Passed COMLEX but failed USMLE

Your USMLE Scores Increased, Guaranteed!
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
M

Majorgroove

Junior Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2004
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Members don't see this ad.
Hi guys & gals,

Need help on a scenario. DO student in CA hoping to get an anesthesiology rersidency passed the COMLEX (not great #'s) but failed USMLE Step I by 8 points. If she doesn't retake step I, what are the conseq? She's also considering IM, does she still need to retake USMLE? Any thoughts? Thanks.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
a passing USMLE can't hurt, you know? I'd have 'her' try again.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Wouldnt try it unless she is confident she can score ~230. A barely passing score on USMLE does nothing for you and is hardly worth the time and money.

I think anesthesia is definitely a specialty that the USMLE can help with, but not a 190...that might actually hurt a little.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Majorgroove,

The good news is that you don't have to release your USMLE scores on your ERAS application, so you can pretend to the programs that you never took it.

I think Idiopathic may be stretching the situation a bit by citing 230 as a minimally acceptable score to justify taking it, though clearly you need to get at least 200 to consider reporting your score.

The main issue is that you need to make your application favorable to the allopathic world. Having a decent showing on the USMLE is one means of demonstrating that you measure up with the MDs. However, probably even more important is having good evaluations and recommendations from MD anesthesiologists.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Barely passing the USMLE will most definitely not help you. Not in this day and age where most PD's know how to interpret the COMLEX and have acceptable cutoffs. It might be advantageous in ortho/neuro/rads/derm/ENT, but a 200 wouldnt help you there anyway. My theory is you need to be comfortable that you can beat the mean if you are going to take the test, and what specialty would a 200 USMLE help you that a 500 COMLEX wouldnt? Almost every PD understands the COMLEX and how to interpret it, I would only consider taking the USMLE if you were not confident in your COMLEX score or thought you could really do well on the USMLE.

Just my opinion.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Idiopathic said:
Almost every PD understands the COMLEX and how to interpret it
Click to expand...

This was not my experience at all on the interview trail. A number of PD's told me that taking the USMLE was the best thing that I could have done to help my application. Also more than a few professed ignorance in interpreting COMLEX scores, possibly because they don't get the %'s.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Idiopathic said:
Barely passing the USMLE will most definitely not help you. Not in this day and age where most PD's know how to interpret the COMLEX and have acceptable cutoffs. It might be advantageous in ortho/neuro/rads/derm/ENT, but a 200 wouldnt help you there anyway. My theory is you need to be comfortable that you can beat the mean if you are going to take the test, and what specialty would a 200 USMLE help you that a 500 COMLEX wouldnt? Almost every PD understands the COMLEX and how to interpret it, I would only consider taking the USMLE if you were not confident in your COMLEX score or thought you could really do well on the USMLE.

Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

I've heard a good number of nightmare stories about allopathic PDs having no clue how to interpret COMLEX scores. And this was in last year's match.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Arch Guillotti said:
This was not my experience at all on the interview trail. A number of PD's told me that taking the USMLE was the best thing that I could have done to help my application. Also more than a few professed ignorance in interpreting COMLEX scores, possibly because they don't get the %'s.
Click to expand...

I guess the difference is where we get our anecdotes. I give yours credit because you have 'been there'. I think there are three levels to the USMLE, if you are a DO.

Passing...what does that do for you?
Beating the mean...helps, especially if you beat the mean on the COMLEX.
Blowing the test away...helps if you are looking for a gunner residency.

This is just my opinion, honestly. I am saying that I wouldnt attempt it, shelling out $500 and studying (hard) for 6 weeks, if I didn't think that I could do >220. I think that a score below that wouldnt necessarily help a DO student. But my frame of reference involves seeking a super-competitive residency and seeing too many of my classmates do much better on the COMLEX and seem disappointed by their USMLE score.

It is really a CATCH-22, I suppose. I guess it would really make you feel better, and help your credentials, to take it and beat the mean, and I think with the right mindset (and having flushed the OMT) you could do this.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I was very perturbed when I got my Step I score of 200. I was ecstatic when I got my Step II of 241. Prior to receiving my Step II I debated on whether or not to release USMLE scores. 241 solved that. My COMLEX I was 85% or so. My 200 cut me off from some programs that I would have loved to interview at. It also got me interviews at Penn and JHU amongst others. I matched at an awesome program with a Step I cutoff of 220. This is fact straught from the dept. chair. the caveat is that I rotated there and got 2 LOR's.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Arch Guillotti said:
I was very perturbed when I got my Step I score of 200. I was ecstatic when I got my Step II of 241. Prior to receiving my Step II I debated on whether or not to release USMLE scores. 241 solved that. My COMLEX I was 85% or so. My 200 cut me off from some programs that I would have loved to interview at. It also got me interviews at Penn and JHU amongst others. I matched at an awesome program with a Step I cutoff of 220. This is fact straught from the dept. chair. the caveat is that I rotated there and got 2 LOR's.
Click to expand...

I was told, by an allopathic EM PD, that a good Step 2 score will negate missing the "cutoff" due to a bad Step 1 score. In your case, you got 200 on Step 1 and 241 on Step 2. So if a program has a 220 cutoff, they would still interview you based on the high Step 2 score. He made it sound like this was fairly universal among all the programs/specialties.

Also, where did you match?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

F
Passed comlex but failed step
Replies
3
Views
2K
catsandpandasgalore
catsandpandasgalore
D
COMLEX level 1
Replies
2
Views
1K
drthedude
D
B
COMLEX Hello i failed Comlex Step 1 three times and dismissed from the university. I am thinking of changing my career to investment banking.
Replies
0
Views
1K
badwalj
B
A
USMLE -
Replies
1
Views
1K
shemer77
S
T
USMLE RX qbank
Replies
0
Views
303
Tesselate
T
Top