12 Tips to Prepare for the COMLEX
- Set a goal. ...
- Begin studying ASAP, like yesterday. ...
- Do at least 5+ practice questions per day. ...
- Don’t use too many study resources. ...
- Take notes. ...
- Review explanations to all of your questions. ...
- On exam day, be sure to arrive early with proper identification. ...
- Take a break — or don’t. ...
Full Answer
How do I prepare for COMLEX Level 1?
I’d recommend getting through a first pass before your dedicated study time for COMLEX Level 1, perhaps by annotating alongside your second year curriculum. Passes two and three will be a lot faster if you do it that way. Next, you need two to three solid question banks. UWORLD is absolutely crucial.
How long should I study for the COMLEX?
Those help you prepare, but you will still need a lot of traditional, COMLEX-specific study. It is suggested that that you plan for 6 months of light studying, followed by 3-4 months of moderate studying, and then end with 1-2 months of intense studying. This applies to any COMLEX Level. Do at least 5+ practice questions per day.
How many days between USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1?
I took my USMLE Step 1 first and COMLEX Level 1 second, with 3 days in between (June 7th and 11th). I did not feel like I needed any additional time in between the two to study for COMLEX, as all I had to do was review some OMM stuff.
How do I get a good COMLEX score?
Make a Schedule – and stick to it! Everybody needs a schedule in order to get a good COMLEX score. Without a schedule, you will have no way of knowing how many questions you need to do per day or how much content you need to get through in order to reach your goal.
How to prepare for a comlex?
Treat your first- and second-year classes in medical school as the opportunity to start preparing for COMLEX Level 1. Dive into the content with a thorough book like First Aid for Step 1 accompanied by a video lecture platform (eg. Boards & Beyond or Osmosis) and learn the content to the best of your ability. Use the Savarese book to learn the osteopathic components. This will help prepare you for your class exams and get a sense for what COMLEX is testing. Starting as soon as you can will give you the most time to brush up your mastery of the material. If you, like many students, are getting a late start, don’t despair! As long as you get through the basic science content and master the osteopathic components prior to test day, you will be prepared!
How to get a good Comlex score?
Take a day to plan out exactly how much time you have to get through the resources you have decided to use, and make a detailed calendar to get you through your studies. Like the above point, start early! You can incorporate COMLEX Level 1 review into your daily schedule as soon as possible by even allotting just 30 minutes a day to review while in your first or second year of classes. During dedicated, plan out your day in 2h chunks, and make sure you give yourself time to eat, exercise, and re-fuel. Importantly, give yourself a day off each week to review, rest, and catch up when you inevitably fall a bit behind schedule.
Is Comlex Level 1 practice exam?
Practice Exams. Taking the COMLEX Level 1 practice exam, the COMSAE, is critical to your success and a good COMLEX score. However, since there is only 1 official practice exam available, many students find that other practice exams are necessary to help them simulate test-day conditions and predict their score.
Can you do well on Comlex?
You can’t do well on COMLEX unless you are doing well yourself – both mentally and physically. Many students find that they have to effectively address issues such as test-taking anxiety with some support. Talking through these problems with friends, family, a counselor, or a psychiatrist can often provide students with adequate coping strategies. Other students have family obligations or are balancing work and school. Whatever your situation, make sure that you budget enough time into your study schedule to take care of yourself and your personal responsibilities so that you can tackle COMLEX Level 1 and become the doctor you’ve always wanted to be.
What is a combank exam?
The exam is an onslaught of random, obscure questions from every subject. If you study questions by subject and then do the COMBANK questions by subject, your mind will be skewed into looking for questions related to the subject you’re studying.
How long should I study before a test?
Most test-takers give themselves 2 months of studying time before the exam. Of course, this is variable, as you may feel you need longer or have a busier intern year schedule. In that case, I would suggest spreading the studying over a longer period.
How long before COMBANK level 3?
It’s best to break up the number of total questions in COMBANK and do 1/3 of them in the 4-8 weeks before the exam and the other 2/3 in the 4 weeks just prior to the exam.
Should I take level 3 in internal medicine?
If you’re in internal medicine residency, for example, know that Level 3 still has questions on pediatrics. For this reason, I recommend taking Level 3 earlier in residency as you still have lingering knowledge from medical school about a whole range of specialties. It will also feel good to get it over with!
What is COMLEX Level 2-CE?
COMLEX Level 2-CE (Cognitive Evaluation) is a day-long computerized exam that measures clinical problem-solving ability.
