DO Students: Know Anything about COMSAE?

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While randomly checking out the NBOME page, I came across some info about "COMSAE (Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Self-Assessment Examination)".

This appears to be the osteopathic equivalent of the NBME practice exams. This is the first of I have heard of this; I was curious if anyone knew anything else about it. According to the website, the Level I practice exam will be available starting this Monday. I don't see any cost listed. This might turn out to be a useful way to gauge preparedness specifically for COMLEX.

The announcement is here: http://www.nbome.org/comsae/index.html
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megswinter82 said:
Hey guys,

So I just took the COMSAE and have to say I was a bit dissapointed and a little more freaked out about the upcoming COMLEX. But that is what cramming is for, right? Definitely glad I took it and would recommend it to others. Of course, I haven't taken the real thing yet, so take my opinion for what its worth.

I've been hearing rumors that if you have around a 60-65% on the Kaplan Qbank you will be good for the exams. Has anyone else heard this?
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Most people I've talked to have had that reaction, but most felt the real deal was at least somewhat easier. In any case, it's definitely better to freak out before the test rather than during the test.
 
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I just took the comsae and got a 500 on it. The only section that was poor performance was BM, go figure. Does anyone know what to think of a 500. think that correlates to passing on the real deal. thanks for any remarks, and if other people have taken the COMSAE you should post your scores as well. thanks.
 
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hopefulfuturedo said:
I just took the comsae and got a 500 on it. The only section that was poor performance was BM, go figure. Does anyone know what to think of a 500. think that correlates to passing on the real deal. thanks for any remarks, and if other people have taken the COMSAE you should post your scores as well. thanks.
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I thought passing the COMLEX was a 400 out of possible 800, approximately 500 or so is average from what I've heard from people at our school.
 
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The learning specialist at our school broke the scoring of the COMLEX down like this:

400: Passing
500: Avg
Upper 500's: "what most people get" (not sure if she meant everywhere or just at our school)
600's: You can do whatever you want (residency-wise)
700's: You're a super genius

Again, this is from our learning specialist at school. Not sure what others have heard, but this is what I've been basing my "goal score" on.
 
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megswinter82 said:
The learning specialist at our school broke the scoring of the COMLEX down like this:

400: Passing
500: Avg
Upper 500's: "what most people get" (not sure if she meant everywhere or just at our school)
600's: You can do whatever you want (residency-wise)
700's: You're a super genius

Again, this is from our learning specialist at school. Not sure what others have heard, but this is what I've been basing my "goal score" on.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I've been hearing as well.
 
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megswinter82 said:
The learning specialist at our school broke the scoring of the COMLEX down like this:

400: Passing
500: Avg
Upper 500's: "what most people get" (not sure if she meant everywhere or just at our school)
600's: You can do whatever you want (residency-wise)
700's: You're a super genius

Again, this is from our learning specialist at school. Not sure what others have heard, but this is what I've been basing my "goal score" on.
Click to expand...

Aren't these two statements kind of contradictory :D?

According to the NBOME, "The standard scores for all three Part examinations are reported on a scale with a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100. The minimal passing score for Part I and Part II is 400."

Kind of hard to believe that all students below 1 SD fail, though...this would mean that 15% of all DO students fail COMLEX...?
 
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hey i just finished it, got 515. Did poor in "diagnostic technologies" and behavioral sciences ouch! (those behavioral science questions can seem so tricky) I was having trouble with the anatomy questions too, found them so detailed. Some of this stuff is not even in first aid. There was a lot of detailed pathology too.
I'm going to have to read an anatomy text or something i don't know...

it sucks that they don't give you the answers to the questions. How are you supposed to know what you answered wrong!
 
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megswinter82 said:
Hey guys,

So I just took the COMSAE and have to say I was a bit dissapointed and a little more freaked out about the upcoming COMLEX. But that is what cramming is for, right? Definitely glad I took it and would recommend it to others. Of course, I haven't taken the real thing yet, so take my opinion for what its worth.

I've been hearing rumors that if you have around a 60-65% on the Kaplan Qbank you will be good for the exams. Has anyone else heard this?
Click to expand...

is this the comlex qbank or USMLE. I have been getting 63-64% on comlex qbank and that kinda has me worried.
 
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ComicBookHero20 said:
i too am in the same boat, anyone have an answer??
Click to expand...

