COMLEX vs USMLE

[adocinthemaking123]

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Do most D.O. med students take both COMLEX and the USMLE board exams? I am interested in D.O. but taking 2 different sets of board exams (3 COMLEX exams and 3 USMLE) seems like a lot to handle... When do D.O.s have the time to study for both sets of boards?

 

[scoKraz4]

Yes they do take both. Most people in my class took both. Study for USMLE and take the test. Take comlex a few days later and cram OMM. It is the all the same material besides that.

 

[dfib slim]

I agree. 80% of the material is the same and the other 20% can be reviewed in a day or so. Completely doable.

 

[Please_Stand_By]

Do most D.O. med students take both COMLEX and the USMLE board exams? I am interested in D.O. but taking 2 different sets of board exams (3 COMLEX exams and 3 USMLE) seems like a lot to handle... When do D.O.s have the time to study for both sets of boards?

I'm not positive but I think you take 3 Comlexes (4 if you decide Level 3) and most DOs only take USMLE 1 and 2 CK. (?)

 

[DrEnderW]

Do most D.O. med students take both COMLEX and the USMLE board exams? I am interested in D.O. but taking 2 different sets of board exams (3 COMLEX exams and 3 USMLE) seems like a lot to handle... When do D.O.s have the time to study for both sets of boards?

Most students that take the USMLE will take Step 1 and Step 2 CK. No one takes Step 2 CS. So in reality, it's an extra 2 exams for those peoples, not 4.

Also, remember that the content is essentially 100% similar aside from OMM. Studying for one = studying for the other. I just did both Step 1 and COMLEX and it was a complete non-issue taking both (aside from the money). Even when considering the money, it's $500 out of millions of dollars of future earnings. You should be using USMLE resources for COMLEX anyways. It isn't studying for two separate exams.

As long as your diligent the first 2 years and a responsible student, the amount of OMM needed to get a top-tier COMLEX score can be covered in 48hrs.

I highly, highly recommend just planning to do both from day 1.

 

[cliquesh]

Take the usmle. It will make your life easier. I only took usmle step 1.

 

[asdf123g]

Take the usmle. It will make your life easier. I only took usmle step 1.

do you reccommend doing more than just step 1?

 

[kinzav]

We just had a meeting about boards at my school and they said about 50% of students take both. And it's probably the people who are thinking of specializing, so for the DO friendly stuff, it's probs ok to send in COMLEX scores to ACGME residencies in primary care, ER, etc. I haven't gone head first into board prep yet, but I'm planning on just COMLEX and doing internal med/family med, but might switch my mindset as it gets closer.

Oh and they said something like 15% of the USMLE students did more than just Step 1. So it was just 50% take USMLE step 1, and of those 85 students, maybe 12 take anything more than Step 1.

 

[Goro]

The majority of my students take both USMLE and COMLEX. There's fewer AOA residencies around here, and most want to stay close to home too. They consider COMLEX to be more an annoyance to get out of the way before USMLE.

We strongly recommend to our weakest students that they stick to COMLEX only.

PDs in the the more competitive specialties tend to not accept COMLEX I as a licensing exam, but are OK with COMLEX II.

 

[AwayFromReality]

.

 

[asdf123g]

In my very limited research on the topic I found out that USMLE questions tend to be more detailed and ask about a topic in a convoluted way (therefore requiring more critical thinking skills) whereas COMLEX is somewhat straightforward. Is this true? If so I would imagine that would require different types of studying for each exam.

I heard the COMLEX is poorly written with stranglely worded Q's and USMLE is a better test lol

 

[cliquesh]

do you reccommend doing more than just step 1?

It depends. If you do well on step 1 you can probably skip step 2. However, some clinically oriented specialities, like internal medicine or emergency medicine, might like to see a step 2 score. Additionally, if youre applying for something DO unfriendly it would probably be helpful to take both step 1 and 2, and do very well on both. I don't think there is any reason to take step 2 CS or step 3.

 

[DrEnderW]

In my very limited research on the topic I found out that USMLE questions tend to be more detailed and ask about a topic in a convoluted way (therefore requiring more critical thinking skills) whereas COMLEX is somewhat straightforward. Is this true? If so I would imagine that would require different types of studying for each exam.

