COMLEX-USA
The Pathway to Osteopathic Medical Practice & Licensure in the United States
About COMLEX
The Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States (COMLEX-USA) is a three-level, national standardized licensure examination designed for licensure for the practice of osteopathic medicine.
COMLEX-USA assesses osteopathic medical knowledge, knowledge fluency, clinical skills, and other competencies essential for practice as an osteopathic generalist physician. It is also a graduation requirement for attaining a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from schools and colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States, and for entry into and promotion within graduate medical education (residency) training programs.
The NBOME follows assessment standards and best practices when evaluating passing standards, ensuring that COMLEX-USA meets and maintains high assessment quality.
View Each COMLEX Exam
COMLEX-USA Frequently Asked Questions
COMLEX-USA—the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States—is a high-quality, high-stakes, three-level medical licensing examination series for osteopathic physicians. The COMLEX-USA series emphasizes medical problem-solving knowledge and cognitive skills. It is the only licensing examination that covers osteopathic principles and practices, and the application of osteopathic manipulative treatment. The series includes three computer-based examinations:
- COMLEX-USA Level 1—assesses the competent application of foundational and basic biomedical and osteopathic science knowledge relevant to clinical presentations as defined by the COMLEX-USA blueprint, emphasizing the scientific concepts and principles necessary for understanding the mechanisms of health, clinical problems and disease processes.
- COMLEX-USA Level 2-Cognitive Evaluation (CE)—assesses the competent application of knowledge of clinical concepts and principles involved in all steps of clinical problem-solving for osteopathic medical practice as defined by the COMLEX-USA blueprint, emphasizing the biomedical and osteopathic concepts and principles necessary for making appropriate clinical diagnoses through patient history and physical examination findings.
- COMLEX-USA Level 3—assesses competence in the foundational competency domains required for generalist physicians to deliver safe and effective osteopathic medical care and promote health in unsupervised clinical settings.