VCOM College Catalog and Student Handbook

ComprehensiveTesting: COMSAE Phase 1 According to the accreditation requirements for the college, as outlined by the AOA Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA), students are required to successfully pass the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners’ (NBOME) Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination exams (COMLEX Level 1 and COMLEX Level 2 CE) as a part of a College of Osteopathic Medicine’s graduation requirements. In order to ensure students are attaining the medical knowledge competencies required to begin the OMS 3 year and to pass COMLEX Level 1, VCOM requires students to complete a Comprehensive Review Course and comprehensive testing through COMSAE Phase 1 at the end of the OMS 2 year. COMSAE Phase 1: A Comprehensive Review Exam The COMSAE Phase 1 exam serves as the final exam for the Comprehensive Review Course in Block 8. In addition to serving as the course exam, this exam measures cumulative medical knowledge of the OMS 1 and 2 years. The exam is generally administered in June of the OMS 2 year. The timelines for the course and exam are announced each year. To be eligible to be promoted to the OMS 3 year, the student must pass the Comprehensive Review Course and sit for COMLEX Level 1. Students who do not pass the Comprehensive Review Course must pass COMLEX Level 1 in order to be promoted to the OMS 3 year. VCOM pays for the first COMSAE Phase 1 exam that students take as the final exam for the Comprehensive Review Course in Block 8 and pays for the COMSAE Phase 1 exams that are used as the remediation exam in the event that a student must sit for a second or third attempt of COMSAE Phase 1. Each year, VCOM will notify students of the COMSAE forms they may purchase on their own to take as additional practice exams to prepare for their official COMSAE or COMLEX Level 1 exam. Students must only utilize the forms specified, as the other forms are utilized as the official COMSAE for the Comprehensive Review Course and as the remediation exam(s) if needed. NBOME logs the COMSAE exams taken, which allows VCOM to monitor the exams purchased by students to ensure that no COMSAEs that have been taken are utilized as a remediation exam(s). COMSAE Phase 1: First Attempt • Students who score 460 or greater on COMSAE Phase 1 on the first attempt will receive a “P” (Pass) grade for the Comprehensive Review Course (provided they have met all other course requirements) and will be allowed to sit for COMLEX Level 1 within the VCOM approved testing window. Once students pass COMSAE Phase 1 they are to continue to study until they take COMLEX Level 1 during the approved testing window (usually mid-June through mid-July). • Students who score 440 – 459 on COMSAE Phase 1 on the first attempt will receive an “IP” (In Progress) grade for the Comprehensive Review Course. To resolve the “IP” grade and be released to sit for COMLEX Level 1, the student is required to do the following: o Meet with the Center for Institutional, Faculty, and Student Success (CIFSS) to design a prescribed remediation plan. The plan includes a tentative date the student is to sit for COMLEX Level 1.

 The remediation plan includes providing CIFSS with weekly updates regarding study plan progress and question bank performance. Additional requirements may be prescribed in the remediation plan. Students must follow and complete a prescribed remediation plan as designed. VCOM will monitor students’ progress toward completion of the prescribed

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