the official COMAT shelf thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Members don't see this ad.
ohmanwaddup said:
I signed up for PE in late october so I could at least have a score by match dates in a worst case scenario

I could see myself flip flopping on if I do comlex or Step first. I did comlex first this past summer and it seemed to work out well, but I also had 2 weeks between the exams.

Pretty torn about it to be honest.
Click to expand...
I’m still wondering if I should sign up for it now. I’ve heard it’s been booked past December at this point.
 
For the psych and surgery comats, was comquest enough or should I do uworld instead?
 
Steve_Zissou said:
I’m still wondering if I should sign up for it now. I’ve heard it’s been booked past December at this point.
Click to expand...
I'm scheduled in July and don't know if it's even going to happen honestly lol. Our school normally makes us do an SP thing before we're allowed to take PE and there's been zero talk about it this year sooo...
 
fldoctorgirl said:
I'm scheduled in July and don't know if it's even going to happen honestly lol. Our school normally makes us do an SP thing before we're allowed to take PE and there's been zero talk about it this year sooo...
Click to expand...
Our school is making us do it even the PE is dropped as a graduation requirement
 
I do 30 Uworld questions a day, split into two 15 Q blocks

first block, I got an 80%. Hell yeah brother

Second block? a 53%. lol
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Facts, but they have been good with getting me the paperwork I need for always
Click to expand...
What did you need? That's on my to do list for this weekend lol

Edit: I keep looking at the VSAS site but the electives I want to apply to aren't open yet so I don't get where you're supposed to see or upload info?
 
Last edited:
fldoctorgirl said:
What did you need? That's on my to do list for this weekend lol

Edit: I keep looking at the VSAS site but the electives I want to apply to aren't open yet so I don't get where you're supposed to see or upload info?
Click to expand...
ive been going to their websites, emailing the programs, or going off what The majority of programs want.

so far it seems they all want our schools evaluate form, proof of malpractice insurance, new AAMC vaccination filled out, you gotta fill out the transcript release form on e value, and then your score reports for comlex and step.

some want a personal statement, but that’s been few and far between.

id recommend reaching out to your Top choices for the summer to see when they open up so you can be first in line. Seems like the data on VSAS is outdated.

id also make sure you’re allowed to go for the first blocks. Most of my programs I’m doing always at don’t allow visiting students till October or later.

you can upload all these documents to vsas, and then you just push them to the programs when it’s time to apply
 
ohmanwaddup said:
ive been going to their websites, emailing the programs, or going off what The majority of programs want.

so far it seems they all want our schools evaluate form, proof of malpractice insurance, new AAMC vaccination filled out, you gotta fill out the transcript release form on e value, and then your score reports for comlex and step.

some want a personal statement, but that’s been few and far between.

id recommend reaching out to your Top choices for the summer to see when they open up so you can be first in line. Seems like the data on VSAS is outdated.

id also make sure you’re allowed to go for the first blocks. Most of my programs I’m doing always at don’t allow visiting students till October or later.

you can upload all these documents to vsas, and then you just push them to the programs when it’s time to apply
Click to expand...
Hmm ok, I may just email my coordinator and ask her to send me the standard things she's aware of. Thank you!
 
Well I spent some time looking at VSAS and program websites and now I'm stressed out. They all say apply through VSAS but the VSAS info is so outdated for a bunch of them, listing application dates for 2019 etc. Also, we have to use vacation time to bridge any gaps between rotations and these all have different start/stop dates so it's going to be like piecing together a mess of a puzzle.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Well I spent some time looking at VSAS and program websites and now I'm stressed out. They all say apply through VSAS but the VSAS info is so outdated for a bunch of them, listing application dates for 2019 etc. Also, we have to use vacation time to bridge any gaps between rotations and these all have different start/stop dates so it's going to be like piecing together a mess of a puzzle.
Click to expand...
I contacted one of my top programs and they have no idea what they’re doing for this next season. We might have to wait till feb/March to get a better idea.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
The feels when your school schedules your OMM COMAT and some online OSCE module crap in the only month you actually care about honoring....rip
Click to expand...
The OMM COMAT was freaking awful. Most people in my class are convinced they failed it and it was by far the hardest one I've taken so far.

