I think I got a 578 on 105 and thought it was similar to COMLEX but with stems that were 5-10x as long (no joke).
You're not screwed, but that score does indicate that either
-you have material gaps
-you haven't figured out how NBOME asks questions
Chances are that it's the latter because we all know how many favors the NBOME does us. Do another NBOME and screenshot anything you have trouble with and talk it through with a friend after, approaching every question asking
-what topic is being tested?
-what is an important feature of this topic that they're most likely asking me about? ***This one was SUPER useful on COMLEX for me with their vague crappy questions. It works like this:
Let's say you've got a question with a histology slide showing some pink stuff in the middle that you can't identify and they're asking you about what neurologic deficit is likely.
Your options are something like:
a) peripheral neuropathy
b) monocular vision loss
c) hemibalismus
d) *A weird word only found in a midieval dictionary*
e) Another word you've never heard of
f) L5 flexed, SBrRl
You think oh **** I have no idea what this pink stuff is and I have no idea how a kidney pathology could lead to neurologic deficits. Don't guess!
Take a deep breath. Ask yourself: What kidney diseases have pathogmonic histology findings that the NBOME thinks I should know. List them in your head, but if you're really struggling try to
write them down. Then from that list think through which ones could have this weird third order effect. Now that you've got a few options go back to the histology and if you can't figure it out
guess the highest yield option and if you're totally shooting in the dark pick the option that you think
everyone else is most likely to choose, so at least that question is likely to score you the same as your peers and not hurt/help you too much.
Going through that kind of thought process would lead you to think "oh hey! Kimmel-Wilsen nodules are a histology finding that's high yield and important... diabetes has peripheral neuropathy!" Too easy.
COMLEX was really big on identifying "Oh, they're testing me on Q and asking me about how Z changes" and then saying "some really high yield aspects to Q are W,X,Y" and then making that connection to the most likely thing that they're focusing on, because sometimes with their question writing style you never really know.
I hope that helps, studying for COMLEX was rough. Keep the end in sight and just know that you got this & everyone thinks this is a really hard and bizarre exam. You're definitely not alone
👍
