Official 2014 COMLEX 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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YANKEES88

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Haven't seen one posted yet so I figured I'd get one started.
Feel free to share your experiences, study plans, thoughts, etc.
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Other than Micro and OMM, what subject specific areas were higher yield for you? It sounds like most people get hit hard with 2 of 4 organ systems: neuro, cardio, repro, GI. It also sounds like Renal and Hem/Onc are practically not tested. Can anyone confirm these thoughts?
 
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Curious, what were behavioral sciences/psych like on your exams? There seems to be a few wtf question on the COMSAE exams in this area not covered in first aid. Was this section straight forward on your exam or also a few oddball ones?
 
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Jonny252 said:
Other than Micro and OMM, what subject specific areas were higher yield for you? It sounds like most people get hit hard with 2 of 4 organ systems: neuro, cardio, repro, GI. It also sounds like Renal and Hem/Onc are practically not tested. Can anyone confirm these thoughts?
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I had a very heavy form for blood disorders. So mine, you could say, had a bit too much heme.
 
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Jonny252 said:
Other than Micro and OMM, what subject specific areas were higher yield for you? It sounds like most people get hit hard with 2 of 4 organ systems: neuro, cardio, repro, GI. It also sounds like Renal and Hem/Onc are practically not tested. Can anyone confirm these thoughts?
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I took it today and the moneymakers, as always, were: micro, neuro, and omm. If you don't know those three well you're doing yourself a disservice. I think MSK/MSK Anatomy follows close behind on that and is under-recommended by a lot of people on here. I don't know many people this year or in years past that haven't had a large number of dermatome, innervation, function, lesion questions related to upper and lower extremity. I think it shows up often enough that it's worth your time to review it - even if it's just in those two chapters of Savarese.

Micro/Neuro/OMM constituted at least 160 questions on my exam today if not more. That may be a bit inflated because sometimes they'd give a background of one of those systems and then ask a separate question. I, like the poster above, also had a form that was pretty heavy on heme today. I probably had a dozen clotting/bleeding disorder questions, another half dozen anemia questions, and then spattering here and there of sickle cell, blood groups, so on. More than I anticipated - that's for sure.

25-30 of my OMM questions were straight forward, no tricks, what are the sympathetic levels for these organs? I used this video to memorize them and drew this out today. It was better than keeping them in my mind - whenever I got a levels question I just looked down and answered it. Less mentally taxing.

Happy to answer any specific questions but I think most everything has already been said here that I could possibly say.
 
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CopToEM said:
I took it today and the moneymakers, as always, were: micro, neuro, and omm. If you don't know those three well you're doing yourself a disservice. I think MSK/MSK Anatomy follows close behind on that and is under-recommended by a lot of people on here. I don't know many people this year or in years past that haven't had a large number of dermatome, innervation, function, lesion questions related to upper and lower extremity. I think it shows up often enough that it's worth your time to review it - even if it's just in those two chapters of Savarese.

Micro/Neuro/OMM constituted at least 160 questions on my exam today if not more. That may be a bit inflated because sometimes they'd give a background of one of those systems and then ask a separate question. I, like the poster above, also had a form that was pretty heavy on heme today. I probably had a dozen clotting/bleeding disorder questions, another half dozen anemia questions, and then spattering here and there of sickle cell, blood groups, so on. More than I anticipated - that's for sure.

25-30 of my OMM questions were straight forward, no tricks, what are the sympathetic levels for these organs? I used this video to memorize them and drew this out today. It was better than keeping them in my mind - whenever I got a levels question I just looked down and answered it. Less mentally taxing.

Happy to answer any specific questions but I think most everything has already been said here that I could possibly say.
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Did you feel the viscerosomatic level questions were easily answered after memorizing that video? It looks like it's money.
 
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I haven't looked at OMM stuff at all. COMLEX is next week, three days after USMLE.

High yield me bros. Tell me about this COMLEX business. What do I need to know besides eight blocks of 50 questions, 10 minutes of break time after blocks 2 and 6, and a 40-min block in the middle?
 
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I dont have a copy of clinical micro made ridiculously simple but really want to review the bioterrorism stuff. Do any of you know a way i could get this info? Test is in 2 weeks.
 
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NeuroLAX said:
Did you feel the viscerosomatic level questions were easily answered after memorizing that video? It looks like it's money.
Click to expand...

Yes, all of them. And I didn't even have to think about it. Like I said, "yada yada yada... okay, cva tenderness... look down, find kidney, pick answer. next." Straight forward.
 
