An Awesome COMLEX score

What is a "good" score on the COMLEX?

Anything above a 650 is considered very competitive, above a 700 means that you pretty much aced the thing.

Literally speaking, passing is good (means you understand/can apply the minimum amount of medical information necessary to practice medicine), beating the mean is a great score (meaning you beat over 50% of other test takers). Anything above that is gravy.

However, unfortunate though it may be, many programs unofficially (and somewhat illegally) prefer their applicants to have certain scores before they invite applicants for an interview. This is the harsh truth, helping the program directors sort through the deluge of applications they receive starting in late july/early august. More competitive specialties/programs "require" higher COMLEX scores than others. That being said, an application is more than a board score, so if your comlex score does not meet your imagined cutoff, don't let it stop you from applying everywhere you want to go.

Finally, I don't think anyone can honestly answer your question. If you have a question as to your competitiveness for a particular specialty, I would recommend talking to 4th years at your school who are applying in your chosen specialty - what are programs looking for this year. How high are their board scores, how many applications did they submit, how many interviews offers are they receiving? Are they looking at similar programs to those you are interested in?

How to Predict USMLE Scores From COMLEX-USA Scores

Graduates of colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs) frequently apply to residency programs approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

These residency programs commonly use United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores among their selection criteria.

Osteopathic medical students take the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA) at the time USMLE is given, during the second and fourth years of medical school.

Osteopathic medical students who apply to ACGME residency programs must either take USMLE in addition to COMLEX-USA or face a potential selection bias.

A correlation between the two examinations would afford ACGME residency directors the opportunity to place osteopathic standardized tests into a frame of reference.

In addition, it would allow a measure of confidence for COM students to understand how they compare with their allopathic counterparts.

USMLE/COMLEX Scores--What is considered good?

It instead of citing specific scores, it's better to think in terms of "passing", "getting the mean", "beating the mean" "top third", and "acing."

Most AOA or ACGME-approved programs for family medicine would be happy with "passing." Most of the more selective ones probably only take students who at least "get the mean."

I think for internal medicine, "getting the mean" is pretty much required, but there are probably lots of program who take students who just "pass." More of the selective IM programs will want students in the "top third."

Surgery, at least "top third."

Neurosurg, at least "top third" and probably "acing." Ditto for ortho.

Peds, probably "getting the mean" or "
beating the mean."

OB/GYN, at least "top third."

Psych/Neuro, just "passing" is fine with the exception of some very top programs who probably only take students who "beat the mean."

PM&R, "passing", more selective programs at least "beating the mean" and probably "top third."

Pimpnotes

Interesting sites for Step 1 preparation.

PimpNotes.org is an open-source notes project for medical students and doctors in training. The site hosts free notes, guides, books, or any other materials created by and for medical students and residents.

It currently hosts a complete systems-based pathology charts ("the grids"), bugs charts, pharm charts, and pathophysiology flash cards (in progress). We are currently trying to organize a group of intellegent, progressive, and committed students to help write an open-source guide to USMLE Step 1. If interested, please contact us using the contact form in the footer below.

SESAP 13

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Division of Education presents the 13th edition of the Surgical Education and Self-Assessment Program (SESAP). SESAP has been a premier educational resource for practicing surgeons and surgical residents for over 35 years. Each program consists of 650 Multiple Choice Items (MCIs) with discussions and references to the current literature in 17 content areas of interest to general surgeons. Program materials are furnished in both print and CD-ROM formats, and may be used to obtain up to 60 hours of Category 1 credit.

The content of SESAP 13 addresses the core competencies of medical knowledge and patient care and also focuses on some of the other core competencies as defined by the American Board of Medical Specialties and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The content has been designed to be especially useful to surgeons enrolled in the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program of the American Board of Surgery. SESAP fulfills the Part II requirements for MOC that focus on self-assessment and lifelong learning, and will be very useful in preparing for the qualifying or MOC examinations.

The goal of SESAP is to provide general surgeons with a broad-based educational experience using current evidence-based literature and practical experience, and the dual formats give users maximum flexibility. The CD now offers a resizable window with resizable and adjustable text for a customized study experience, with improved image display and zooming. In addition, items, critiques or media elements may now be printed or exported as PDFs or HTMLs. PDFs can be e-mailed, reviewed later, or printed. HTML files can be loaded onto your portable device for reading on the go.

Look for SESAP 13 here

OW DO I REGISTER FOR THE NRMP MATCH?

