Yucky ... glad that it's the last one for the ridiculous COMLEX. My goal is to just pass and if I scored high, then it'll be a bonus.
Materials:
First Aid Step 3 - chose this because bad experience with Crush step 2, not a fan of sentences/paragraphs study guides. Need something that is readable and easy to understand.
Combank - used it for step 2 and it was fine, so I stuck with it. signed up for it for a month.
Plan: read the FA book twice and do the Qbank for the month with the goal of getting around 70%.
Note: By the last week before the test, I got really sick of it, so the weekend before I just decided to not do any studying. I even went to the B-Ball game the week before. I guess it's pretty true that for Step 3, you just need a No. 2 pencil. :) I'm not that crazy but I think if I had studied 10-12 hr/day for 2 weeks, it would've been fine. Certainly glad that I'm done.
Test: it's long, 400Qs in 8hrs. There are some ridiculous questions, like anatomy related to OMM (literally muscle insertion and what not) and ethics/medicare/medicaid. Lots of OB and peds and case related. There are certainly a few of pull out of the hat types as well. Generally the format and the feel were similar to Step 2. Ended up with a headache by the end.
As a treat, I went to SalonBlu for eyebrow wax and a short massage. The therapist was good, excellent. She went right for the muscles and got the eyebrows right. Totally coming back for it even though it was a bit pricey.
Update: 12/18 - passed Step 3. Lowest of the 3 but passed with a good cushion. 487/81.
Also as of now, my eyebrows are still in good shape even a month after. Plan on going back 1-2 weeks before going to Taiwan.
Showing posts with label COMLEX/USMLE Steps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label COMLEX/USMLE Steps. Show all posts
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Friday, September 25, 2009
Passed !!
PE ... passed
Officially done with boards and can graduate with a DO degree and not have to worry about step 3 for another year or so.
Officially done with boards and can graduate with a DO degree and not have to worry about step 3 for another year or so.
Monday, August 10, 2009
18 mos break of Boards!!!
Got my scores back and now just waiting for my PE scores.
CK - 217/89
CE - 524/84
Funny thing happened, my scores flipped flop from step 1. I actually did better in USMLE than COMLEX. That tells you something about COMLEX. Slightly disappointed with COMLEX but from studentdoctor forum, it seems like most people dropped on CE. I didn't have too big of a drop but I was hoping to be about the same or higher. Oh well. I did hope to break the 220s on the CK but any improvement from Step 1 I'll take. I think by the end of my studying time, I just got really tired and just want to get it over with. What's done is done. Now I can only hope for the best for the match.
Now I get to have a break from boards until step 3 during my PGY 1 year. Yea!!
CK - 217/89
CE - 524/84
Funny thing happened, my scores flipped flop from step 1. I actually did better in USMLE than COMLEX. That tells you something about COMLEX. Slightly disappointed with COMLEX but from studentdoctor forum, it seems like most people dropped on CE. I didn't have too big of a drop but I was hoping to be about the same or higher. Oh well. I did hope to break the 220s on the CK but any improvement from Step 1 I'll take. I think by the end of my studying time, I just got really tired and just want to get it over with. What's done is done. Now I can only hope for the best for the match.
Now I get to have a break from boards until step 3 during my PGY 1 year. Yea!!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Step 2 Studying
I allotted about 5 weeks for the studying. I started halfway through my ER rotation at Morristown Memorial where I was required to do only 11 shifts. So I did majority of them in the beginning and left with 5 for the last half, which left me quite a bit of time to read. I finished reading Crush Step 2 during the time. After the rotation, I started Nephrology for 2 weeks which was only half days at St Michael's Medical Center. During the 2 weeks, I did USMLEWorld, any where from 2-3 sections a day during the weekdays and on the weekends around 3-4 sections a day. For those 2 weeks, I finished about 75% of USMLEWorld. I then took 2 weeks off to finish studying and take COMLEX CE on 7/7, USMLE and COMLEX Step 2 on 7/11 and 7/16. By the time I took USMLE, I finished 90% of USMLEWorld. I then signed up for COMBANK for the last 5 days before COMLEX Step 2. For COMBANK, I had less than 100 questions left by the time I took COMLEX Step 2.
