Air Force should I give a s*** about my COMLEX?

[Doc_Ock]

First year DO student going for rads, already started on Step 1 material. Assuming I get a good Step 1 score, is anyone gonna give a crap what my COMLEX score is? Obviously the main distinction is COMLEX has OMM, but tbh I don't even wanna bother studying that. Basically if I have a good step 1 score (let's say 250) will having a mediocre COMLEX score hurt?

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[deleted946657]

First year DO student going for rads, already started on Step 1 material. Assuming I get a good Step 1 score, is anyone gonna give a crap what my COMLEX score is? Obviously the main distinction is COMLEX has OMM, but tbh I don't even wanna bother studying that. Basically if I have a good step 1 score (let's say 250) will having a mediocre COMLEX score hurt?

From what I've heard, once you've got a good Step 1 score, COMLEX basically gets treated as a pass/fail test for more competitive residency programs. Someone more in the know can feel free to correct me.

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[Stagg737]

First year DO student going for rads, already started on Step 1 material. Assuming I get a good Step 1 score, is anyone gonna give a crap what my COMLEX score is? Obviously the main distinction is COMLEX has OMM, but tbh I don't even wanna bother studying that. Basically if I have a good step 1 score (let's say 250) will having a mediocre COMLEX score hurt?

This depends. Are you for sure entering the military match or are you considering civilian? If you're considering the ACGME match then you should take Step 1. If not, then you should not. Milmatch is based on a point system which you gain points for various aspects of your application (class rank/percentile, COMLEX/STEP percentile, amount and impact of research, etc). For the board score portion, they just look at your percentile for the exam you took and they do not compare the two. So for DOs it's usually beneficial to only take COMLEX unless you think you'll hit a higher percentile on Step (which is unlikely). If that happened I'm not sure if they would average the percentiles or not, but from what classmates told me it was more likely to hurt if you scored a lower percentile on Step after killing COMLEX, even if it was a solid Step score.

From what I've heard, once you've got a good Step 1 score, COMLEX basically gets treated as a pass/fail test for more competitive residency programs. Someone more in the know can feel free to correct me.

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This is different for military medicine and those entering the milmatch are the only group I strongly recommend to not take Step 1 due to the above.

 

[Doc_Ock]

This depends. Are you for sure entering the military match or are you considering civilian? If you're considering the ACGME match then you should take Step 1. If not, then you should not. Milmatch is based on a point system which you gain points for various aspects of your application (class rank/percentile, COMLEX/STEP percentile, amount and impact of research, etc). For the board score portion, they just look at your percentile for the exam you took and they do not compare the two. So for DOs it's usually beneficial to only take COMLEX unless you think you'll hit a higher percentile on Step (which is unlikely). If that happened I'm not sure if they would average the percentiles or not, but from what classmates told me it was more likely to hurt if you scored a lower percentile on Step after killing COMLEX, even if it was a solid Step score.




This is different for military medicine and those entering the milmatch are the only group I strongly recommend to not take Step 1 due to the above.

Probably milmatch but I’m open to civilian, yeah I’ve heard about the point breakdown system. Still seems like I should take step based on the typical bias against COMLEX.


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[Stagg737]

Probably milmatch but I’m open to civilian, yeah I’ve heard about the point breakdown system. Still seems like I should take step based on the typical bias against COMLEX.


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From what I understand the bias doesn't exist/is basically negligible in the milmatch. I had several classmates match into their top choice in more competitive military fields (EM, surgery, radiology) with only COMLEX scores. If you're considering doing a civilian residency then take Step 1. If not, it's likely a waste of your time (and money).

 

[Doc_Ock]

From what I understand the bias doesn't exist/is basically negligible in the milmatch. I had several classmates match into their top choice in more competitive military fields (EM, surgery, radiology) with only COMLEX scores. If you're considering doing a civilian residency then take Step 1. If not, it's likely a waste of your time (and money).

Interesting. Not quite what I was expecting. But in essence studying for step is essentially studying for COMLEX minus OMM, correct?


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[Stagg737]

Interesting. Not quite what I was expecting. But in essence studying for step is essentially studying for COMLEX minus OMM, correct?


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In terms of context yes. Format of questions is different between the two and COMLEX requires you to make some leaps in logic to answer some questions whereas Step is more straightforward. Still 3rd and 4th order questions, but I actually appreciated the way Step questions were written far more than COMLEX.

 

[River Rat]

Don’t pidgeon hole yourself into milMed. Take the usmle and keep doors open for later. I did well on the USMLE and it gave me an enormous amount of flexibility vs my classmates who settled for a comlex score.

Some settled for a disgruntled career in the military because they weren’t confident they could find a position in the civilian world. Some weren’t able to pursue what the specialty they really wanted and settled for less. Just separated and am doing ACGME rads in a big city.

The less power over your fate you give the military, the more room you leave for yourself to be flexible, the happier you will be.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Care about all the standardized tests. It's not right but everyone else sure does

 

[Doc_Ock]

Yeah after talking with several people if AF decides to open up more for civilian deferred due to spots Step 1 would give me a much better shot.

 

[AvrgPreMedKid]

The two tests overlap so much that if you get a 250 on USMLE you should also do well on COMLEX, assuming you had a pulse during OMM class/lab. Also, most DO students I know didn't even bother taking USMLE. I know people who matched rads and derm with just COMLEX (I'm talking about Army, btw). Navy or AF should take both since there is a chance for civ match.

 

[MightBeACylon439]

Its becoming so competitive I just wouldn’t want anything to look bad on my app. Anything that could create discussion that could be negative should be avoided if at all possible.

 

[HPSPosteopathic]

so just to give you an idea - i applied orthopedic surgery as a D.O. student and on the MODS application they will only accept your required licensure examinations. Aka as a D.O. student, only your comlex scores will be available for view on MODS to program directors. I asked multiple times for them to include my USMLE scores (250+ on both) yet I was constantly told they would only report my comlex scores (700+ on both). HOWEVER. On every audition rotation I went to and on the other phone interviews I was asked if I took Step 1 and Step 2 and that was my opportunity to show them the scores - aka by giving them a resume and my score reports for Step 1 and Step 2 during the interview. So is Step 1 or Step 2 required for D.O. students? No. But you can sure bet that they bolster your application as a D.O. student with good scores. One former ortho program director told me he wouldn't consider me as a D.O. without USMLE scores, but I believe he was an outlier.

But keep in mind - this is all in the context of orthopedic surgery only (near the top competitive specialty for the Army).

If you're going for a very competitive specialty, I strongly suggest sitting for Step 1. It's the gold standard. Other less competitive specialties appear more open to comlex-only applicants. However, that's strictly anecdotal evidence.