the official COMAT shelf thread

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fldoctorgirl said:
Took the surgery COMAT today. Once again, zero idea how I feel lol. I feel like I got asked the same question like 5 times. Also, hello anesthesia questions which don't exist on UWorld.
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I walked out of surg comat confident in maybe 20 of the 120 questions. I have never been so sure that I had failed in my life. Ended up with 116 you’ll be fine
 
Being lectured for not understanding a topic after a month of practically zero educational effort by my preceptor is easily in the top 5 most frustrating thing to ever happen to me.

God.
 
Geez...here I am a few days prior to the IM COMAT getting that UWorld love. Down in the gutter on my last two blocks at 57-58% when I had been in the 60’s and 70’s consistently for the past 2 weeks. Makes me want to crawl in a corner and sulk lol.
 
My rotations have actually been great so far but having IM first is making everything else a letdown.

IM is the only third year rotation I have that's in a residency program - the rest are preceptorships. And we did lots of stuff - actually wrote the notes, H&Ps, discharges, etc on IM. Following someone around endlessly all day after and not writing a single note makes me feel like I'm not learning a single thing.

I'm wondering if I really like IM as well as I think I do at this point or if I just really enjoyed being productive. I thought my IM rotation was great. We'll see if it carries over to the COMATs.
 
the uh oh moment when you really really enjoy ortho but remember your board scores, hatred of research, and how long the residency is.

Amazing how much better a rotation can be when your attending is not a jerk.

Muting all my friends on SM that have med student Instagram accounts. They just give me anxiety. I know its probably all for show but they talk about all the amazing stuff they did, how good they are getting at areas I still struggle with, and I just cannot take it anymore.

Started rereading "Hot Lights Cold Steel" absolutely fantastic book highly recommend it.

Thanks for tuning in to this weeks episode of me feeling insecure and screaming.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
the uh oh moment when you really really enjoy ortho but remember your board scores, hatred of research, and how long the residency is.

Amazing how much better a rotation can be when your attending is not a jerk.

Muting all my friends on SM that have med student Instagram accounts. They just give me anxiety. I know its probably all for show but they talk about all the amazing stuff they did, how good they are getting at areas I still struggle with, and I just cannot take it anymore.

Started rereading "Hot Lights Cold Steel" absolutely fantastic book highly recommend it.

Thanks for tuning in to this weeks episode of me feeling insecure and screaming.
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It's all a load of BS. They're feeling probably more insecure than you are.

I like watching my med student friends on social media. They give me a good laugh. I'm glad you're proud you found another artsy coffee to set next to your iPad while you carefully showcase the most complicated diagram you can find in your study materials to maximally impress randos online. Bonus point if fancy coffee and iPad have an ocean view in Greece behind them.
 
Getting wrecked by Uworld Surgery questions. Managed a 70 in my first block but last two have been in the 40s. hoping this is just due to not having finished all the dorian surg cards yet

whoof

on a funny note, I got one Uworld question right from watching a Dr. Mike episode
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Getting wrecked by Uworld Surgery questions. Managed a 70 in my first block but last two have been in the 40s. hoping this is just due to not having finished all the dorian surg cards yet

whoof

on a funny note, I got one Uworld question right from watching a Dr. Mike episode
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Did a block of 15 psych questions today and got 4 correct lol uworld is just hard af. I just dont remember it being this hard for Step 1
 
Deecee2DO said:
Did a block of 15 psych questions today and got 4 correct lol uworld is just hard af. I just dont remember it being this hard for Step 1
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I'm trying to keep in mind that it's supposed to be way more difficult.

We had two years of classes (1.5 ish maybe) before starting uworld - and those preclinical classes were more driven to step 1 than step 2. So, if you're using uworld as a main learning resource for step 2/comats... well... while a lot of the step 1 material transfers over, we *haven't* technically taken any classes that are geared towards step 2. So we're coming in to uworld for step 2 with less background than we came into uworld for step 1. I'm not expecting to do as well off the bat.
 
calivianya said:
I'm trying to keep in mind that it's supposed to be way more difficult.

