Monday, May 2, 2011

Conquering the COMLEX PE

What seemed like an exam that would suck the life out of me actually turned into something memorable. The COMLEX Level 2 PE was no slice of cake, but it is finally over and behind me.


Visiting Philadelphia

I've been feeling a sense of hostility towards this exam for some time now. It just had to be done and put to rest however. Last week I made the trip, racking up miles and spending lots of cash to see it put to rest. The best part of it all was the Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches. Although my classmates and I were only in Philadelphia for a 24 hour period, we couldn't stop at one sandwich and filled our glutinous desires with a couple. I never would have thought Cheese Whiz on steak could taste so good.

Although I am not allowed to share information about the test in particular since it would violate the policies and jeopardize my grade, I will say it was quite unique moving from room to room in so short a time frame. If that was any indication of what clinical practice will be like, I had better get used to things soon. I don't know if anybody walks out of that exam feeling confident that they solidified a passing grade. All we can do is hope that we put our best foot forward and let our experience do the talking. The rest is in the hands of the graders to determine our fate. So begins the long wait in agony for a pass/fail test result. At least I have a 50% chance of doing well.  

Question of the Week
During a bitterly cold winter, an elderly couple is found dead in
their apartment. All of their windows are closed and their leaky old
furnace is on full. Which of the following is the primary mechanism
by which the toxin involved led to the death of this couple?

A. Decreasing intracellular calcium
B. Inhibition of cytochrome oxidase
C. Inhibition of Na+/K+ ATPase
D. Irreversibly binding to hemoglobin
E. Stimulation of cellular apoptosis

Answer & Explanation

5 comments:

  1. COMPLEX PE is like step 2 CS of USMLE?!
    Once i was confronted with such an exam!! it was really really stressful... but finally i passed the exam ( to be honest not with flying colors ) :P

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  2. Great job passing the exam. From my understanding, the COMLEX is very similar to the USMLE version. I'm crossing my fingers I too passed the exam.

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  3. Have you received any update on your exam?

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  4. Unfortunately not yet. We have an 8-10 week wait and from what I hear, the graders like to take advantage of that time. Thanks for asking!

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  5. Finally, the results are in!!! Check them out HERE

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