I would agree that USMLE questions are, in general, more detail oriented (aside from micro) and require more 3rd level or critical thinking. However, COMLEX and COMBANK are usually the more convoluted ones while USMLE is more straightforward.

The studying is identical content wise. Taking a COMSAE or two and doing a few COMBANK questions is enough to get the style down. It isn't like the ACT vs the SAT or something. They are extremely similar, in my opinion.

I heard the COMLEX is poorly written with stranglely worded Q's and USMLE is a better test lol

That's fair. I may be in the minority but I thought COMLEX was more difficult but with an easier curve.

 

[ortnakas]

Sorry for the thread bump, but I thought that would be preferable to starting yet another thread.

I heard yesterday that as a DO student, if you take the USMLE 1 you're committing yourself to the USMLE 2-CKand 3 as well. Is that actually true? In the past, I heard it might look odd if you took 1 but not 2, especially if you got a less-than-great score on 1, but not that all-or-nothing was an actual requirement.

 

[racerwad]

Sorry for the thread bump, but I thought that would be preferable to starting yet another thread.

I heard yesterday that as a DO student, if you take the USMLE 1 you're committing yourself to the USMLE 2-CKand 3 as well. Is that actually true? In the past, I heard it might look odd if you took 1 but not 2, especially if you got a less-than-great score on 1, but not that all-or-nothing was an actual requirement.

No, DOs do not need to take USMLE 3. Depending upon the specialty, you may want to also take USMLE Step 2 to enhance your application.

We just had a meeting about boards at my school and they said about 50% of students take both. And it's probably the people who are thinking of specializing, so for the DO friendly stuff, it's probs ok to send in COMLEX scores to ACGME residencies in primary care, ER, etc. I haven't gone head first into board prep yet, but I'm planning on just COMLEX and doing internal med/family med, but might switch my mindset as it gets closer.

Oh and they said something like 15% of the USMLE students did more than just Step 1. So it was just 50% take USMLE step 1, and of those 85 students, maybe 12 take anything more than Step 1.

For ACGME EM, using just COMLEX is not enough. I can't think of a place that you'd want to be at that would rank you with just COMLEX.

 

[Giovanotto]

Super off topic, and I doubt anybody knows the answer to this, but as an international student looking at a visa for residency, the fed. gov. requires us to take USMLE 1, 2CK, and 3 (and pass them), but mentions nothing of the COMLEX. Now isn't that unfair to DOs?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Sorry for the thread bump, but I thought that would be preferable to starting yet another thread.

I heard yesterday that as a DO student, if you take the USMLE 1 you're committing yourself to the USMLE 2-CKand 3 as well. Is that actually true? In the past, I heard it might look odd if you took 1 but not 2, especially if you got a less-than-great score on 1, but not that all-or-nothing was an actual requirement.

No, DOs do not need to take USMLE 3. Depending upon the specialty, you may want to also take USMLE Step 2 to enhance your application.



For ACGME EM, using just COMLEX is not enough. I can't think of a place that you'd want to be at that would rank you with just COMLEX.

It seems like the majority of students just take step 1. Seemed like a minority take step 2 and usually because they did poorly on step 1.

 

[racerwad]

It seems like the majority of students just take step 1. Seemed like a minority take step 2 and usually because they did poorly on step 1.

You say minority, I say, "students who wish to maximize their match results."

 

[cliquesh]

In 2013, 2700 DOs took step 1. In 2014 1900 took step 2.

 

[Userneedmoreinfo]

Do you think the finalization of the merger by 2020, will make more PDs familiar with the comlex?

 

[swollcat]

Do you think the finalization of the merger by 2020, will make more PDs familiar with the comlex?

It just makes it that much more imperative that one take the USMLE, especially if MDs start vying for those coveted AOA derm seats

 

[asdf123g]

Do you think the finalization of the merger by 2020, will make more PDs familiar with the comlex?

comlex has been around how long and DO's have been applying for how long? I think theyve had plenty of time to 'familiarize' themselves