Increase in USMLE pass rate for DO students

[mimi2kul]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Did any one notice the big jump from 2010-2011 first time/overall pass rate for the USMLE for osteopathic medical students? from 82% to 89% for first time takers and from 80% to 88% overall. I thought that was pretty impressive and as the years go by, it seems like the gap gets smaller. Goodluck to everyone preparing for both USMLE and COMLEX this year.🙂👍

 

[DocEspana]

Did any one notice the big jump from 2010-2011 first time/overall pass rate for the USMLE for osteopathic medical students? from 82% to 89% for first time takers and from 80% to 88% overall. I thought that was pretty impressive and as the years go by, it seems like the gap gets smaller. Goodluck to everyone preparing for both USMLE and COMLEX this year.🙂👍

That's really exciting. I hadn't seen the stats. Care to look up the source and post it? I like reading stuff like that. Stats are my dirty obsession.

 

[mimi2kul]

From First Aid 2013 page 10. They get it directly from the NBME

 

[koan]

Nice, that is a big jump. I wonder what the reason is. Pathoma?

 

[bravotwozero]

Just passing the usmle is really not that hard, and not a big deal imo. What would be more interesting would be to see average usmle scores, and compare that with us md's or fmgs

 

[JGimpel]

USMLE World, Pathoma and Savarese are the core resources now. COMBANK and COMQUEST are secondary because they don't offer as in-depth answers and the difficulty level that UWorld does. I can't say enough good things about the above. The students doing the best have used those three and COMBANK and COMQUEST and also have a lot more cash to spare, apparently. They've also done over 5000 questions at that point, so they may have a lot more free time than other medical students. 😀

They also fired a lot of people at the NBOME and now only hire contractors for 1 year at a time, so their motivation is higher to create a higher quality product. 👍

http://www.nbome.org/nationalfaculty.asp?m=inf

DO schools still discourage students from doing anything towards the USMLE or MD residencies, but a lot more DO students are ignoring this.

N=1

 

[docnotsopc]

Just passing the usmle is really not that hard, and not a big deal imo. What would be more interesting would be to see average usmle scores, and compare that with us md's or fmgs

I agree. People passed, so what?

My school tried to brag about how good our pass rate on USMLE was to our class until someone asked what the average scores were. Most people were scoring 210-230 range....... Nothing impressive whatsoever, but yet the pass rate is high. Of course there were a few people with very high scores above that, but still.

Not trying to be negative, but come on passing is not something to brag about. Schools like Baylor and USC that have averages of 250.... now thats something to brag about

 

[mimi2kul]

Just passing the usmle is really not that hard, and not a big deal imo. What would be more interesting would be to see average usmle scores, and compare that with us md's or fmgs

We are talking about pass rate here. besides, the IMG was in the 60's and a retake was like in the 30's. The bottome like is first time pass rate btw DO students and MD students is just about a 5% difference. Don't forget that DO students taking the USMLE some times will have to divide their attention to also focus on what the COMLEX will test therefore not putting all their efforts just for the USMLE as the MD students do. This is not meant for some type of competition, it was just to show that DO students are passing USMLE just fine and in way higher % than IMG and not so much of a gap with the US allopathic medical graduates regardless of the individual scores obtained by any one in the 3 diff categories

 

[mimi2kul]

I agree. People passed, so what?

My school tried to brag about how good our pass rate on USMLE was to our class until someone asked what the average scores were. Most people were scoring 210-230 range....... Nothing impressive whatsoever, but yet the pass rate is high. Of course there were a few people with very high scores above that, but still.

Not trying to be negative, but come on passing is not something to brag about. Schools like Baylor and USC that have averages of 250.... now thats something to brag about

Well, a 250 or a 260 will be extremely nice but not everyone is interested in plastics/derm/rads etc. infact,the majority of doctors are not going into a cut throat competitive feild as SDN sometimes suggest. Everyone has a diff goal in life and therefore put as much effort or less depending on their goals. The bottom line is the stats are going up for DO students who take USMLE for the first time. it is a good thing! whether that is good enough for you or not is all up to you. But there are other DO students out there who will like to know. I think the change in many schools curriculum and the resources used to study for boards now by DO students probably accounts for the Jump. 🙂

 

[pattr]

I agree. People passed, so what?