I honestly thought the IM COMAT was pretty fair though, I just did UWorld and Anki and honored it. I didn't finish the IM section of UWorld beforehand either so just get through as much of that as you can and you should be golden.
 
GoCards05 said:
The OMM COMAT was freaking awful. Most people in my class are convinced they failed it and it was by far the hardest one I've taken so far.

I honestly thought the IM COMAT was pretty fair though, I just did UWorld and Anki and honored it. I didn't finish the IM section of UWorld beforehand either so just get through as much of that as you can and you should be golden.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reassurance, I think I'm just psyching myself out because I want to do well so it's messing with my confidence.
 
Screen Shot 2021-01-24 at 1.34.28 PM.png

It be like that sometimes (this is my lowest block score thus far on UWorld rip)
 
Can anyone who has taken the IM comat comment on how much biostats there is?
 
sunshinefl said:
It was ~11 months ago, but I don’t remember any. (Unfortunately)
Click to expand...
Hey Sunshinefl, a bit off topic, but do you remember what was Level 2 CE like in terms of question stem length and difficulty? Am I right to approximate it as somewhere in between UW and Comquest in difficulty (with UW been a bit harder and comquest a bit easier than real thing) and in terms of length of question stems - in general a bit shorter stems than UW? Thank you.

Does Level 2 CE feel like a longer IM COMAT? I'm hoping questions should be a bit broader, not as in depth as some COMATs?

I have to take it soon (I'm going off-schedule) and I'm a bit worried, my comquest average is 70% (random, timed 44 per block) but comquest questions seem easy for some reason. UW average is 60%. UW is definitely harder for me, I'm doing random, timed 40 per block. At this point I just want to pass. My shelf exams were all over the place from 90 to 113, but mostly about 100.
 
ASGD1983 said:
Hey Sunshinefl, a bit off topic, but do you remember what was Level 2 CE like in terms of question stem length and difficulty? Am I right to approximate it as somewhere in between UW and Comquest in difficulty (with UW been a bit harder and comquest a bit easier than real thing) and in terms of length of question stems - in general a bit shorter stems than UW? Thank you.
Click to expand...
Length: Some questions are book length, some were a short paragraph. They balanced out.
Difficulty: yes I felt in between UW and Comquest.
Vagueness: I felt just as unclear about Level 2 questions and Step 2 questions (on the real deals of both).
ASGD1983 said:
Does Level 2 CE feel like a longer IM COMAT? I'm hoping questions should be a bit broader, not as in depth as some COMATs?
Click to expand...
No. I hate COMATs. It was definitely more broad than IM COMAT. Maybe closer to a long FM COMAT, but even broader and with more reasonable timing. Ever since they changed the questions/block from 50 to 44 on Level 2, that was literally life changing for me. I always run out of time on COMATs. I felt comfortable with the timing on Level 2, never rushed.
ASGD1983 said:
I have to take it soon (I'm going off-schedule) and I'm a bit worried, my comquest average is 70% (random, timed 44 per block) but comquest questions seem easy for some reason. UW average is 60%. UW is definitely harder for me, I'm doing random, timed 40 per block. At this point I just want to pass. My shelf exams were all over the place from 90 to 113, but mostly about 100.
Click to expand...
UWorld was way harder to me. My COMATs were 94-112. Just looked back at my comquest Level 2 CE q-bank. I only did ~300 questions (apparently not doing enough questions is a thing for me). I ended with 74% correct and a predicted score of 626. I received a 599 on the real thing.
 
sunshinefl said:
Length: Some questions are book length, some were a short paragraph. They balanced out.
Difficulty: yes I felt in between UW and Comquest.
Vagueness: I felt just as unclear about Level 2 questions and Step 2 questions (on the real deals of both).

No. I hate COMATs. It was definitely more broad than IM COMAT. Maybe closer to a long FM COMAT, but even broader and with more reasonable timing. Ever since they changed the questions/block from 50 to 44 on Level 2, that was literally life changing for me. I always run out of time on COMATs. I felt comfortable with the timing on Level 2, never rushed.