We had two years of classes (1.5 ish maybe) before starting uworld - and those preclinical classes were more driven to step 1 than step 2. So, if you're using uworld as a main learning resource for step 2/comats... well... while a lot of the step 1 material transfers over, we *haven't* technically taken any classes that are geared towards step 2. So we're coming in to uworld for step 2 with less background than we came into uworld for step 1. I'm not expecting to do as well off the bat.
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Yeah exactly. I started step 1 Uworld after doing step review for months. Now I'm doing it after 3ish weeks of prep

Still depressing AF though lol

Oh! I had to get my third COVID test today so that was fun. nowhere around me offers rapid on the weekend so im probably going to get a 4th on monday just so I can have the results in quicker

I'm 100% sure I just have a cold but I dont want to be that bum that gives someone COVID, especially since it seems like the majority of Ortho patients are middle age or older.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Getting wrecked by Uworld Surgery questions. Managed a 70 in my first block but last two have been in the 40s. hoping this is just due to not having finished all the dorian surg cards yet

whoof

on a funny note, I got one Uworld question right from watching a Dr. Mike episode
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I've been dropping a bunch of 50s on peds blocks, COMAT is this week lol. Have finished all of Dorian peds. I agree with what others have said, if you're using it as a learning resource you shouldn't expect to do as well as you did for Step 1. I try not to stress about it too much and just learn from it.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
I've been dropping a bunch of 50s on peds blocks, COMAT is this week lol. Have finished all of Dorian peds. I agree with what others have said, if you're using it as a learning resource you shouldn't expect to do as well as you did for Step 1. I try not to stress about it too much and just learn from it.
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Honestly I dont even know what using Uworld as a learning resource means any more. When I get 3 aortic dissection questions wrong in the same block because they all have same BP in both arms in the stem I want to scream.

I did finally get a "make sure people with rib breaks or chest pain have pain meds or they get lung issues from shallow breathing" question right.

Idk step 1 uworld did not feel like there were trick questions. Feels like all Uworld step 2 is trick questions.

Anyways I bet you'll kill the peds exam if you've done all of dorian. That was basically all my prep and I got a 103, you usually get 5-10 points higher than me on COMATs so I have total faith.
 
I've been more frustrated lately by how unstructured Step 2 studying seems. Step 1 we at least had pre-clinical classes, Pathoma, BnB, Sketchy, multiple qbanks, and zanki to really guide our studying. Sure for Step 2 we have OME and Dorian, but despite finishing these I feel like I'm still just aiming at a dartboard when answering Step 2 UW questions.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Idk step 1 uworld did not feel like there were trick questions. Feels like all Uworld step 2 is trick questions.
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Agree 100%, I've been frustrated with the amount of "trick" questions too. But, I think it's just to prepare us for the real world, where most patients won't present exactly like the textbook and may not have every single finding we expect. I think it's training our brains to go with what's most likely despite some things not fitting the picture vs. Step 1 which was very "the patient has every single sign/symptom you'd expect". Personally, I think this is an aspect of our education that helps separate us from the NPs etc. But I do agree, it's super frustrating lol and I had the same thing happen to me in surg UWorld where I missed like 5 aortic dissection questions because of that lol
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Agree 100%, I've been frustrated with the amount of "trick" questions too. But, I think it's just to prepare us for the real world, where most patients won't present exactly like the textbook and may not have every single finding we expect. I think it's training our brains to go with what's most likely despite some things not fitting the picture vs. Step 1 which was very "the patient has every single sign/symptom you'd expect". Personally, I think this is an aspect of our education that helps separate us from the NPs etc. But I do agree, it's super frustrating lol and I had the same thing happen to me in surg UWorld where I missed like 5 aortic dissection questions because of that lol
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1000% this^
 
I'm glad everybody's feeling the same regarding the trick questions.

