COMLEX Level 2-CE Study Schedule

A good COMLEX Level 2-CE study schedule fits the exam it prepares you for: one eight-hour day of 320 questions in 40-question sections, with osteopathic principles tested alongside clinical medicine (NBOME Bulletin). The sample below spreads five weeks of dedicated study across the clinical systems, keeps OMM in every early week, and places three COMSAE Phase 2 sittings where they can still change the plan.

It is a sample, not a student's real calendar. Use it as a starting shape, then fit the weeks to your own practice-test results and rotation dates.

By Dr. Sahith Valluru. For The Boards Professor, founded by Dr. Sean Moazezi, DO. Published and last updated October 28, 2026.

Sample 5-week COMLEX Level 2-CE schedule

Sample schedule

Sample schedule for illustration only. Not a real student, not real data. Your tutor builds your actual plan around your practice-exam results and the time you have.

Sample 5-week dedicated COMLEX Level 2-CE schedule: 5 weeks, about 9 hours a day, 6 days a week. One full day off each week.

A typical day

Block	Hours	What
Question bank	5	Timed 40-question blocks, full review
Anki review	1	Due reviews
Content review	2	Clinical management + OMM
Other	1	Tutor session

Week by week

Week	Focus	Practice exam
Before week 1	Baseline	Phase 2 (Level 2-CE)
Week 1	Internal medicine; OMM
Week 2	Surgery, Emergency, Musculoskeletal; OMM
Week 3	Pediatrics, Reproductive / OB-GYN; OMM	Phase 2 (Level 2-CE)
Week 4	Psych / Behavioral, Neurology, Biostats / Ethics
Week 5	Weakest areas from COMSAE; Rest the day before the exam	Phase 2 (Level 2-CE)

How the sample day works

Five hours of question work is the core of every day: timed 40-question blocks, each followed by a full review of every answer, right or wrong. Sean's working rule is 80 to 100 questions a day reviewed properly, rather than a bigger number skimmed. Anki comes first in the morning and stops at an hour, so it never eats the question time. The two content hours go to clinical management and OMM, and one hour a day is a tutoring session or, on other days, a second look at the topics the morning blocks exposed.

Build the 40-question habit early. On test day you can review and change answers only inside the section you are in; once you move on, earlier sections are closed (NBOME Bulletin). Practising in 40-question units teaches you to settle every flagged question before you leave it.

Exam facts the schedule is built on

Checked October 28, 2026. Rules change; the linked page is the authority.

Topic	Official rule	Source
Length	One day: two separately timed 4-hour sessions of four sections each, 60 minutes of pooled break time and a 16-minute tutorial. Unused time in Session A does not carry over to Session B.	NBOME Bulletin of Information 2026-2027
Questions	320 single-best-answer questions, 40 per section. Once you move to a new section, earlier sections are closed.	NBOME Bulletin of Information 2026-2027
Official practice exams	COMSAE Phase 2, $60 per form. The COMSAE page lists two Phase 2 forms for student purchase; a form may be bought more than once.	NBOME: COMSAE
Passing score	400.	NBOME: scoring and reporting
First-time pass rate	92.5% of 9,096 first-time takers, 2025-2026 testing cycle (June to May).	NBOME: examination performance data

Where OMM fits

Osteopathic principles and practice is one of the competency domains Level 2-CE is built on, next to osteopathic patient care, communication, systems-based practice, professionalism and ethics (NBOME Bulletin). The sample keeps OMM in weeks 1 to 3 and pairs it with the system you are studying that week: musculoskeletal and surgical patients in week 2, for example, are a natural place to review the related treatments.

Short daily OMM sessions hold better than a single cram day, because most of the material is recall: diagnoses, techniques and when each one is contraindicated. Drop OMM from the plan in week 4 only if your COMSAE review shows it is no longer costing you points.

When to take COMSAE Phase 2

The sample uses three sittings: a baseline before week 1, a checkpoint at the end of week 3, and a final read in week 5. Each Phase 2 form is 160 questions in four 40-question sections and runs four hours timed (NBOME COMSAE format), so take it in one sitting, at the hour your real exam starts, with breaks you would actually take.

Check what is on sale before you plan around three forms. When we checked, the NBOME's COMSAE page listed two Phase 2 forms for student purchase, at $60 each, while its format page listed three student forms (NBOME COMSAE). With only two available, keep the baseline and the week-5 sitting, and make week 3's checkpoint a timed day of mixed 40-question blocks instead of repeating a form you have already seen.

Read each result for the pattern, not only the number. A low score with most misses in two disciplines calls for a different week 4 than a low score spread evenly, which usually points to timing or reasoning.

Adapting the sample

• Four weeks instead of five: fold weeks 3 and 4 together and cut content hours, not question hours.
• Studying during rotations: run the same weekly order over eight to ten weeks at two or three hours a day, with longer question days on weekends.
• A shaky week-3 COMSAE: talk to your school before the date gets close. The dean attests your standing for Level 2-CE eligibility (NBOME Bulletin), so a date change usually runs through your school.
• Sitting USMLE Step 2 CK as well: the clinical content overlaps heavily, but the formats differ; see our Level 2-CE vs Step 2 CK comparison before you decide the order.

The last week and test day

Week 5 is for your weakest areas from the COMSAE review and nothing new. Take the day before the exam off.

Plan your breaks before you arrive. You get 60 minutes of pooled break time across the day, and time left in Session A does not carry into Session B (NBOME Bulletin). One workable split is a few minutes after each section in the morning and a longer meal break between the two sessions, so the last four sections do not start on an empty tank.

The passing score is 400, a standard the NBOME last reviewed in February 2023 and plans to review again in February 2028 (NBOME standard setting). Scores generally arrive two to six weeks after the testing window closes (NBOME scoring). If you are applying to residency, our COMLEX percentile guide explains how programs read the number.

Tutoring for Level 2-CE

Sean Moazezi is a DO and sat the COMLEX exams he teaches; Chelsi Flippo, MD also tutors Level 2-CE. A first session turns your baseline COMSAE into a week-by-week plan like the sample above. After that, sessions are live questions: you talk through your reasoning and the tutor works on how you pick out the deciding clue and choose between the last two options. Session notes come from a scribe within 24 to 48 hours.