UWorld was way harder to me. My COMATs were 94-112. Just looked back at my comquest Level 2 CE q-bank. I only did ~300 questions (apparently not doing enough questions is a thing for me). I ended with 74% correct and a predicted score of 626. I received a 599 on the real thing.
Click to expand...
Just wanted to say in general. Very proud of you friend. Sending you the best of vibes as match day approaches and you finish this stage of your life!
 
So..... how's my SDN gang feeling about the aways announcement
 
Steve_Zissou said:
I’m cool with it, if they/residencies actually enforce it. Then again, you don’t really NEED aways for radiology.
Click to expand...
Yeah I haven't fully decided how I feel yet. On the one hand I'm a high-stat applicant applying IM, which generally doesn't weigh aways heavily. On the other, I really wanted to demonstrate my geographic interest in community programs through my aways. Then, I'm also nervous my school won't change their graduation requirement of having us do 3 sub-Is, and since we don't have a home program those need to be aways. Lastly, when I was worried about the quality of my M3 rotations everyone always said not to worry because I could make up for it with aways in M4. Now I'm worried I'm going to look like an idiot come intern year as I only truly worked with residents on one rotation. Also, wanted to get some solid LORs from sub-Is.
 
Last edited:
fldoctorgirl said:
So..... how's my SDN gang feeling about the aways announcement
Click to expand...
Hospitals are already scheduling aways for 4th year. I've been in contact with several that have said they are planning on doing always, and I had one open up for application that I've almost finished yesterday

I refuse to be upset until anything happens. I know several students at my school who did always this year despite the pandemic ranging on. With more and more of the vaccine being given out, this seems incredibly premature.

I hate them.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Hospitals are already scheduling aways for 4th year. I've been in contact with several that have said they are planning on doing always, and I had one open up for application that I've almost finished yesterday

I refuse to be upset until anything happens. I know several students at my school who did always this year despite the pandemic ranging on. With more and more of the vaccine being given out, this seems incredibly premature.

I hate them.
Click to expand...
The only hospital I want told me directly that they’re not sure and more info would likely come out in March. Damn.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
With more and more of the vaccine being given out, this seems incredibly premature.
Click to expand...
100% agree. Also I think it's kind of silly to still be carrying the belief that travel matters. When this first started? Sure. But it's everywhere now. Me going from MO to GA or whatever isn't going to do anything. Just my opinion.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Hospitals are already scheduling aways for 4th year. I've been in contact with several that have said they are planning on doing always, and I had one open up for application that I've almost finished yesterday

I refuse to be upset until anything happens. I know several students at my school who did always this year despite the pandemic ranging on. With more and more of the vaccine being given out, this seems incredibly premature.

I hate them.
Click to expand...
Same. Ive had contact with multiple residencies who said they were doing them
 
Honestly this broke me. I had a very specific goal for residency. I'll probably have to change desired specialties if this happens. I doubt I'll be competitive enough for med-peds without letters from Sub-Is and a good performance, and even if I can apply my chance of matching where I wanted to is probably so low.

I want to cry. My partner and I had a plan, we were finally going to be in the same place together
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Honestly this broke me. I had a very specific goal for residency. I'll probably have to change desired specialties if this happens. I doubt I'll be competitive enough for med-peds without letters from Sub-Is and a good performance, and even if I can apply my chance of matching where I wanted to is probably so low.

I want to cry. My partner and I had a plan, we were finally going to be in the same place together
Click to expand...
There’s a chance you can still get your letters and make it work. Prioritize the specific place you want to go if you were gonna do an audition there. But you may fall under the “more aways if no home programs/required by school” and will be able to do other sub-Is.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Honestly this broke me. I had a very specific goal for residency. I'll probably have to change desired specialties if this happens. I doubt I'll be competitive enough for med-peds without letters from Sub-Is and a good performance, and even if I can apply my chance of matching where I wanted to is probably so low.

