“Assessing fundamental clinical skills of osteopathic medical students” was published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. This article provides background and insight into the history of national clinical skills assessment and the original purpose of C3DO. It then details the Phase 1 feasibility pilot.
In April, C3DO Phase 3 pilot administrations began. One school, Marian University Tom and Julie Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine (MU-WCOM), completed their Phase 3 administrations within the month, and another, Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (ARCOM), has begun theirs.
Among the Phase 3 enhancements, data and video transfer, with automated transfer systems integrated into exam software by three major vendors, is among the most impactful for participating schools. MU-WCOM pioneered Laerdal’s automated transfer system for SimCapture, and ARCOM is pioneering Elevate Healthcare’s system for Learning Space. (EMS’ transfer system is scheduled to be pioneered during pilot administrations this summer.) Collaboration with these software vendors has greatly increased the feasibility of the C3DO. The software solutions will continue to be enhanced over the coming months, but already, COM staff report this as a significant enhancement to the process.
April 16 was the final meeting of the C3DO Task Force. The NBOME had convened the Task Force in the summer of 2022 following review of applications from across the country of educators familiar with clinical skills education and assessment. Their directive was to provide guidance for the development of the C3DO. The task force has met fourteen times over the past 2.5 years at various stages of the project, with important objectives such as reviewing and recommending pilot sites, developing guidelines for the assessments in C3DO, and adjusting to account for challenges and opportunities as the activity was piloted at a total of 15 locations in the first three phases. At their final meeting, the members provided additional guidance for Phase 3 national standards and discussed the future of the C3DO, discussions that will be shared with the Board of Directors at their June meeting. A list of members can be found here.
Stakeholder feedback will be instrumental to the NBOME Board of Directors as they discuss the future of the C3DO project at their June meeting. In addition to a national stakeholder survey from Fall 2024, the Task force and participating COMs focus groups, written feedback and surveys during pilots of both staff and students, NBOME has reached out through channels such as COM visits, meetings with student groups including COSGP and SOMA, our own Student Experience Panel, the NBOME Liaison Committee, which includes representatives from across the house of medicine, and the NBOME C3DO Advisory Panel.
Currently, the osteopathic clinical skills requirement for COMLEX-USA is satisfied through a dean’s attestation of each DO graduate’s clinical skills competency, contributing to eligibility for Level 3. Some COM participants in C3DO are currently using it to inform that attestation. This attestation is required through the Class of 2027. The future of this requirement will also be a topic of discussion for the Board, with an announcement expected in July 2025.