How much time is sufficient to study for the USMLE CS or COMLEX PE

[kcumbDO]

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I am planning on taking both of these exams and was wondering how much time should i take to prepare for these tests?

 

[chrisc5308]

I am planning on taking both of these exams and was wondering how much time should i take to prepare for these tests?

i just took the Comlex pe this week. To be honest, I dont think it requires much prep. Read the usmle cs book through quickly once. Time yourself writing a note and doing an h&p so you know exactly what it takes to finish in 9 and 14 minutes. Brushing up on that omm stuff would probably be a good idea - i should have done that, but hey, when in doubt just palpate something. Otherwise, you are ready for the other stuff if you were awake for most of the last two years. Good luck - youll do just fine

Chris

 

[inositide]

I am planning on taking both of these exams and was wondering how much time should i take to prepare for these tests?

I dont know anything about the comlex exam. But as far as the usmle step 2CS exam, most people study more than they need to. If you have been seeing patients for the last couple of years, you already have a lot of practice. Some people (usually IMGs because they have not gone through the American medical school clinical education system) study for 1 month for the step 2cs. Others study for 1 week, some people dont study at all. I think the best thing to do is just devote 2-3 days or so to preparing and you should be fine. Some people will say that even 2-3 days is too much. Just orient yourself to how the exam day will work and what is expected of you. The key is to relax, be confident, be nice, and be courteous to the actor patients.

Get a copy of one of the "for step 2CS" review books and read through the orientation to the exam part of it. Then guage for yourself how much you need to study.

 

[kcumbDO]

thnx for all ur advice, i decided to take 2-3 wks to look over the matterial for CS and PE after iam done taking the written parts of both USMLE and COMLEX

 

[DOtobe]

I skimmed through the First Aid for the CS exam the day before the COMLEX-PE. You honestly don't have to prepare that much.

And regarding the OMM, the patients all said, "I have a friend who told me about something called OMT. Do you think that would work for me?" So I ended up doing soft tissue on everyone who asked me that.

 

[glorytaker]

Really? Just skim the First Aid book? I was going to spend 3 months brushing up for it. 🙂

 

[CANES2006]

Read First Aid for Step 2 CS 3 times for 2-3 days before the exam. Overkill? Maybe. But, I wasn't willing to risk shelling out another $1000+ for this ******ed exam.

 

[DO_Surgeon]

I cant speak for the USMLE, but I took the COMLEX last year. My advice would be to just show up and take the exam. That is all I did, looked over some OMM on the flight over. By now, you know how to do an H&P and write a SOAP note and that is all you need. Don't stress too much over it, look over a little OMM and you will be fine.

 

[glorytaker]

I'm not stressed about failing because of the usual reasons. I just have to take the exam to graduate, the school hasn't made passing a requirement yet. But I don't want to fail and have to shell out $1000 to retake it, $450 round trip air fare, $100 hotel plus $50 shuttle bus because the only place I can take it is Philadelphia and I'm on the West Coast. That in there's a 96% pass rate so being part of that 4% is really embarassing.

 

[mini]

What does OMM mean ?????

bump

 

[DOtobe]

Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine

 

[babylonsister]

I studied for 3 days for CS..I just read through most of the Kaplan book..and passed. 85% of the test is stuff you already know from Med 3 and 4 and can do on autopilot, the other 15% is the stuff you need to study from First Aid/Kaplan what have you: the "helpful hint" kind of stuff, like the mnenomics, how to write your note for this exam, your bogus "transitional phrases"etc. The more like a robot, albeit a friendly and empathetic robot, you are for this exam the better. It is completely unlike actual patient encounters but should be easy to pass for any decently competent senior medical student who puts even a minimal effort forward.

 

[Back34]

I dont know anything about the comlex exam. But as far as the usmle step 2CS exam, most people study more than they need to. If you have been seeing patients for the last couple of years, you already have a lot of practice. Some people (usually IMGs because they have not gone through the American medical school clinical education system) study for 1 month for the step 2cs. Others study for 1 week, some people dont study at all. I think the best thing to do is just devote 2-3 days or so to preparing and you should be fine. Some people will say that even 2-3 days is too much. Just orient yourself to how the exam day will work and what is expected of you. The key is to relax, be confident, be nice, and be courteous to the actor patients.

Get a copy of one of the "for step 2CS" review books and read through the orientation to the exam part of it. Then guage for yourself how much you need to study.

I'd recommend the First Aid for CS book just to remind yourself of the little nuances they grade you on that you might not think of otherwise, i.e., I never do the following with real patients (mostly because time crunch): repeat the history back to the patient, drape them appropriately, counsel them, offer 3 DDx and how we're going to work them up, show empathy, etc. The mini cases were key for coming up with DDx's that would not have immediately come to mind. On several of the SP's, I asked some pretty obscure questions which eventually led me to the right diagnosis because of what I remembered from that book.

I'd avise against adhering to their model physical exams because they're impractical as far as time goes. I was consistently scrambling to finish up because I was doing FULL CV exams (palpation, auscultating with the bell in left lateral decubitus and with the diaphragm, all peripheral pulses, etc.) and FULL pulmonary/abdominal exam, when doing the bare minimum would have sufficed.

The weakness of the book