What Are CDM Cases And Why Do I Care?
You might be wondering why it’s been decided that CDM cases have been integrated into your COMLEX Level 3 exams. Believe it or not, these types of cases were developed almost 15 years ago in Canada and have already been adopted by many countries all over the world. The NBOME states that, “CDM cases assess the ability to make appropriate patient management decisions as an independently practicing osteopathic generalist physician. The cases are not meant to simply assess factual knowledge, but rather to assess the ability to apply knowledge at specific decision points in patient care, a special emphasis for the COMLEX-USA Level 3 examination”.
Since your COMLEX Level 3 will include these new question types, it is important to understand how the questions are constructed and will be answered. On your exam, you will most likely encounter 8-9 CDM cases belonging to one section. The typical case will provide you with a clinical scenario with 2-4 questions about. You will be asked to answer the questions via a short written answer or by an extended multiple-choice question, where more than one answer might be correct.
While it’s never fun to feel like a guinea pig for new question types, the good news is that recently physician-authored CDM cases are now included with all COMQUEST COMLEX Level 3 subscriptions. There is no need to purchase any other study materials to crush your Level 3 exams. In fact, at the time of this writing, COMQUEST is the only questions bank on the market to offer these CDM cases as part of their COMLEX Level 3 subscription packages.
Start studying early and learn through our single questions and CDM cases, each including a thorough explanation about the topic. Be sure to check back for more tips and pointers on getting through CDM cases and other great topics to help you succeed during medical school and residency. You can also learn more about the CDM cases by visiting: http://www.nbome.org/cdm.asp