My school tried to brag about how good our pass rate on USMLE was to our class until someone asked what the average scores were. Most people were scoring 210-230 range....... Nothing impressive whatsoever, but yet the pass rate is high. Of course there were a few people with very high scores above that, but still.

Not trying to be negative, but come on passing is not something to brag about. Schools like Baylor and USC that have averages of 250.... now thats something to brag about

I don't think the intention of OP's post was to "brag about" anything. It was simply stating that the disparity of USMLE Step 1 pass rates between osteopathic and allopathic is narrowing (from a 10% disparity in 2010 to a 5% in 2011). And I don't think anyone could argue against the fact that that's a good thing, especially in terms of advocacy for DOs being seen as equal in training to MDs. Obviously the ideal situation would be that all medical students are prepared enough in medical school (osteopathic or allopathic) and in their board prep to pass all their licensing exams, since this is one of the markers of having the basic knowledge to function as a physician.

 

[cliquesh]

Well, a 250 or a 260 will be extremely nice but not everyone is interested in plastics/derm/rads etc. infact,the majority of doctors are not going into a cut throat competitive feild as SDN sometimes suggest. Everyone has a diff goal in life and therefore put as much effort or less depending on their goals. The bottom line is the stats are going up for DO students who take USMLE for the first time. it is a good thing! whether that is good enough for you or not is all up to you. But there are other DO students out there who will like to know. I think the change in many schools curriculum and the resources used to study for boards now by DO students probably accounts for the Jump. 🙂

I bet you if you take all of the people with 210's that are entering family medicine and switched their scores to 250s and 260s, most of them would change specialities. Anyway, it behoves you to do well on the usmle/comlex. Top programs, in any speciality, are competitve to get into. Top IM programs, for isntance, have board scores in the 240s.

 

[pattr]

I bet you if you take all of the people with 210's that are entering family medicine and switched their scores to 250s and 260s, most of them would change specialities.

What is the point of saying this? 😕 There will always be people who score at or below average since the test is graded on a curve and there will always be a need for family physicians/PCP's...

Obviously if you score higher you have more options in higher paying specialties with better lifestyles.... that's the reason they're competitive in the first place.

 

[cliquesh]

What is the point of saying this? 😕 There will always be people who score at or below average since the test is graded on a curve and there will always be a need for family physicians/PCP's...

Obviously if you score higher you have more options in higher paying specialties with better lifestyles.... that's the reason they're competitive in the first place.

I was just responding to, "Well, a 250 or a 260 will be extremely nice but not everyone is interested in plastics/derm/rads etc. infact,the majority of doctors are not going into a cut throat competitive feild as SDN sometimes suggest." I just think most people are motivated by money and, if they had the scores to be competitive for a high paying speciality, most would apply to high paying specalities.. I wasn't knocking family medicine, I think its great.

 

[mimi2kul]

I bet you if you take all of the people with 210's that are entering family medicine and switched their scores to 250s and 260s, most of them would change specialities. Anyway, it behoves you to do well on the usmle/comlex. Top programs, in any speciality, are competitve to get into. Top IM programs, for isntance, have board scores in the 240s.

Actually No!. One of the most intelligent girl in my class who probably will definitely do extremely well in baords is dead set on peds with OMM practice. You will think she should be looking at derm/plastics/ortho but No, she is a small town girl and that is what she is set on doing regardless of what her score will be. I am not doing shabby my self and regardless of my baords score, I am dead set on IM at a program that is closet to my family. Some pple do really well on boards and will still choose Primary care, while others wish they would have done something else if their score was just a lil higher. There is bound to be a 1st and last person in every class whether in osteo/allo. We will all end up beings doctors provided we can pass our licensure exams. Whether you are happy with your field or not depends on how much work you put in getting it. And whether you belief this or not the truth is I will NEVER be interested in doing Derm/Rads/Pastics/ortho even if my score is in the 250's. The only point this thread is intended to make is the fact that DO students now have a higher pass rate in USMLE as compared to previous years! and that is a VERY GOOD THING!🙂👍

 

[Siggy]

I agree. People passed, so what?