U.S. Seniors
In the spring of your third year of medical school, you will receive a
preprinted student agreement form to review and sign. Make sure that the
name listed on the agreement matches the name you use on your residency
applications. The current registration fee is $40, payable to the NRMP, and
is nonrefundable. Upon registering, you will be assigned an NRMP Applicant
Code that you will use to identify yourself on residency applications
and correspondence. The deadline for registration is in July at the start of
your senior year. Consult the current edition of the NRMP Handbook for Students
for additional registration details.

U.S. Graduates
If you graduated from a U.S. medical school accredited through the Liaison
Committee for Medical Education (LCME), you can register through your
own school or another U.S. medical school. You can also enroll directly with
the NRMP as an Independent Applicant (see below). If you are sponsored
by a U.S. medical school, the school will serve as your NRMP “home base,”
from which to submit your rank-order list and where you will receive NRMP
correspondence, including your Match results. Your Agreement for Students or
Sponsored Graduates must be signed by both you and the dean of student affairs
at your sponsor school. Your nonrefundable registration fee is also $40.
Upon registering, you will receive an NRMP Applicant Code used to identify
yourself on residency applications and in correspondence. The deadline
for registering is in October before Match Day. See the current edition of the
NRMP Handbook for Students for registration details. Also visit the NRMP
website at http://www.aamc.org/nrmp.

Independent Applicants
The category of “independent applicants” includes several different groups:
nonsponsored U.S. graduates, Canadian students/graduates, osteopathic students/
graduates, and international medical graduates (IMGs). For information,
contact the NRMP at (202) 828-0566 during the summer before the
Match to receive the NRMP Handbook for Independent Applicants. Or, you
can visit the NRMP website at http://www.aamc.org/nrmp. To enroll, submit
a completed Independent Applicant Agreement and $90, payable to the NRMP.
The NRMP might also independently verify or request to see your credentials
in order to approve your Match eligibility status. For example, IMGs
need to pass the USMLE Step 1 and 2 as well as the English Test to participate
in the Match.
Following registration, you will be assigned an NRMP Applicant Code,
which you will use to identify yourself on residency applications and in correspondence.
You will also receive a confidential Personal Identification
Number (PIN). Match results will be made available to independent applicants during Match week via the web (http://www.aamc.org/nrmp) as well as
through the NRMP Voice Response System (VRS) by calling (202) 828-
0566. The registration deadline is in October before Match Day. Consult the
current edition of the NRMP Handbook for Independent Applicants and visit
the NRMP website (http://www.aamc.org/nrmp) for further details.

Goljan Step 2

After you have seen the Goljan lecture for Step 1 you want to get similar one for Step 2.
What does it cover?

Internal Medicine and Surgery

1. Acid-Base and Electrolytes
2. Biostatistics
3. Cardiology
4. Dermatology
5. Diabetes Mellitus
6. Ear, Nose, and Throat
7. Endocrinology
8. Gastroenterology
9. Genetics
10. Hematology
11. Immunology
12. Infectious Diseases
13. Laboratory Medicine
14. Nephrology
15. Neurology
16. Ophthalmology
17. Pulmonology
18. Urology
19. Vitamins and Minerals
20. General Surgery

This is 20 perfect lectures for you and the special price of XXUSD

Check the price and download the lectures immediately at this link:

http://usmlestep.com/goljan-step2.htm

MKSAP 15

MKSAP 15 shall be released soon.
The latest version of MKSAP is MKSAP 14 and not the 15.

So do not ask your friends around if the MKSAP 15 was published or not.

Get more information about MKSAP 14 here:
http://usmlestep.com/mksap14.html

Goljan torrent

Are you looking for Torrent with Goljan Audio Lectures?
We do not store torrents here, sorry.

But what we can offer you is the superior deal!
Imagine that you can get the full set of Goljan lectures just for $19.97!
And the download speed of 1mbit/s! Better than any torrent!

You can download full package within 10 minutes after you paid.
The payment process will take just 2 minutes!

So you can enjoy Goljan Audio download from our super fast 1mbit server (not the slow Torrent tracker with Goljan) for just $19.97

http://usmlestep.com/Goljan-pathology.htm

Try it now!

