erikpaul
04-17-2009, 07:59 PM
====== Registration ======
===== Intial Registration =====
Around January/February you will receive an email from the Dean of Academic Affairs with your NBOME Registration ID. With that ID, you will go to the https://www.nbome-pe.org/NBOME-REG/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fnbome-reg%2fDefault.aspx and use your secure code and register. From there, you will be asked to pay for the exam. The fee schedule can be found http://nbome.org/fee_schedule2007.htm. Upon paying for the exam, you will immediately be sent to the http://www.prometric.com/default.htm Prometric website]], where you will schedule your exam. You choose the state, then, the city. Upon doing that, you will then be able to see the available dates to take the exam. **I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO SIGN UP AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR ID FROM THE DEAN!** I know of a couple of people that are taking the exam during 8th quarter, since there were no other dates available to take the exam.
Finally, you CANNOT see what days are available for the exam until you have paid for your test.
===== Changing an Appointment =====
Changing the testing date was simple. Just go to the Prometric website and change it. If you just want to see what days are available, you can without forfeiting your timeslot.
====== Thomson Prometric Sites ======
===== Jefferson City =====
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==== Location ====
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==== Checkin ====
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==== Computers ====
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==== Station ====
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===== Creve Couer =====
==== Location ====
The testing center is off of I-270 in St. Louis and is very simple to get to. It is in the basement of a building, which could be hard to find if you are running late.
==== Checkin ====
My email from the NBOME (which had a paucity of information about the test day) said the exam started at 8. However, I showed up at 7:30 and began at 7:55. I was given a locker that could store a bunch of books, however, was probably not large enough for a computer (not tall or wide enough). I was required to take my watch off and I had to put everything in the locker. Students that wore sweaters were told that if they wore the sweater in, they had to wear it out of the room. There was a refrigerator available for use. I asked if I could take my shoes off in the room, and they said that would be fine.
==== Computers ====
I didn't get all the specs, but, the computer I was using was an HP Pavillion. The monitor was a 17" CRT. I actually hated it, since it was a CRT I got a lot of glare during the exam, which made my eyes tired (I use a tablet 15 hours a day, so, I am used to a screen). I wish my center had LCD's for this reason. The mouse had a scroll wheel, but I never needed it. The computer had locked the "ALT-TAB" function, so I wasn't able to quickly go between the lab sheet and the exam windows (I hated that part).
==== Station ====
The chairs were cotton, not the greatest, but, they were OK. Some people talked about fans...this site had no fan. It was a little warm. There "ear muffs" at each station to drown out the noise (more like airport ear protection). I would take it on and off throughout the exam. I would have left it off, but, some USMLE student next to me was click crazy with his mouse.
===== Ballwin =====
==== Location ====
This testing center is also off of I-270 in St. Louis but is easily missed since it is so small. There are several street malls and it is tucked in the middle of one on your left.
==== Checkin ====
My registration confirmation gave us no requirements in terms of I.D. or other things we could or could not bring. It said the exam started at 8am, but that is just when they opened the facility. Several people were standing outside the building at 7:30, mulling around on the side walk, waiting for it to open. Once let in, we were given a booklet of rules to lookover, but once everyone was accounted for, they went through it with us. There was a fridge with water and soda, and space for our lunches. We were also given a locker (about 12 in wide and tall) for our keys, books, etc. I just kept my stuff in my car b/c I didn't need it until lunch break anyway. I was informed that at every break, I must leave the testing room, sign out/in, and have my thumbprint checked. We were given a dry-erase board, earmuffs, two markers, and an eraser. We didn't get going with the test until 8:30.
==== Computers ====
The computers were fine. The pics were fuzzy but I think thats a COMLEX problem, not the computer. I wish the keyboards were the soft, quieter type. Even through the ear plugs, I could hear people clacking away at essay tests.
==== Station ====
I had a little cubicle but it was big enough I didn't feel claustrophobic. The chairs were not uncomfortable.
Overall, I would recommend this site. The staff were very friendly and I felt comfortable there, just be sure to leave early, it may take a minute to find.
====== COMLEX Step I Experiences ======
===== The Computer-Based Test =====
The practice test on the NBOME's website is exactly the same format as the real thing. After a short intro, the exam starts. There is a morning session and an afternoon session. You get 4 hours for each session. In each of those sessions, you have 4 sections of 50 questions. Once you have finished one section of 50 you cannot go back to a previous 50. Also, you can spend two hours on one section, just as long as you finish the four sections of 50 within 4 hours. After the morning session, you will get 40 minutes for lunch. The exam stated that if you took more than 40 minutes for lunch, your time would be deducted from the afternoon session. I was about a minute late (there was even a pop-up that stated that lunch had ended and I needed to start the exam), however, when I started the exam, my time counted down from 4 hours, so, I don't know how accurate those rules are.
===== NBOME Practice Exams =====
You can take an NBOME Practice exam online via this http://www.nbome.org/CBT2006/cbe_intro.htm.
Also, you can order a 200 question copy of a packet with retired questions from this http://www.nbome.org/PracticeItemRequest.pdf.
I would recommend doing them. I don't know if you will see any repeats (I don't remember any), however, it is always good to get a feel for the level of difficulty you will see on the exam.
===== Users =====
DISCLAIMER TO USERS:
This secton of the site is for you to discuss how you prepared for the exam. It is also a place for you to state how you felt about the exam. Posting of specific questions from the COMLEX is, in my mind, a **violation of our academic code of conduct**. Dr. Laird sent out an email last year stating that anybody that discussed the exam will automatically fail and be dismissed from the school. Even though the COMLEX Step I said absolutely nothing about discussing the exam with others, I still feel strongly about this (I read the entire disclaimer at the beginning of the exam, it only said that the information on the notepads where the property of the NBOME and that any form of electronic communication during the exam is a violation of the rules). Nonetheless, if you post specific questions on this site, you are only setting yourself up to have legal action taken against you from the NBOME as well as KCOM. Anything you write on this page is linked to your user account.
==== Erik Gulbrandsen ====
=== Kaplan Board Review Course ===
I was not overly impressed with Kaplan Medical for our board review course. Originally, I had issues with the administration, however, I have since learned that Kaplan had a changeover of managers, which led to the miscommunication. That is very understandable. I didn't garner much utility out of having the review course be more than 4 months away from the day I took the exam.
== Lectures ==
We had Pharm in February, Path in March, Micro in April, and Phys in May from Kaplan Medical at KCOM.
Dr. Ramone taught the Pharm portion, and I thought he was excellent.
Our Path course was scheduled over the weekend before our first Women's Health Exam (which we had heard was very difficult), so, I only went to about 4 hours of lecture. The professor reviewed the material from a "case based" standpoint, which I thought was excellent, except that it was in March!
I attended most of the micro course, however, I didn't learn too much since I thought infectious diseases had taught us so well.
I didn't attend more than 1 hour of the phys course, mainly because I had finally realized how much I had forgotten from the pharm and path courses, that I didn't think I would remember anything. Also, we had a huge path exam on Wednesday after the course (and had three exams leading up to the course, so I was already far behind).
In all, I don't think I would have attended the board review courses again, unless they were scheduled at very strategic times.
== Course Materials ==
The Kaplan Medical Course Books are a good resource, however, there is just too much information in the books to be able to remember all. I think those that learn well from books instead of PowerPoint Presentations would like it as opposed to First Aid. I read half of the Anatomy book (since First Aid for the anatomy stuff is pretty weak) and I also did all the biochem questions out of the qbook.
== QBank ==
This is the most important aspect to your board review. I did 1200 USMLE QBank questions and averaged about 50%. I did all 1000 COMLEX QBank questions and averaged 66%. I thought the USMLE questions were way to detailed for the actual exam and were a COMPLETE waste of time. I thought the COMLEX QBank questions were way to easy, and also were a complete waste of time. The only useful questions from COMLEX QBank were the OMM questions, however, I think you can get all the material from Dr. Saverrese's textbook (OMT REVIEW).
While preparing for the exam, I had many positive things to say about QBank, however, I only got a couple of questions right on the exam because of my QBank time. I think that is just terrible, since I spent hundreds of hours working on it, and got very little out of it. SO, I HIGHLY recommend doing only 200 QBank questions, just to get a feel for online testing. Go out and buy USMLE World on your own, and do all of them.
In retrospect, even though the school bought me COMLEX QBank, I wish I had gotten USMLE World's qbank. There were many people on studentdoctor.net that said the same things as me (excpet I haven't done USMLE World).