I didn't really studied hardcore until my Nephrology rotation, starting the qbanks. As I was doing the qbanks, I would go over the right and worng answers and add the information that I didn't remember to Crush. Then for about 2 hrs before bed time, I would re-read Crush. I think by the end, I have read Crush twice. Overall, I would say, I spent about 3 weeks in studying.
The materials I used:
Boards and Wards (throughout the year)
Step Up Medicine (throughout the year)
Crush Step 2
USMLEWorld
COMBANK
COMLEX Review: Clinical Anatomy and OMM
Statistics:
Comprehensive Core Shelf: 66% (before starting to study)
USMLEWorld: started 40% and ended with 56 to 65%, overall avg 54%
NBME 2008 free questions: 80% (I think. I don't remember exact score)
COMBANK: started 60% and ended with 74%, overall avg 68%
Now, wait and see how the studying compares to score.
I didn't really studied hardcore until my Nephrology rotation, starting the qbanks. As I was doing the qbanks, I would go over the right and worng answers and add the information that I didn't remember to Crush. Then for about 2 hrs before bed time, I would re-read Crush. I think by the end, I have read Crush twice. Overall, I would say, I spent about 3 weeks in studying.
The materials I used:
Boards and Wards (throughout the year)
Step Up Medicine (throughout the year)
Crush Step 2
USMLEWorld
COMBANK
COMLEX Review: Clinical Anatomy and OMM
Statistics:
Comprehensive Core Shelf: 66% (before starting to study)
USMLEWorld: started 40% and ended with 56 to 65%, overall avg 54%
NBME 2008 free questions: 80% (I think. I don't remember exact score)
COMBANK: started 60% and ended with 74%, overall avg 68%
Now, wait and see how the studying compares to score.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Step 2 CE
Finally done ... hopefully won't have to worry about the next step for another 12-18 months or so.
The day started at 8am and I finished around 4:30pm. I finished the test about 30 min early. I could have finished early but I needed more time for the afternoon session since I tend to have a harder time in the afternoon.
Anyways, the test is so frustrating. I don't what is it about COMLEX that gets everyone I know very frustrated. This year is the medical ethics and law. There were so many of them that I don't really know how to answer them. The frustrating thing about the questions is that they gave minimal information and expects you to figure out what they want and answer the questions. I find the individual questions harder to figure out and answer. The linked questions felt more reasonable, may be because they let you go back and forth within the linked questions. The diagnosis for those questions were easier to distinguish.
There were definitely quite a bit of OB, not as much peds as I was expecting. Definitely there were questions about management and the next diagnostic steps. The OMM were not as crazy as Step 1, maybe they figured out it's better to test the practical aspect of OMM instead of the obscurities. I felt that Boards and Wards was very helpful in that aspect. I used the COMLEX Review: Clinical Anatomy and OMM for the OMM portion of the test. It's the same book that I used for Step 1. This book also has the sections for each individual specialty as well. COMBANK was helpful in that it helps me in changing my thinking from USMLE to COMLEX.
Again, I'm now hoping for the best and hope that the score is better than my Step 1.
The prep post to come after my trip to SF for a family weekend.
The day started at 8am and I finished around 4:30pm. I finished the test about 30 min early. I could have finished early but I needed more time for the afternoon session since I tend to have a harder time in the afternoon.
Anyways, the test is so frustrating. I don't what is it about COMLEX that gets everyone I know very frustrated. This year is the medical ethics and law. There were so many of them that I don't really know how to answer them. The frustrating thing about the questions is that they gave minimal information and expects you to figure out what they want and answer the questions. I find the individual questions harder to figure out and answer. The linked questions felt more reasonable, may be because they let you go back and forth within the linked questions. The diagnosis for those questions were easier to distinguish.
There were definitely quite a bit of OB, not as much peds as I was expecting. Definitely there were questions about management and the next diagnostic steps. The OMM were not as crazy as Step 1, maybe they figured out it's better to test the practical aspect of OMM instead of the obscurities. I felt that Boards and Wards was very helpful in that aspect. I used the COMLEX Review: Clinical Anatomy and OMM for the OMM portion of the test. It's the same book that I used for Step 1. This book also has the sections for each individual specialty as well. COMBANK was helpful in that it helps me in changing my thinking from USMLE to COMLEX.
