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NBOME
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A Message from the President

John R. Gimpel, DO, MEd, FACOFP, FAAFP, President and CEO

Welcome from the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners.

The National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME), founded in 1934, is an independent, nongovernmental, nonprofit organization with the mission of protecting the public by providing the means to assess competencies for osteopathic medicine and related health care professions. We work closely with key stakeholders to develop services and programs to meet the assessment needs of the state medical and osteopathic medical licensing boards, osteopathic medical students and physicians in residency training, practicing physicians, medical educators and colleges of osteopathic medicine, residency program directors, national professional organizations, and the national and international testing and medical licensure communities.

For over 85 years, the NBOME has been recognized for excellence in the national and the international arenas of assessment of osteopathic physicians and related health care professionals. Our Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA) is the only examination series universally accepted for osteopathic physician licensure in all licensing jurisdictions within the United States. As such, COMLEX-USA is recognized by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), required for accreditation of DO-granting medical schools, recognized by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and used by 86% of residency program directors in evaluating DO applicants, and endorsed by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), the American Association of Osteopathic Examiners (AAOE), the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), and the American Medical Association (AMA).

Comprised of leading osteopathic physicians across the United States, and public, non-physician members, the NBOME Board of Directors provides strategic direction to a highly dedicated team of more than 200 professional staff members. The NBOME National Faculty, with expertise in assessment for the health professions, osteopathic medical practice, undergraduate and graduate medical education, and physician licensure and regulation, work with our staff to perform a wide array of duties for high-quality test development and delivery, standard-setting, continuous quality improvement, innovations in testing, and research initiatives.

NBOME invests considerable ongoing resources into assuring that COMLEX-USA keeps up with the evolving practice of osteopathic medicine. NBOME’s continuous quality improvement in this regard was lauded by the FSMB’s Journal of Medical Regulation Editor-In-Chief Heidi M. Koenig, MD, describing COMLEX-USA as “good example of how medical examiners can update their assessment systems to stay ahead of the curve of change….(assisting) in protecting the public and ensuring quality in medical practice, keeping our patients safe.”1 In 2020, after a thorough and comprehensive review, the Medical Board of Australia deemed competent authority to NBOME and COMLEX-USA for US-trained DOs for medical licensure (registration) in Australia. We continue to implement significant enhancements to the test-taking experience, demonstrating our ongoing concern for candidate wellness and they develop and improve their competencies in this high-stakes environment.

In addition to COMLEX-USA, NBOME develops and administers and expanded portfolio of COMAT achievement tests in over 20 clinical and foundational biomedical science disciplines and subjects, the COMVEX examination for physician revalidation, and the COMSAE and WelCOM formative assessments for self-assessment and learning. We are proud to provide competency assessment services in partnership for many specialty colleges and certification boards, as well as other health professions, including the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), the National Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners (NBPME), and an exciting new partnership with the AOA for longitudinal assessment for osteopathic continuous certification in 14 specialties using NBOME’s CATALYST platform.

As a charter member of the Coalition for Physician Accountability, the NBOME is proud of our commitment to our core value of patient safety and protecting the public, which we believe positively impacts the health care received by patients and communities far and wide. This important role and responsibility in professional self-regulation helps to solidify public trust in the osteopathic medical profession and medicine and health care overall.

We hope you enjoy and learn from your visit to our website and invite you to return frequently to stay informed of our initiatives.

Sincerely yours,

John R. Gimpel, DO, MEd, FACOFP, FAAFP
President and CEO

 
1 Koenig, HM. From The Editor. Journal of Medical Regulation. 1 October 2018; 104 (3): 3. doi: https://doi.org/10.30770/2572-1852-104.3.3

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