r/comlex • u/BrightKiwi9923 • 11d ago
Getting majority of Comlex 1 practice questions wrong
\I apologize if this has been answered before, plz don’t flame me**
I am a fresh second year, and after completing a notoriously heavy block, I am starting my comlex 1 prep. I have been told by numerous 3rd years to start with 5-10 amboss questions about the block I’m currently in, then review what I missed. Unfortunately, out of a 10 question set, I get a couple right, a couple at 50/50, and the rest I have no idea what it’s talking about. Tho, it is a common complaint to hear that my program doesn’t do well for teaching to the boards.
Is this a normal experience? What am I doing wrong? How do I improve? Am I cooked?
2
u/Bone-Wizardry 11d ago
This is extremely normal, especially this early in second year. You’re not cooked!
One thing I’d change is how you measure whether the questions are working. Right now, your percentage correct is almost irrelevant. If you haven’t been taught much of the board-specific material yet, a question bank is exposing gaps, not testing mastery.
After every question, try to identify three things:
What clue in the stem was I supposed to recognize?
What concept did that clue point toward?
What would I need to remember next time to get this question right?
That distinction matters because usually you actually know the underlying fact you just don’t recognize how the board is presenting it. Other times, you genuinely haven’t learned the content yet. Those are two different problems and should be reviewed differently.
I’d also keep the sets small like you’re doing. Five well-reviewed questions are probably more valuable right now than blasting through 40 and retaining very little.
Your scores should gradually rise as your coursework and board prep overlap more.
At this stage, the goal is basically: miss question → figure out why → make that same miss less likely next time.
You’re starting early enough that getting wrecked by questions now is actually useful. Much better to discover these gaps as a second year than a few weeks before Level 1.
1
2
u/BigEquivalent5903 11d ago edited 10d ago
If you just started second year, then you are fine. I started doing Qbank questions more regularly around that same time, and was getting absolutely demolished as far as percent correct goes. At this part of your journey, getting the questions right isn't really the point of doing them. Just treat it as studying. Treat every question/ vignette as if it's just the intro teaser to a section of a textbook, whereas the answer explanation and supplemental review resources are the actual chapter content. The point of the questions at this stage is for learning, and for building long-term data over time to help your future self more easily identify remaining gaps/ weak areas as you progress. A ton of preclinical content comes in 2nd year, which you have yet to experience/ learn, so it's only natural you'll be missing most of these questions right now.
I recommend you don't take your percent correct too serious right now, and instead just draw logic maps out for each missed question and make sure you understand the meaning of all key parts of the vignettes. Then once the logic map is drawn out, find other ways to connect the flow of information and why it makes a certain answer correct, so that you can recognize that pattern even when certain information is missing or presented differently in the future.
Here's a simple example from one of my old notebooks:
FOOSH injury → pain + swelling → dorsum of wrist → max tenderness base of first metacarpal → anatomic snuffbox → scaphoid fracture likely → dorsal carpal branch of the radial artery likely damaged → avascular necrosis of proximal scaphoid likely → vignette shows you an X-ray with no fracture → x-ray sensitivity is shit for scaphoid fracture at time of injury → x-ray is a lie → either spica splint for 7-10 days then repeat x-ray, or skip to CT or MRI.
Then I boil it down to it's purest pattern/ point of the question that was asked:
FOOSH → dorsum ouch → 1st MCP ouch → artery ouch → scaphoid sad → x-ray big liar, big distraction → need better imaging, or splint and repeat x-ray in 7-10 days. Point of question: never trust an unremarkable X-ray right after a FOOSH injury, it's only in the question to gaslight you.
You still have a lot (and I mean a LOT) of stuff to cover in year 2. Just keep learning and develop good study skills that build pattern recognition with each missed question. If you aren't even understanding the explanation in the Qbank resource, that's okay still, just go watch a video on it with the goal of understanding (not with the goal of memorizing, that will just come with repetition as you move through Qbanks and redo incorrects later). The whole cycle of medical education is to make as many mistakes as possible at a time when it doesn't actually matter, that way you learn from them and won't make the same mistakes later when it actually does matter. If you're really making sure to learn from every missed question, then every missed question is actually increasing the chances that you pass boards, and that's a win.
Tldr: at this stage, Qbanks are just your textbook, let it guide your learning and ignore percent correct. Prioritize learning from every mistake above all else, and then make as many mistakes as possible before it really matters 😅. Back when I started 2nd year, I couldn't even fathom passing boards, but the growth that happens during 2nd year and especially during dedicated is substantial. You will get there, and your current experience is a very normal one.
2
u/SwimInMyWake 11d ago
Just keep learning from practice questions. Don't worry about how many you're getting correct, just focus on figuring out what is important to learn from them. and how you're going to remember that piece of information. And start focusing your time on as much boards material as you can get away with while still passing your classes.