To all my fellow DOs please HELP:

[brwneyes]

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So I just took USMLE today and definitely know I failed. I didn't know a damn thing...I'm taking the comlex on wednesday. Do I have any hope? To those of you who took both, is the comlex more do-able. Did you do anything in particular in your prep. that you felt help most prepare you for the comlex....I really want to pass, but after taking that test today, I feel like I hopeless, any advice please......... 😕 😱 😡 🙁

 

[HoodyHoo]

So I just took USMLE today and definitely know I failed. I didn't know a damn thing...I'm taking the comlex on wednesday. Do I have any hope? To those of you who took both, is the comlex more do-able. Did you do anything in particular in your prep. that you felt help most prepare you for the comlex....I really want to pass, but after taking that test today, I feel like I hopeless, any advice please......... 😕 😱 😡 🙁

All I can say is do all of the Kaplan Q bank OMM questions because they are VERY representative of the real test. So master those to assure yourself of getting at least those 30-50 questions right. As far as the other stuff, Kaplan Q bank is easier and better written than the real test. If you don't have the 200 question practice test offered on the NBOME website, I would order it or get it from a friend. It is the best representation of the real test.

As far as the USMLE i don't know....Obviously we have a higher pass rate on the COMLEX than USMLE so i wouldn't worry too much. If you were a decent student through the last two years i'm sure you will be fine.

 

[brwneyes]

All I can say is do all of the Kaplan Q bank OMM questions because they are VERY representative of the real test. So master those to assure yourself of getting at least those 30-50 questions right. As far as the other stuff, Kaplan Q bank is easier and better written than the real test. If you don't have the 200 question practice test offered on the NBOME website, I would order it or get it from a friend. It is the best representation of the real test.

As far as the USMLE i don't know....Obviously we have a higher pass rate on the COMLEX than USMLE so i wouldn't worry too much. If you were a decent student through the last two years i'm sure you will be fine.

thanks...I didn't buy Q bank comlex, only usmle (can't afford both) is comlex Q book just as good a representation of actual OMM questions....

also a stupid question: do we have to know people's names for the omm section: for example lawrence jones founded counterstrain?

 

[DrMom]

You will not be asked about any of the OMM gurus. You'll be asked about what treatment you'd use in a certain clinical situation, usually lots of autonomics, some of the mechanics of treatments, etc.

 

[brwneyes]

You will not be asked about any of the OMM gurus. You'll be asked about what treatment you'd use in a certain clinical situation, usually lots of autonomics, some of the mechanics of treatments, etc.

is studying savarese omt review enough? I've been told his questions however, are harder than the real thing...this true?

 

[DrMom]

You don't need anything other than Savarese. I have another book (that the authors gave me to review) and it didn't have anything that Savarese didn't and was missing a lot of what Savarese has.

The autonomics pages in Savarese is golden. Know them well.
I've had Chapman's point questions that weren't covered in Savarese, but basically everything else is there.
I'd spend time going through the content of Savarese first, again, special attention to autonomics. Be sure that you read through the cranial stuff & anything you're not comfortable with the mechanics of. I'd then try to do one or two of the tests at the end of the book. You may or may not see questions like those, but they give you some idea of what types of questions can show up. I definitely wouldn't do all of the tests in prep for step1, though. Savarese is useful for steps 2 & 3 prep, too, so you can save some for later. (although all I really did for step 2 OMM is to review the autonomics and glance at cranial)

All that said, you shouldn't have to spend more than 1 day prepping for the OMM.

 

[brwneyes]

You don't need anything other than Savarese. I have another book (that the authors gave me to review) and it didn't have anything that Savarese didn't and was missing a lot of what Savarese has.

The autonomics pages in Savarese is golden. Know them well.
I've had Chapman's point questions that weren't covered in Savarese, but basically everything else is there.
I'd spend time going through the content of Savarese first, again, special attention to autonomics. Be sure that you read through the cranial stuff & anything you're not comfortable with the mechanics of. I'd then try to do one or two of the tests at the end of the book. You may or may not see questions like those, but they give you some idea of what types of questions can show up. I definitely wouldn't do all of the tests in prep for step1, though. Savarese is useful for steps 2 & 3 prep, too, so you can save some for later. (although all I really did for step 2 OMM is to review the autonomics and glance at cranial)

All that said, you shouldn't have to spend more than 1 day prepping for the OMM.