=== My Preparation ===
I began my studies the Monday after 7th quarter ended doing QBank USMLE questions. My study partner and I would do 50 questions in tutor mode so that we weren't timed and we could look up the answer when we were done with each question. We used the online version of First Aid for the USMLE to find where in the book the meat of the question was located, and I placed a green star next to the info. I did this for about 1100 USMLE questions.
At that point, I switched to reading FA. I read through the entire book in about 1.5 weeks. Then, I went back to doing COMLEX QBank. I finished it, and then brushed up my loose ends from First Aid. I also used the BRS Pharmcards as well as the LWW Microcards. I spent a day reading OMT Review by Savaresse.
In retrospect, I would still have done the BRS Pharmcards as well as the microcards. They were VERY high yield. I think I got almost every pharm question right because of them (well, maybe missed 10, tops). **UPDATE! Check out my score...I rocked the Pharm portion! It can be seen below**
I would have spent much more time with Savaresse's book, since most of my OMM was discussed in the book. A lot of the anatomy was in there, too. I just couldn't remember it all. It is a very high yield book (not just the "trigger points" from his book).
I would have spent less time with First Aid for psych. I should have read a psych board review book. Those were my hardest questions, just because I didn't know hardly any of the answers.
This would have been my schedule (BTW...I studied about 15-16 hours a day for 4 weeks straight):
Fist off, **DON'T WASTE A MINUTE WITH USMLE QBANK!** Even those that will take the USMLE should do another QBank, such as USMLE World. My buddies said the USMLE was very similar to the COMLEX, and, I thought the USMLE QBank was just way too nittpicky for the real COMLEX.
Week 1--read First Aid and Microcards
Week 2--on Monday, 200 questions from COMLEX QBank--reviewing all the answers
Week 2--read Savaresse's book on Tuesday and Wednesday
Week 2--Start USMLE World's QBank on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
Week 3--Do BRS Pharmcards on Monday and Tuesday
Week 3--Do Goljan's Rapid Review Textbook for Pathology (VERY high yield)
Week 4--Finish up USMLE World on Monday, then, go over highlights for Rapid Review as well as First Aid. Do the pharmcards until they are COLD!
Week 4--the day before the exam, go over highlights from Savaresse's book. This is the highest yield book out there, so, I would know it cold.
Morning of the Exam, go over my autonomics and CNS pharmcards, since I screw those up all the time.
=== Examination ===
I thought the exam was very well written. I had read on studentdoctor.net statements that the exam was a joke, like you couldn't tell what they were asking. I found this to be completely wrong. In fact, I thought I was taking an exam written by faculty at KCOM. I remember feeling reading questions thinking, "this was written by Dr. Chamberlain", or "this is a Uray question if I've ever seen one". There wasn't a single question that I didn't know what was being asked. In fact, I knew what the diagnosis was on almost every single question (except for the ones that I missed that asked what the diagnosis was).
There were only two questions that were asked that contained material that wasn't taught at KCOM. One, however, had 4 questions associated with it. I was pretty bummed about not being taught that material.
I thought that every subject was evenly covered. There first year course-work questions were all clinically relevant. I think I could have answered all of the Principles of Medicine questions with only a couple of days of studying, since our school prepared us very well for these questions.
I feel I did well with the pharm questions, missing only a handful. Our coursework at KCOM was similar to the exam. I used the BRS Pharmcards, and I swear by them. I would have easily failed the exam without doing pharmcards and just relying on First Aid.
I loved seeing micro and ID questions, since we were so prepared for them. It was a nice break to see them.
Psych questions were the hardest for me, even though they may not have been hard questions. I just did a lot of 50/50 guessing on those ones.
I will be honest...after the exam was over, I was certain that I had failed. Now, after reviewing questions that I had on the test, I think there might be a chance :).
== Scores ==
I scored a 478, which I was happy with, given my examination. Given the Standard Error of Measurement of 18 to 25, I tell people that I statistically scored at the mean (hey, it is true). I was still upset, though, since I've had much better days. I'm in the top 50 at KCOM, so, this further shows how hit and miss the COMLEX can be.
Here are the pictures of my score report.{{:comlex_level_1_front.jpg|:comlex_level_1 _front.jpg}} {{:comlex_level_1_back.jpg|:comlex_level_1_back.jp g}} If you didn't believe me about BRS pharmcards, just look at my "management" score...off the chart! This will be good for me when I take COMLEX Level 2, which has more emphasis on management (as well as the other areas that I did well on).