Sorry for the confusion. I believe the consensus based on friends I've talked to at school was somewhere in the 50-60s on USMLE qbank and 60-70s on COMLEX qbank means that you should be ok for the COMLEX. I'm not sure what "OK" means.

For what its worth, based on what I've been reading about on this forum, I wouldn't worry too much about your % on the Kaplan qbanks. It does't necessarily seem to have a strong predictive value with the actual score. In addition, the COMLEX questions are easier then what you will see on the actual exam and the USMLE questions are much harder.
 
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Exit Strategy said:
I just got done taking the COMSAE and if I had to pick one word to describe it, it would be, well, weird. I scored a 589 on the exam which renders a "good performance/good understanding" as the site quotes (or whatever that means). However, I honestly feel that I could have taken the exam 2 weeks ago and scored the same. I feel like the questions I got wrong I wouldn't have known in a million years, or unless I was a practicing obstetrictian. The test was heavy on drug treatment indications rather than side effects. Also, I felt the OM questions were fairly straightforward. Basically, much of this test was of the "either you know it or you don't" variety. Unfortunately, I've heard the COMLEX is not too far removed.
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Spot on commentary regarding the COMSAE. :thumbup:

interestingly, I scored the exact same number. maybe they're not even grading them. lol :(


The questions could easily be categorized into two big bins.

1) 1st order "easy cheesy"
2) What the #$%#?

I think i could have taken that test at the start of my board study and done the same. there were Q that had me pulling out my hair saying "huh? i want to kick the person who wrote this q in the shin"

a few questions i had to read, and re-read, and re-read to figure out exactly what they wanted to ask me. (maybe i'm just slow...)


Funny how on this test I failed the behavior portion, but have scored a * on all the nbme that i've taken.

the worst thing is is that I don't even know where I could go and find the information for these questions since they were so obtuse.
 
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oreosandsake said:
I think i could have taken that test at the start of my board study and done the same. there were Q that had me pulling out my hair saying "huh? i want to kick the person who wrote this q in the shin"
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haha....well something to look forward to then. I didn't even know about this thing until this thread, so... I'm going to take the COMSAE tomorrow. My real COMLEX is on Tuesday 6/10, hopefully there won't be TOO many surprises on the COMSAE, cuz I'm pretty much outta time for making any study adjustments :rolleyes::eek:
 
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megswinter82 said:
Sorry for the confusion. I believe the consensus based on friends I've talked to at school was somewhere in the 50-60s on USMLE qbank and 60-70s on COMLEX qbank means that you should be ok for the COMLEX. I'm not sure what "OK" means.

For what its worth, based on what I've been reading about on this forum, I wouldn't worry too much about your % on the Kaplan qbanks. It does't necessarily seem to have a strong predictive value with the actual score. In addition, the COMLEX questions are easier then what you will see on the actual exam and the USMLE questions are much harder.
Click to expand...

so what does 50-60s on kaplan comlex qbank mean for how well you are going to do on the real thing?
 
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megswinter82 said:
For those of you who took the COMSAE, how long did it take you?
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just took it, took me about 3 hrs, but I also had some internet connection problems :rolleyes:

I don't really get the way this thing is scored. does it go all the way up to 800 like the real COMLEX? I was hoping to do better than I did (554), shooting for a 600+ on the real deal. My only poor performance was in behavioral science. wtf? I wish we could see the answers. They didn't seem too hard as I was answering them, guess I missed something, and will have to review behav sci tonight.

I'll post here after my COMLEX on tues and let y'all know how similar the real thing was to the COMSAE. :luck:

btw, also just finished kaplan comlex qbank at 75%, whatever that means, no one seems to have any correlations with that one. 63% on kaplan usmle qbank (only ~35% completed, cuz my USMLE test date isn't until August)

I agree with others who have said that the answers to the ones I wasn't sure about...I don't think I ever learned...guess that's what's considered the "what the f*ck?" factor for the COMLEX...
 
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strawberryfield said:
just took it, took me about 3 hrs, but I also had some internet connection problems :rolleyes:

I don't really get the way this thing is scored. does it go all the way up to 800 like the real COMLEX? I was hoping to do better than I did (554), shooting for a 600+ on the real deal. My only poor performance was in behavioral science. wtf? I wish we could see the answers. They didn't seem too hard as I was answering them, guess I missed something, and will have to review behav sci tonight.