Again, I'm now hoping for the best and hope that the score is better than my Step 1.
The prep post to come after my trip to SF for a family weekend.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Step 2 CK
Just took CK ... boy was that draining. It was a long test and definitely test your stamina on top of medical knowledge. The questions were detailed and the format very similar to the USMLE World. I truly think that UW is golden. I felt that there were quite a few repeats but I really don't remember. I'm so tired that by the last 2 sections, I was so tempted to just go through it and just be done but I forced myself to checked all the flagged questions and keep my concentration.
I can't really say which area was more focused on, just that they are fairly well distributed. I can't say which was easier, UW or CK. I felt that on some section CK was super hard and others were much easier. There are definitely a few questions that tested like Step 1, asking the pharmacokinetics of drugs and microbiology. There might be others but I don't remember now. I truly think that the computer has an algorithm where depending on the percent correct on previous section, it will pull together a certain level of question for the next section. I could totally be paranoid but the dificulty really varied.
Now, I'll just have to wait for the score to come back. I'm really hoping for 220s but anything above my Step 1, I'll take. I totally panicked and stressed out about 3 days before the test, knowing that I really need to score well in order to compensate somewhat for Step 1 and to apply for anesthesiology. So I'm hoping for the best now.
I can't really say which area was more focused on, just that they are fairly well distributed. I can't say which was easier, UW or CK. I felt that on some section CK was super hard and others were much easier. There are definitely a few questions that tested like Step 1, asking the pharmacokinetics of drugs and microbiology. There might be others but I don't remember now. I truly think that the computer has an algorithm where depending on the percent correct on previous section, it will pull together a certain level of question for the next section. I could totally be paranoid but the dificulty really varied.
Now, I'll just have to wait for the score to come back. I'm really hoping for 220s but anything above my Step 1, I'll take. I totally panicked and stressed out about 3 days before the test, knowing that I really need to score well in order to compensate somewhat for Step 1 and to apply for anesthesiology. So I'm hoping for the best now.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
COMLEX PE
Just finished with PE, drove into Philly the day before and back right after the test. Day started early around 7:30am and ended around 3pm. Test really starts at 8am but they wanted us there 30min before just for paperwork, ID pic and orientation. The real test didn't start until 9am. All that waiting time. ::sigh:: it's NBOME. Definitely take the AM session if you are used to the EST but think about the PM session if from the PST. I have been in NJ for the past year so it was no big deal but another guy from my class has been in AZ for OMS III was complaining about being a bit jet lagged. Take your pick.
The whole day consist of seeing 12 patients and writing each of the SOAP notes. The schedule is break into groups of 4 and then lunch/break. They provide decent lunch and have vegetarian option as well. So I was surprised, totally did not expect that. I was good in the beginning in the sense that I was fairly thorough for every case. But about halfway through, I was starting to get tired so my time with the patient were shorter and shorter. I think by the end of the day, I was probably with the patient somewhere between 5-8mins, just enough to get the information to write the notes and diagnosis.
Each of the patient encounters includes history, physical, answering the patient questions and giving tentative diagnosis and what to expect. There are a couple that requires OMM. So it wasn't what I expected where I have to do OMM for every patient. The cases are very common and can be easily picked up.
The most ridiculously part of the day is that the whole day is run by a voice over the intercom. "Begin encounter ..." "You have 2 minutes remaining..." Also you can get up if you finished the notes early. I actually like the setup. You have 23 min for both the patient encounter and the notes but a max of 14 min with patient. Our school's standardized patients and OMS testing closely mock the test. So I felt fairly prepared. The only thing I can say is that it is long and definitely need stamina.
The whole day consist of seeing 12 patients and writing each of the SOAP notes. The schedule is break into groups of 4 and then lunch/break. They provide decent lunch and have vegetarian option as well. So I was surprised, totally did not expect that. I was good in the beginning in the sense that I was fairly thorough for every case. But about halfway through, I was starting to get tired so my time with the patient were shorter and shorter. I think by the end of the day, I was probably with the patient somewhere between 5-8mins, just enough to get the information to write the notes and diagnosis.