==== Michelle Hill ====
=== Kaplan Board Review Course ===
Eh. I didn't really get the feeling that this was a COMLEX review. I felt like it was USMLE with some OMM thrown in here and there, so I never got a great feel for the COMLEX. I mean, its not exactly USMLE either, so it shortchanges those who are taking it as well.
== Lectures ==
I agree with Erik on the time table of classes. They were less than convenient.
Dr. Raymon taught pharm beautifully. I would recommend going and taking good notes. I just wish he taught the stuff we hadn't seen yet, like, oh, antibiotics for example, seeing as how that tends to be hi-yield.
I got all excited that we were going to learn Path from the Pharm guy but it was actually Dr. Raymond, it wasn't a misprint. I stayed for 4 hours and then couldn't take it anymore. He did not teach, he just did review question after review question. This would have been awesome had I studied any of the material.
I did not go to micro since I felt pretty set with the bug video and class notes.
I went to almost all of phys b/c that is my weak point. Our phys profs did a great job, but the teacher explained those last few things I kept missing and pointed out the hi-yield questions.
== Course Material ==
I think I was a very rare person b/c I actually read the books. Its true that is too much material if you are trying to teach yourself the concepts, but they are a quick read when you already have a basic grasp of the material and just need a refresher from something less abbreviated. One big problem though-- there is no errata listed so if something seems wrong to you, take it with a grain of salt and look it up with another source. I know in my book the fetal circulation was reversed.
== QBank ==
I did have repeated questions from the Qbank, but not a ton. The formatting was the same style as the test, though minus pictures. They give you a choice of USMLE or COMLEX veriosns...I would only do the COMLEX version. I had friends who used the USMLE one only to end up borrowing mine, especially for the OMM questions. I mean, its great if you want to do well on USMLE, but hey, the COMLEX is the one you MUST pass. Give it some priority.
=== My Preparation ===
I kept an online journal of sorts on my month long preparation at: http://mvmedstudent.wordpress.com/2007/05/21/day-22-keep-on-truckin/
The #1 most important thing that saved me was GOLGAN'S PATHOLOGY REVIEW. The man is a GENIUS. Buy the book, find the lecture recordings, take your time with it, listen & make notes.
#2 Watch the Bug video and do the online review the Micro professors put out.
#3 Have an organized system where you utilize your resources.
-Once I got through Goljan lectures, I basically went through systems. I would deem one day to be "Cardio Day" and then go through every subject involved with the cardiovascular system. Path of heart. Infectious diseases of the heart. Pharm of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiomyopathy antiobiotics, CHF, etc. I would look up all of these subjects in both the Kaplan books and my saved class notes. This approach was much less overwhelming than, oh, trying to learn all of pharm in one day.
#4 Do all the practice Q's you can, figure out what you're doing wrong.
-At the end of the day I would set the Qbank filter to just Cardio and make notes on what I was missing and would need to review further. I also did some practice NBOME tests and borrowed a book from my friend that had clinical vignettes.
=== Examination ===
All in all, I felt OK during the exam. I felt generally prepared. Unlike Erik's test, I did not feel it was a well-rounded test at all. I swear to you, 80% of my test was micro-related. I had only a few pharm questions, and they were over urinary incontinence and antibiotics. I had one easy biochem question. No genetics. No phys. I did no calculations. I suppose all organs were covered but the question inevitable asked about the micro.
You can read the specifics about the big day on my website entry: http://mvmedstudent.wordpress.com/2007/06/17/my-boards-experience/
== Scores ==
I got a 451. If I can ever find my COMLEX breakdown, I'll put it up, but I remember it being off the chart for most things but then borderline on something like management, which I guess brought me way down. Again, not sure it was management, but if management=antibiotics, then I believe it.
I was lucky I had a decent "theme", I was strong in micro, but my score ended up being average and think that was just the luck of the draw. I mean, I am not blaming anybody but myself for not rocking it, but I think I could have done a bit better if it was more comprehensive, and that I could have failed if I had a bad "theme" for me.
==== ====
=== Kaplan Board Review Course ===
== Lectures ==
== Course Material ==
== QBank ==
=== My Preparation ===
=== Examination ===
Copy the above text from "other users" until "examination", then, paste it below this sentence and enter your name where it says "other users" and then add your info to it.
