Can you please tell me the cases seen in the PE and what BOOK to use to study for it?
Thanks
Thanks
MS taken COMLEX PE
- Thread starter daact
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First Aid for USMLE Step 2 CS - read it casually, don't memorize.
Savarese to review OMM procedures.
Pray to whatever deity you choose that the light of AT Still will rain down on you and allow you to pass this embarrassment of a test.
All I can say is try to suppress the little voice in your head telling you what BS this test is as you are taking it.
You'll do fine.
Savarese to review OMM procedures.
Pray to whatever deity you choose that the light of AT Still will rain down on you and allow you to pass this embarrassment of a test.
All I can say is try to suppress the little voice in your head telling you what BS this test is as you are taking it.
You'll do fine.
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Well, I agree and disagree.
I agree on the study advice above.
I disagree that this test is an embarrassment. It's just another test to take to become a physician, and the test itself is very well-run (and the simulated patients, for the most part, play their roles well).
As far as telling the OP what cases there are: Well, that's not allowed under the agreement we signed when we took the test. Yes, I have enough morals not to divulge that information even though this is an anonymous forum (besides, as everyone else, I worked to pass the test...why should I help you have an easy time? 😉)
Anyway, I will tell you that to pass the test make sure that you do the following on EVERY patient (yes, EVERY SINGLE PATIENT regardless of chief complaint):
- Ask about medications, allergies, past medical/surgical history, family history, and social history (don't forget the social history!)
- Consider preventive medicine in your encounter regardless of chief complaint (yes, the guy came for one thing but also told you that he smokes a pack a day...spend some time with cessation counseling).
- Do a brief complete exam on everyone (eyes, ears, throat, heart, lungs, abdomen, neuro...)
- Don't forget the easy, basic stuff: wash hands, say 'please', 'thank you', 'may I examine you' and drape the patient.
- Don't worry too much about making an accurate diagnosis. This is not a medical knowledge exam, it's a how-does-this-guy-handle-a-patient-encounter exam.
Relax and have fun. It's not that bad, the center's personnel are very helpful and nice, and the facilities aren't bad at all. Just take a deep breath before your first encounter. The day goes by so fast you won't believe it.
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It's kinda funny, I don't get test anxiety, owned step 1&2, but was a little anxious to take the COMLEX PE...that is, until I ran through the first patient. Just get into your routine and do what the above post mentioned..and try to relax...thats huge.
In terms of study material-I'll be perfectly honest, I didn't study one bit. I just made sure to get plenty of H&P's during third year. Everything went fine and I passed. Good luck and try to relax.
Oh yeah, and don't let those robotic-like secretaries giving you instructions get into your grid...you honestly have to laugh at it
In terms of study material-I'll be perfectly honest, I didn't study one bit. I just made sure to get plenty of H&P's during third year. Everything went fine and I passed. Good luck and try to relax.
Oh yeah, and don't let those robotic-like secretaries giving you instructions get into your grid...you honestly have to laugh at it
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You bet..trying to finish out the rest of the year here. I know where I'm goin next year..now just getting through the rest of 4th year. Might I know you?
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Just took COMLEX PE. Most of the cases were easy and very straight-foward. I think I did OMM three or four times. Made sure to wash my hands before every room, kept a straight face even with the T & A patient who still had her tonsils, and tried to be extremely polite and compassionate. One acute abdomen, one care accident (did cervical myofascial stuff), one chest pain and a few other easy cases. I didn't use First Aid, just went over some OMM stuff the day before.
Hope this helps everyone.
Hope this helps everyone.
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when did you guys take the PE and Ck? Im having some trouble deciding. Part of me wants to do both in May just to get them over with. But another part of me wants to wait as long as I can. I was considering doing PE in May and Ck in like December so I dont have to worry about scores to get interviews since I have a good step 1. Any advice?
Well, if you're very confident you'll pass the COMLEX PE then you might want to gamble and wait as long as you can. However, you must make sure your scores are available in time for you to graduate. It takes almost three months to receive your PE scores (about one month for CE scores). If you fail your PE you'll find out about 2-3 months after the fact, then you have to schedule another one if possible, and then wait another 3 months after that. As you can see, just to be on the safe side, I'd recommend taking the PE as soon as you can. I took it on Oct. 2nd and received my scores online about two weeks ago.
mickdogg81 said:
Good luck with the rest of your year. We probably don't know each other...too many med students in Cleveland.
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Used OMM 3-4 stations. One acute abdomen -> sent him to the ER. One chest pain that appeared to be ACS -> sent him to the ER too. One neck pain s/p car accident. One knee pain, one patient who presented with depression and a couple other easy ones. No sweat. Just make sure you put your pen down when the buzzer goes off...they get real pissed if you don't. I found this out the hard way.
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How do you send someone to the ER? Do you end the encounter, or do you continue your history and physical for the full 15 minutes and then as a plan write send to er?
Do not end the encounter! Not even if the guy is having an MI in front of you. Complete your questions, complete your full PE, etc. etc. Tell the patient he/she needs to be taken to the ER and an EMS unit is coming to pick them up or whatever. The patient will most likely ask you tough questions like "do you think I'm going to die?!" "doctor, is this really that serious?" "what do you think is wrong with me?". Just answer as confidently as you can. It's OK to be a bit vague but it's also OK to be confident and tell them what you think is going on and that they need to be in a hospital to be worked up. Of course, I'm not a writer for the COMLEX PE or anything, I'm going with what instructors have recommended we do, what upperclassmen that have passed/failed the test have told me, and my own personal experience.
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Thanks for all the input guys. Can you guys elaborate on how you prepared for the OMM portion of this exam? It seems that this is a major point of stress for this exam. Do you think that most people that fail it is because of the OMM stuff? i.e. patient had low back pain and you just chose to give some NSAIDS etc. and did not do myofascial release.
I don't personally think that *most* people that fail it is because of OMM (there are only two or three cases where OMM would be really beneficial, unless you're a gung-ho OMMer and do OMM on everyone). I can't believe that a person would fail the test because of poor OMM skills when everything else was up to par.
I did not prepare for the OMM portion at all. Just relax and treat the simulated patients like any other simulated patient you've had in your training. Without going into specifics for the cases, I only performed OMM on three cases. The techniques I used were very basic and simple: Myofascial release, functional techniques, simple indirect techniques, and cranial (yes, I did cranial manipulation! 😀 I had a blast). DO NOT FORGET TO RE-CHECK after the manipulation, and ask the patient if they think it helped or not.
I think the OMM portion of the test is the least of your concerns. Again, don't stress too much, try to relax and you'll be fine.
