COMLEX Level 1 Board Review Questions and Practice Tests

What topics are covered on the COMLEX Level 1?

According to the COMLEX-USA Examination Blueprint, the exam covers the following topics:

Dimension 1: Patient Presentation (Minimum %)

• Osteopathic Principles, Practice, and Manipulative Treatment: 11%
• Osteopathic Patient Care and Procedural Skills: 6%
• Application of Knowledge for Osteopathic Medical Practice: 60%
• Practice-Based Learning and Improvement in Osteopathic Medical Practice: 5%
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills in the Practice of Osteopathic Medicine: 3%
• Professionalism in the Practice of Osteopathic Medicine: 3%
• Systems-Based Practice in Osteopathic Medicine: 2%

Dimension 2: Physician Tasks (Minimum %)

• Community Health and Patient Presentations Related to Wellness: 12%
• Human Development, Reproduction, and Sexuality: 5%
• Endocrine System and Metabolism: 5%
• Nervous System and Mental Health: 10%
• Musculoskeletal System: 13%
• Genitourinary/Renal System and Breasts: 5%
• Gastrointestinal System and Nutritional Health: 10%
• Circulatory and Hematologic Systems: 10%
• Respiratory System: 10%
• Integumentary System: 5%

COMLEX Tips and Tricks

Level 1 is typically given to 2nd year Osteopathic Medical Students. While each exam has slight variations, we have heard that Neuro and Psychiatric Pharm are heavily tested. OMM questions tend to be on the easier side. Several students that we have talked to struggled with the ‘data gathering’ section… this probably is one area where rote memorization is advised.

It’s important to understand that COMLEX is not a combination of USMLE and OMT – the scoring is completely different and the questions are a little more ‘murky’ than the more straightforward approach of the USMLE exams. Your study time should be focused on working through these types of questions instead of just memorizing facts. You should be using practice questions to drive the study focus, and always study the answer options as well. (We’ve spent a significant amount of time writing out explanations for incorrect answers for a reason – it really helps!)

All in all, BoardVitals is a pretty challenging question bank. Students that score over 50% on our COMLEX question bank tend to do very well on the real exam. We’ve focused on really teaching the key concepts. Just make sure to flag problematic questions that you can go back to the week before the exam. Good luck!