I'll post here after my COMLEX on tues and let y'all know how similar the real thing was to the COMSAE. :luck:

btw, also just finished kaplan comlex qbank at 75%, whatever that means, no one seems to have any correlations with that one. 63% on kaplan usmle qbank (only ~35% completed, cuz my USMLE test date isn't until August)

I agree with others who have said that the answers to the ones I wasn't sure about...I don't think I ever learned...guess that's what's considered the "what the f*ck?" factor for the COMLEX...
Click to expand...


my friend took the comsae twice. the second time open book to see if she could figure out the answers.

both times, she failed the behavioral part and the second time she got a score of around 680.

she says she had the correct answers for the behavioral section.

additional tidbit to chew on... everyone i've heard about that has taken the comsae has failed that section.
 
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oreosandsake said:
my friend took the comsae twice. the second time open book to see if she could figure out the answers.

both times, she failed the behavioral part and the second time she got a score of around 680.

she says she had the correct answers for the behavioral section.

additional tidbit to chew on... everyone i've heard about that has taken the comsae has failed that section.
Click to expand...

failed behav science with open book?? seriously that test is effed up...:rolleyes: there must be something wrong with the scoring on that. there is no way that everyone from all these different schools and levels of studying should be failing.:confused:
 
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oh another question for those who have taken the comsae, spoiler alert for those who have not....:eek:

the question about the diabetic on a beta blocker, and how he would tell if were getting hypoglycemia...was the answer sweating? since that is mediated by cholinergic receptors? the only other option it was between was tremors (since it obviously wasn't palps/tachycardia) and I wasn't sure about that one.
 
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strawberryfield said:
oh another question for those who have taken the comsae, spoiler alert for those who have not....:eek:

the question about the diabetic on a beta blocker, and how he would tell if were getting hypoglycemia...was the answer sweating? since that is mediated by cholinergic receptors? the only other option it was between was tremors (since it obviously wasn't palps/tachycardia) and I wasn't sure about that one.
Click to expand...

Can't remember where I read it, but, yeah, I'm pretty sure that's right. Def not tremor, since the tx for tremor is often a beta-blocker.
 
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strawberryfield said:
oh another question for those who have taken the comsae, spoiler alert for those who have not....:eek:

the question about the diabetic on a beta blocker, and how he would tell if were getting hypoglycemia...was the answer sweating? since that is mediated by cholinergic receptors? the only other option it was between was tremors (since it obviously wasn't palps/tachycardia) and I wasn't sure about that one.
Click to expand...

Ya - the only response they will have to hypoglycemia is sweating - for the exact reason that you stated.

Also - in my opinion: the COMSAE test was a poor exam. I have been doing practice tests (multiple of the NBME exams, the free test, and the UW practice test) for the USMLE and have been averaging in the high 250-260ish range on those exams (I was shocked by that too :) - and happy about it) , but scored a 615 on the COMSAE. The 615 is no where close to a 250 on the USMLE - so I'm just telling myself that the COMSAE is bad (and clearly it's not me - hahaha).
 
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medtj2010 said:
Ya - the only response they will have to hypoglycemia is sweating - for the exact reason that you stated.

Also - in my opinion: the COMSAE test was a poor exam. I have been doing practice tests (multiple of the NBME exams, the free test, and the UW practice test) for the USMLE and have been averaging in the high 250-260ish range on those exams (I was shocked by that too :) - and happy about it) , but scored a 615 on the COMSAE. The 615 is no where close to a 250 on the USMLE - so I'm just telling myself that the COMSAE is bad (and clearly it's not me - hahaha).
Click to expand...

you know you'll dominate, and dominating the USMLE means a lot more to me then dominating that terrible CRAPLEX exam. Everyone failing Behavioral is funny.
 
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medtj2010 said:
Also - in my opinion: the COMSAE test was a poor exam. I have been doing practice tests (multiple of the NBME exams, the free test, and the UW practice test) for the USMLE and have been averaging in the high 250-260ish range on those exams (I was shocked by that too :) - and happy about it) , but scored a 615 on the COMSAE. The 615 is no where close to a 250 on the USMLE - so I'm just telling myself that the COMSAE is bad (and clearly it's not me - hahaha).
Click to expand...

wow. those are awesome usmle scores :thumbup:...I am gunna be ecstatic if I can get a 230 :oops: I'm planning to start UW about a month before my USMLE, Kaplan Qbank is kinda convoluted and crappy...and seriously, COMSAE must be a bad test cuz a 250-260 on USMLE should EASILY be 700+ on COMLEX....:eek:
 
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Alright I took the USMLE over 1.5 months ago and reported about it in the Results thread. Scored 245/99. A happy score, a peaceful score, a score that I liked. So then I come to the COMSAE and do this forsaken thing that is suppose to be an indicator of our licensing exam. Just disheartening.

