Juggling remediation and MD/DO Boards

[MedStudentAnon1]

I am regular long term member of this board and created this account to maintain my anonymity.

I failed the 4 week summer term of my second year and am faced with remediating two courses, an introductory course in pharmacology and another introductory course in pathology, at the end of the year. I take full responsibility for what happened and have made the necessary changes to (hopefully) ensure my success in subsequent courses.

My school gives approximately two months in between second and third year. The first thirty days is reserved for remediation now and the remainder for boards, which I am not allowed to take until I succesfully pass. I assume they mean the COMLEX.

My question is if it would be foolish to attempt the USMLE before the remediation period, which would mean I would take them right after finals. My line of thinking is that I would begin studying in January, and in doing so would be taking care of remediation studying as well, and depending on what I score on the NBME practice tests, take the USMLE after my second semester, study thirty days for remediation, then spend four weeks prepping for COMLEX.

I will not be commenting further on my situation as it would clearly identify me, but will watch the thread closely. I appreciate any input. Thank you.

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[TeamZissou]

I don't think it's bad to try and take the USMLE right after classes but if you study hard enough to do ok on it then you DO NOT need 4 weeks to study for the COMLEX. From what I hear it only takes a few days to a week to review OMM. Perhaps you could rearrange it to account for this?

 

[TeamZissou]

In fact it's much better for you to take the tests soon after classes as it has been shown that once you get out past about the 3-4 week mark you start to lose a lot of the details you had to learn in class.

 

[p30doc]

I'm going to disagree, I think it is foolish to take the USMLE right after finals. You are still going to be juggling and obligated to class stuff. Yes you will be still able to study for boards during that time, but I don't think you will be able to dedicate enough time to it while class is in session. Based on what I have read on the USMLE forums and my limited knowledge of the test, I think it will be important to have a dedicated study period for the USMLE (if you are aiming for a high score and not just trying to pass it). It also seems wise to take the COMLEX a few days to a week after the USMLE and review savarese in between.

 

[ShyRem]

Foolish to take any board exams until successful passing of your classes. Having failed a couple MAJOR courses (we're talking PATH and PHARM here, not derm folks), foolish to take boards without adequate study period after successful passage of your courses.

Failed boards looks bad to residency programs. They understand remediation of courses - many med students end up remediating one or two classes. But failed boards are another story entirely.

 

[TeamZissou]

I'm going to disagree, I think it is foolish to take the USMLE right after finals. You are still going to be juggling and obligated to class stuff. Yes you will be still able to study for boards during that time, but I don't think you will be able to dedicate enough time to it while class is in session. Based on what I have read on the USMLE forums and my limited knowledge of the test, I think it will be important to have a dedicated study period for the USMLE (if you are aiming for a high score and not just trying to pass it). It also seems wise to take the COMLEX a few days to a week after the USMLE and review savarese in between.

Let me clarify what I meant. When I said after finals I didn't advocate RIGHT after finals. I meant after the OP was done with school. Also I don't see why it's such a dilemma for them to take the boards prior to remediation if they have a month between the two. The OP said they had trouble with the INTRO to pharm and path so I'm assuming they were able to complete the main part of those courses which is where I'm assuming their school teaches the majority of that subject that is tested on boards.

I think we're all in agreement on the main suggestions, but just differ in the details.

Bottom line OP is you need a few weeks to dedicate to studying for boards. Also I think the general feeling is you want to take the two tests close (about a week apart to allow time to review OMM before the COMLEX).

 

[DrWBD]

Priority#1 - pass your classes.

 

[MDROCKSTAR]

If I were the OP, I would finish all remediation first, take USMLE second (3 weeks later), then COMLEX a week later. However, this will give you no break between 2nd and 3rd year as far as time off. You should also be doing board review during that remediation period (nothing too heavy, you need to focus on passing those classes). Path and Pharm are very important for boards, so what you learn during that remediation period will help you. Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fine.

