Sitting for an exam can be really fun and exciting if you prepare for it adequately. However, if you don’t prepare enough, you may suffer from stress and anxiety. Some people don’t like exams because they think it’s to frustrate them. Similarly, comlex pe isn’t everyone’s favorite exam. Fortunately, you can pass it.
The comlex exam is a test you must pass if you’re an osteopathic medical student. Unlike other exams that require you to sit in a class and answer questions on paper, it’s a practical exam where you’re required to see 12 standardized patients, diagnose, and document what they’re suffering from. Most osteopathic students take this test seriously because it’s a stakes exam. However, 10% of students fail this exam yearly. Because this exam is time-consuming and expensive, you don’t want to fail it.
Here are some tips for passing this exam:
- Practice
Every exam needs revision and practice. When getting ready for written exams, you probably spend hours watching several videos, doing practice questions, and reading tirelessly. Similarly, you need to read a lot about comlex pe.
Though comlex exams look simple because they’re practical, it isn’t just a day in the clinic. It has many components that you need to know if you want to pass. It tests your ability to ask relevant questions and do a diagnosis. The diagnosis you’re required to do in this exam is slightly detailed because you have to run through the full history of a patient to ensure you don’t miss anything. This can only happen if you have adequate questions to ask. If you aren’t sure about what to ask, don’t assume. Instead, go through your H & P.
Some students prepare for these exams with a dummy patient. You can get your friends and practice the full H & P with them. As you do this, you can also go through a comlex course, following each step. As you do this, ensure you act like a real person seeing a patient in the PE. Doing these practices can help you develop clinical thinking and give you courage during the actual examination day.
- Revise With The Right Resources
There are few PE resources that you can refer to while preparing for a comlex exam. However, some can help you get the pass mark. A good course should give you tips for handling the exam. The PE grades are categorized into two domains: the biomedical/biomechanical portion and the humanistic portion.
The biomedical/biomechanical has components like your physical exam skills, history-taking skills, notes you wrote at the end of the encounter, and how you diagnosed and did OMT on your patient. Interestingly, the actual physician will only grade you on the note and OMM. This means you need to properly revise well for the physical exam skills because your patient will grade you on this.
On the other hand, the humanistic portion covers aspects like how nice you are to the patient, whether you washed your hand, and your professionalism and communication skills. You need to focus on this because it’s what makes most people fail.
The Bottom-line
Just like every exam needs practice and revision, comlex PE requires you to revise well if you want to pass the exam. Though it’s a practical exam, you need to know how to conduct the diagnoses.