Goljan Slides

Goljan slides for Pathology Review:

http://usmlestep.com/Goljan-pathology.htm

57 Goljan Pathology Slides - get this as a bonus when you buy the Goljan Audio Lectures from usmlestep.com


http://usmlestep.com/Goljan-pathology.htm

Special offers for 2007 Kaplan Step 1 Video Lectures

Have you ever heard about new revision of Kaplan Step 1 Lectures?
Key changes from 2002 Lectures:

Changes from 2002-2006 videos: Microbiology, Imuunology, Physiology and Behavioral Sciences are revised and restructured.

USMLESTEP.com is offering special price for these videos now:

For Just $199 you can get them now! This is less than $1 per day - and it can be yours now!
Here is the link where you can get samples:
http://usmlestep.com/Kaplan-step1-2007-videos.html

Mayo Internal Medicine Video Lectures

Mayo Internal Medicine Board review book (board review = 4 stars): From the world famous mayo clinic, this textbook contains important and relevant information for the good practice of Internal medicine. It deals with a lot of academic medical information that may be too theoretical for the ABIM Internal medicine board exams. Mayo Internal medicine board review is aimed more towards the clinical practice of Internal medicine. Most residency programs recommend it for residency training. If you plan on reading it for the ABIM board exams, the third year of your medical residency (PGY-3) is an ideal time. The key points are summarized after each paragraph, throughout the book. This makes it easy for a fast review of medical facts. This is an excellent book to learn practical Internal medicine during your residency years and for the daily management of patients (Residency learning rating= 5 stars).

Mayo clinic Internal medicine board review videos (board review = 4 stars): This is usually a video recording of the mayo clinic Internal medicine board review live lectures and offers one of the best reviews of academic Internal medicine. The board review videos feature some of the top physicians in the field of Internal medicine. The Mayo clinic board review book (above) is the companion text for this video series. If your Residency program can afford this video series, it is an invaluable tool for learning Internal medicine during your Residency years. (Residency learning = 5 stars)

http://www.usmlestep.com/mayo-clinic-video.htm

Opinion about Youel Prep Video Lectures

In short, I'd recommend Youel's over Kaplan or Princeton. Dr. Youel, himself, is not the most dynamic speaker but his information is excellent. He uses a lot of pheumonics and "hand signs" that really help you remember specific details. Also, his "core of the core" facts that you have to know cold are absolutely essential to help you figure out those questions that show up on the boards that are not straight forward. He has a lot of test-like questions that are uncannily accurate to what I got on my Step 2 test. I'd say that the best out there is probably Youel's Prep or the PASS program. Dr. Francis at the PASS program explains things very generally "The 90%" and Dr. Youel focuses on the 10% very well. They're both really helpful. Much more so than anything else I've seen. I hope that helps.

http://www.usmlestep.com/youelprep-step2.htm

Scanned notes for USMLE Step 1

Why scanned notes are better?

• You can always have them at your fingertips
• You can print the pages you need for today
• You can not loose them
• The pages will not become dirty
• You can highlight as much as you can

http://www.usmlestep.com/Scanned-kaplan-step1-notes.htm

Secrets for USMLE Step 2 - free download

Step 2 Secrets is another good series for USMLE Step 2.
You can download them here:

http://4usmle.net/step-2-downloads/1522-step-2-secrets-series-new-post.html

Blue Print Series for USMLE Step 2

Blue Print Series is a set of good Step 2 Review books.
You can download them for free at:

http://4usmle.net/step-2-downloads/1521-blue-print-series-usmle-step-2-a.html

Iserson’s Getting into a Residency

There are a lot of things you should do for your interview, and Iserson’s Getting into a Residency covers all of them.
I read an excellent article here and I think it is worth reading it...

Rumor: Step 2 CS To Be Retired

This is all completely rumor at this point, but I have decent information that Step 2 CS is going to be retired beginning next year or the year after. This is something that you guys may be hearing around your schools as well.

The rumor is that US medical graduates will no longer be required to take the exam, but FMGs will still have some version of it. It’s basically a reversion back to the old days pre-CS for American graduates.

Let us know if you’re hearing the same things around your school.

How to convert your USMLEWORLD score to the USMLE Step 1 score

I have found this formula when was browsing the net.

(UW avg. x 2.4) + 84 = three digit score

It might be too simple fo real conversion - but at least it gives some degree of precision.

Kaplan USMLE Step 1 Video - 2007 edition

So, new edition of Kaplan USMLE Step 1 Videos is available.
To avoid confusion, I am going to explain the difference between 70-disk and 25-disk versions.
70 disk version of Kaplan 2007 Step 1 Videos is a raw DVD version - the same as the normal movies on the DVD.

