Should you take USMLE as a DO?

[BobbyKoch]

Yes.

Source:

Reported completion of the USMLE Step 1 and match outcomes among senior osteopathic students in 2020

Context The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is not required for osteopathic students to match into postgraduate programs; however, it is unknown if taking the test improves their chances of matching. Objectives Our objective was to determine the association between taking the...

www.degruyter.com

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[FootballAndSkiing]

Yes

 

[BobbyKoch]

I’m glad they don’t tbh. My comlex suggests I would fail usmle when in reality I scored slightly below average.

 

[DOVinciRobot]

It’s wild that in 2022 PD’s can’t use a simple conversion tool.

COMLEX is a joke of a test. If I were a PD I wouldn’t take COMLEX either.

 

[SharonShares]

COMLEX is a joke of a test. If I were a PD I wouldn’t take COMLEX either.

This is an interesting opinion - would you care to share more?

 

[DOVinciRobot]

This is an interesting opinion - would you care to share more?

Not sure what makes it interesting, it’s a pretty common sentiment. The test is extremely poorly written, the scoring scale is wildly variable year to year, and it tests even the quack OMM concepts such as cranial (cranial was a very large portion of the OMM on my Level 3).

If you’re a DO and want to be treated the same as everyone else then take the same test everyone else takes.

 

[DrZoidbergDO]

this post should be pinned to the top

 

[Cath Up]

It’s wild that in 2022 PD’s can’t use a simple conversion tool.

The correlation between step 1 and comlex 1 scores is poor. Comlex is a more poorly written exam. If you were a PD with the choice between dozens or hundreds of applicants that definitely had a strong foundation of knowledge/work ethic and one or several that maybe had a strong foundation of knowledge/work ethic, who would you pick?

 

[FootballAndSkiing]

this post should be pinned to the top

Pinned, and pages of replies stating "yes"

 

[Kardio]

It’s wild that in 2022 PD’s can’t use a simple conversion tool.

I haven’t seriously reviewed the data but it’s unlikely there’s a true ‘conversion’ tool. Probably the closest you’ll find is a correlation between the Level 1 and Step 1 scores of the highly self selected cohort of DO students who sat both the COMLEX and USMLE.