VCOM Institutional Policy and Procedure Manual

VCOM Policy and Procedure

Policy #S018

12. COMPREHENSIVE TESTING

12.1 COMSAE Phase 1: A Comprehensive Review Exam 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. 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 an 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). 12.1.1 COMSAE Phase 1: First Attempt A. 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

VCOM Grading, Satisfactory Academic Progress, and Graduation Requirements Policy and Procedures

Page 16 of 38