Medical EducationORIGINAL ARTICLE
Abstract
Context: The National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME) provides the Foundational Biomedical Sciences (FBS) examinations – FBS-Comprehensive and FBS-Targeted – to support the evaluation of osteopathic medical knowledge. These assessments were launched in 2018 and 2020, respectively. However, the relationship between FBS performance and performance on the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States (COMLEX-USA) Level 1 has not been fully explored.
Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between performance on Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Achievement Test (COMAT) FBS assessments and COMLEX-USA Level 1 scores.
Methods: This study analyzed the examination performance of first-time COMLEX-USA Level 1 test-takers who completed an FBS assessment between 2021 and 2024. Pearson pairwise correlation analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationship between FBS scores and Level 1 performance.
Results: The Pearson correlation coefficient between the FBS-Comprehensive and COMLEX-USA Level 1 was r=0.63. Correlations between the FBS-Targeted assessments and COMLEX-USA Level 1 ranged from r=0.50 to r=0.64. These indicate strong positive linear relationships between the two assessments.
Conclusions: This study demonstrates a strong correlation between FBS performance and COMLEX-USA Level 1 outcomes. These findings provide empirical support for the use of COMAT FBS assessments as valuable tools for gauging students’ readiness for COMLEX-USA Level 1.