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cwaranch said:
I dont have a copy of clinical micro made ridiculously simple but really want to review the bioterrorism stuff. Do any of you know a way i could get this info? Test is in 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

Honestly, it's probably nothing you can't just brush up on using the web. I'd study anthrax, very basics of LD50, and a handful of other bugs that are warfare agents and you'll be solid.
 
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Fox800 said:
I haven't looked at OMM stuff at all. COMLEX is next week, three days after USMLE.

High yield me bros. Tell me about this COMLEX business. What do I need to know besides eight blocks of 50 questions, 10 minutes of break time after blocks 2 and 6, and a 40-min block in the middle?
Click to expand...

There's 4 blocks in the morning and 4 blocks in the afternoon. The bottom line is you have a 4-hour timer for morning and a 4-hour timer for the afternoon. They'll allow you to leave your seat for 10 minutes morning and afternoon but the clock keeps rolling. 40 minute lunch obviously.

OPP: Special tests in Savarese, Levels levels levels, basic chapman's points, sacral diagnosis, ankle sprains, and piriformis review. Every form is different but in my opinion that's probably gonna land you pretty well on any test.
 
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CopToEM said:
Yes, all of them. And I didn't even have to think about it. Like I said, "yada yada yada... okay, cva tenderness... look down, find kidney, pick answer. next." Straight forward.
Click to expand...

Thank God. I love easy points. They weren't always so easy during M1 and M2 because I always put it off until the morning of the exam. I could always count on an appendicitis at the tip of the 12th rib question, though!
 
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Our school makes us pass a practice exam before we can take the real exam. For others who had this, how far along in your prep were you when you took it? Any specific things that should be done prior to this exam to guarantee a pass?
 
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Can anyone comment on the amount of Biostats that was present or what it focused on? I swear those formulas just disappear from my head right after I study them haha
 
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DOinIt said:
What was so bonkers about it?
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Ugh. Lots of micro I had never seen, some hospital administration-type ethics questions, plus the standard COMSAE-style poorly written questions. Like "you have a patient with (insert single symptom with a wide differential) what are you going to do about it?" and the choices aren't to figure out a diagnosis, just how to treat them.
It's all doable(ish), just a pain. Maybe I just have a bad attitude :)
 
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Take this for what it's worth, but I've come to understand that COMQUEST does a pretty good job at teaching you how to think in order to take accurate guesses on the "vague" questions. For instance, an elderly man presents with abdominal pain and bleeding, and only clue they tell you is he's got a fistula, what's the diagnosis? Well... it could be several things, but what they want you to pick is the most likely, aka most common. Therefore, in this case the answer would be diverticulitis. Why? Because diverticulosis is estimated to be in more than 50% of pts older than 60, and diverticulitis is a complication of that. Another example would be the following: young pt with otitis media, what is the bug? If they give you several that can all cause it, pick the most common, strep pneumo. For the questions that ask next step in management, check off your ABC's first just in case, then unless the question asks you for the "best or most diagnostic or specific test", go with the most conservative approach that is least harmful and least expensive. Not sure if this will help but it's the strategy I will use when coming across these sorts of questions on game day.
 
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I think COMLEX does this because they know this is how it is in real life. Although it's frustrating when taking a test and most things we've learned in medicine up to this point has been black and white kind of stuff; the real world is more vague than the text books
 
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Dr Dazzle said:
Our school makes us pass a practice exam before we can take the real exam. For others who had this, how far along in your prep were you when you took it? Any specific things that should be done prior to this exam to guarantee a pass?
Click to expand...

I have to do this too... What form are they making you take? Mine's Mon. and I'm taking C so I'll let you know how that goes! :p
 
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Jonny252 said:
Take this for what it's worth, but I've come to understand that COMQUEST does a pretty good job at teaching you how to think in order to take accurate guesses on the "vague" questions. For instance, an elderly man presents with abdominal pain and bleeding, and only clue they tell you is he's got a fistula, what's the diagnosis? Well... it could be several things, but what they want you to pick is the most likely, aka most common. Therefore, in this case the answer would be diverticulitis. Why? Because diverticulosis is estimated to be in more than 50% of pts older than 60, and diverticulitis is a complication of that. Another example would be the following: young pt with otitis media, what is the bug? If they give you several that can all cause it, pick the most common, strep pneumo. For the questions that ask next step in management, check off your ABC's first just in case, then unless the question asks you for the "best or most diagnostic or specific test", go with the most conservative approach that is least harmful and least expensive. Not sure if this will help but it's the strategy I will use when coming across these sorts of questions on game day.
Click to expand...