**Other Users
Kaplan Board Review Course
Lectures
Course Material
QBank
My Preparation
Examination**
===== Intial Registration =====
Around January/February you will receive an email from the Dean of Academic Affairs with your NBOME Registration ID. With that ID, you will go to the https://www.nbome-pe.org/NBOME-REG/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fnbome-reg%2fDefault.aspx and use your secure code and register. From there, you will be asked to pay for the exam. The fee schedule can be found http://nbome.org/fee_schedule2007.htm. Upon paying for the exam, you will immediately be sent to the http://www.prometric.com/default.htm Prometric website]], where you will schedule your exam. You choose the state, then, the city. Upon doing that, you will then be able to see the available dates to take the exam. **I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO SIGN UP AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR ID FROM THE DEAN!** I know of a couple of people that are taking the exam during 8th quarter, since there were no other dates available to take the exam.
Finally, you CANNOT see what days are available for the exam until you have paid for your test.
===== Changing an Appointment =====
Changing the testing date was simple. Just go to the Prometric website and change it. If you just want to see what days are available, you can without forfeiting your timeslot.
====== Thomson Prometric Sites ======
===== Jefferson City =====
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==== Location ====
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==== Checkin ====
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==== Computers ====
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==== Station ====
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===== Creve Couer =====
==== Location ====
The testing center is off of I-270 in St. Louis and is very simple to get to. It is in the basement of a building, which could be hard to find if you are running late.
==== Checkin ====
My email from the NBOME (which had a paucity of information about the test day) said the exam started at 8. However, I showed up at 7:30 and began at 7:55. I was given a locker that could store a bunch of books, however, was probably not large enough for a computer (not tall or wide enough). I was required to take my watch off and I had to put everything in the locker. Students that wore sweaters were told that if they wore the sweater in, they had to wear it out of the room. There was a refrigerator available for use. I asked if I could take my shoes off in the room, and they said that would be fine.
==== Computers ====
I didn't get all the specs, but, the computer I was using was an HP Pavillion. The monitor was a 17" CRT. I actually hated it, since it was a CRT I got a lot of glare during the exam, which made my eyes tired (I use a tablet 15 hours a day, so, I am used to a screen). I wish my center had LCD's for this reason. The mouse had a scroll wheel, but I never needed it. The computer had locked the "ALT-TAB" function, so I wasn't able to quickly go between the lab sheet and the exam windows (I hated that part).
==== Station ====
The chairs were cotton, not the greatest, but, they were OK. Some people talked about fans...this site had no fan. It was a little warm. There "ear muffs" at each station to drown out the noise (more like airport ear protection). I would take it on and off throughout the exam. I would have left it off, but, some USMLE student next to me was click crazy with his mouse.
===== Ballwin =====
==== Location ====
This testing center is also off of I-270 in St. Louis but is easily missed since it is so small. There are several street malls and it is tucked in the middle of one on your left.
==== Checkin ====
My registration confirmation gave us no requirements in terms of I.D. or other things we could or could not bring. It said the exam started at 8am, but that is just when they opened the facility. Several people were standing outside the building at 7:30, mulling around on the side walk, waiting for it to open. Once let in, we were given a booklet of rules to lookover, but once everyone was accounted for, they went through it with us. There was a fridge with water and soda, and space for our lunches. We were also given a locker (about 12 in wide and tall) for our keys, books, etc. I just kept my stuff in my car b/c I didn't need it until lunch break anyway. I was informed that at every break, I must leave the testing room, sign out/in, and have my thumbprint checked. We were given a dry-erase board, earmuffs, two markers, and an eraser. We didn't get going with the test until 8:30.
==== Computers ====
The computers were fine. The pics were fuzzy but I think thats a COMLEX problem, not the computer. I wish the keyboards were the soft, quieter type. Even through the ear plugs, I could hear people clacking away at essay tests.
==== Station ====
I had a little cubicle but it was big enough I didn't feel claustrophobic. The chairs were not uncomfortable.
Overall, I would recommend this site. The staff were very friendly and I felt comfortable there, just be sure to leave early, it may take a minute to find.