 

[H2DO]

I am regular long term member of this board and created this account to maintain my anonymity.

I failed the 4 week summer term of my second year and am faced with remediating two courses, an introductory course in pharmacology and another introductory course in pathology, at the end of the year. I take full responsibility for what happened and have made the necessary changes to (hopefully) ensure my success in subsequent courses.

My school gives approximately two months in between second and third year. The first thirty days is reserved for remediation now and the remainder for boards, which I am not allowed to take until I succesfully pass. I assume they mean the COMLEX.

My question is if it would be foolish to attempt the USMLE before the remediation period, which would mean I would take them right after finals. My line of thinking is that I would begin studying in January, and in doing so would be taking care of remediation studying as well, and depending on what I score on the NBME practice tests, take the USMLE after my second semester, study thirty days for remediation, then spend four weeks prepping for COMLEX.

I will not be commenting further on my situation as it would clearly identify me, but will watch the thread closely. I appreciate any input. Thank you.

I'd say focus on school and passing before you worry about grades. Not sure what your school's policy is but we can't take USMLE or COMLEX unless we have successfully passed 2nd year. Also, doing well on boards is not worth it if its comes at the risk of failing a class.

I'd recommend using first aid and goljan as you study and once you are done with remediation, spend 3 wks of just studyiing for boards, first aid, goljan, uworld and allow a week bw usmle and comlex. Good luck!

 

[beachblonde]

OP, your school won't let you take any exam (COMLEX or USMLE) until you have passed your classes (this is as I understand it). If you were to take it, they will invalidate your score. The same goes for students who fail the remediation; they often end up taking the test yet finding that they don't get a score because the school intervened. I suspect the school won't even give you permission to register for any test until you've passed your courses, but that's just speculation.

But overall, it sounds like a bad idea. There is some irony in that you give yourself 30 days to study for remediation when really all you need is a week, tops, but cut yourself short for the USMLE. Doesn't sound like it will end well.

 

[nlax30]

Agree with the others. Pass your classes first and then schedule boards, which your schools is most likely going to require before certifying you to sit for Step 1 anyway.

If you're in this current situation as it relates to remediation of a couple CORE subjects then I would say you're probably not in a position to take your boards yet, let alone trying to sit for USMLE before you're all done with this stuff. Last thing you want to do now is shoot yourself in the foot by rushing things and performing poorly on Step 1.

After you're done with classes then focus on dedicated board review. And you can take them fairly close together. I took both for Step 1 and scored above avg on both. My strategy was basically to study using USMLE materials. I took USMLE first and COMLEX 2 days later, using the day in between to review OMM.

 

[DarkHorizon]

I know someone who was in a similar position as you last year and now is in class with me because he failed the remediation....according to him the school wouldn't approve him for either board until you pass the course

 

[dermpathdoc]

Foolish to take any board exams until successful passing of your classes. Having failed a couple MAJOR courses (we're talking PATH and PHARM here, not derm folks), foolish to take boards without adequate study period after successful passage of your courses.

Failed boards looks bad to residency programs. They understand remediation of courses - many med students end up remediating one or two classes. But failed boards are another story entirely.

Agree with her guys and gals....don't take the boards until you remediate the courses...after all your school will not let take the comlex until you pass the required courses..why would you try to take the USMLE then?
look at the chnaces of your getting scores that BOMB! you want the best possible scores and to NOT retake!

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Failed boards looks bad to residency programs. They understand remediation of courses - many med students end up remediating one or two classes. But failed boards are another story entirely.

Failed classes look pretty bad, too. Most of the decently competitive residencies I'm looking at list "successful completion of all basic and clinical science classes on the first attempt" as one of their requirements.

Granted, I think the OP would do well to arrange a dedicated study period so he/she doesn't stain their transcript with both class failures and a boards failure, but here I might even rethink taking the USMLE. It seems to be much less forgiving than the COMLEX, especially to those who have had trouble with classes.