Comprehensive Competency Verification (CCV)

The CCV was developed by a task force of osteopathic medical educators, deans, state licensing board members, reviewed and approved by the COMLEX-USA Composite Examination Committee and the NBOME Board of Directors.

The CCV aligns with the competencies assessed in C3DO to assure that all candidates in the COMLEX-USA licensing examination pathway are being directly observed and assessed on core clinical skills.

It is meant to document the rigor of the osteopathic capstone assessments already being administered at some colleges of osteopathic medicine, and to provide an alternative for those COMs who are not yet ready or able to commit to participating in a national standardized assessment program.

The CCV certifies that a COM confirms their student has met the following osteopathic clinical skills competencies to a national standard:

• History building and hands-on physical examination skills
• Osteopathic clinical reasoning
• Interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and compassion in patient care
• Performance of osteopathic manipulative treatment

The CCV program:

• Supports documentation of clinical skills competency as required for licensure (see COCA Standards Element 11.4)
• Provides access to a validated osteopathic clinical skills assessment tool library (in development)
• Provides access to assessment tools via mobile device for point-of-care evaluation of osteopathic clinical skills (in development)
• Delivers valuable reporting to COMs—including performance metrics, clinical presentation data, and comparative insights—to inform continuous improvement, research, and quality assurance.

Cost Structure

Student Registration: $275

CCV Requirements

In order to receive a CCV certification from their dean, the DO student must complete six directly observed clinical encounters with different clinical presentations, noting the following:

• Encounters may occur via COM-developed OSCE, rotation-based assessment using validated* rating tools and established rater training protocols, or a combination of the two (e.g., three station OSCE plus three rotation-based assessments)
• At least three encounters must include the evaluation of the performance of OMT on actual patients or standardized patients (by qualified OMT evaluator)

^{*Validated tool describes an established assessment instrument (e.g., global rubric, checklists, coupled with rater training and quality assurance) that uses evidence-based research in medical education, training, and practice to accurately and reliably measure what is intended to be measured.}

Prior to completing the CCV protocol, the DO student must have:

• Taken and passed COMLEX-USA Level 1.
• Completed 4 months (16 weeks) of core clinical clerkship/clinical education, including at least one primary care clinical rotation in family medicine and/or internal medicine.
  • Six months of clinical education is strongly recommended.

Once a student has received the six evaluations via OSCE and/or rotation-based assessment, their COM dean will certify successful completion. Students who receive a CCV from their dean will have that noted in their NBOME account as meeting part of the eligibility criteria to take COMLEX-USA Level 3. COMs electing to utilize CCV will be able to track student progress in the NBOME Learning Center.

Note: While CCV parallels the C3DO assessment in terms of skills measured, participating students will not earn the C3DO credential.