Preparing for both the COMLEX Level 2-CE and -PE
Preparation for both the COMLEX Level 2-CE and -PE starts when you begin clinical patient care experiences during your 3rd year of medical school.
COMLEX Level 2 – Exam Structure
Once the dedicated period of study begins for COMLEX LEVEL 2, often shortly after finishing the core clinical clerkships, the best way to prepare is through practice questions to build your endurance! The exam is notoriously long – it contains 400 test questions (vs 318 on USMLE Step 2) and is administered in two four-hour long test sessions.
Who must write the guide for the comlex?
One: The guide must be written by writers who have painstakingly researched the topics and concepts needed to succeed on the COMLEX. The blind cannot hope to lead the blind.
What is a comlex score?
COMLEX scores are used by the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME) as a uniform standard of qualification. While it may not be fair, all of a person's plans for the future may be dependent upon needing a certain COMLEX score.
Why do we have answer keys on the Comlex test?
Detailed answer explanations are included for the questions. It may sound obvious, but you have to know which questions you missed (and more importantly why you missed the question) to be able to avoid making the same mistakes again when you take the real test. That's why the practice test questions we include for the COMLEX test include answer keys with detailed answer explanations to each question. The in-depth answer explanations will allow you to better understand the questions that were difficult for you or that you needed more help to understand.
What is Mometrix test prep?
Our company's name is Mometrix Test Preparation, and we have a team of standardized test researchers who have worked on developing our study guide for the COMLEX. The standards for who gets to work on the team are very strict. We demand the best for our customers, and only those who met our exacting standards made the cut. The dedicated research staff have years of combined experience in mastering the content and skills necessary to succeed on the toughest exams.
Why do some test takers do well on the day of the test?
One reason some test takers do well on the day of the test is that they have made the critical connection between the material they learned and how to use the material to succeed on the COMLEX.
How to contact Mometrix support?
If you have any problems or questions, please send an email to [email protected] and we will be sure to get it working for you.
What do researchers reveal in standardized tests?
They reveal the exact skills and the information you'll need to perform under pressure during the test.
How to do OMGOMT?
1. Do UWorld once, all of the questions#N#2. Do OMGOMT once, all of the videos + OMM practice questions#N#3. Take test#N#For Level II, don't get crazy with resources. Doing the classically "step 1" resources is a huge waste of time. All of the stuff you need to know will be explained/tested in UWorld. All of the OMM you need to know will be explained/tested in OMG OMT. If you use sketchy or some other resource its so redundant because UW will help you get back to speed on micro, etc. The DO banks (comquest, combank) are nothing like the real test and their questions are way too easy and don't cover all of the important topics that you need.
Does step 2 cover microbiology?
For step 2 I would, yeah. It covers micro and pharm and I remember a good deal on pathology from it too. If used right it is pretty airtight
How long is the COMLEX 3 exam?
The COMLEX Level 3 exam is two days long. There are four test sessions of 3.5 hours each with two sessions per day. There are 420 multiple choice questions and 26 clinical decision-making (CDM) cases that have two to four questions each. The CDM questions, unlike the rest of the exam, may include short answer questions that are hand-graded. Additionally, you will encounter questions with both audio or visual components, such as a video of an exam maneuver, a murmur, or lung sounds among other things. Check the NBOME website for test dates. You will want to register early in the year if possible as test dates can fill up quickly.
What is the purpose of the comlex level 3 exam?
What is the COMLEX Level 3 Exam? The goal of COMLEX Level 3 is to certify the passing student as competent in the generalist domains of osteopathic medicine. If the condition could be seen by a general physician in any of the major general medical specialties, it is fair game for the exam.
What is level 3 in comlex?
COMLEX Level 3 covers all the general disciplines (internal medicine, family medicine, surgery, OB/GYN, OMM, etc.). An exhaustive list can be found on the NBOME website and it is worth taking a look. The exact content of the exam is listed in the Master Blueprint and includes two dimensions with multiple competency domains and clinical presentations. These, unfortunately, are nonspecific, but illustrate a general breakdown and do give actual minimum percentages. For example, OMM principles, practice, and manipulative treatment is at least 10% of the total exam. Osteopathic patient care and procedural skills are another 40%.
What are CDM questions?
The CDM questions, unlike the rest of the exam, may include short answer questions that are hand-graded. Additionally, you will encounter questions with both audio or visual components, such as a video of an exam maneuver, a murmur, or lung sounds among other things. Check the NBOME website for test dates.
What is the percentage of procedural skills in osteopathic care?