I definitely agree Comquest prepares you for those types of questions. I had combank and although I find Comquest more straight forward, it makes you think like the way COMLEX wants you to think!
 
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Jonny252 said:
I think COMLEX does this because they know this is how it is in real life. Although it's frustrating when taking a test and most things we've learned in medicine up to this point has been black and white kind of stuff; the real world is more vague than the text books
Click to expand...
LOL. I sincerely hope this was sarcasm.
 
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Jonny252 said:
Take this for what it's worth, but I've come to understand that COMQUEST does a pretty good job at teaching you how to think in order to take accurate guesses on the "vague" questions. For instance, an elderly man presents with abdominal pain and bleeding, and only clue they tell you is he's got a fistula, what's the diagnosis? Well... it could be several things, but what they want you to pick is the most likely, aka most common. Therefore, in this case the answer would be diverticulitis. Why? Because diverticulosis is estimated to be in more than 50% of pts older than 60, and diverticulitis is a complication of that. Another example would be the following: young pt with otitis media, what is the bug? If they give you several that can all cause it, pick the most common, strep pneumo. For the questions that ask next step in management, check off your ABC's first just in case, then unless the question asks you for the "best or most diagnostic or specific test", go with the most conservative approach that is least harmful and least expensive. Not sure if this will help but it's the strategy I will use when coming across these sorts of questions on game day.
Click to expand...

diverticulosis won't have an abdominal pain as well.. :)

Can you guys PLEASE recommend on what to cram for Pharm in the last few days? Problem is that I don't know if I know the drugs!!! I can recognize the names (sort of) but nothing I can spell them out! lol
 
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acciddropping said:
diverticulosis won't have an abdominal pain as well.. :)

Can you guys PLEASE recommend on what to cram for Pharm in the last few days? Problem is that I don't know if I know the drugs!!! I can recognize the names (sort of) but nothing I can spell them out! lol
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Med essentials has 5 or 6 pages of HY drug, drug names, and common SE.
 
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Rhinobarnacle said:
It's so awesome how us, future physicians, know how to show respect for others opinions, even when it conflicts with our own.
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Good job riding that high horse right on in here.

Now, could I have worded my reply better? Certainly, and I apologize for any offense. It was not my intent to attack his opinion.

His comment struck me as funny and sarcastic because I couldn't imagine it possibly being true, thus why I said I hoped it was sarcastic. Not because of it being his opinion, but because of the implications of his statement if he were right. The writers of the COMLEX can make it as difficult as they want, but on a test where an individual's thought processes cannot be known and evaluated (i.e. on a multiple choice test), vague is entirely unacceptable. If what he says is true, then it only makes the COMLEX even more of a joke compared to the USMLE.
 
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NeuroSpeed said:
Good job riding that high horse right on in here.

Now, could I have worded my reply better? Certainly, and I apologize for any offense. It was not my intent to attack his opinion.

His comment struck me as funny and sarcastic because I couldn't imagine it possibly being true, thus why I said I hoped it was sarcastic. Not because of it being his opinion, but because of the implications of his statement if he were right. The writers of the COMLEX can make it as difficult as they want, but on a test where an individual's thought processes cannot be known and evaluated (i.e. on a multiple choice test), vague is entirely unacceptable. If what he says is true, then it only makes the COMLEX even more of a joke compared to the USMLE.
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I didn't "ride a high horse" in here. I'v been posting for a few weeks now. I just had to call you on that. Sorry. I know, we're all on the same team here. It's just that, I appreciate everyone's opinion on here and how it may help me, or us, get through this.

On that note, I take it on Tuesday. I'm hearing the consensus is the test is most like COMQUEST, right? So i'll study that. Plus, for all that random stuff everyone says is not in First Aid, I went over all my notes and TQ's from second year and looked at my Micro binder from first year. I found a lot of extra stuff in there. Hopefully that pockets extra points I wouldn't have gotten had I stuck strictly to First Aid.
 
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soccerbabe7582 said:
Can anyone comment on the amount of Biostats that was present or what it focused on? I swear those formulas just disappear from my head right after I study them haha
Click to expand...

I wish I hadn't even studied it honestly. I had three questions max. No questions on sens, spec, etc. Kind of annoyed me at the end because I was really strong in biostats. All three questions I had were on study types (cohort, etc.)
 