Thanks.....origin and insertion (appendix section of savarese): must know or not?

 

[DrMom]

Thanks.....origin and insertion (appendix section of savarese): must know or not?

I've not seen a question about origin/insertion on step 1 or 2, but innervation was huge on my step 1. Not to say that I'd spend a bunch of time memorizing the innervation on that chart, but I'd look over that part.


Keep in mind that the COMLEX changes from year to year and now, with the computerized test, from test to test. While you can't count on "I had a ton of sacrum questions on mine" to mean that you will, too, there are definitely topics that show up much more often than others. Autonomics, cranial, Chapman's, sacrum...all are things that seem to show up more than others. They also use anatomy to test OMM principles...in my step 1 this showed up as a ton of arm and leg innervation questions as I had very few "straight" OMM questions on my step 1 (just a couple of cranial and Chapmans).

 

[raptor5]

I would say that 90% of the OMM questions I had were from Chapter 10 in Savarese (Facilitation). There were 2 questions that were not in Savarese nor were they taught at PCOM. If you see a question regarding Tx and 3 answers are OMM and the 4th is medical/surgical, pick the Med/Surg answer. I had a few like this but they were obvious.

 

[osteomedo09]

Know autonomics cold.
Know psych drugs and neuro drugs very well.
I also had some diabetes and cholesterol drugs as well.

I'm sure you will do fine.
The 2nd time around at the center is a lot easier.
I finished my exam at 4:00, but I could have been done at 3:15.

I had a lot of anatomy on my exam. like what nerve goes to the big toe.

The pathology wasn't very noticeable to me and neither was physiology.

The only thing I consistently remember were tons of autonomics questions and lots of psych and neuro drugs. I do remember some neuro lesions --so that is also good to study.

I thought COMLEX was extremely different from USMLE. The wording is easier to understand. The answer choices -- you can usually get down to two. After that, it's chance.

Good Luck

 

[brwneyes]

Know autonomics cold.
Know psych drugs and neuro drugs very well.
I also had some diabetes and cholesterol drugs as well.

I'm sure you will do fine.
The 2nd time around at the center is a lot easier.
I finished my exam at 4:00, but I could have been done at 3:15.

I had a lot of anatomy on my exam. like what nerve goes to the big toe.

The pathology wasn't very noticeable to me and neither was physiology.

The only thing I consistently remember were tons of autonomics questions and lots of psych and neuro drugs. I do remember some neuro lesions --so that is also good to study.



I thought COMLEX was extremely different from USMLE. The wording is easier to understand. The answer choices -- you can usually get down to two. After that, it's chance.

Good Luck

if its not too much to ask...could you give me an example of an autonomic question...please

 

[alimarie81]

if its not too much to ask...could you give me an example of an autonomic question...please

Here's an example..

pt. with ascending colon problems (cancer, diverticulitis, whatever)....where might you find sympathetic changes?

T8-9
T9-10
T11-12
S1-2
S2-4

 

[alimarie81]

if its not too much to ask...could you give me an example of an autonomic question...please

Also, I found a lot more "buzz words" on the COMLEX. There were some questions that were ridiculously easy (and I assume those will be "thrown out"), but most were manageable. The wording was MUCH less than the USMLE. Instead of the 5-7 lines of text in the question stem (as were MOST of my questions on the USMLE), you get on average 2 or 3. I had plenty of time to take the extra 10-minute breaks. (Remember that the 10-minute breaks come out of your actual TESTING time.)

 

[HoodyHoo]

Also, I found a lot more "buzz words" on the COMLEX. There were some questions that were ridiculously easy (and I assume those will be "thrown out"), but most were manageable. The wording was MUCH less than the USMLE. Instead of the 5-7 lines of text in the question stem (as were MOST of my questions on the USMLE), you get on average 2 or 3. I had plenty of time to take the extra 10-minute breaks. (Remember that the 10-minute breaks come out of your actual TESTING time.)

I know other people have said this too, but I thought although the questions were less wordy, I often found myself trying to figure out what they were asking.

I thought the COMLEX was very poorly written, especially compared to the USMLE. It's tough when you sit there and are asking yourself "wtf"?? every third question. Maybe for some it was more straightforward but this was my experience with it.