COMAT Clinical – Surgery

Content Outline and Assessment Objectives

The exam blueprint below contains Surgery topics covered in Dimension 1 – Patient Presentation.

Selected Specific Learner-Centered Objectives for Surgery

For Surgery, the examinee will be required to demonstrate the ability to diagnose and manage selected patient presentations and clinical situations involving, but not limited to:

1. Abdominal defects and hernias in the adult and pediatric patient
2. Endocrine and breast and related issues: thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pancreas, pituitary and other glands; surgical issues of the breasts
3. Fluids: shock, fluid and electrolytes, surgical nutrition, coagulation and blood
4. Gastrointestinal and related issues: esophagus, diaphragm, stomach, duodenum, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and appendix
5. General surgical issues in urology, gynecology, and pediatrics
6. Hepatobiliary and related issues: pancreas, biliary tract, liver and spleen
7. Osteopathic principles and practice in surgical care: somatic dysfunction, viscerosomatic relationships and osteopathic manipulative treatment techniques
8. Surgical oncology and surgical pathology
9. Trauma: musculoskeletal injury and fractures; blunt and penetrating chest injury diagnosis and care
10. Wounds and infections: skin and subcutaneous tissues, immunology and transplantation

Selected Student and Faculty Learning Resources for Surgery

In addition to the aforementioned objectives, examples of supplementary resources used by the NBOME to inform the development of the Surgery exam are listed below:

• Association for Surgical Education (ASE) – The Manual of Surgical Objectives, 4th Edition
• American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) – Educational Council on Osteopathic Principles (ECOP)
• American Osteopathic Association (AOA) – Surgery
• American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons (ACOS) – Basic Standards for Residency Training in Surgery and the Surgical Subspecialties

Sample Questions

The Surgery sample questions are primarily designed to assist the candidate in navigating through the examination, and it is provided to facilitate the actual testing experience. It is not designed to give the candidate a score or provide information about how a candidate might perform on the examination.