====== COMLEX Step I Experiences ======
===== The Computer-Based Test =====
The practice test on the NBOME's website is exactly the same format as the real thing. After a short intro, the exam starts. There is a morning session and an afternoon session. You get 4 hours for each session. In each of those sessions, you have 4 sections of 50 questions. Once you have finished one section of 50 you cannot go back to a previous 50. Also, you can spend two hours on one section, just as long as you finish the four sections of 50 within 4 hours. After the morning session, you will get 40 minutes for lunch. The exam stated that if you took more than 40 minutes for lunch, your time would be deducted from the afternoon session. I was about a minute late (there was even a pop-up that stated that lunch had ended and I needed to start the exam), however, when I started the exam, my time counted down from 4 hours, so, I don't know how accurate those rules are.
===== NBOME Practice Exams =====
You can take an NBOME Practice exam online via this http://www.nbome.org/CBT2006/cbe_intro.htm.
Also, you can order a 200 question copy of a packet with retired questions from this http://www.nbome.org/PracticeItemRequest.pdf.
I would recommend doing them. I don't know if you will see any repeats (I don't remember any), however, it is always good to get a feel for the level of difficulty you will see on the exam.
===== Users =====
DISCLAIMER TO USERS:
This secton of the site is for you to discuss how you prepared for the exam. It is also a place for you to state how you felt about the exam. Posting of specific questions from the COMLEX is, in my mind, a **violation of our academic code of conduct**. Dr. Laird sent out an email last year stating that anybody that discussed the exam will automatically fail and be dismissed from the school. Even though the COMLEX Step I said absolutely nothing about discussing the exam with others, I still feel strongly about this (I read the entire disclaimer at the beginning of the exam, it only said that the information on the notepads where the property of the NBOME and that any form of electronic communication during the exam is a violation of the rules). Nonetheless, if you post specific questions on this site, you are only setting yourself up to have legal action taken against you from the NBOME as well as KCOM. Anything you write on this page is linked to your user account.
==== Erik Gulbrandsen ====
=== Kaplan Board Review Course ===
I was not overly impressed with Kaplan Medical for our board review course. Originally, I had issues with the administration, however, I have since learned that Kaplan had a changeover of managers, which led to the miscommunication. That is very understandable. I didn't garner much utility out of having the review course be more than 4 months away from the day I took the exam.
== Lectures ==
We had Pharm in February, Path in March, Micro in April, and Phys in May from Kaplan Medical at KCOM.
Dr. Ramone taught the Pharm portion, and I thought he was excellent.
Our Path course was scheduled over the weekend before our first Women's Health Exam (which we had heard was very difficult), so, I only went to about 4 hours of lecture. The professor reviewed the material from a "case based" standpoint, which I thought was excellent, except that it was in March!
I attended most of the micro course, however, I didn't learn too much since I thought infectious diseases had taught us so well.
I didn't attend more than 1 hour of the phys course, mainly because I had finally realized how much I had forgotten from the pharm and path courses, that I didn't think I would remember anything. Also, we had a huge path exam on Wednesday after the course (and had three exams leading up to the course, so I was already far behind).
In all, I don't think I would have attended the board review courses again, unless they were scheduled at very strategic times.
== Course Materials ==
The Kaplan Medical Course Books are a good resource, however, there is just too much information in the books to be able to remember all. I think those that learn well from books instead of PowerPoint Presentations would like it as opposed to First Aid. I read half of the Anatomy book (since First Aid for the anatomy stuff is pretty weak) and I also did all the biochem questions out of the qbook.
== QBank ==
This is the most important aspect to your board review. I did 1200 USMLE QBank questions and averaged about 50%. I did all 1000 COMLEX QBank questions and averaged 66%. I thought the USMLE questions were way to detailed for the actual exam and were a COMPLETE waste of time. I thought the COMLEX QBank questions were way to easy, and also were a complete waste of time. The only useful questions from COMLEX QBank were the OMM questions, however, I think you can get all the material from Dr. Saverrese's textbook (OMT REVIEW).
While preparing for the exam, I had many positive things to say about QBank, however, I only got a couple of questions right on the exam because of my QBank time. I think that is just terrible, since I spent hundreds of hours working on it, and got very little out of it. SO, I HIGHLY recommend doing only 200 QBank questions, just to get a feel for online testing. Go out and buy USMLE World on your own, and do all of them.
In retrospect, even though the school bought me COMLEX QBank, I wish I had gotten USMLE World's qbank. There were many people on studentdoctor.net that said the same things as me (excpet I haven't done USMLE World).