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acciddropping said:
diverticulosis won't have an abdominal pain as well.. :)

Can you guys PLEASE recommend on what to cram for Pharm in the last few days? Problem is that I don't know if I know the drugs!!! I can recognize the names (sort of) but nothing I can spell them out! lol
Click to expand...

If you're gonna cram anything for pharm in the last few days I'd cram the hell out of antibiotics. Micro is so HY it's ridiculous and pharm questions about antibiotics lend themselves nicely into that situation.
 
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CopToEM said:
If you're gonna cram anything for pharm in the last few days I'd cram the hell out of antibiotics. Micro is so HY it's ridiculous and pharm questions about antibiotics lend themselves nicely into that situation.
Click to expand...
I would second this, when I took COMLEX there were more antibiotics compared to other pharm, on both USMLE and COMLEX there wasn't much psych drugs (which I had thought there would be more because of Q Banks)
 
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So I'm writing my test tomorrow and was reading the test day tip on nbome.
Is it true there's no food or drink allowed in the exam room? Not even friggin water? This test will feel like a boot camp where I am only allowed to pee after finishing 2 blocks and I can't even drink water even if I get very thirsty from all the anxiety.
So I can't even munch on a snack till lunch even if I get hypoglycemic. I should pretend to have diabetes so I can have my mid test sugar fix and be able to go pee if my morning caffeine kicks in a bit late.
Usmle format seems much more reasonable
 
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Kliffmeister said:
So I'm writing my test tomorrow and was reading the test day tip on nbome.
Is it true there's no food or drink allowed in the exam room? Not even friggin water? This test will feel like a boot camp where I am only allowed to pee after finishing 2 blocks and I can't even drink water even if I get very thirsty from all the anxiety.
So I can't even munch on a snack till lunch even if I get hypoglycemic. I should pretend to have diabetes so I can have my mid test sugar fix and be able to go pee if my morning caffeine kicks in a bit late.
Usmle format seems much more reasonable
Click to expand...
Agreed, but unless you have filled out the paper work for test accommodations the little old ladies at prometric won't care. Heard from my classmates that time isn't an issue, like it potentially was for students taking usmle, and in some cases students finished the whole exam in 5 hours.
 
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Kliffmeister said:
So I'm writing my test tomorrow and was reading the test day tip on nbome.
Is it true there's no food or drink allowed in the exam room? Not even friggin water? This test will feel like a boot camp where I am only allowed to pee after finishing 2 blocks and I can't even drink water even if I get very thirsty from all the anxiety.
So I can't even munch on a snack till lunch even if I get hypoglycemic. I should pretend to have diabetes so I can have my mid test sugar fix and be able to go pee if my morning caffeine kicks in a bit late.
Usmle format seems much more reasonable
Click to expand...

You should be able to keep water/snacks in your locker and get a little during the 10 minute breaks between sets 2-3 and 6-7.
I haven't heard of time being an issue for anyone, the majority of the test was first order thinking and didn't have many long question stems.
 
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hey guys, so I'm taking my exam on the 25th and I haven't taken any comsae exams yet. Which forms are the most predictive of the real thing? I've heard it's between B and C, but I'm not sure. Also, is it true that they reuse some of the questions from the COMSAEs? and do you guys have any last minute advice/tips? I'm super nervous about this thing :/
 
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I took the exam today. It was definitely more difficult than I had anticipated.

Lots of OMM. Surprisingly, lots of Repro. Micro was there but not as much as what other people have been saying. Fair amount of Neuro and Heme. Not much of GI, Resp, or Cardio.

I thought the questions were way more convoluted than the Comsae exams (If that's even possible to fathom). I was able to narrow down some questions to 2 answers but from there it was very difficult to choose an answer with certainty. In my opinion, the questions weren't anything like Comquest/Combank. Those should be used to learn the material.

Now for the 5+ weeks wait for the scores :/

On to the USMLE next week.

If anybody has any questions feel free to reply/send a message.
 
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How do most people use Savarese? Just read through it and do the practice exams? What are high yield things to memorize?
 
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cramming for omm i need advice guys. those comsae omm q's were hard even though i was always above avg in comquest. is this enough to get around 90% of the omm q?
my gameplan using savarese:
autonomics innervations symp/para
chapmans points
sacrum/inominate stuff
dermatomes
special tests
...the rest will just be flipping thru key tables/trigger points. am i missing anything?
 
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