COMQUEST Level 2 CE Review: Pre-COMLEX

In my unending quest to procrastinate,  I shall post my initial thoughts on the COMQUEST Level 2 question bank since I just completed it today.  Many have stated (to myself at least) that COMQUEST is by far superior to COMBANK for preparation of the Level 2 COMLEX examination.  As always I went in with an open mind, expecting question stems to be quite similar in nature to the Level 1 question banks but to ask different questions.  This being said, I got what I imagined, almost identical questions to the COMBANK Level 1 and COMLEX Level 1 test, that simply asked “whats the next step in management”, “whats the most accurate tests”, “whats the most specific test” and “whats the treatment”.  There are very few questions that blatantly ask the obvious question of “what is this disease”.

The one exception to this rule is the Cardiology section of COMQUEST, which seems to ask you to simply read an EKG several times.  By several I mean ~25/70 questions.  I found this to be quite disappointing as most know EKGs down pat by this time in our medical career and do not need to differentiate 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree heart block any more.

Overall the COMQUEST Level 2 CE question bank consists of 914 questions which can be had for $75 dollars/30 days or $120/60 days.  In comparison UWorld for Step 2 CK comes with a whopping 2235 questions for $99/30 days or $135/60 days.  And finally we have COMBANK (which I will probably get soon and review pre-COMLEX) that has ~1120 questions for $85/30 days or $125/60 days.  I will only review the 30/60 day prices since in my opinion it doesn’t make sense to study for this exam for greater than 60 days.  I calculate the price per questions for each bank for 30 days and it looks like this:

• COMQUEST: 30 days – 8 cents/question
• UWorld: 30 days – 4 cents/question
• COMBANK: 30 days – 7.5 cents/question

Now if I think about it, do you get what you paid for with the COMQUEST question banks.  I think the similarity in price will show a similarity in content for the two COMLEX driven question banks.  UWorld is clearly superior in breadth of content and can be much easier incorporated into actually reLEARNING the material.  In fact some have even suggested that UWorld can be used as the sole piece of content to study for the COMLEX Level 2.  I lean towards finding that to be true but obviously have not taken the test and found out yet.  Anyways this discussion isn’t about UWorld….

COMQUEST, it follows the exact testing environment as the COMLEX assuming that the environment is the same as the Level 1 exam.  It’s question do prod at the clinical rather than the pathophysiology and I believe this represents accurately the COMLEX Level 2 CE from what I’ve heard.  As I mentioned previously with the cardiology section, there are some disappointing aspects.  Some questions are Semester 1 medial school easy (aka grade 1 in “Are you smarter than a 5th grader).  In fact, now that I think about it there are several questions that are that easy.  After going through all the questions I think you probably get the same quality out of both banks in terms of quality of questions.  There are always the bat-shit crazy questions that make assumptions that only the question writer seems to see.  There are also always questions that seem to have answers that are incorrect.  This is the case with several (COMBANK and COMQUEST) question banks though and seems to be the case with the NBOME’s COMLEX-styled questions.  So in this respect COMQUEST should adequately prepare you for the real deal.

Some downsides…I think they should rethink their “extension” policy.  Usually if you want to extend your account for many services, it is at a discount to the original purchase price.  Their extension follow the same price as the sign up prices and also tout a $30 dollar for 7 day extension…. crazy IMO.  Another downside is their statistics.  Both COMBANK and COMQUEST fail to compare in giving great statistics compared to UWorld.  Finally, whats the deal with the massive quantity of rabies questions?

A couple big pros for COMQUEST.  One HUGE positive for COMQUEST is their quick responses to user comments on their questions.  If you comment on a question they will send you a personalized response to that specific question and sometimes even change an answer explanation for you.  They are very customer friendly and sometimes allow “free” extensions on their products.  Also they include TONS of pediatrics questions which COMLEX loves to test.  They also include alot of OMM, mainly focusing on Chapman’s points, sacrum and pelvis and a rare question on cranial.  A final pro, their website NEVER had downtime and it is very easy to navigate, create tests, and look at results.

Simply Stated: Lacking in question number but appropriate in type and quality of question while leaning towards more questions being easy than hard.  COMQUEST Level 2 CE is a quality question bank with top notch customer service but has a good amount of room to grow and mature.

Until next time… good luck to those studying.  Time to watch: