Passing COMLEX Level 1

There are so many different sources out there for studying for boards.  It gets overwhelming and trying to use too many can end up being a negative.  The one thing I learned the most from this whole COMLEX fiasco is be honest with yourself and your learning preferences.  Your school may recommend one program or one way of studying, but that may not be the best for your individual needs.
List of Sources I used (In my personal preference order):
  Programs:   
     Med School Tutors
     Rizk MedReview
     Doctors in Training 

  Books:
     BRS Pathology
     BRS Physiology
     First Aid for USMLE Step 1
     Savarese OMT Review
     Pathoma
     First Aid for COMLEX
     
  Question Banks:
     ComBank
     UWorld
     ComQuest
     

These weren't all at once, but the different ones I tried throughout my 9-month cumulative study period.  I thought I'd give a brief review of positives and negatives of each program keeping in mind everyone is different and learns differently.

Programs:
 Med School Tutors As this is what I used my last and final time, I obviously think it was the best of the programs I tried.  After doing a one size fits all program like DIT, I realized I needed one-on-one help to figure out why I couldn't take the information from books that I knew and translate into answering these questions correctly. Meeting with a tutor one-on-one I got to go through practice questions and discuss my thought process with him.  There were quite a few things I was doing wrong and I had some really weird and unfounded anxiety over certain question types.  I would read BRS and first aid and then my tutor would go over any specific topics that I had issues with in that section.  It was a much more personal experience and I didn't feel like I was wasting time with the topics with which I already had a strong knowledge base.  Within the first 3-4 meeting with my tutor my scores went up 20% on my question banks and my actual COMLEX, which is the only thing that really matters, went up 135 points. I would absolutely recommend a private tutor for anyone struggling through Qbanks or COMSAEs and definitely anyone who has already failed COMLEX once.  I was given the choice of a PASS program and I am so glad I chose to stay home and work one-on-one with someone who is a D.O. and knows the distinct differences between the two tests and could help target my specific weaknesses.

Rizk MedReview - Dr. Rizk was a service provided by our school.  I loved his energy and his simplicity to explaining difficult subjects.  He is much more lively and interesting than the teachers in DIT in my opinion, however we got to have this class in person at our school, so I have a feeling watching the video and not being able to interact with him in person would have made the learning experience different.  He provides 2 very thorough and big review books and there were several times I would go home after his review lectures, complete questions banks, and the exact words or phrases he told us would be in the questions.  He has very good insight into what is on the test.  It is long days, not as long as DIT, but still 6-8 hours a day is a lot if you are not good at sitting and listening to lectures.

Doctors in Training My word, what to say about DIT.  I used this my second time around.  I had barely failed the first time I took the test so my school felt confident I could study on my own and bump up my score.  They suggested a program like DIT so I did it.  I have to say this was not my cup of tea.  I did all the videos, all the quizzes, took notes, and I just could not get into it.  This type of learning is too passive and auditory for me to get anything out of.  I know some students in my class who did this program and loved it.  This is a time where you really need to be honest about how you learn best.  If sitting down and listening to a video for 8-10 hours a day is not how you retain information best DO NOT get this program.  It will be a waste of money and time.  If you are a class goer who is very much an auditory learner then this may be perfect for you.  I am someone who needs a little more interaction to keep information in.  Needless to say this program did not work well for me, but it does for some people.

Books:
  
BRS Pathology/ BRS Physiology I put these two together as they served the same purpose for me.  I would read a chapter from physio, then that same topic in path, then read it in First Aid on my 3rd time studying and that really helped for me.  I found these two books to be more in depth and discuss more of the basics of concepts I had overlooked since the beginning of 1st year.  I would strongly suggest BRS Physio, or both, if you struggle with biochemistry, cell bio, or physio and need a better foundation of knowledge on those topics because First Aid does not provide that foundation.

First Aid for USMLE Step 1 is generally considered the bible of boards studying.  I personally felt like this book left out A LOT of detail, but I guess that is the point.  This book is to supplement your studying.  I do know people who used pretty much just this and Uworld and did extremely well.  I was not one of those people and while I used this book all 3 times I studied, I felt it lacked a lot of the depth and connections needed to answer questions on the test.

Savarese OMT Review or the Green Book, whatever you want to call it, I do agree its all you need to study OMT except for its lack of chapman's point, which are HUGE on the test.  I was fine with that since it is pure memorization and I had those down pretty well.  Savarese has nice, short, easy chapters with lots of practice questions at the end of each chapter and 2 practice COMLEX type exams at the end of the book.  I only used this my 3rd time taking the test because I knew I needed every point, however I did very well on the OMT portion of the test the first 2 times never having opened this book.  If you struggle with OMT or just want to get every point you can I would suggest this book but as a last minute, week of the test thing as a lot of it is memorization.

