Doctors In Training and COMBANK Announce Affiliation

July 3, 2012 – Fort Worth, Texas — Doctors In Training, a leading provider in online medical education, and COMBANK, a cutting edge interactive question bank for the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX), announced a partnership that will aid Osteopathic Medical Students in better preparing for their COMLEX..

Since its inception, Doctors In Training has focused on providing quality training to medical students. The affiliation between Doctors In Training and COMBANK will allow each company to concentrate on its strengths, video-based medical content in the case of Doctors In Training, and online question bank content through a dynamic platform in the case of COMBANK. The synergy developed by this combination of strengths will create an integrated experience of top-quality COMLEX preparation materials for medical students.

Doctors In Training chose an affiliation with COMBANK to create the best recipe for medical student success. “Doctors in Training is excited to enter into this alliance with COMBANK, a leading question bank provider for Osteopathic medical school students,” said Pete Blaisdell, executive vice president of Doctors In Training. “We believe this relationship will allow Doctors in Training to better serve our Osteopathic students by allowing us to offer students access to COMBANK’s products.  COMBANK also shares our student-focused philosophy, which is important for any organization that we work with.”

Joshua Courtney, DO, Anesthesiologist, Founder and CEO of COMANK adds, “Through our discussions, it has become apparent that both COMBANK and Doctors in Training share a progressive philosophy of medical education, one based in core values and proven learning methodology. Together, we intend to provide the Osteopathic community with new interactive learning tools designed to enhance retention of important concepts with in medicine. I believe medical students nationwide will greatly benefit from these efforts.”

About Combank Medical, Inc.

COMBANK is the leader in COMLEX Test Preparation – helping students improve the way they prepare for critical exams.  Thousands of students worldwide, including the top 10 Osteopathic Medical Schools, depend on COMBANK to prepare for their COMLEX. For more information, please visit www.combankmed.com

Press Contact:
Luis Gibb
T: +1.877.233.6460
lgibb@combankmed.com

About Doctors In Training, LLC.
Doctors In Training was Founded in 2000 by Brian Jenkins, MD, Doctors In Training headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas produces innovative video lectures, quizzes and reviews for medical students and other medical professionals.  For more information, please visit www.doctorsintraining.com

Press Contact:
Luke Hejl,
T:  +1.817.870.2730
luke@doctorsintraining.com

See http://www.nbome.orgfor more details.

See http://www.nbome.org for more details.

See http://www.nbome.org for more details.

Second-year medical students, take note!  Danielle Jones, author of Mind on Medicine recently published the Ultimate Guide to Studying for USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX, featuring helpful insight from four medical students who recently took the exams.  The article takes a candid look at the students’ opinions on prep courses and resources, what they wish they’d known, and tips for test day.

COMBANK got some love from Rachel, who asserted, “If you are only taking the COMLEX, a 3-month subscription to COMBANK is all you need. The questions are indicative of what’s on the actual test.”

The fact is, no amount of advice will replace the knowledge you must attain from studying and taking practice questions. Some exam experiences may have weighted certain topics heavier than others, but by no means is that predictable and by no means will an 8-hour exam cover only one or two topics. You must be prepared to encounter a broad range of topics no matter what.

Now, lets look at some facts. There are some area the NBOME continues to focus on each year, and we can use this knowledge to drive our study efforts. For example, we know that COMLEX Level 1 is heavy on Path, Pharm, and Micro…so additional effort geared toward these subjects is a must. Level 2 CE is a little more ambiguous, but again, we know the exam loves to test OMM, OB/GYN, and medical ethics so focus in these areas is time well-spent.

We all know colleagues who seem to score highly with minimal study effort. If you are one of them, I commend you. If not, you may find it both tempting and frustrating to take advice from these individuals. Unfortunately, most of us are not this way. Hopefully by know, you are comfortable with your learning style. Some of us highlight, some of us underline, and still there are some of us who must rewrite before the information sticks in our minds. Whether you like to read alone or work better in groups, something has worked for you or you wouldn’t have made it this far. The key is knowing what works for YOU!

Consider taking the following approach. Take a few minutes to make a list of all the subject areas that will be tested on your boards starting with your least favorite and ending with your strongest subject. Then, start from the top and construct a dedicated study schedule geared toward mastering your least favorite subjects first. If you are into sports, think about it like a football team gearing up for the draft. If you are the Saints and have one of the most effective offenses in the game, maybe it’s time to draft some defensive talent? It is often said that a team is only as strong as its weakest player. The same goes for your study program. A critical step in your preparation lies in the ability to first recognize then address your areas of weakness.

Although you may have an idea of this in your mind, it is best to use an objective assessment tool. Some turn to a single assessment exam such as COMSAE for this purpose. Others use subject charting similar to what we offer with COMBANK for this purpose. Regardless of how you do it, it is very important to objectively identify your strong and weak areas. The more insight you have into this, the better off you will be.

When it comes time to creating a study plan, we advocate for one that takes a balanced approach. Once you’ve exhausted yourself with subjects you despise, reward yourself with some you love. By no means should you ignore your strengths; just make them stronger. Balance in your study program will allow you to improve your defense while fine-tuning your offense. Once you fill in your gaps, you will be unstoppable on game day!