My score was a 597 on this, and I felt that I scored better than that honestly. Oh and how do I score excellent in behavioral sciences on the USMLE and FAIL the freaking COMSAE version, something just doesn't jive, and it just perturbs me all the more.

The questions many of them were poorly written, and just trying to figure stuff out, was frustrating. The OMM was easy, and there were a couple of bugs I had never even heard of in all of my micro review which has been fairly thorough. I thought the pharm was pretty easy, but I have no clue really how i did regarding that since the score report doesn't even tell you that...

:thumbdown:thumbdown
 
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SOUNDMAN said:
Alright I took the USMLE over 1.5 months ago and reported about it in the Results thread. Scored 245/99. A happy score, a peaceful score, a score that I liked. So then I come to the COMSAE and do this forsaken thing that is suppose to be an indicator of our licensing exam. Just disheartening.

My score was a 597 on this, and I felt that I scored better than that honestly. Oh and how do I score excellent in behavioral sciences on the USMLE and FAIL the freaking COMSAE version, something just doesn't jive, and it just perturbs me all the more.

The questions many of them were poorly written, and just trying to figure stuff out, was frustrating. The OMM was easy, and there were a couple of bugs I had never even heard of in all of my micro review which has been fairly thorough. I thought the pharm was pretty easy, but I have no clue really how i did regarding that since the score report doesn't even tell you that...

:thumbdown:thumbdown
Click to expand...

well I'm sure your awesome usmle score will get you where you want to go, and you'll probably do much better on the real comlex than the comsae...or at least that's what I'm telling myself... :laugh: if you read above, someone did it open book, still failed behavioral and only got 680....shouldn't all the right answers get you like...I dunno...800 or close to it??:confused:

I agree about the bugs on the comsae, some I had to really reach back to the depths of my brain for, and some I literally had never heard of. hopefully the real COMLEX will have more high yield bugs than that...:rolleyes: I'm still not sure of the one w/ the micro picture for the diarrhea question, but I don't even remember the choices anymore.
 
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At least for my test, they seem'd to really like the weird bugs. The questions on them were easy - ID only, no pathogenicity, but there were bugs on my test that weren't in FA, or were only one line in a busy table. The good thing is if you know the common bugs in FA, you could usually narrow it down to one or two answers pretty easy.
 
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Had a 554 on the Comsae. I'd be very happy if I hit this on the real exam. I have an interest in psych and minored in it in college. As everyone has said there must be a mistake that we all got poor in the behavioral science section. Now my question is did they have incorrect answers, which lowered our score (I hope so because this means I should do better on the real thing) or is it just some weird glitch in displaying how we did in a certain section. Heck if it marked all my psych questions wrong my grades going to up like 20 points, which i need to counterbalance the fact that i did look up a couple of questions for clarification during the test :)
 
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i feel so cheated by the COMSAE. they don't even give you the correct answers w/ explanations. i also did poor on behavioral science too
 
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yeah the behavior thing happened to everyone luna, which makes me hope ill do better on the real thing, which will actually be worse because i probably looked up 10-15 questions while stressed. I was hoping for the answers too and it is expenssive, but it's a pretty good simulation of what it will feel like to actualy take the exam. I would have freaked out to go into my comlex tomorrow and see some of these questions without experiencing them like this first.
 
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i'm glad i took it , it made me realize i had to read up a lot more on brainstem lesions and other neuro/mskeletal topics.
 
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577 on the COMSAE... takin' the exam on wednesday... shooting for 600+

possible?
 
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puraj83 said:
577 on the COMSAE... takin' the exam on wednesday... shooting for 600+

possible?
Click to expand...


highly likely.

btw, expect questions on ur comlex that you have no idea how to answer. make educated guesses on them, and move on. you can score well on this test w/o knowing how to answer the strange q's.
 
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Hey so I just took the comsae, 382:scared: I'm scheduled to take in on Oct 27. I know I haven't covered behavior and OMT or anatomy that well. I'm not sure if I should push the my date back. I've covered goljan, FA and physio pretty well...arghh stress.
 
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