Each of the patient encounters includes history, physical, answering the patient questions and giving tentative diagnosis and what to expect. There are a couple that requires OMM. So it wasn't what I expected where I have to do OMM for every patient. The cases are very common and can be easily picked up.
The most ridiculously part of the day is that the whole day is run by a voice over the intercom. "Begin encounter ..." "You have 2 minutes remaining..." Also you can get up if you finished the notes early. I actually like the setup. You have 23 min for both the patient encounter and the notes but a max of 14 min with patient. Our school's standardized patients and OMS testing closely mock the test. So I felt fairly prepared. The only thing I can say is that it is long and definitely need stamina.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Medicine Floor
I started on my Medicine rotation. The residents and the interns are great. They are super smart and more than willing to teach. My first week was uneventful. Had a patient with angioedema from ACE Inhibitor and another patient with chest pains that wanted to be in the hospital for the holiday. Then I had the Thanksgiving and the Friday off. So really not much.
Just finished the second week and had a new team of the resident and intern because of the new month. They are chilled and fun to be around. I'm definitely enjoying my time on the floors with them. They are very efficient so a lot of the times we would all finish our rounding by 10am. They assign the students about 2-3 patients at a time. And a lot of the time, whenever there's a fairly simple procedures, they would let us do most of it. Pretty neat.
This week we've got a couple interesting ones. We had a Ludwig's angina, Steven Johnson Syndrome, Ascites due to Schistosomiasis and another due to alcohol. I was also able to observe a bone marrow biopsy. St Mikes definitely is not lacking in any interesting diagnosis.
The biopsy and aspiration has pretty much turn me off on Heme/Onc. The biopsy wasn't too bad but I don't think I can handle the painful melodramatic screaming. That's not the worst part for me. Just thinking about how the whole patient population is dying from cancer of some form and the point is to prolong their lives, even though we know it's hopeless. I know that the whole profession is like this but Heme/Onc was more obvious.
As more and more I think about my choice for the rest of my life, I working more and more to set myself up for anesthesiology. Hopefully that will pan out for 4th year rotations. It's still a little too early for it, but there's a lot of leg work since I'm going to go the allopathic route.
I finally settled on the COMLEX Step 2 dates.
July 7 - PE
July 16 - CE
USMLE Step 2 CK will depend on how the studying goes. If I do take it, it will be late July/early Aug.
Just finished the second week and had a new team of the resident and intern because of the new month. They are chilled and fun to be around. I'm definitely enjoying my time on the floors with them. They are very efficient so a lot of the times we would all finish our rounding by 10am. They assign the students about 2-3 patients at a time. And a lot of the time, whenever there's a fairly simple procedures, they would let us do most of it. Pretty neat.
This week we've got a couple interesting ones. We had a Ludwig's angina, Steven Johnson Syndrome, Ascites due to Schistosomiasis and another due to alcohol. I was also able to observe a bone marrow biopsy. St Mikes definitely is not lacking in any interesting diagnosis.
The biopsy and aspiration has pretty much turn me off on Heme/Onc. The biopsy wasn't too bad but I don't think I can handle the painful melodramatic screaming. That's not the worst part for me. Just thinking about how the whole patient population is dying from cancer of some form and the point is to prolong their lives, even though we know it's hopeless. I know that the whole profession is like this but Heme/Onc was more obvious.
As more and more I think about my choice for the rest of my life, I working more and more to set myself up for anesthesiology. Hopefully that will pan out for 4th year rotations. It's still a little too early for it, but there's a lot of leg work since I'm going to go the allopathic route.
I finally settled on the COMLEX Step 2 dates.
July 7 - PE
July 16 - CE
USMLE Step 2 CK will depend on how the studying goes. If I do take it, it will be late July/early Aug.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Boards are officially DONE!!!! (for now)
Scores are in ..... And I passed. YIPPEEEE!!!! Scores are not exactly what I was hoping for, but under the time constraints and the set of questions I got, I'm happy with the scores.
COMLEX 574/87
USMLE 205/84
Once rotations start, I'll start prepping for Step 2 for next summer. Ugh. More tests.
I'm officially a 3rd year.
I'm looking forward for my 2 weeks of traveling come August. 1 week with my parents traveling the East Coast and 1 week with friends in a Florida resort being a bum and enjoying the sun.
COMLEX 574/87
USMLE 205/84
Once rotations start, I'll start prepping for Step 2 for next summer. Ugh. More tests.
I'm officially a 3rd year.
I'm looking forward for my 2 weeks of traveling come August. 1 week with my parents traveling the East Coast and 1 week with friends in a Florida resort being a bum and enjoying the sun.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Updated Schedule for Boards
This is the updated version of my study plan for the 3.5 weeks. It was pure torture.The daily schedule starts at 8am before I went home and 7am after I flew home. Study until lunch around noonish then lunch break till 1pm ish. Then study again till 5-6 ish pm. Workout, shower and dinner until 8-8:30pm. Start the final round of studying till 11-11:30pm. Before I went home, Fri, Sat and Sun ended by 10pm. After I went home, Fri and Sat ended at 10pm and Sun took a break after 8pm spending with family. I definitely felt burned out by the test time and definitely did not want to look at any books or questions anymore.
The books and qBanks used:
First Aid
BRS Phys
HY Immuno, Neuroanatomy
Kaplan Pharm, Anatomy, Phys, Biochem
COMLEX Review (BRS) for clinical anatomy and OMT
Rapid Review Path (Goljan)
Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple
Goljan PDF Review files
Goljan Path Audio
Kaplan Audio
USMLE World and assessment
Kaplan COMLEX qBank
A couple of us went through the Kaplan audio lectures and books and listen to Goljan path starting from Feb to end of April. This was a pre review of the basic sciences from 1st year. We did this once a week on Sat for about 5-6hrs. But we also did other subjects on our own time over spring break and during the week. On average it was 2 hrs every spent on boards, other than Spring break. Our school provided all the Kaplan materials and had Dr. Raymon, who lecture the Pharm for Kaplan, for a weekend. That weekend was totally worth it.
Here's the practice scores over the 3.5 weeks:
Kaplan Pre-test 35%
CBSSA (March) 51 - correlate to 150
Kaplan Final (end of April) 53%
USMLE World assessment - 54%
CBT from NBME web - 69%
USMLE World - 55% completed, started with 35%, ended with 55-64%
Based on practices, I was scoring around 210-225 for USMLE. My goal is to get the national average of 220. But I'm glad for anything over 200. For COMLEX, my goal is the same, the national average of 500. Hopefully, I'll get it, but the test was bad enough that I'll take the passing score.
I'll update when I get the score report. Hopefully, it'll be good news.
USMLE World conversion - (UW x 2.4) + 84
COMLEX conversion - USMLE Score = 0.24 x COMLEX + 69
Monday, June 16, 2008
Boards are DONE!!!!
Boards are finally done. It was the longest 3 1/2 weeks worth of studying. I took the COMLEX on Tues then USMLE on Sat. Let me tell you, those are not fun and very scary.
First for COMLEX, I thought I was going to be fine going in to take the test. I got there early almost 1.5 hr early. But it was fine, I spent some quiet time going over the final cramming. Then I waited around the waiting room to go through the registration. I was schedule for 9am but I ended up starting at 8:30am. It was a fully 8hr exam with 45 min lunch. I didn't get out until 5:30pm with a fat headache. The test itself was interesting. Every year the test like to focus on one topic heavily while still covering everything else. This year was on Neuro. I got the version where it was at least 50% neuro related. The people who took it the day before and the days after mine weren't as heavy neuro related as mine was. What luck I got with the test. It got so bad that when I got out, I felt like crying because I don't think I have passed. I marked half of the questions and there were 2 blocks of question set where I ran out time going over the marked questions. I make it a point where I always put an answer to the question when I go through it the first time just so I won't run into the running out time problem. Now I'm justing praying to pass, I don't really care how high the score is, just need to 400/75 on m score sheet.
