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NBOME Liaison Committee Meeting

August 24, 2020

Each year since 1991, the NBOME Board of Directors has convened its annual Liaison Committee Meeting, hosting representatives from organizations from across the continuum of osteopathic medical education and the house of medicine. The committee meets to share their experiences, ideas and concerns as they pertain to NBOME assessments as well as other challenges and opportunities facing the profession. This year’s Liaison Committee, while transitioned to a virtual and somewhat shortened format, was attended by 20 leaders from 12 different organizations, including members of the undergraduate and graduate medical education community from AACOM, AOGME, OPDA, ACGME; osteopathic medical students and residents from COSGP, SOMA, and the AOA-Bureau of Emerging Leaders; members of the licensure community from AAOE and FSMB; and professional organizations — AOA, AMA. NBOME also welcomed, for the first time ever, the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), who shared results from the 2020 Program Director Survey, including a record high 86% of ACGME residency directors requiring COMLEX-USA for DO applicants.

This year’s Liaison Committee Meeting theme, chosen even before the pandemic, was Professional identity formation across the continuum — from medical education through practice. Dr. Geraldine O’Shea chaired the meeting with support from Board Vice-Chair Richard LaBaere, DO, and NBOME President and CEO, John R. Gimpel, DO, MEd. NBOME was further represented by members of the NBOME team, including Liaison Committee Lead, Sandra Waters, MEM, Melissa Turner, MS, and Marie Fleury, DO, MBA.

Following NBOME and COMLEX-USA updates, participants engaged in a facilitated discussion focused on COMLEX-USA scoring (numeric vs. pass/fail), osteopathic distinctiveness, and strategies to advance professional identity formation for DO students, residents, and practicing physicians. Participants showed support for NBOME’s agility and innovation throughout the pandemic, including the creation of a COM Liaison Team, development of COMAT self-proctored administration options, and enhanced collaboration with Prometric to test over 14,000 displaced COMLEX-USA candidates this summer.

Historically, this process has resulted in numerous opportunities to make improvements to NBOME initiatives, products and services. These improvements have shown to help meet the evolving needs of our candidates, colleges of osteopathic medicine, the licensing community, and others who rely on what we DO. The NBOME Liaison Committee meeting enables us to continue to promote a culture of collaboration, while endeavoring to continuously improve as we serve others and remain steadfast in our mission to protect the public via high-quality, valid and reliable assessment.

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