For DO's......

[sbeans]

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How far apart should you take Step 1 and Comlex?

 

[Idiopathic]

I say wait long enough to decompress and recompress, but not so long that you get out of "board-taking" shape. I took 17 days between the two, any more than that, and I probably would have just folded up shop, honestly.

 

[sbeans]

idio, which one did you take first?

 

[Claymore]

I took the USMLE first and then the COMLEX about 2 weeks later. This worked out well for me because after the USMLE I had a few days to relax, then about a week to study purely COMLEX stuff, and a few more days to reread First Aid. I was happy with the results.

 

[Idiopathic]

I took the COMLEX first, just because there were things that were absolutely COMLEX specific that I wanted to really nail. Also, the test that I had to do well on, ultimately, was the COMLEX.

 

[InductionAgent]

I would recommend taking USMLE Step 1 within about a week of COMLEX, because if you really gun for COMLEX, you won't feel like continuing the same pace of studying much longer. It's especially important to take USMLE before starting clinicals. Just make sure you have at least two days in between the tests to decompress a bit, study things you felt weak about on COMLEX, and look at biostatistics.

 

[DeLaughterDO]

I don't know - I guess I must have a different style than most. I took the COMLEX on tues/wed, then took the USMLE on thursday.

I knew I could prepare for both - It is exactly the same material (with added biochem/cell bio/stats for USMLE and OMM for COMLEX) and you really must know it all anyway.

I also knew that if I took one and waited a few days to take the other, I'd never take the second test (USMLE) because I wouldn't study and would never feel prepared. I just peaked right before the COMLEX and after 3 days of hell it was all over. Besides, I used the COMLEX as 750 prep questions for the USMLE 🙂

Best of luck.

jd