=== My Preparation ===
I began my studies the Monday after 7th quarter ended doing QBank USMLE questions. My study partner and I would do 50 questions in tutor mode so that we weren't timed and we could look up the answer when we were done with each question. We used the online version of First Aid for the USMLE to find where in the book the meat of the question was located, and I placed a green star next to the info. I did this for about 1100 USMLE questions.
At that point, I switched to reading FA. I read through the entire book in about 1.5 weeks. Then, I went back to doing COMLEX QBank. I finished it, and then brushed up my loose ends from First Aid. I also used the BRS Pharmcards as well as the LWW Microcards. I spent a day reading OMT Review by Savaresse.
In retrospect, I would still have done the BRS Pharmcards as well as the microcards. They were VERY high yield. I think I got almost every pharm question right because of them (well, maybe missed 10, tops). **UPDATE! Check out my score...I rocked the Pharm portion! It can be seen below**
I would have spent much more time with Savaresse's book, since most of my OMM was discussed in the book. A lot of the anatomy was in there, too. I just couldn't remember it all. It is a very high yield book (not just the "trigger points" from his book).
I would have spent less time with First Aid for psych. I should have read a psych board review book. Those were my hardest questions, just because I didn't know hardly any of the answers.
This would have been my schedule (BTW...I studied about 15-16 hours a day for 4 weeks straight):
Fist off, **DON'T WASTE A MINUTE WITH USMLE QBANK!** Even those that will take the USMLE should do another QBank, such as USMLE World. My buddies said the USMLE was very similar to the COMLEX, and, I thought the USMLE QBank was just way too nittpicky for the real COMLEX.
Week 1--read First Aid and Microcards
Week 2--on Monday, 200 questions from COMLEX QBank--reviewing all the answers
Week 2--read Savaresse's book on Tuesday and Wednesday
Week 2--Start USMLE World's QBank on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
Week 3--Do BRS Pharmcards on Monday and Tuesday
Week 3--Do Goljan's Rapid Review Textbook for Pathology (VERY high yield)
Week 4--Finish up USMLE World on Monday, then, go over highlights for Rapid Review as well as First Aid. Do the pharmcards until they are COLD!
Week 4--the day before the exam, go over highlights from Savaresse's book. This is the highest yield book out there, so, I would know it cold.
Morning of the Exam, go over my autonomics and CNS pharmcards, since I screw those up all the time.
=== Examination ===
I thought the exam was very well written. I had read on studentdoctor.net statements that the exam was a joke, like you couldn't tell what they were asking. I found this to be completely wrong. In fact, I thought I was taking an exam written by faculty at KCOM. I remember feeling reading questions thinking, "this was written by Dr. Chamberlain", or "this is a Uray question if I've ever seen one". There wasn't a single question that I didn't know what was being asked. In fact, I knew what the diagnosis was on almost every single question (except for the ones that I missed that asked what the diagnosis was).
There were only two questions that were asked that contained material that wasn't taught at KCOM. One, however, had 4 questions associated with it. I was pretty bummed about not being taught that material.
I thought that every subject was evenly covered. There first year course-work questions were all clinically relevant. I think I could have answered all of the Principles of Medicine questions with only a couple of days of studying, since our school prepared us very well for these questions.
I feel I did well with the pharm questions, missing only a handful. Our coursework at KCOM was similar to the exam. I used the BRS Pharmcards, and I swear by them. I would have easily failed the exam without doing pharmcards and just relying on First Aid.
I loved seeing micro and ID questions, since we were so prepared for them. It was a nice break to see them.
Psych questions were the hardest for me, even though they may not have been hard questions. I just did a lot of 50/50 guessing on those ones.
I will be honest...after the exam was over, I was certain that I had failed. Now, after reviewing questions that I had on the test, I think there might be a chance :).
== Scores ==
I scored a 478, which I was happy with, given my examination. Given the Standard Error of Measurement of 18 to 25, I tell people that I statistically scored at the mean (hey, it is true). I was still upset, though, since I've had much better days. I'm in the top 50 at KCOM, so, this further shows how hit and miss the COMLEX can be.
Here are the pictures of my score report.{{:comlex_level_1_front.jpg|:comlex_level_1 _front.jpg}} {{:comlex_level_1_back.jpg|:comlex_level_1_back.jp g}} If you didn't believe me about BRS pharmcards, just look at my "management" score...off the chart! This will be good for me when I take COMLEX Level 2, which has more emphasis on management (as well as the other areas that I did well on).