Since I get two blocks of pretty much everything (ugh, not a good thing... only have a few days left of my first peds rotation and I'd legit chop off a non vital body part to get out of doing my second peds block) I've been doing truelearn (since it's free) plus amboss during my first rotation, then comquest + uworld during my second when I'm actually gonna take the COMAT.

That being said... finished the truelearn peds questions and went to some amboss ones... and holy crap fest, there is no comparison. I was doing decent on the truelearn questions. I'm getting my butt handed to me by amboss. I know comquest is the best for COMAT (and I'll get to those in a few months), but... how does amboss compare to the comats? Because I'm in trouble if amboss is close.
 
iforget2 said:
I've been more frustrated lately by how unstructured Step 2 studying seems. Step 1 we at least had pre-clinical classes, Pathoma, BnB, Sketchy, multiple qbanks, and zanki to really guide our studying. Sure for Step 2 we have OME and Dorian, but despite finishing these I feel like I'm still just aiming at a dartboard when answering Step 2 UW questions.
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agreed. I find myself often wondering how do I "learn" clinical medicine. Like right now I only have time for like 2 hours a night, I cant imagine ill have time to sit down with a textbook in residency. I know the system obviously works but I don't understand the how.
 
calivianya said:
I'm glad everybody's feeling the same regarding the trick questions.

Since I get two blocks of pretty much everything (ugh, not a good thing... only have a few days left of my first peds rotation and I'd legit chop off a non vital body part to get out of doing my second peds block) I've been doing truelearn (since it's free) plus amboss during my first rotation, then comquest + uworld during my second when I'm actually gonna take the COMAT.

That being said... finished the truelearn peds questions and went to some amboss ones... and holy crap fest, there is no comparison. I was doing decent on the truelearn questions. I'm getting my butt handed to me by amboss. I know comquest is the best for COMAT (and I'll get to those in a few months), but... how does amboss compare to the comats? Because I'm in trouble if amboss is close.
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amboss is significantly harder. Comquest has predicted my score within 1 point every rotation so far. Pretty darn accurate and pretty representative if you ask me. To compare UWorld/Amboss and Comquest-I was avging 50s and 60s on UWorld/Amboss for IM then switched to comquest and was avging 80s and 90s with predictions between 116 and 120
 
iforget2 said:
I've been more frustrated lately by how unstructured Step 2 studying seems. Step 1 we at least had pre-clinical classes, Pathoma, BnB, Sketchy, multiple qbanks, and zanki to really guide our studying. Sure for Step 2 we have OME and Dorian, but despite finishing these I feel like I'm still just aiming at a dartboard when answering Step 2 UW questions.
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Feel exact same way. Seems like we all feel similarly about UW Step 2 lol by the time Step 2 dedicated rolls around I feel like we’ll all be doing much better just like with Step 1. Statistically people score 10-15 pts higher on Step 2 so I think we just need to trust the process
 
ohmanwaddup said:
im not getting anything done tonight because of the election
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I didn’t get anything done but I finished some things... namely, I finished a couple bottles of beer. Unfortunately today is my preceptor’s admin day, so I don’t have to be anywhere today either other than didactics at lunch... will probably finish some more beer tonight. And hopefully some practice questions.

Honestly I’ve been drowning in the work for my MPH program and I am super glad I still don’t have any COMATs soon, because I would not be doing so hot on them in general. Everything was fine with doing dual degree stuff during preclinicals because I had so much time, but working full days and then trying to balance the MPH stuff with board resources has been awful. 0/10, don’t recommend.
 
So I’ve heard a few time to show up to every rotation excited to learn is the best way to get a good eval but damn Idk how to be excited about standing in the ortho clinic for hours lol.

OR is a little better but even then, I’ve seen all the procedures my guy does already, I’ve basically asked all the questions I can think of.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
So I’ve heard a few time to show up to every rotation excited to learn is the best way to get a good eval but damn Idk how to be excited about standing in the ortho clinic for hours lol.

OR is a little better but even then, I’ve seen all the procedures my guy does already, I’ve basically asked all the questions I can think of.
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I genuinely was enthusiastic on every rotation I’ve ever been on, even OP Peds lol. It’s exciting to learn/be exposed to new things/talk to doctors and patients. Even if it’s a specialty you know you hate, this may be your only chance to be immersed in it. So soak up what you can, and count down the 4 weeks.
 
Sometimes Uworld is a fun challenge. Today Uworld was all "Hey you know how you were taught to recognize certain disease for the past 2 years? lol that aint how we present them anymore"

I begrudgingly enjoy the challenge cause I know it will make me a better student/doctor but also boooo Uworld boooo lol

Sounds like Joe Biden in is my apartment with how much I'm saying "come on man"
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Sometimes Uworld is a fun challenge. Today Uworld was all "Hey you know how you were taught to recognize certain disease for the past 2 years? lol that aint how we present them anymore"

I begrudgingly enjoy the challenge cause I know it will make me a better student/doctor but also boooo Uworld boooo lol

Sounds like Joe Biden in is my apartment with how much I'm saying "come on man"
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Even though im tanking Uworld its making me realize how insanely good of a teaching tool it really is. its making my critical thinking so much sharper and is helping me immensely on rotations so much more than comquest did. Comquest is great for simply doing well on comats but for prepping yourself for actual doctoring in the hospital i think UW is absolutely baller fo supplementing being at the hospital
 
Deecee2DO said:
Even though im tanking Uworld its making me realize how insanely good of a teaching tool it really is. its making my critical thinking so much sharper and is helping me immensely on rotations so much more than comquest did. Comquest is great for simply doing well on comats but for prepping yourself for actual doctoring in the hospital i think UW is absolutely baller fo supplementing being at the hospital
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Yeah I think I rea,lly did realize how much it was teaching me the other day. Even when I get the question wrong its typically narrowed down to two choices. In the real world those would just both make up my differential.

In other words its 1PM and I just finished my 2nd week of ortho. I start with a new doc on Monday for my last two weeks. I've had multiple people tell me its ok that my surgery rotations have been so chill, but it still feels so wrong to me. My friends are regularly pulling 16 hour shifts. I'm just leisurely going through my day with little to no responsibilities and maybe in the office and might not even be hitting 40 hours a week. It isn't stimulating at all and it makes the days a little miserable. I miss the grind. Tried to be proactive, by my doc wont even let me take call with him, says its no different from his usual cases and I Should just sleep and relax. I know I sound like a gunner but the past 6 weeks just feel like a total waste of tuition at this point.

I'm sure i'll be missing these days once the pace picks back up though. I'm just an anxious person at heart.

I'm just trying to crank out as much Dorian and Uworld at this point so I at least have some technical knowledge even if I have almost zero clinical skills.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Yeah I think I rea,lly did realize how much it was teaching me the other day. Even when I get the question wrong its typically narrowed down to two choices. In the real world those would just both make up my differential.

In other words its 1PM and I just finished my 2nd week of ortho. I start with a new doc on Monday for my last two weeks. I've had multiple people tell me its ok that my surgery rotations have been so chill, but it still feels so wrong to me. My friends are regularly pulling 16 hour shifts. I'm just leisurely going through my day with little to no responsibilities and maybe in the office and might not even be hitting 40 hours a week. It isn't stimulating at all and it makes the days a little miserable. I miss the grind. Tried to be proactive, by my doc wont even let me take call with him, says its no different from his usual cases and I Should just sleep and relax. I know I sound like a gunner but the past 6 weeks just feel like a total waste of tuition at this point.

I'm sure i'll be missing these days once the pace picks back up though. I'm just an anxious person at heart.