Osteopathic patient care and procedural skills are another 40%. In the introduction, you can see the breakdown across every exam, Level 1 through Level 3, and you will notice that the Level 3 exam is much heavier on patient care as opposed to Level 1 in which 60% is application of knowledge, specifically foundational biomedical science knowledge, ...
How to review a blueprint?
Review the Blueprint: First, I would recommend looking at the areas of the blueprint under clinical presentation; that can tell you what kinds of test findings and diagnostic imaging you will be expected to know as well as what patient presentations they consider important. For example, on page 66 of the blueprint, you will see under “Patient Presentations Related to the Integumentary System”, a list of microscopic evaluations, Wood lamp, fungal cultures, and skin biopsy results. You may be expected to interpret these so it may be beneficial to be familiar with them. This is the same for all areas, so if you find that you are weak in certain topics, it may be beneficial to take an hour and do a sweep of the blueprint to see what things you may want to make sure to focus on.
What are the trade-offs of taking the Comlex?
The basic trade-offs to consider are performance and freedom. Taking Step 1 is a tremendously stressful and challenging undertaking, made worse by the reality that DO students also have to take the COMLEX Level 1, which is longer, more expensive, and contains 30% more questions than Step 1 at the same time. Performing well on Step 1 will give DO ...
What is the challenge of taking the USMLE?
The challenge for first and second year osteopathic medical students is to figure out what specialty/residency they want to pursue and how competitive it will be to match into. Given that most don’t yet know (and shouldn’t) what they’re interested in pursuing, the decision to take the USMLE exam is essentially one of hedging your bets; maybe you get through third year clinical rotations and decide that Orthopedic surgery really speaks to you. Well, you’ll need an impressive Step 1 score to be competitive, and if you choose not to take Step 1, it’s going to be next to impossible to match into Orthopedic surgery. Conversely, maybe you decide on family medicine; a great Step 1 score can certainly help, but plenty of DO applicants who didn’t take Step 1 still match into family medicine every year.
What does it mean to perform well on step 1?
Performing well on Step 1 will give DO students the ability (i.e. freedom) to apply to a wide variety of residency programs in their chosen specialty, as ACGME programs that are historically more attuned to MD candidates have an objective metric with which to compare DO students. Conversely, a poor score on Step 1 has the potential to close doors and leave students (both DO and MD) less competitive for certain specialties.
Can you apply for AOA without taking the USMLE?
Historically, osteopathic medical students (DOs) had the option of applying to both AOA (or DO-specific) residency programs, in which MD candidates were ineligible to apply. They also had the option to apply for ACGME (MD if you will) residency programs without being required to take the USMLE® Step 1, etc. exams that ACGME programs require. They must complete their mandatory COMLEX-USA® licensing exams (Levels 1, 2, and 3) to be eligible, however.
Is USMLE step 1 stressful?
The basic trade-offs to consider are performance and freedom. Taking USMLE Step 1 is a tremendously stressful and challenging undertaking, made worse by the reality that DO students also have to take the COMLEX Level 1, which is longer, more expensive, and contains 30% more questions than Step 1 at the same time.
How long before you take the comlex should you study?
Begin studying ASAP, like yesterday. Ideally you want to start prepping for your COMLEX 8-12 months before you take the exam.
How many breaks do you need to take for a test?
Take a break — or don’t. You will be given the option to take up to three breaks total on test day: two 10-minute breaks (one during the first 4-hour session, and one during the second 4-hour session), and one 40-minute break between the two 4-hour sessions. Bring a lunch or snack.
Why is it important to take notes while studying for exams?
This may go without saying, but it’s important because note-taking while reviewing your practice exams helps imprint information into your brain beyond just rote memorization. Use a question bank that has online note-taking capabilities so that you’ll be able to easily filter your notes by various criteria and pull up the question that the note was taken on to review before test day.
How long is a 40 minute test?
If you’re late coming back from the 40-minute break, it cuts into your second 4-hour testing session. Keep calm. Cool heads prevail, as they say.
Can you take Comlex level 1 and level 2?
If you’ve successfully completed your COMLEX Level 1 and are moving on to COMLEX Level 2, you will be able to take your Level 1 experience and adjust your study schedule accordingly – based on how you did with your old schedule and where you’d like to end up. Unlike COMLEX Level 1, before taking the Level 2-CE you will usually have already done ...
Can you skip a question on the Comlex?
Yes, even the ones you got right the first time. Spending more time on things you don’t know is good, but review all of it, because you need to know all of it. A lot of tested material is explained through question bank explanations — it’d be a waste to miss a question on the COMLEX because you skipped reviewing an explanation.