I want to cry. My partner and I had a plan, we were finally going to be in the same place together
Click to expand...
I dont think its finalized yet. Seems like itll be revisited in April. Just stay the course for now
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Honestly this broke me. I had a very specific goal for residency. I'll probably have to change desired specialties if this happens. I doubt I'll be competitive enough for med-peds without letters from Sub-Is and a good performance, and even if I can apply my chance of matching where I wanted to is probably so low.

I want to cry. My partner and I had a plan, we were finally going to be in the same place together
Click to expand...
I am thinking we may be able to do more since we don't have a home program like @sunshinefl mentioned. It's not ideal but try and stay positive for now. Remember that a lot of other applicants will be in the same boat as you if we all can't do multiple aways.
 
You guys I’m pulling an all nighter for the IM comat right now. Taking it in four hours. 🤣

My preceptor murdered me all month. I wrote a good 6-7 notes every day because he didn’t round unti the afternoon and I had four patients every day... meaning if I wasn’t 100% sure if someone was staying or going, I better write both a progress note and a discharge summary for that patient before rounds so all I had to do was update one and delete the other if I wanted to get home at a decent hour. The upside is my time management is godly IMO - I can write notes pretty dang fast now. I also feel really solid on bread and butter DM, HTN, chest pain, CAD, thyroid, lipids, COPD, asthma, etc. The downside is I did NO anki, NO uworld, and I started my night tonight with 230 IM comquest questions left. So all the unicorn/unusual disease questions are killing me right now because I didn’t deal with them much.

He said I was great and he’s planning on giving me a “stellar” eval. I’m interpreting that as I have the potential to honor this rotation if I do well on the COMAT, but I have to break 111 to get honors at my school. If you guys have any good thoughts to spare, I have 140 comquest questions left and I’m predicted at a 107 rn LMFAO.
 
calivianya said:
You guys I’m pulling an all nighter for the IM comat right now. Taking it in four hours. 🤣

My preceptor murdered me all month. I wrote a good 6-7 notes every day because he didn’t round unti the afternoon and I had four patients every day... meaning if I wasn’t 100% sure if someone was staying or going, I better write both a progress note and a discharge summary for that patient before rounds so all I had to do was update one and delete the other if I wanted to get home at a decent hour. The upside is my time management is godly IMO - I can write notes pretty dang fast now. I also feel really solid on bread and butter DM, HTN, chest pain, CAD, thyroid, lipids, COPD, asthma, etc. The downside is I did NO anki, NO uworld, and I started my night tonight with 230 IM comquest questions left. So all the unicorn/unusual disease questions are killing me right now because I didn’t deal with them much.

He said I was great and he’s planning on giving me a “stellar” eval. I’m interpreting that as I have the potential to honor this rotation if I do well on the COMAT, but I have to break 111 to get honors at my school. If you guys have any good thoughts to spare, I have 140 comquest questions left and I’m predicted at a 107 rn LMFAO.
Click to expand...
Good luck to you!!! ✨

I understand about the unicorn stuff. I felt like I really dove into my patients during clerkships and got pretty good at the common stuff, and then tried to do some questions to supplement for the things I wasn't seeing.
 
sunshinefl said:
Good luck to you!!! ✨

I understand about the unicorn stuff. I felt like I really dove into my patients during clerkships and got pretty good at the common stuff, and then tried to do some questions to supplement for the things I wasn't seeing.
Click to expand...
I really meant to do more questions, but I definitely didn’t do any during the week, and then I spent most of my weekends decompressing so it just didn’t happen. I maybe did 20 questions total on the weekends... which is how I got to this all nighter today. I really suck at time management in my personal life.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
Best books for Psychiatry Shelf Exam in 2024
Replies
2
Views
2K
L8rg8r
L
spes93
  • Question Question
Comparing NBME shelf performance to COMAT, and how to improve?
Replies
7
Views
7K
JimBone905
J
G
May have failed internal medicine shelf...again
Replies
3
Views
6K
PikminOC
PikminOC
T
Surgery shelf : Anki to retain Divergillio?
Replies
0
Views
5K
taeyeonlover
T
Fay1129
Step 2 and Shelf exam notes
Replies
3
Views
8K
pbsdrinkingwhale
pbsdrinkingwhale
Top