Comlex

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Bomikepa

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2012
Messages
360
Reaction score
6
How bad is this test?

i keep hearing from current students that the test is poorly written....is that true?

what is the overlap between the USMLE and Comlex, if you are wanting to take both is it really like studying for two separate exams or is there a lot of overlap between the content?

Members don't see this ad.
 
Nearly 100% overlap (only real exception is that USMLE has no OMM questions), but the quality of questions and the general "feel" of the two can't be compared.

You'll know when you take them both (if you do).

But studying for USMLE with some OMM from Savarese at the end, suited me well on both exams.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
does the comlex have a certain % of the exam that is OMM questions? like every exam has 10% OMM questions?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
does the comlex have a certain % of the exam that is OMM questions? like every exam has 10% OMM questions?


No. Some people exams are more then others, some people will say that they had a lot of omm but in actuality it was integrated in the questions stems of basic science problems-they love that.

If you are a second year it's too early to be worrying about these specifics, worry about getting through and learning the material like it's second nature-this will benefit you on step 1 as well as shelfs in third year.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
 
How bad is this test? i keep hearing from current students that the test is poorly written....is that true?
I feel that people say it's a 'bad' test because of the ambiguity of the question stems leading to students to feel as if there is more than one correct answer choice available. In the past the images were of pretty bad quality, there were spelling/grammar errors, and the question style was just poor. There have been improvements along the way.

what is the overlap between the USMLE and Comlex, if you are wanting to take both is it really like studying for two separate exams or is there a lot of overlap between the content?
There should be considerable content overlap between the USMLE and COMLEX because of the emphasis on the basic sciences. However, there are some differences in how the questions are oriented as outlined below.

Reposting my response on another thread:

1. The USMLE may have A-J options; the COMLEX will only have A-E (however, this is changing and there are a few with more options now). The USMLE likes to eliminate all guesswork involved by providing opposites of all distractors and correct answers.
2. Question stems may include osteopathic structural examination findings, most commonly viscerosomatic/Chapman's relationships, which may seemingly be the only indication for an answer choice.
3. The USMLE has more basic laboratory techniques (gel electrophoresis, genetic interpretation) and hard basic sciences like biochemistry pathways than the COMLEX.
4. The COMLEX tends to use pathognomonic, 'classic' findings presented in such a way that you have difficulty recognizing that it's right in front of you. This is a bad example, but they will not say "positive Babinski sign" but rather "extension of the great toe upon plantar stimulation."
5. The COMLEX wants to know 'what is the most likely' while the USMLE often asks for associations in attempt to make them third order questions.
6. The COMLEX generally has shorter question stems and has about 50% multiple-part (one stem with two questions) question types with some matching. There is more randomness to the COMLEX with sometimes questions being a single sentence and other times taking up half the page. The USMLE mostly has single questions with longer stems; sometimes it may be better to read the last sentence and gloss over the answer choices before delving into the question stem.
7. As for images there is more histology and graphs on the USMLE (see #3); the COMLEX will show a lot more x-rays, MRI's, and CT's.
8. The USMLE will provide more theoretical situations (e.g., a researcher wants to know XYZ) than the COMLEX, which seemingly has none. The COMLEX is more about patient presentations and clinical knowledge.
 
Top