25 disk version of Kaplan 2007 Step 1 Videos is a DIVX compressed. The quality of compressed videos depends on the resolution and the bitrate. The resolution of this set is 640x480 pixels. This is the same as a quality of the TV picture. The bitrate is 1 mbit/s - which is very good quality.

This means that you get the same quality as original DVD but with less disks.

http://usmlestep.com/Kaplan-step1-2007-videos.html

And some feedback from the lucky one who obtained this videos and is watching them at his convenience at home:
http://4usmle.net/feedback-testimonials/1426-usmle-2007-step-1-disks.html

What is a good USMLE score

A good score is one that is (a) passing and (b) passing, a fact that
the USMLE apparently realized because rumor has it they are going to
make the exams pass/fail in the near future. For now, keep in mind
that the national average (which has been rising, probably through
artificial means) has been around 215 in 1997-98. The cut-off for a
"good" score once was 200 (when 200 was set as the statistical mean,
or 50th percentile score). Now, though, "good" scores start around
215 and go up from there. And yes, it is sad but true that some
residency programs use USMLE Step I scores as a preliminary cut-off
point for sending out secondary applications and/or interview
requests. Generally the programs that do this tend to be the more
competitive ones - surgery, orthopedics, ENT, neurosurgery, etc.

USMLE/COMLEX Scores--What is considered good

It instead of citing specific scores, it's better to think in terms of "passing", "getting the mean", "beating the mean" "top third", and "acing."

Most AOA or ACGME-approved programs for family medicine would be happy with "passing." Most of the more selective ones probably only take students who at least "get the mean."

I think for internal medicine, "getting the mean" is pretty much required, but there are probably lots of program who take students who just "pass." More of the selective IM programs will want students in the "top third."

Surgery, at least "top third."

Neurosurg, at least "top third" and probably "acing." Ditto for ortho.

Peds, probably "getting the mean" or "
beating the mean."

OB/GYN, at least "top third."

Psych/Neuro, just "passing" is fine with the exception of some very top programs who probably only take students who "beat the mean."

PM&R, "passing", more selective programs at least "beating the mean" and probably "top third."

Please note that the USMLE no longer gives out percentiles. There were some rumors that the USMLE would eventually become just pass/fail. For now, however, passing is getting approximately 180 and higher. Getting the mean is about 215. Beating the mean is getting over 220. Getting in the top third would probably be over 230. Top ten percent is around 240 and higher.

Physician Salary - Primary Care Vs Specialists:

Physician Salary - Primary Care Vs Specialists:

• Last year was a good one for Primary Care Physicians. Their salary(read compensation) increased more than subspecialists for the first time in the last 5 years.
  

• The median salary for Primary Care Physicians for 2004 was 161,000 and the median salary for Sub-Specialists(all sub-specialties put together) was 298,000.

• For the year 2004, Primary Care Physicians saw an increase in their salary (compensation) of more than 3% compared to subspecialists whose compensation remained the same (No significant increase)
  

Resident decisions on pursuing a Fellowship is partly based on the increase in compensation yearly. The craze for Fellowship Vs. Primary Care also changes in Cycles of 5-7 years. Does this new data mean more number of Residents will opt for Primary Care? Only time will tell...

Kaplan Webprep vs. Kaplan Videos (USMLE Step 1)

Wondering what is the difference between Kaplan Webprep and Kaplan CenterPrep Videos?

I would say that 95% of what was covered in the lectures was already in the notes. The center is good if you have difficulty studying on your own, then it sort of leads you through everything. Some of the lectures were good at explaning concepts and some literally read from the notes. As long as you stick to Kaplan Notes and use additional resources for pathology (Goljan! - the best!) and microbiology you should do great. If you are going to spend money you should spend it on Q-bank

All the main topics have been covered in Webprep, but sure seemingly important ones have been missed.

Scanned Step 1 Notes for USMLE

One of the most popular materials for Step 1 Review - scanned Kaplan Step 1 Notes.
It is great because of its portability. You can have it with you anywhere and study on your own pace.

You can get it within 24 hours at:

http://www.usmlestep.com/Scanned-kaplan-step1-notes.htm

The scanned notes package includes:

• Anatomy
• Behavioral Sciences
• Biochemistry
• Physiology
• Pharmacology
• Pathology
• Microbiology/Immunology
• QBOOK