My school tried to brag about how good our pass rate on USMLE was to our class until someone asked what the average scores were. Most people were scoring 210-230 range....... Nothing impressive whatsoever, but yet the pass rate is high. Of course there were a few people with very high scores above that, but still.

So people are not happy that the average student at your school that took USMLE scored about average?

Not trying to be negative, but come on passing is not something to brag about. Schools like Baylor and USC that have averages of 250.... now thats something to brag about

Is your school advertising a 99% COMLEX Level II* pass rate?

*PE

 

[Textbookversion]

I bet you if you take all of the people with 210's that are entering family medicine and switched their scores to 250s and 260s, most of them would change specialities. Anyway, it behoves you to do well on the usmle/comlex. Top programs, in any speciality, are competitve to get into. Top IM programs, for isntance, have board scores in the 240s.

I know you may not believe this, but that's not the case at every school. A friend of mine interested in radiology at a DO school said her radiology club meeting had zero other first years show up lol. Guess she'll end up as the president next year. She went to the FM interest group meeting just to see if anyone actually went to the interest group meetings, and it was literally 2/3+ of the class.

I know it's hard to believe but there really are people interested in doing general, outpatient primary care who have no interest in becoming a specialist. And as much as people on SDN like to bemoan the lifestyle, for nontraditional students who've had previous careers making 40-50k a year, 180-250k sounds like mad bank even with loans.

Personally I'm planning on doing an IM subspecialty (as are most of my classmates interested in IM) but I mean there are those that are dead set on primary care before they know their board scores.

Belittling others is a fun game to boost your self esteem but really people have different goals in life. It doesn't take a whole lot of brain power to succeed in medicine (shocker) just a great work ethic and drive so stop basing so much of your self esteem on trivial things like this.

 

[cheruka]

I made more than twice I will be making in residency in my last job, that was 7 yrs ago. I want to have a life outside the hospital/clinic. I have other interests such as writing, climbing, trekking, helping out with childrens' projects, the list can go on and on. Thus, I am interviewing for FM. There were ppl with similar ideas about life in my class. Some of us are not all about grades, scores and residencies. I don't want to die thinking "Gee, I wish I had spent just 6 more years doing fellowships and the rest of my life working in the hospital". Also, you can make money by just being smart about life.

I know you may not believe this, but that's not the case at every school. A friend of mine interested in radiology at a DO school said her radiology club meeting had zero other first years show up lol. Guess she'll end up as the president next year. She went to the FM interest group meeting just to see if anyone actually went to the interest group meetings, and it was literally 2/3+ of the class.

I know it's hard to believe but there really are people interested in doing general, outpatient primary care who have no interest in becoming a specialist. And as much as people on SDN like to bemoan the lifestyle, for nontraditional students who've had previous careers making 40-50k a year, 180-250k sounds like mad bank even with loans.

Personally I'm planning on doing an IM subspecialty (as are most of my classmates interested in IM) but I mean there are those that are dead set on primary care before they know their board scores.

Belittling others is a fun game to boost your self esteem but really people have different goals in life. It doesn't take a whole lot of brain power to succeed in medicine (shocker) just a great work ethic and drive so stop basing so much of your self esteem on trivial things like this.

 

[ajh1983]

DO schools still discourage students from doing anything towards the USMLE or MD residencies, but a lot more DO students are ignoring this.

Dean of admissions as well as all staff at my AZCOM interview openly encouraged USLME, stated that about 80% of their students take both exams, and encouraged students to pursue specialties. They also set up a dedicated surgical advisor for students looking to pursue that route.

Lets not post assumptions and stereotypes.

 

[Siggy]

Dean of admissions as well as all staff at my AZCOM interview openly encouraged USLME, stated that about 80% of their students take both exams, and encouraged students to pursue specialties. They also set up a dedicated surgical advisor for students looking to pursue that route.

Lets not post assumptions and stereotypes.

You mean like an N=1, therefore everything has changed post?

 

[ajh1983]

You mean like an N=1, therefore everything has changed post?

more so... I mean what I wrote.

 

[radsman]

Opinion of an MD graduate here: now that the MD/DO world's are merging the match process the next logical step would be to drop the COMLEX entirely and replace it with all DO students taking the USMLEs + some sort of standardized OMM/osteopathic principles taken as a graduation requirement for 4th year DO students. My opinion is that you guys are at a major disadvantage having to worry about and prepare for both the USMLE and COMLEX and that the difference in pass rates btwn MD's and DO's may be attributed to this factor.

 

[cheruka]

Opinion of an MD graduate here: now that the MD/DO world's are merging the match process the next logical step would be to drop the COMLEX entirely and replace it with all DO students taking the USMLEs + some sort of standardized OMM/osteopathic principles taken as a graduation requirement for 4th year DO students. My opinion is that you guys are at a major disadvantage having to worry about and prepare for both the USMLE and COMLEX and that the difference in pass rates btwn MD's and DO's may be attributed to this factor.

agreed👍

 

[K31]

That's really exciting. I hadn't seen the stats. Care to look up the source and post it? I like reading stuff like that. Stats are my dirty obsession.

http://www.usmle.org/performance-data/

 

[Ost3oclast]

Dean of admissions as well as all staff at my AZCOM interview openly encouraged USLME, stated that about 80% of their students take both exams, and encouraged students to pursue specialties. They also set up a dedicated surgical advisor for students looking to pursue that route.

Lets not post assumptions and stereotypes.

One of the many reasons I will be attending AZCOM in the fall.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

I made more than twice I will be making in residency in my last job, that was 7 yrs ago. I want to have a life outside the hospital/clinic. I have other interests such as writing, climbing, trekking, helping out with childrens' projects, the list can go on and on. Thus, I am interviewing for FM. There were ppl with similar ideas about life in my class. Some of us are not all about grades, scores and residencies. I don't want to die thinking "Gee, I wish I had spent just 6 more years doing fellowships and the rest of my life working in the hospital". Also, you can make money by just being smart about life.

Except that many of the highly competitive specialties are highly competitive because they offer both good pay and good lifestyle.

 

[cheruka]

Except that many of the highly competitive specialties are highly competitive because they offer both good pay and good lifestyle.

Very true. But some of us have families already while in med school and, it does take a toll on grades and board scores. That's ok. It has been a good trade off for me🙂 When I talk about long residencies and long days in OR, I am typically referring to surgery and critical care etc.

 

[Trogghunter]

650s/250s going into IM to be a general internist. not everyone is going for ROADS. at my school, the people that i know with 90s plus are mostly going IM or FM or they're liars...or subspecializing eventually.

 

[docnotsopc]

So people are not happy that the average student at your school that took USMLE scored about average?




Is your school advertising a 99% COMLEX Level II* pass rate?

*PE

We are in the same class. Im not sure if people are happy about our schools history of board scores? Our classmates have opinions all both ends of the spectrum and everything in between, as you know

As you may know, the class above us did poor on the board exams as indicated by our dean (on the USMLE side)....hence all the new board prep stuff they got us. Many did well, but on average it was nothing too special. Straight out of our Ex-Deans mouth.

Edit to original post: Our IDIT prof (who shall not be named) said it was 200-220 i believe, not 210-230. My numbers were off. It was definitely below average

 

[Siggy]

We are in the same class. Im not sure if people are happy about our schools history of board scores? Our classmates have opinions all both ends of the spectrum and everything in between, as you know

As you may know, the class above us did poor on the board exams as indicated by our dean (on the USMLE side)....hence all the new board prep stuff they got us. Many did well, but on average it was nothing too special. Straight out of our Ex-Deans mouth.

Edit to original post: Our IDIT prof (who shall not be named) said it was 200-220 i believe, not 210-230. My numbers were off. It was definitely below average

I'm happy with my board scores personally (slightly below average USMLE, slightly above average COMLEX) and I don't think anyone can get mad that their school is just average. I think the bigger issue with our school is that the month of finals every week followed by a week of BLS/ACLS/OSCEs followed by a week of rotations orientation doesn't help.

