Why doesn’t the NBOME report COMLEX-USA percentile ranks?
COMLEX-USA is an examination series designed primarily for the licensure of osteopathic physicians. It helps fulfill the NBOME’s mission to protect the public by screening candidates according to its definition of competence for practicing osteopathic medicine. While the NBOME acknowledges that COMLEX-USA examination scores are sometimes used for secondary purposes, such as ranking candidates (e.g. those applying for residency programs), and while there is some evidence to support that practice, this is not the primary purpose of the COMLEX-USA examination series. A percentile score is an examinee’s performance rank among a defined peer group that takes the same examination. For COMLEX-USA examinees, this peer group is considered to be the examinees who take an examination in the same testing cycle. Currently, the testing cycle for COMLEX Level 1 is from May to next April, for COMLEX Level 2-CE, it is from June to next May, and for COMLEX Level 3, it is from February to next January. T