==== Michelle Hill ====
=== Kaplan Board Review Course ===
Eh. I didn't really get the feeling that this was a COMLEX review. I felt like it was USMLE with some OMM thrown in here and there, so I never got a great feel for the COMLEX. I mean, its not exactly USMLE either, so it shortchanges those who are taking it as well.
== Lectures ==
I agree with Erik on the time table of classes. They were less than convenient.
Dr. Raymon taught pharm beautifully. I would recommend going and taking good notes. I just wish he taught the stuff we hadn't seen yet, like, oh, antibiotics for example, seeing as how that tends to be hi-yield.
I got all excited that we were going to learn Path from the Pharm guy but it was actually Dr. Raymond, it wasn't a misprint. I stayed for 4 hours and then couldn't take it anymore. He did not teach, he just did review question after review question. This would have been awesome had I studied any of the material.
I did not go to micro since I felt pretty set with the bug video and class notes.
I went to almost all of phys b/c that is my weak point. Our phys profs did a great job, but the teacher explained those last few things I kept missing and pointed out the hi-yield questions.
== Course Material ==
I think I was a very rare person b/c I actually read the books. Its true that is too much material if you are trying to teach yourself the concepts, but they are a quick read when you already have a basic grasp of the material and just need a refresher from something less abbreviated. One big problem though-- there is no errata listed so if something seems wrong to you, take it with a grain of salt and look it up with another source. I know in my book the fetal circulation was reversed.
== QBank ==
I did have repeated questions from the Qbank, but not a ton. The formatting was the same style as the test, though minus pictures. They give you a choice of USMLE or COMLEX veriosns...I would only do the COMLEX version. I had friends who used the USMLE one only to end up borrowing mine, especially for the OMM questions. I mean, its great if you want to do well on USMLE, but hey, the COMLEX is the one you MUST pass. Give it some priority.
=== My Preparation ===
I kept an online journal of sorts on my month long preparation at: http://mvmedstudent.wordpress.com/2007/05/21/day-22-keep-on-truckin/
The #1 most important thing that saved me was GOLGAN'S PATHOLOGY REVIEW. The man is a GENIUS. Buy the book, find the lecture recordings, take your time with it, listen & make notes.
#2 Watch the Bug video and do the online review the Micro professors put out.
#3 Have an organized system where you utilize your resources.
-Once I got through Goljan lectures, I basically went through systems. I would deem one day to be "Cardio Day" and then go through every subject involved with the cardiovascular system. Path of heart. Infectious diseases of the heart. Pharm of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiomyopathy antiobiotics, CHF, etc. I would look up all of these subjects in both the Kaplan books and my saved class notes. This approach was much less overwhelming than, oh, trying to learn all of pharm in one day.
#4 Do all the practice Q's you can, figure out what you're doing wrong.
-At the end of the day I would set the Qbank filter to just Cardio and make notes on what I was missing and would need to review further. I also did some practice NBOME tests and borrowed a book from my friend that had clinical vignettes.
=== Examination ===
All in all, I felt OK during the exam. I felt generally prepared. Unlike Erik's test, I did not feel it was a well-rounded test at all. I swear to you, 80% of my test was micro-related. I had only a few pharm questions, and they were over urinary incontinence and antibiotics. I had one easy biochem question. No genetics. No phys. I did no calculations. I suppose all organs were covered but the question inevitable asked about the micro.
You can read the specifics about the big day on my website entry: http://mvmedstudent.wordpress.com/2007/06/17/my-boards-experience/
== Scores ==
I got a 451. If I can ever find my COMLEX breakdown, I'll put it up, but I remember it being off the chart for most things but then borderline on something like management, which I guess brought me way down. Again, not sure it was management, but if management=antibiotics, then I believe it.
I was lucky I had a decent "theme", I was strong in micro, but my score ended up being average and think that was just the luck of the draw. I mean, I am not blaming anybody but myself for not rocking it, but I think I could have done a bit better if it was more comprehensive, and that I could have failed if I had a bad "theme" for me.
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=== Kaplan Board Review Course ===
== Lectures ==
== Course Material ==
== QBank ==
=== My Preparation ===
=== Examination ===
Copy the above text from "other users" until "examination", then, paste it below this sentence and enter your name where it says "other users" and then add your info to it.
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