OMS2's: Are you taking the USMLE?

[Rollo]

If you could state why you may or may not take the USMLE.

I'm most likely going to take it since studying for the USMLE prepares you for the COMLEX (except for OMM which can be taken care of by studying the green book).

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[schussboarder]

If you could state why you may or may not take the USMLE.

I'm most likely going to take it since studying for the USMLE prepares you for the COMLEX (except for OMM which can be taken care of by studying the green book).

i dont want to close any doors down the road. If when I'm applying to residencies I decide that I want to apply to a few allo spots I don't want to be shut out merely because the program doesn't think the comlex is equal to usmle (or doesn't know how to compare an applicant with a usmle vs a comlex)

 

[scudrunner]

I'm taking it. I want all the residency options I can get.

 

[beachblonde]

I say yes, but with the caveat of only if I'm doing well enough on practice NMBEs. doesn't seem worth it to take it and then get below average.

 

[nlax30]

I think about 30-40 in my class took USMLE step 1, ~20-25%.

If you're undecided as to which field you want to go into it's probably a good idea to take it just in case you end up applying to a competitive acgme program, assuming you do well on it.

I pretty much used usmle study material, with just a day of OMM review between tests and did really well on COMLEX so I don't feel like there's really much difference in preparing for one versus the other.

 

[Rollo]

I think about 30-40 in my class took USMLE step 1, ~20-25%.

If you're undecided as to which field you want to go into it's probably a good idea to take it just in case you end up applying to a competitive acgme program, assuming you do well on it.

I pretty much used usmle study material, with just a day of OMM review between tests and did really well on COMLEX so I don't feel like there's really much difference in preparing for one versus the other.

Did you use any comlex specific qbanks or take any comlex-like practice tests? I assume you used U-world/Kaplan qbank + NBMEs...

 

[nlax30]

Did you use any comlex specific qbanks or take any comlex-like practice tests? I assume you used U-world/Kaplan qbank + NBMEs...

Our school gave us access to kaplan qbank. Some students bought their own subscription to UWorld. Honestly, I didn't do many questions at all. I just never seemed to learn well from that way and mainly used review books and kaplan review videos.

We did take a few practice tests that the school gave, one of which was an NBME one I believe.

Only comlex specific resource I used to any extent was the Savarse green OMT review book which I read the day before comlex.

 

[Rollo]

Hmm interesting.

So you didn't feel there was much difference between the formats for the two exams? What I mean is the way the questions were worded, and the type of questions they were (2nd order, fact recall, abstract, etc.).

 

[nlax30]

Hmm interesting.

So you didn't feel there was much difference between the formats for the two exams? What I mean is the way the questions were worded, and the type of questions they were (2nd order, fact recall, abstract, etc.).

I can't recall exact specifics of the actual type of questions each had... such as how many matching, etc... it may have changed a little so you might want to check the respective websites as they'll have guides as to what kind of question formats to expect.

In general I think most of us who took both found USMLE to be the more well written exam. It just seemed on COMLEX that I was the questions would leave out a critical detail and I would get down 2 answer choices more often than on usmle where I either knew it or didn't. I also seem to recall that USMLE would include more details in the stem, some of which was extraneous info that wasn't important, but you had a little more info to go on. On COMLEX it seemed like every word in the stem was important but that I found myself waiting for a critical detail or finding.

I think also depends on your comfort level with standardized exams in general. I've been fairly lucky in that as long as I know the material I do well on these type of exams no matter the format and have been able to do well on really understanding what the question is asking. So doing a lot of practice questions to get used to the format wasn't as high on my priority list as spending the time really understanding key concepts.

That's just me though. Someone else may be built differently and may benefit more from spending extra time doing practice questions. So that part will depend on how you learn and process information.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

You bet. I'm taking the USMLE because I'm interested in competitive MD residencies and I want to prove once and for all to any MD I may encounter that fully his/her equal.

Folks, I had a few nasty run-ins recently with old "friends" who went allopathic and/or MDs out in the real world and let me tell ya....DO bias is alive and well.

And it's uglier than I'd ever imagined.

So basically, folks, I think it's every determined DO student's mission to work like a demon, read FA, read Goljan, work through thousands of USMLEworld questions, and CRUSH THE DAMN USMLE.

/rant off

 

[Flushot]

Like you said, studying for USMLE will prep you for COMLEX. As someone who also wants to apply to both residency types, it's a given.

That said, I find it funny (or tragic, depending on how you see it) on how fast you can cover the OMM portion on the COMLEX. The green book isn't even that great, as I can confirm the negative reviews on Amazon. Still, a First Aid Comlex seems more than adequate, along with a few extra days to review everything again.

I'm about 9 months off but I can see it working out as such.

 

[Rollo]

Yeah, I've looked at the green book last year when we had our OMM class exams. And man, that thing is LIGHT compared to the stuff we need to know for the class exams.

The concepts covered in the book are very, very basic and somewhat superficial compared to the amount of complexity and depth of OMM material we are taught.

With that being said, I'll probably be brushing up on some OMM here and there during my dedicated board prep time by using, oh I don't know, Comlex qbanks (i don't know what these are called haha) and the green book? I wouldn't feel comfortable setting aside only 1 day for OMM...

 

[Flushot]

Give it 2 days then

No seriously, every 3rd year I've talked to now that took both literally gave it a weekend with 2 more days to brush up on 'real' material. I think there were a few pearls you needed to remember, but they say just get in there and write it down on your dry erase board and you're practically done with the OMM section.

I've read through Kaplan's Comlex OMM book too and it's even thinner. OMM lab and lecture probably take way more time than ever needed as we need to get in those AOA designated hours for training, I suppose.