Who We Are

Welcome from the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME). Founded in 1934, the NBOME 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 that meet the assessment needs of state medical and osteopathic medical licensing boards, osteopathic medical students and residents, 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 90 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. Comprising 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 130 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.

The Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination series (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 for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), used by most residency program directors in evaluating DO applicants in the context of holistic review. The exam series is endorsed by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), the American Association of Osteopathic Examiners, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, and the American Medical Association.

In 2023 and 2024, numerous leadership alliances and organizations in eight different specialties stood up to advocate for the value added by DO residency and fellowship program applicants, and for COMLEX-USA as their licensing exam credential. Doing so helped promote historic high match and placement rates for DO applicants in those years.

Our advocacy initiatives have been instrumental in national and international recognition of the competencies that DOs possess, including the value that comes with the DO degree and the COMLEX-USA credential. In 2020, after a thorough and comprehensive review, the Medical Board of Australia deemed competent authority to the NBOME and COMLEX-USA for US-trained DOs for medical licensure (registration). In addition, the NBOME worked tirelessly as a supporter of the recent global recognition by the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities.

The NBOME invests considerable ongoing resources into assuring that COMLEX-USA meets the evolving practice of osteopathic medicine. Continuous quality improvement by the NBOME in this regard was lauded by the FSMB Journal of Medical Regulation Editor-in-Chief Heidi M. Koenig, MD, who described COMLEX-USA as representing a “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

The NBOME continues to implement significant enhancements to the test-taking experience, demonstrating our ongoing concern for candidate wellness as they develop and improve their competencies in this high-stakes environment. In addition, our core value of diversity, equity, and inclusion drives enhancements to reduce bias and stereotypes that can be fostered by inattention to language or images used in assessments and to ensure fairness for all.

In addition to COMLEX-USA, the NBOME develops and administers the 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 numerous specialty colleges and certification boards and other health professions, including the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and the National Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners. In addition, the NBOME partners with the AOA on longitudinal assessment for osteopathic continuous certification in 12 specialties using our 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