There are questions on the COMLEX that are first order style questions, those just don’t exist on the USMLE. Not to say that the COMLEX doesn’t involve critical thinking, it is just that the USMLE requires a lot more of it. The fact that the questions will be such that you can think through them and solve them like a puzzle, means that you will be tasked to think more critically on the USMLE. This isn’t an absolute truth, but a generalization of the exams. The COMLEX is a either you know it or you don’t kind of approach, wheras the USMLE questions are written in such a way that you can decipher an answer by logic and reasoning. The questions on the USMLE by far have more detail and can be solved in a stepwise approach when compared to the COMLEX. Why the USMLE is harder: More in Depth questions This section will break down why it is and isn’t harder. Many students believe that the USMLE is a harder exam than the COMLEX. Picmonic does a great job with many of these finer details and can really be a difference maker for you. If you recognize the nuances of topics like this one then it will set you above the rest. If you know these and can recognize them then you will excel. There are a lot of tough topics on the USMLE and COMLEX. Confident in the tough topics (Like Felty Syndrome) If your scores are well above passing, then by all means take both of them. Some students struggle more with the USMLE, and we will talk about it below. If you are crushing it on your USMLE practice tests, then you can feel confident in taking both the USMLE and the COMLEX. If you are undecided, or 100% not committed to one specialty, then take both exams so you don’t limit yourself. Then, in rotations you decide you like a more competitive specialty, but you didn’t take both exams.
Let’s say early on, you plan on going after a less competitive specialty and you only take the COMLEX. If you aren’t sure what you want to do with your life, then you better not limit yourself. You better just take the USMLE if you really want to train at that residency. If you notice that a program doesn’t have any DO’s in it, doesn’t have a track record or taking DO’s, or even outright mentions that they require the USMLE. If these are the kind of specialties that you are looking into, then be sure to take the USMLE and the COMLEX to demonstrate how you compare to every applicant. Specialties like Interventional Cardiology, Radiology, Dermatology, and many others are very competitive. There are a few reasons why you absolutely should take both the COMLEX and the USMLE. If you are doing practice exams and you notice that your scores on the USMLE are not a decent amount above the minimum passing score (194) then it would be wise to not take the USMLE if you can’t get your scores above passing. This is also one of the few reasons to not take the USMLE and the COMLEX. If you don’t want to spend the cash to take both exams, then be sure to research the programs that are DO friendly as mentioned above. These exams can get expensive, and there are plenty of residency programs across the country that will happily accept just the COMLEX. This is simply because many DO students pursue primary care, so most of those programs are familiar with the COMLEX and how it compares to the USMLE. Most family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics residencies take both exams. If you notice that the program director is a DO, or possibly there is mention of the osteopathic recognition, or even if there are a ton of DO’s in the program, chances are that you can get away with only the COMLEX. There are a lot of residency programs out there that are very DO focused.
Focusing on Osteopathic “friendly” programs It can be daunting to take both the COMLEX and the USMLE, so before we dive into why you should take both, lets talk about why you should only take the COMLEX. There are plenty of reasons why DO students should only take the COMLEX. I hope this article can help you decide if both are really needed. I am a DO and I took both, and did very well on them. There are some reasons why Osteopathic Students should take both, and there are some reasons why you shouldn’t! The tricky part is, DO students can take both if they want.
When I say required, I mean in order to practice medicine they have to take those to be licensed physicians. MD students are required to take the USMLE, and DO students are required to take the COMLEX. There are two different board exams depending on if you are an MD or a DO.
Being an Osteopathic Medical Student is tough, especially when it comes to board exams.
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