Also, the class above had major issues regarding the curriculum change and... yea... [end transmission]

200-220 definitely isn't good, but it could be worse. Step 2, in my mind, is a bigger issue considering we get no time off to study for it and we can't take it basically until late July/August (until shelf scores comes back from the last didactic week).

 

[FutureInternist]

Opinion of an MD graduate here: now that the MD/DO world's are merging the match process the next logical step would be to drop the COMLEX entirely and replace it with all DO students taking the USMLEs + some sort of standardized OMM/osteopathic principles taken as a graduation requirement for 4th year DO students. My opinion is that you guys are at a major disadvantage having to worry about and prepare for both the USMLE and COMLEX and that the difference in pass rates btwn MD's and DO's may be attributed to this factor.

Logic & the NBOME are more unfamiliar with each other than George Bush & words w/ >2 syllables
This merger, while sound in theory, is unlikely to happen since that will mean the dissolution of the whole NBOME/COMLEX apparatus & all the money that it makes. Right now, there are two presidents, VPs, treasurers etc & no one is going to give up their job w/o a fight

 

[deleted245139]

Logic & the NBOME are more unfamiliar with each other than George Bush & words w/ >2 syllables
This merger, while sound in theory, is unlikely to happen since that will mean the dissolution of the whole NBOME/COMLEX apparatus & all the money that it makes. Right now, there are two presidents, VPs, treasurers etc & no one is going to give up their job w/o a fight

The smart play, if there is a push for universal USMLE, would be to turn the COMLEX into what it rightfully ought to be... an OMM exclusive examination. Most people treat it as such anyway, and frankly the way the exam is written that tends to be the focus anyway. They could still get away with charging for it, having people author the questions, the whole shabang. Most people are taking two exams anyway. Make it a mandatory graduation requirement, use the score scaling as a requirement for residencies with a DO focus (FP or IM once the merger happens), and then the rest of people will treat the exam as they do the COMLEX... smash USMLE and no one will care.

That's my "wishful thinking" idea. The truth? You're right... NBOME will hem and haw the whole way, asserting that their exam is every bit as good a barometer of medical knowledge and residency success as the USMLE (which is delusional, but... such is the NBOME)

 

[microshar88]

Was just wondering, what percent of DO students nationally take USMLE?

I took only COMLEX because I did not want to risk failing USMLE, but I think Im the minority in my class for doing so. That being said, my COMLEX 2 did not truly assess my knowledge and I think I might have done ok to take USMLE and get a passing score. you never know though.

 

[hallowmann]

Was just wondering, what percent of DO students nationally take USMLE?

I took only COMLEX because I did not want to risk failing USMLE, but I think Im the minority in my class for doing so. That being said, my COMLEX 2 did not truly assess my knowledge and I think I might have done ok to take USMLE and get a passing score. you never know though.

This really varies by school. I've heard of schools where as much as 3/4 take it, and others where very few people do. Even at my school only 1/3 take it, but after talking to faculty in my specific pathway, apparently more than half in my specific pathway take it.

I think about half of DOs take it altogether. ~2700 took it in 2013, and there were probably ~5300-5400 eligible second years.

 

[Mehd School]

This is just a curiosity since I'm nowhere near the point where I should be pondering boards.

But will Uworld prepare you well enough for comlex prep as well? I understand combank/quest have more comlex style question stems and are used to orient towards that question type. I have no intentions on doing anything AOA after graduation, so the usmle will be my focus unless plans drastically change.

 

[as90]

For th

This is just a curiosity since I'm nowhere near the point where I should be pondering boards.

But will Uworld prepare you well enough for comlex prep as well? I understand combank/quest have more comlex style question stems and are used to orient towards that question type. I have no intentions on doing anything AOA after graduation, so the usmle will be my focus unless plans drastically change.

For the most part, yes.

However, I will say that COMQUEST/COMBANK were an easy review of major topics in Uworld (quick review). There were a few questions that were verbatim from COMBANK on my COMLEX/COMSAE. However, you could easily get these right just by knowing Uworld backwards & forwards.

 

[Mehd School]

For th


For the most part, yes.

However, I will say that COMQUEST/COMBANK were an easy review of major topics in Uworld (quick review). There were a few questions that were verbatim from COMBANK on my COMLEX/COMSAE. However, you could easily get these right just by knowing Uworld backwards & forwards.

Awesome, thanks for the reply.

 

[Dharma]

This is just a curiosity since I'm nowhere near the point where I should be pondering boards.

But will Uworld prepare you well enough for comlex prep as well? I understand combank/quest have more comlex style question stems and are used to orient towards that question type. I have no intentions on doing anything AOA after graduation, so the usmle will be my focus unless plans drastically change.

Without a doubt, YES, if you use it correctly as a a learning tool (i.e. GOLDEN explanations, charts, diagrams, pics). I only did UWorld/FA/Pathoma, quit early on COMBANK, and barely cracked the green book (i.e. I mostly said forget OMM, but they drilled it into our heads during preclinical). I put my focus on USMLE and treated COMLEX like an afterthought. Stomped the COMLEX (it was a joke IMHO). Could've used a few more NBME's and time w/FA to hit my goal USMLE but still did well.

Point being, if you're learning your OMM in class/lab there isn't any reason to really worry about the COMLEX. I don't buy into the "get used to the wording" pitch, because the whole test is a mess of a crapshoot anyway. You're better off on focusing on the USMLE. And don't bail on taking that thing. I know too many folks who backed out last minute. And man, does it feel nice having Step 1 (a real STEP 1) in my back pocket. Worth the time and effort. Good luck.

 

[costales]

^ This. People who discourage DO students from taking the USMLE are doing them a huge disservice. Even if your mother says don't take the USMLE, take it. (And study like your life depends on it - because it does.)

 

[j4pac]

Our staff was supportive of us taking the USMLE at LECOM Bradenton...but that probably had to do with us doing extremely well on our boards and USMLE is often required to match to competitive and prestigious programs.

 

[Siggy]

^ This. People who discourage DO students from taking the USMLE are doing them a huge disservice. Even if your mother says don't take the USMLE, take it. (And study like your life depends on it - because it does.)

Quick question, does any of the schools grant protected time off from rotations for USMLE? I know at my school (Western), they had a strict "Well, you don't need USMLE, so screw you!" policy.

 

[DrEnderW]

Quick question, does any of the schools grant protected time off from rotations for USMLE? I know at my school (Western), they had a strict "Well, you don't need USMLE, so screw you!" policy.

Mine doesn't. I'm not sure why you'd need or want that though? I wouldn't grant it if I was in admin as the content of the same is the same +/- OMM.

 

[Siggy]

Mine doesn't. I'm not sure why you'd need or want that though? I wouldn't grant it if I was in admin as the content of the same is the same +/- OMM.

By "protected time off" I don't mean "study time." I mean "Oh, you're taking USMLE on ____? Ok, you're officially off that day." As in 1 day. That soul sucking day spent inside a Prometrics.

Side note: I stepped inside a Prometrics for the last time yesterday.

 

[DrEnderW]

By "protected time off" I don't mean "study time." I mean "Oh, you're taking USMLE on ____? Ok, you're officially off that day." As in 1 day. That soul sucking day spent inside a Prometrics.

Side note: I stepped inside a Prometrics for the last time yesterday.

Oh my bad, that makes sense.

Congrats on being done - that sounds absolutely glorious.

 

[Kevin Baker]

Quick question, does any of the schools grant protected time off from rotations for USMLE? I know at my school (Western), they had a strict "Well, you don't need USMLE, so screw you!" policy.

With help from the student government, westernu has changed this policy for current students and we can all request time off to take USMLE and/or comlex. You can also use u world and nbmes instead of comsaes as eligible practice tests during independent study rotations. We've definitely become more USMLE friendly since the merger.

 

[hallowmann]

Quick question, does any of the schools grant protected time off from rotations for USMLE? I know at my school (Western), they had a strict "Well, you don't need USMLE, so screw you!" policy.

