comfortable with comlex. But will crushing the comlex be sufficient for m.d residency matching? If not, how does usmle factor in?

If I am taking usmle for any specialty in the m.d match outside of psychiatry (which is very osteopathic friendly), what should my score be at least? I am not looking to do ultra competitive specialties such as surgery, radiation oncology, derm, etc. I understand I have yet to really experience a lot of clinical realities but I am strongly leaning towards internal medicine, psychiatry, neurology, and pediatrics.

I am confident I can "pass usmle" but I am skeptical just passing will give a good vibe even with an extremely high comlex score (which is a much more stronger test subject wise and for me personally). I scored a 52 percent in my school's diagnostic combank test in January and that was without psychiatry (school average was 39 percent and my pathway average was 45 percent) Immunology, microbiology, and pharmacology were my weakest areas. I struggle with the same things for usmle prep based off of uworld.
I have 1500 questions of uworld left and a lot of combank.

I am taking usmle may 27th and comlex may 30th.

When should be the time to decide drop usmle and what indicators should I use to gauge my usmle score? What are good indicators I will score a competitive score ( example 3 nbme full lengths by a week before my test date).

I would appreciate your advice on this. Thanks!

I agree with the above poster to aim for 230 or above but take the exam if you are scoring 215 or above. How are you doing on UWORLD so far? Because if you can handle UWORLD Qs you can handle USMLE. I would take NBMEs periodically to assess where you are at then take one last one a few weeks out from the test. NBMEs are fairly accurate at predicting your score so if you have the score you want by your test then take it. If not, either push it back a little or cancel it because you don't want your score to hurt you.

 

[Bears can be doctors too.]

I am only speaking from the experience of myself and my friends but we all scored within 10 points either way of our(my personal score was exactly the same) u world practice tests. Also i think if you are planning on doing anything at all competitive and allopathic you just have to take the USMLE. Whether you like it or not a lot of people go to DO schools because they couldn't get into MD program (I am a DO student) and no matter how chill or cool they are the people reading your applications will have that fear lingering in the back of their heads that you couldn't hack it in an MD program. The USMLE is the only way to quash that. A good score on the test objectively proves to them that you are as smart or smarter than the MD candidate they are weighing you against, the comlex no matter how well you score, doesnt have that power. Also you might be pleasantly surprised. I actually scored better on my USMLE(252) than my COMLEX(620) so i think it is worth it to just give it a shot.

 

[sjagan1]

Yeah I agree. I am certain I can do well on usmle. So far uworld is 50 to 60 percent correct with clear strong areas and weak areas (same as comlex) Eventually after reinforcing my weak areas thru first aid and supplemental help, I will take full length tests thru uworld and nbme (late April to early May). I think 3 consistent scores above 220 should do it.

Do you know how comlex scores and usmle scores compare?

 

[TheFuture_22]

Are you doing random timed blocks in UWORLD or is it more subject specific? Because if you are doing random timed blocks and scoring 50 to 60 percent right now that is about average which you should feel really good about this early in your studies.

 

[sjagan1]

So far it has been mostly subject specific (timed tutor) with a few varied. But I will be sure to do random unused questions soon (now that I know my strengths and weaknesses). I can always use the setting to replenish questions and I haven't used all questions in all subjects (except anatomy and reproductive)

 

[TheFuture_22]

Oh ok, either way you seem to be on the right track. Good luck to you!