Pathoma  Relatively cheap and a great place to start as a base knowledge for topics.  I used this throughout the first two years for my pathology classes.  We had looonnggg word documents for most of our path classes so I would do some pathoma videos first to get some basics down before diving into the wordy documents. It is not extremely helpful in terms of boards, but it won't hurt! You don't need it but if you have it you can certainly use it at the beginning of your studies.

First Aid for COMLEX was a free book I got for signing up for the AMA.  Seeing as it was free it was definitely worth it.  I used it during the first two years of school for OMM tests and it is similar to Savarese OMT Review.  It is a little harder to read and a smaller book.  This book does have images of setting up and completing OMT. There are no practice problems within this book. Overall its a decent book, however I don't think I would have paid for it over Savarese.  


Question Banks:
ComBank I used this Qbank the most as I found it to be the most similar to the actual wording on the COMLEX.  Unfortunately, the COMLEX doesn't make much sense and isn't very straight forward in the wording of questions so its best to get practice with terribly written questions.

UWorld  this Qbank is great for testing knowledge and identifying areas of weakness that you should do more reading up on.  If you are planning to take the USMLE you should go through all of this Qbank at least once, if you are just doing the COMLEX use this as a supplemental Qbank since the questions on here tend to be much more detail-oriented and specific biochem questions that aren't really high yield for COMLEX and it may throw you off course.

ComQuest I preferred this Qbank in terms of testing my knowledge but I think the questions are too straight forward and understandable.  I only used this Qbank first and when I took my first COMSAE I felt thrown under the bus because the questions were so convoluted in comparison to this ComQuest.

At the end of all my troubles, the winning combo for me was Personal Tutor, BRS Path/Physio, ComBank, First Aid, and some notecards at night on things that I considered memorization such as micro and pharm.

My Yoga Pose of the Week

     I try to do some practice at home during the days I don't go to a class.  I play around with a lot of inversions and sometimes it ends up in a cool pose but most of the time I end up on the floor!  I am trying to strengthen my core and my balance.  This week I am really working on my pigeon pose.  I love it!  It is a wonderful pose for those of us who sit most of the day at work or at school and have tight hips.  You can control the stretch yourself by sinking into or lifting up in the pose.  When in class and doing this pose, a good hands-on instructor can make all the difference, it really helps to have some pressure pushing and sinking your hips further than you think you can go.  I am a long way from having my leg parallel with the mat, but I still enjoy the stretch I get.  I also love going into King Pigeon with my arms bound around my back leg.  Not only does this deepen my hip opener but it also helps my shoulders, which are extremely tight and limited in their motion.

My Pigeon Pose:

My King Pigeon Pose:

I have a lot of room to improve, but I enjoy the journey of getting stronger and seeing what my body is capable of doing.  

Almost a DO - OMS-III

     My first blog post.  I wanted to start a blog because I couldn't really find much out there about failing COMLEX, a medical board test.  I failed mine.  I was obsessing over finding others who failed and what they did to succeed, if anyone did succeed after failing, did they go on to match, become successful doctors in the field they wished to go into etc.  What I found was some Student Doctor Network forums without much helpful information on them.  After finally passing the COMLEX Level 1 I now have 3 weeks off until the next rotation begins and I can get back to school.  
     I also am trying to better my yoga practice.  I thoroughly enjoy my time on my mat, and it helped me with the intense stress and anxiety of my COMLEX preparation.  I practiced 1-2 a week for a year and a half pretty consistently then once 3rd year started I moved for rotations and my practice got thrown for a loop.  I'm pretty hesitant to try out new studios but after 3 months of no practice I found a great little studio thats a 7 minute bike ride up the road from my apartment.  I am trying to get back on track with my yogi-ing.
     I am currently a third year osteopathic medical student.  I have completed 4 rotations before having to take a break from school to focus on my COMLEX studies.  I LOVED my rotations that I got to complete so far and it is so much better than the first two years of schooling.  I was so upset when I found out I failed my boards because I had done well my first two years and I was finally getting to the good part, the part where we actually get to go out into the hospitals, into offices, and interact and help patients.  Currently, I am trying to work on some research which our entire class is required to do as a 4th year student.  I am trying to get a head start on that as I am currently 5 rotations behind.  So for anyone reading this who has failed a board test or if afraid of failing know that it is possible to pass, but it requires hard work and honesty. I don't know where I will end up in terms of residency, but hopefully it is somewhere I enjoy!

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.

Marie Curie

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mariecurie126077.html#uUEZLdg6RlcXZPGS.99

My Morning: