Presented By: Shiyuan Wang, Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine
Co-Authors: Pamela Basehore, Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine
Krisha Patel, Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine

This survey study aims to understand how osteopathic medical students prepare for both COMLEX Level-2CE and USMLE Step-2CK exams. Literature on study strategies of these two exams is limited regarding osteopathic medical students who chose to take both exams and how this decision impacted their study strategies. A survey was distributed in October to the current 4th-year medical students after most students took the exams. Questions included how they distributed study time, how frequently different resources were used, whether they study alone or in group, and how Pass/Fail Level 1/Step 1 policy impacted study strategies. Most students (N=38 of 42, 90.5%) focused on Step 2CK first and only dedicated some time for osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM, not in Step 2CK), and 71.4% began their study before finishing third-year clerkships, particularly during the second half of MS3. Heavily used resources were question banks and practice exams. UWorld, including both its question banks (100%) and practice exam packages (72%) was the mostly used vendor, followed by NBME self-assessment (76%) as most favored practice exams. Review tools such as Anki or Video/Podcast were also used most or all the time by 23.8% students. Few students used Review books or Board preparation programs. For OMM, the most widely used resource was question banks (49.2%) particularly COMQUEST, followed by review books (23.8%). Most students (60%) chose to study with peers. 45.7% students indicated the pass/fail policy significantly impacted their study strategies regarding amount of study time, question banks and practice exams but not the type of resources used. This survey provided insights in terms of time arrangement, resources, and other study patterns for students who chose to take both exams for better student support in the future. More data will be collected to address the limitation of these preliminary results.