Preparing for COMLEX throughout OMS2

[Staphylococcus Aureus]

I am looking to take ONLY COMLEX due to wanting to go into primary care (I'm also from one of the "top" DO state schools and would like to practice in the state, and don't want to pay for two massive exams) but obviously want to get the best score possible, my main question is what should I be doing throughout my systems blocks? I'm about 14 months away from taking it, in systems right now, and have been using pathoma, referencing FA (but barely), and am going to start Kaplan videos/qbank (free from my school). Also, what's the best qbank to use later on for COMLEX? Thanks!

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[Staphylococcus Aureus]

@AlteredScale forums switch so much this went in the wrong one! turf me to DO

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

No such thing as " top do school" secondly prepping now is useless . If anything know your main basic science. Do bro deck for those , know your sketchy. Cold and If you tell me you're from MSUCOM, don't use the level one comlex question from Kaplan , use the step 1 q bank


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[Ismet]

Moved to DO med student forum

 

[ortnakas]

UWorld is the better bank for learning, but Combank felt really representative of COMLEX to me. I never tried Comquest (Combank was free).

Do Pathoma and Sketchy Micro/Pharm videos that correspond to what you're doing in class.

 

[starri]

I'm the rare duck that found Combank really helpful. Not as helpful as UWorld, but you need to get the weird way COMLEX questions are written into your brain, and I did find it representative of that. And the OMM questions are just easy points, and while you don't need to go crazy with them, getting a question once in a while helps it stick in your brain better.

That said, I'm excited to get through Level Three and never have to think about it ever again.

 

[Staphylococcus Aureus]

I guess I should dredge up the question will COMLEX only suffice for primary care specialties? I keep hearing passionate answers for and against.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I guess I should dredge up the question will COMLEX only suffice for primary care specialties? I keep hearing passionate answers for and against.

And the answer you'll hear is depends. But the better answer you'll hear is what stops you from finding out that you want to be a specialist your 3rd year.

Truth is that if you can take the USMLE and do well on your practice tests, it's probably worth taking because you'll open up doors. Worst case you'll be able to have more options for where you do your primary care residency.

 

[Goro]

This!!!!!

Do as many practice questions as you can, no matter what the source

UWorld is the better bank for learning, but Combank felt really representative of COMLEX to me. I never tried Comquest (Combank was free).

Do Pathoma and Sketchy Micro/Pharm videos that correspond to what you're doing in class.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Doing COMLEX only is not wise, in my opinion. With the upcoming merger, you are severely hurting your residency chances even for primary care.

 

[DocWinter]

Doing COMLEX only is not wise, in my opinion. With the upcoming merger, you are severely hurting your residency chances even for primary care.

If by primary care you mean FM, IM, peds, psych, I believe that sentiment is wrong, and "severely hurting" ones odds is a stretch. While the argument for USMLE is strong and acknowledged, and the upcoming merge leads to uncertainty, I have a hard time believing hundreds of DO ( and MD) PDs will suddenly turn away comlex applicants from the ranks of primary care

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

If by primary care you mean FM, IM, peds, psych, I believe that sentiment is wrong, and "severely hurting" ones odds is a stretch. While the argument for USMLE is strong and acknowledged, and the upcoming merge leads to uncertainty, I have a hard time believing hundreds of DO PDs will suddenly turn away comlex applicants from the ranks of primary care

They won't turn their backs, but there is a crunch that's coming in for sure. First off, psych has become competitive and during AOA match there wasn't a single spot available to SOAP into. Second, before when someone didn't match AOA, there were extra spots to easily manage to get into somewhere because people wouldn't apply to them. For example, where I am there is a place that had about 6 FM spots for SOAP because nobody applied to the program. In 2020, I assure you these programs will have ranked some FMG/IMG that will love to live in So Cal and have a job. Many programs will also not be surviving the merger. Our own school just advised not to apply to any AOA for class of 2018 and go full on ACGME because they know many programs will not survive accreditation. Taking only the COMLEX is absolutely ridiculous in the post-merger world and you are really limiting your training chances.

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

They won't turn their backs, but there is a crunch that's coming in for sure. First off, psych has become competitive and during AOA match there wasn't a single spot available to SOAP into. Second, before when someone didn't match AOA, there were extra spots to easily manage to get into somewhere because people wouldn't apply to them. For example, where I am there is a place that had about 6 FM spots for SOAP because nobody applied to the program. In 2020, I assure you these programs will have ranked some FMG/IMG that will love to live in So Cal and have a job. Many programs will also not be surviving the merger. Our own school just advised not to apply to any AOA for class of 2018 and go full on ACGME because they know many programs will not survive accreditation. Taking only the COMLEX is absolutely ridiculous in the post-merger world and you are really limiting your training chances.

Idk what school you go to but they are right. I've had many pds of AOA programs that said don't apply after 2016 but my school still says it's okay. -_-


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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

They won't turn their backs, but there is a crunch that's coming in for sure. First off, psych has become competitive and during AOA match there wasn't a single spot available to SOAP into. Second, before when someone didn't match AOA, there were extra spots to easily manage to get into somewhere because people wouldn't apply to them. For example, where I am there is a place that had about 6 FM spots for SOAP because nobody applied to the program. In 2020, I assure you these programs will have ranked some FMG/IMG that will love to live in So Cal and have a job. Many programs will also not be surviving the merger. Our own school just advised not to apply to any AOA for class of 2018 and go full on ACGME because they know many programs will not survive accreditation. Taking only the COMLEX is absolutely ridiculous in the post-merger world and you are really limiting your training chances.

I see more than a few Psych programs in the DO world didn't fill. So I imagine the rest was filled through phone calls.

If you've heard anything interesting, pm me.

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

I see more than a few Psych programs in the DO world didn't fill. So I imagine the rest was filled through phone calls.

If you've heard anything interesting, pm me.

The old scramble way is done everything is soap. "Phone calls" from the university aren't helping like they used to. Look at 2017 soap thread


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[AlbinoHawk DO]

I see more than a few Psych programs in the DO world didn't fill. So I imagine the rest was filled through phone calls.

If you've heard anything interesting, pm me.

Where are you getting this? Because when I saw the website with the open spots there were none that had gone unmatched for psych.

 

[starri]

Where are you getting this? Because when I saw the website with the open spots there were none that had gone unmatched for psych.

They filled pretty quickly once the match results came out, but there were at least a couple programs with open slots.