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Okay...Its def now My time to give back...
Been meaning to do this for a while...
FIRST OFF....let me just say, how USMLEWORLD is to USMLE.....COMQUEST is to COMLEX!!!
JUST took COMLEX Step 2 CK today....Was prob the last in my class!!! This was my first time taking it...Ive already matched....Did not even get to study that much consecutively and unfortunately I will not have my scores for another 4 weeks to tell you all how I did, However I can not emphasize enough......>>USE COMQUEST!!
I had at least 30 almost verbatim questions from Comquest on my test today...and many more were so similar I felt very comfortable. They give a mneumonic for learning sacral axis and how to tell them apart...I counted ...for my test I had 17 sacral questions and I used my own "I actually understand it so Im just gonna work it out in my head" theory for the test....mistake... But please let me say I wish I had just used their mneumonic for fig it out bc some of the questions dont give you the seated flex test etc and therefore I wasnt able to reason things out in my head whereas had I just memorized their mneumonic I wouldve been fine.
I also used a friends COMBANK subscription earlier on and did about 400 questions throughout the month on and off and between the two of them...If one wants to do that--> buying COMBANK and COMQUEST, they together covered almost identically 80% of my test...even the topics and questions were so similar!@ However, for me COMQUEST hands down was the better source...
FOR STEP 1 COMLEX....I USED JUST FIRST AID...AND DID FINE.... >500, SO I WASNT EVEN A HUGE FAN OF qBANKS...bUT TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT ..my advice after taking it TODAY is GET COMQUEST!! Its cheap and do all the 800 questions...You can easily get thru them.. take notes on what they say...You will be golden...Id still use a backup OMM source...(I had a power point packet from a friend who attends a diff DO school than me that one of their prof made them) and thats what I used. It was great.
So.....Thats my advice. Feel free to ask quest.
SECOND....I took COMLEX PE as well...had not had a clinical rotation in 2 months before the month I took it. I bought the First Aid CS...practiced a mock run through with a friend who played the patient for a total of 4 cases that she picked from the book. That was all
I then Read over the front section that has the quick review tests to order and diff diagnoses the night before and again as much as I could review for about an hour before the real deal. I did not watch the online videos as I was told you watch one there during the orientation and you do.
I have some BEST friends who did not pass this who are FANTASTIC with Pts and so I understand its crazy how ever they fig it out and I dont understand it. But Im thankful to God I passed first time. Hopefully I can shed some light for yal.
To make anyone feel better...I was right at "time" call on almost every patient. I got asked to come out on 1. I did however try to say a few words about what I thought and tests we were gonna do with each pt. I forgot to wash my hands on 2 patients!! No lie!
I ran out of time on almost all my notes...After the first note seeing this, I started with Subj, then went to TX next since I knew time was a deal for me. That way if I was short somewhere it would be on my Physical diagnosis documentation and I would still have a great Subjective history and Assessment and Plan. I wrote while I would ask questions bc I was so nervous about forgetting to ask something or writing down something I didnt ask, that I literally wrote during the entire time with the pts so I wouldnt forget something they said or whatever (unlike how I would do in a real setting- I never write in the room with the pt) BUT I was just polite and said to them "Forgive me for writing , Im listening to you I just want to make sure that I have everything youve told me documented correctly so we can try to get you feeling better soon@!" or something of that nature. You get my drift. Ummm..what else..OH I only did OMM on ONE patient at that was my last pt. I did a ME tx. Anyone else I either wrote something like "could do sacral inhibition pending cultures...etc" for a pt complaining of GI probs.SO like maybe 6 total pts I wrote in the A/P some OMM treatment they could do. Or in the PE documentation I would write "Rt rotation > than Lt" ...very basic. If I was in the room I would say, "There are also some OMM techniques we can try that may alleviate some of your symptoms, but first Id like to r/o a fracture or whatever it was that I wanted to rule out..." I would even say that if they asked me for OMM....I would say thats an option we can def look into but first I would like to do this..."