The questions themselves were interesting. There were ones where I literally had sit there and guess what they are trying to ask. I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out what the point was with those questions. There were other questions that are very straight forward. The OMM portion of the test was very much what we've had on tests for our OTM class. But there were a few where I'm sure the proctor had an amusingg time watching me trying to position myself as the question asked. There were Chapman's point, treatment/diagnosis positions, and tons of upper extremity. I only got one sacrum question. My neuro questions were pharm, anatomy, path and others where I couldn't quite place into categories. The questions were not topics that I've had in class or perhaps, the professors just completely turn me off on neuro and I'm just in the denial phase. Anywhoo, the questions were what I was expecting.
Then Sat, I took USMLE at the same center and I arrived at the same time. So I did the same thing in the morning as I did for COMLEX. I started the test at 8:30am and finished at 4:30ish pm. The test was what I expected since I have done 55% of USMLE World qbank. The test was easier than the qbank. I felt very comfortable with the test. But really nothing stands out, the topics the tested was very equally distributed. They didn't really favor one topic or the other. The questions were more staright forward unlike the qbank where it requires multiple steps to get to the answers. There are a few on the tests that are like the qbank. I can't really say much since I like to binge and purge after the test. All I can say is that I felt much better after USMLE than COMLEX. Hahahaha. I will be laughing and rolling around if my USMLE score is better that my COMLEX score especially since I'm a DO student at KCOM.
We shall see in about 6wks time, early August. Long wait. ::sigh::
I will post the schedule that I end up with.
First for COMLEX, I thought I was going to be fine going in to take the test. I got there early almost 1.5 hr early. But it was fine, I spent some quiet time going over the final cramming. Then I waited around the waiting room to go through the registration. I was schedule for 9am but I ended up starting at 8:30am. It was a fully 8hr exam with 45 min lunch. I didn't get out until 5:30pm with a fat headache. The test itself was interesting. Every year the test like to focus on one topic heavily while still covering everything else. This year was on Neuro. I got the version where it was at least 50% neuro related. The people who took it the day before and the days after mine weren't as heavy neuro related as mine was. What luck I got with the test. It got so bad that when I got out, I felt like crying because I don't think I have passed. I marked half of the questions and there were 2 blocks of question set where I ran out time going over the marked questions. I make it a point where I always put an answer to the question when I go through it the first time just so I won't run into the running out time problem. Now I'm justing praying to pass, I don't really care how high the score is, just need to 400/75 on m score sheet.
The questions themselves were interesting. There were ones where I literally had sit there and guess what they are trying to ask. I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out what the point was with those questions. There were other questions that are very straight forward. The OMM portion of the test was very much what we've had on tests for our OTM class. But there were a few where I'm sure the proctor had an amusingg time watching me trying to position myself as the question asked. There were Chapman's point, treatment/diagnosis positions, and tons of upper extremity. I only got one sacrum question. My neuro questions were pharm, anatomy, path and others where I couldn't quite place into categories. The questions were not topics that I've had in class or perhaps, the professors just completely turn me off on neuro and I'm just in the denial phase. Anywhoo, the questions were what I was expecting.
Then Sat, I took USMLE at the same center and I arrived at the same time. So I did the same thing in the morning as I did for COMLEX. I started the test at 8:30am and finished at 4:30ish pm. The test was what I expected since I have done 55% of USMLE World qbank. The test was easier than the qbank. I felt very comfortable with the test. But really nothing stands out, the topics the tested was very equally distributed. They didn't really favor one topic or the other. The questions were more staright forward unlike the qbank where it requires multiple steps to get to the answers. There are a few on the tests that are like the qbank. I can't really say much since I like to binge and purge after the test. All I can say is that I felt much better after USMLE than COMLEX. Hahahaha. I will be laughing and rolling around if my USMLE score is better that my COMLEX score especially since I'm a DO student at KCOM.
We shall see in about 6wks time, early August. Long wait. ::sigh::
I will post the schedule that I end up with.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Boards Schedule
These are the planned schedules by the month and the 4 weeks that I've got left. I'll post the updated one when I've taken the test. I have already went through the basic science materials once starting in February. Here goes the crunch time!! Wish me luck!
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