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Step 1 of the boards

I hate to say it but the MCAT was not the worst test you will ever have to take. That honor is reserved for step 1 of the boards. This is NOT a logic test. It's more like the biggest cumulative final you've ever had in your life. That being said it's not impossible and usually over 90% of a class will pass on the first try.

Here I will talk about the COMLEX only since that is what I have experience with as I did not take the USMLE. If you want info about the USMLE I'm sure there are plenty of other sources out there.

The debate on whether or not to take the USMLE happens every year so I'll pass on some of the info I've gathered and explain why subjecting yourself to another board exam for no good reason is sadistic. Read my blurb on residencies here first before tackling this issue. If you are still dead set on an allopathic residency then here are the pros and cons to the test.

PROS: Some allopathic institutions do not accept COMLEX, and for the ones that do, it's easier to compare USMLE scores side by side than translate a COMLEX score. You can also assume that an allopathic program will believe "their" test is superior.

CONS: I got some bad news. If a residency doesn't take the COMLEX, chances are they don't take DO's period. Also you're putting yourself through hell to take another board exam not to mention another $500. And the real kicker is that you better crush the USMLE if you take it because even if you smoke the COMLEX, if you bomb the USMLE you just shot yourself in the foot.

Now, the subject of reporting USMLE scores is matter of huge debate and honestly no one seems to have the answers. In ERAS you have to enter your USMLE ID and/or COMLEX ID to request USMLE and/or COMLEX transcrpits to send to the hospitals. If you never enter this, no one will get your scores. The downside to this is that you are now arguably falsifying your application. Osteopathic programs will more than likely be none the wiser, but lets face it, if you are taking this test you are probably thinking of applying allopathic. Allopathic programs could possibly find out that you had taken the USMLE and then you would have some questions to answer, bad situation. Also don't rest assured that if you entered your USMLE ID and didn't check the "send USMLE transcript" box that you are in the clear. They will know you took the test and they will assume the worst since it was not reported.

Alright, with that being said, the general consensus is that the only people who need to take the USMLE are the ones going into extra competitive residencies such as ophthalmology, anesthesiology, dermatology, radiology... you get the idea. I'm not saying that this is correct information, I'm just saying it's the general consensus. Remember, this is all general advice, for the specifics you need to make some phone calls to the programs themselves.

With that out of the way it's time to get to preparation. There are two basic methods for this: Super gunner prep, and everyone else prep. I opted for the everyone else prep because I enjoy life and my free time.

Let's face it, you don't have much time to study other crap while taking courses. What usually ends up happening is that you take 1-2 good solid months of pure (hell) board study and you're done. DO NOT push the boards back into rotations. Many have done this, all have regretted it. Don't plan other stuff during those months either. Dedicate at least 1 month and you'll be fine.

Now for what to use. First off EVERYONE needs to go to the NBOME website and take the CBT tutorial. Not only will it familiarize you with the system but it's 50 free practice questions. Also everyone needs to order the practice question booklet also offered on the site. It' pretty cheap, it will be the best $8 you ever spent. The 3rd thing you all must do is subscribe to an online Q-bank. Plenty of opinions out there on which one to use, just pick one and do a ton of questions!!

Ok, the essentials are out of the way, now for the review materials. DO NOT take the Kaplan course!!! I know I'm too late for some of you but the course was a monumental waste of money. There is no "course"... there are only a ton of crappy DVD's that you can't even bring home. The Q-bank is good, the books are good, that's it. Kaplan's review material is all inclusive, that's a good thing and a bad thing. It's nice to have all the info but at the same time you need 4-5 months to get through all the material. This may be good for some but I can't personally remember more than a month or so in the past. Some advocate studying little by little during the year, which is a good idea, but I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't do that.

For those of us who are time crunchers like myself the fastest high yield read is First-Aid. Now this book misses stuff and has some mistakes so be wary, but it's as good as it gets with high yield information. I personally used this book and supplemented with the Kaplan books or online when I needed. Now you'll probably get an email with a thousand books to read and this and that... That would be part of the super gunner method. It'll take you the entire year to read all of those things. You can if you want and more power to you if you can pull it off, but I'll tell you don't need all those books.

The key to the COMLEX is of course OPP. This shouldn't be a surprise. Know your OPP, your dermatomes, autonomic spinal levels, and innervations and you're sure to score nicely. This is a different test than the USMLE!!! Don't expect a ton of biochem. It's always changing but it usually has more of an Anatomy and Neruo focus. Bugs and Drugs should be known cold as well. If you going to be weak somewhere make it histology or biochem. I can't emphasize OPP enough! It's easy points so know it! Here are two great OPP reviews:

1) The green book. It's called OMT Review by Savarese, and it is worth it's weight in gold. Buy it, you'll use it again for step 2. It reviews everything and has tons of questions, it's the best.

2) The Cram Pages which can be downloaded right here for free. These are very good and concise. It's worth a look.

If you can you should also listen to the Goljan (gole-yan) lectures. You don't have to buy the book, the lectures are fine alone. It's a little too much for me to host on my site personally but if any of you are computer savy and can use torrents here is the Goljan torrent. If you're not get your friend to do it and burn some CDs. Or just get someone elses CD, there are alot floating around out there.

You'll be sure to get a bunch of email and all kinds of advice on how to take the test and how to study for it. Pick something you think will work and stick to it. Everyone studies differently and learns differently and blah blah blah, so don't think that one way is THE way. This little guide isn't the end all to board prep but I hope it at least gave you all a good start. Good luck, and as always you can email questions, comments, girls' phone numbers, or dinner invitations.



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