So dont think you have to do OMM on every pt. I only did it on one and when I rechecked her and asked how she felt...she said it still hurt....so there ya go!
When I walked out of that test I felt horrible amd I realized some HUGE differentials I missed on very basic pts presenting with COMMON probs (ALL IN THE FA BOOK!) and I still passed.... so have heart folks! You CAN DO IT! Just BE FRIENDLY!!! TALK TO THEM!!! EVEN IF the pts arent very responsive or you dont get a comfortable feel. I mean I remember walking out of there thinking I didnt connect or laugh with a single pt...they hated me! I failed! And then THANK GOD I didnt...So just know that you can do it...Be confident...Be friendly...ANYTHING you miss or forget to ask/check in the PE just write it in the SOAP note to check or in the A/P...I scribbled all over that paper! I wrote stuff listed at #6 in the A/P and drew arrows for it to be #1 when I remembered a top differential towards the end of my note writing. I clearly didnt even document half the stuff I checked in exams bc I didnt have time (I write long notes ) and I still passed...so I hope this might have encouraged some of you. Get FA and youll be fine...do a few mocks and time it...then just go in there and BE FRIENDLY! Dont judge how youre doing based on what they are reacting to you...they are supposed to act! If a pt is sad...be sad and sympathetic with them....etc...
God only knows how today went...I pray I passed. The first 200 questions on the written felt like a nightmare...for some reason they were just very hard to me and I didnt feel confident on any of the answers! Then the last 200, you wouldve thought I was in a diff test and felt like I knew 85% of that perfectly.....ANd of course I come home look stuff up and realized I completely botched it! So what is will be...I pray I wait and I think positive. What else can you do. If I fail I'll retake it before graduation...but no sense in worrying on what you cant change now. Ill let yal know my Step 2 CK score when I find out.
Thanks for all your many many great words of help along my journey these past 3 1/2 yrs!!! FINALLY DONE NOW!! (hopefully!)
Sorry so long and rambled...trying to write it quick before we leave! Best wishes guys!!! Its a mental thing!! Trust yourself and think positive constantly to yourself!
Been meaning to do this for a while...
FIRST OFF....let me just say, how USMLEWORLD is to USMLE.....COMQUEST is to COMLEX!!!
JUST took COMLEX Step 2 CK today....Was prob the last in my class!!! This was my first time taking it...Ive already matched....Did not even get to study that much consecutively and unfortunately I will not have my scores for another 4 weeks to tell you all how I did, However I can not emphasize enough......>>USE COMQUEST!!
I had at least 30 almost verbatim questions from Comquest on my test today...and many more were so similar I felt very comfortable. They give a mneumonic for learning sacral axis and how to tell them apart...I counted ...for my test I had 17 sacral questions and I used my own "I actually understand it so Im just gonna work it out in my head" theory for the test....mistake... But please let me say I wish I had just used their mneumonic for fig it out bc some of the questions dont give you the seated flex test etc and therefore I wasnt able to reason things out in my head whereas had I just memorized their mneumonic I wouldve been fine.
I also used a friends COMBANK subscription earlier on and did about 400 questions throughout the month on and off and between the two of them...If one wants to do that--> buying COMBANK and COMQUEST, they together covered almost identically 80% of my test...even the topics and questions were so similar!@ However, for me COMQUEST hands down was the better source...
FOR STEP 1 COMLEX....I USED JUST FIRST AID...AND DID FINE.... >500, SO I WASNT EVEN A HUGE FAN OF qBANKS...bUT TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT ..my advice after taking it TODAY is GET COMQUEST!! Its cheap and do all the 800 questions...You can easily get thru them.. take notes on what they say...You will be golden...Id still use a backup OMM source...(I had a power point packet from a friend who attends a diff DO school than me that one of their prof made them) and thats what I used. It was great.
So.....Thats my advice. Feel free to ask quest.
SECOND....I took COMLEX PE as well...had not had a clinical rotation in 2 months before the month I took it. I bought the First Aid CS...practiced a mock run through with a friend who played the patient for a total of 4 cases that she picked from the book. That was all
I then Read over the front section that has the quick review tests to order and diff diagnoses the night before and again as much as I could review for about an hour before the real deal. I did not watch the online videos as I was told you watch one there during the orientation and you do.
I have some BEST friends who did not pass this who are FANTASTIC with Pts and so I understand its crazy how ever they fig it out and I dont understand it. But Im thankful to God I passed first time. Hopefully I can shed some light for yal.
To make anyone feel better...I was right at "time" call on almost every patient. I got asked to come out on 1. I did however try to say a few words about what I thought and tests we were gonna do with each pt. I forgot to wash my hands on 2 patients!! No lie!
I ran out of time on almost all my notes...After the first note seeing this, I started with Subj, then went to TX next since I knew time was a deal for me. That way if I was short somewhere it would be on my Physical diagnosis documentation and I would still have a great Subjective history and Assessment and Plan. I wrote while I would ask questions bc I was so nervous about forgetting to ask something or writing down something I didnt ask, that I literally wrote during the entire time with the pts so I wouldnt forget something they said or whatever (unlike how I would do in a real setting- I never write in the room with the pt) BUT I was just polite and said to them "Forgive me for writing , Im listening to you I just want to make sure that I have everything youve told me documented correctly so we can try to get you feeling better soon@!" or something of that nature. You get my drift. Ummm..what else..OH I only did OMM on ONE patient at that was my last pt. I did a ME tx. Anyone else I either wrote something like "could do sacral inhibition pending cultures...etc" for a pt complaining of GI probs.SO like maybe 6 total pts I wrote in the A/P some OMM treatment they could do. Or in the PE documentation I would write "Rt rotation > than Lt" ...very basic. If I was in the room I would say, "There are also some OMM techniques we can try that may alleviate some of your symptoms, but first Id like to r/o a fracture or whatever it was that I wanted to rule out..." I would even say that if they asked me for OMM....I would say thats an option we can def look into but first I would like to do this..."
So dont think you have to do OMM on every pt. I only did it on one and when I rechecked her and asked how she felt...she said it still hurt....so there ya go!
When I walked out of that test I felt horrible amd I realized some HUGE differentials I missed on very basic pts presenting with COMMON probs (ALL IN THE FA BOOK!) and I still passed.... so have heart folks! You CAN DO IT! Just BE FRIENDLY!!! TALK TO THEM!!! EVEN IF the pts arent very responsive or you dont get a comfortable feel. I mean I remember walking out of there thinking I didnt connect or laugh with a single pt...they hated me! I failed! And then THANK GOD I didnt...So just know that you can do it...Be confident...Be friendly...ANYTHING you miss or forget to ask/check in the PE just write it in the SOAP note to check or in the A/P...I scribbled all over that paper! I wrote stuff listed at #6 in the A/P and drew arrows for it to be #1 when I remembered a top differential towards the end of my note writing. I clearly didnt even document half the stuff I checked in exams bc I didnt have time (I write long notes ) and I still passed...so I hope this might have encouraged some of you. Get FA and youll be fine...do a few mocks and time it...then just go in there and BE FRIENDLY! Dont judge how youre doing based on what they are reacting to you...they are supposed to act! If a pt is sad...be sad and sympathetic with them....etc...
God only knows how today went...I pray I passed. The first 200 questions on the written felt like a nightmare...for some reason they were just very hard to me and I didnt feel confident on any of the answers! Then the last 200, you wouldve thought I was in a diff test and felt like I knew 85% of that perfectly.....ANd of course I come home look stuff up and realized I completely botched it! So what is will be...I pray I wait and I think positive. What else can you do. If I fail I'll retake it before graduation...but no sense in worrying on what you cant change now. Ill let yal know my Step 2 CK score when I find out.
Thanks for all your many many great words of help along my journey these past 3 1/2 yrs!!! FINALLY DONE NOW!! (hopefully!)
Sorry so long and rambled...trying to write it quick before we leave! Best wishes guys!!! Its a mental thing!! Trust yourself and think positive constantly to yourself!