There's no policy for Step 1 (we take both Step and Level 1 on our own time) but I know LECOM gives 1 day off for Step 2, but they made it abundantly clear that unlike Level 2, they don't give us "travel time" for the USMLE, so it's only 1 day and not 1 day + another to travel to the testing location (if its not nearby).

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Our staff was supportive of us taking the USMLE at LECOM Bradenton...but that probably had to do with us doing extremely well on our boards and USMLE is often required to match to competitive and prestigious programs.

I see you're practicing. This has since changed, by a lot. Every year there are people they are referring to as "borderline", as to whether they should take USMLE or not, who take it and are breaking 250s and 260s.

If i had to estimate I would say MAYBE 40%, probably less, took USMLE Step 1 mostly due to scare tactics the school uses to "Stay away from the big bad USMLE".

 

[hallowmann]

I see you're practicing. This has since changed, by a lot. Every year there are people they are referring to as "borderline", as to whether they should take USMLE or not, who take it and are breaking 250s and 260s.

If i had to estimate I would say MAYBE 40%, probably less, took USMLE Step 1 mostly due to scare tactics the school uses to "Stay away from the big bad USMLE".

What we're told is that as a whole, only a third of LECOM students take the USMLE. They are definitely all about the, "you really need to decide if you can do well on it", "70% of ACGME residencies 'accept' the COMLEX", "do you really want to study for 2 exams?", etc. That said, I think more people in PBL tend to take both, but there are definitely those that have been convinced that they shouldn't take the USMLE, and that's in spite of the 98% Step 1 pass rate school-wide of those who take it (which is roughly equal or above the our Level 1 pass rate school-wide - but there is self-selection involved).

 

[j4pac]

I see you're practicing. This has since changed, by a lot. Every year there are people they are referring to as "borderline", as to whether they should take USMLE or not, who take it and are breaking 250s and 260s.

If i had to estimate I would say MAYBE 40%, probably less, took USMLE Step 1 mostly due to scare tactics the school uses to "Stay away from the big bad USMLE".

Are you a current LECOM-B student?

In my class we performed a practice COMLEX, and based on the practice COMLEX they gave us a recommendation on whether or not we should take the COMLEX and/or USMLE. There were only two students in my class that they advised not to take the USMLE because they struggled with PBL and barely passed the practice test.

Only about 50% of our students took the COMLEX but it really had nothing to do with "fear" of the USMLE. Half of the students knew they wanted to do primary care, or only wanted to apply to DO residencies. We had about 20 military students including myself who knew that the USMLE would not be required. Then you had the two students who were told that they should just focus on the COMLEX.

The student who took the USMLE did very well and matched very well. We matched everyone. I believe that even the ones who didn't take the USMLE, including myself, would have done fine.

I know many people who did considerably better on the USMLE than COMLEX.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Are you a current LECOM-B student?

In my class we performed a practice COMLEX, and based on the practice COMLEX they gave us a recommendation on whether or not we should take the COMLEX and/or USMLE. There were only two students in my class that they advised not to take the USMLE because they struggled with PBL and barely passed the practice test.

Only about 50% of our students took the COMLEX but it really had nothing to do with "fear" of the USMLE. Half of the students knew they wanted to do primary care, or only wanted to apply to DO residencies. We had about 20 military students including myself who knew that the USMLE would not be required. Then you had the two students who were told that they should just focus on the COMLEX.

The student who took the USMLE did very well and matched very well. We matched everyone. I believe that even the ones who didn't take the USMLE, including myself, would have done fine.

I know many people who did considerably better on the USMLE than COMLEX.

Yes I am, we too did the practice COMLEX. The stats they used was your average PBL grade over the first 2 years. I'm not sure how the grading was when you went through but I would say less than 10% of people recieved "A"s in PBL due to using a true bell curve. I'm guessing this has to do with a PhD running the first two years, instead of Dr. Krueger.

I was probably in the top 1/3rd (maybe 1/4th) or so with a rough average of 85%, again I was a "borderline" student. The "do not take line" was drawn at something around 81 or 82% which meant half the class was basically advised not to take it.

I was also one of those that did better on the USMLE than the COMLEX. According to the class behind my class' Facebook page, they too received similar advice with one girl posting >260 as a "borderline" student.