I'm just trying to crank out as much Dorian and Uworld at this point so I at least have some technical knowledge even if I have almost zero clinical skills.
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Just relax, man. You can only control so much. Itll all work out. Just do what you can and trust that youll learn the rest. Many students have rotations like yours, maybe even worse and they end up fine in the end.
 
how accurate were comquest predictions for you guys? they predicted me at 121 for the IM comat, but the actual comat had so many vague questions that I had no idea on vs. the gimme questions that comqest presents to you. walked away feeling like I failed or barely passed it
 
vin5cent0 said:
how accurate were comquest predictions for you guys? they predicted me at 121 for the IM comat, but the actual comat had so many vague questions that I had no idea on vs. the gimme questions that comqest presents to you. walked away feeling like I failed or barely passed it
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My Comquest predicted my IM to be 120-125. (Was 8 months ago so not for sure). I got a 95. But I also do comquest untimed.
 
vin5cent0 said:
how accurate were comquest predictions for you guys? they predicted me at 121 for the IM comat, but the actual comat had so many vague questions that I had no idea on vs. the gimme questions that comqest presents to you. walked away feeling like I failed or barely passed it
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Extremely accurate in my opinion. It has been within 1-3 points of my actual score for all comats so far. I was predicted 119 for IM comat and got a 116. From my own experience and my classmates comquest has been pretty spot on
 
sunshinefl said:
My Comquest predicted my IM to be 120-125. (Was 8 months ago so not for sure). I got a 95. But I also do comquest untimed.
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thanks, that's how I see mine going as well. I also do it untimed, but I felt like I could answer most comquest questions in like 20 seconds because it was always some long stem with one sentence that gave away the answer.

Deecee2DO said:
Extremely accurate in my opinion. It has been within 1-3 points of my actual score for all comats so far. I was predicted 119 for IM comat and got a 116. From my own experience and my classmates comquest has been pretty spot on
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thanks man, I hope that's accurate for me as well. I just felt like comquest was super easy, long stems with a gimme sentence that defined what they were talking about. I flagged like 40 questions on the comat and gave up trying to review them because I honestly had no idea what they were trying to get at.
 
Deecee2DO said:
Youll be fine man. im sorry to hear that though. Did you have any symptoms?
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Woke up feeling crummy and checked my temp had a fever. Was able to get a rapid. Symptoms progressed throughout the day, I had a headache, Abdominal cramping, muscle ache, fatigue, intermittent cough, and sinus pressure

My fever is meh, Its only a 98.5-100 but my baseline is a high 95 low 96, and when I told the PA that he seemed to think it was significant.

I probably got it from voting. I had a cold last week but it was runny nose only, symptoms were gone after 36 hours, and I got a negative COVID test. may have been a false negative but I had resolution of symptoms before I started feeling crummy today.
 
vin5cent0 said:
thanks, that's how I see mine going as well. I also do it untimed, but I felt like I could answer most comquest questions in like 20 seconds because it was always some long stem with one sentence that gave away the answer.



thanks man, I hope that's accurate for me as well. I just felt like comquest was super easy, long stems with a gimme sentence that defined what they were talking about. I flagged like 40 questions on the comat and gave up trying to review them because I honestly had no idea what they were trying to get at.
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Yeah that sounds like pretty much every comat lol Dont forget you just have to be better than the people youre taking it with aka not raw score
 
Me whenever I come back to this thread:

1605281312428.png
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Honored peds. On an elective month now so I get a break from COMATs.

I just wanna honor IM lol, I'll take passes from here on out if it means I can honor IM
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Divine and your step 1 knowledge will carry you most of the way there. UW will help a bit. IM comat was very similar to boards. Honestly probably one of the easier comats as far as "wtf is this" questions go. Peds and FM have a lot of wtf questions usually.
 
Neopolymath said:
Divine and your step 1 knowledge will carry you most of the way there. UW will help a bit. IM comat was very similar to boards. Honestly probably one of the easier comats as far as "wtf is this" questions go. Peds and FM have a lot of wtf questions usually.
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I haven't actually tried divine yet. Every time I look at the list I see like 300 episodes and I'm not sure which ones I'm supposed to watch lol

Definitely feel that about peds. I did better on surgery which was unexpected to me
 
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