USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Colorado

Colorado trains doctors at two schools, one on each degree track. The University of Colorado School of Medicine (CU), on the Anschutz campus in Aurora, is the public MD school, founded in 1883; Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Parker is the private DO school, founded in 2006 (school list).

CU drew 10,405 applications for 181 first-year places in 2025-26, and 48.1% of the entering class came from Colorado, so about half of each CU class moves to the state for medical school (AAMC FACTS). Colorado has 24 hospitals on the CMS teaching hospital list: seven in Denver, three each in Pueblo and Aurora, and two each in Colorado Springs and Englewood (CMS teaching hospital list).

Medical schools in Colorado

Several of these schools teach students at more than one site: University of Colorado School of Medicine also lists Colorado Springs, Colorado, Fort Collins, Colorado; Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine also lists Ivins, Utah, Billings, Montana.

School list: LCME and COCA accreditation lists, via the list of medical schools in the United States, checked October 2026.

Teaching hospitals in Colorado by city

• Denver: Denver Health Medical Center; Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Center; Saint Joseph Hospital; Rose Medical Center; Centura Porter Adventist Hospital; National Jewish Health; Colorado Mental Health Inst-Ft Logan
• Pueblo: Centura St. Mary Corwin Hospital; Parkview Medical Center; Colorado Mental Health Institute - Pueblo
• Aurora: University of Colorado Hospital; The Medical Center of Aurora; Children's Hospital Colorado
• Colorado Springs: Memorial Health System; Centura Penrose Hospital
• Englewood: Swedish Medical Center; Craig Hospital
• Greeley: North Colorado Medical Center
• Ft. Collins: Poudre Valley Hospital
• Lakewood: Centura St. Anthony Hospital
• Grand Junction: St. Marys Hospital & Medical Center
• Thornton: North Suburban Medical Center
• Westminster: Centura St. Anthony North Hospital
• Lone Tree: Sky Ridge Medical Center

Facts about Colorado

Accreditation: LCME directory; applications, places and in-state share: AAMC FACTS, Table A-1.

ABIM internal medicine certification exam by residency program: ABIM residency program pass rates; ABIM says to read rates from under 25 takers with caution.

• The University of Colorado School of Medicine's Trek curriculum launched in July 2021 with the class of 2025; it moves students from the Plains pre-clerkship phase to the Foothills clerkship year and then the Alpine-Summit post-clerkship phase. (University of Colorado School of Medicine)
• CU students must pass Step 1 before they begin the individualized Alpine courses that follow the Foothills clerkship year. (University of Colorado School of Medicine)
• Every CU student sits the NBME Comprehensive Clinical Science Exam, which the school describes as simulating Step 2, at the end of the Foothills year; a score that is not above 175 (5th percentile nationally) is flagged for the Trek Progress Committee. (University of Colorado School of Medicine)
• CU's Alpine-Summit phase asks for a 4-week acting internship, a 2-week critical care course or 4-week ICU course, a 4-week integrated science selective and 28 weeks of further coursework. (University of Colorado School of Medicine)
• CU's MD-PhD students take the Advanced Science Courses in the fall of their third medical-school year, sit Step 1 before the end of that semester after about 5 weeks of dedicated study, and take Step 2 before the end of January. (University of Colorado School of Medicine)
• Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine reports a first-time COMLEX Level 1 pass rate of 91.94% for its class of 2026, against 90.25% nationally. (Rocky Vista University)
• For its class of 2024, Rocky Vista reports first-time pass rates of 95.29% on COMLEX Level 1 and 97.35% on Level 2-CE, against 90.60% and 92.51% nationally. (Rocky Vista University)
• In the 2025 Main Residency Match, programs in Colorado offered 428 residency positions in 24 specialties, the most in internal medicine (104), family medicine (85), and surgery (39). (NRMP)

Sources: LCME, directory of accredited U.S. programs (checked October 29, 2026); AAMC FACTS, Table A-1, 2025-2026 (checked October 29, 2026); University of Colorado School of Medicine, Trek curriculum (checked November 1, 2026); University of Colorado School of Medicine, Foothills guidebook 2024-25 (checked November 1, 2026); University of Colorado School of Medicine, Alpine-Summit phase (checked November 1, 2026); University of Colorado School of Medicine, MSTP Trek curriculum (checked November 1, 2026); Rocky Vista University, board pass rates (checked November 1, 2026); NRMP, 2025 Main Residency Match by state and specialty (checked October 29, 2026); ABIM, residency program pass rates 2023-2025 (checked October 29, 2026).

CU's Trek curriculum puts Step 1 after the clerkship year

CU rebuilt its MD program as the Trek curriculum, which began in July 2021 with the class of 2025 (CU Trek curriculum). Its three phases are named for the landscape: Plains, the pre-clerkship courses; Foothills, the clerkship year, taught as longitudinal integrated clerkships rather than one specialty block after another; and Alpine-Summit, the individualized post-clerkship phase.

The order matters for boards. At CU, Step 1 is not the gate at the end of the classroom years: the Foothills guidebook says students must pass it before they begin the individualized Alpine courses (CU Foothills guidebook). So Step 1 sits between the clerkship year and the part of Alpine-Summit that students build for themselves, and a CU student reaches it with the clinical cases of every core specialty fresh.

Foothills ends with a checkpoint that students often underestimate. Everyone sits the NBME Comprehensive Clinical Science Exam, which the school describes as simulating Step 2, and a score that is not above 175, the 5th percentile nationally, is noted as a concern for the Trek Progress Committee (CU Foothills guidebook). We read that exam the way the school does, as an early look at Step 2 CK readiness, and plan the Step 1 dedicated period and the later Step 2 CK date from it rather than from the calendar alone.

What Alpine-Summit leaves room for

After Step 1, Alpine-Summit asks for a 4-week acting internship, a 2-week critical care course or a 4-week ICU course, a 4-week integrated science selective and 28 more weeks chosen from acting internships, away rotations, research, electives and longitudinal courses (CU Alpine-Summit phase). Step 2 CK has to fit somewhere in those weeks, ideally before away rotations and residency applications crowd the calendar.

CU's MD-PhD students run on a tighter clock. Their program page puts the Advanced Science Courses in the fall of the third medical-school year, Step 1 before the end of that semester after about 5 weeks of dedicated study, and Step 2 before the end of January, before the next lab rotation (CU MD-PhD program). Five weeks is short for a first board exam, so with MD-PhD students we start a steady question-bank habit during the clerkships instead of saving it for the dedicated block.

Rocky Vista and COMLEX

Rocky Vista requires its students to pass COMLEX Level 1 and Level 2-CE, and its graduates take Level 3 in residency. The college publishes its first-time pass rates beside the national ones: 91.94% on Level 1 for the class of 2026, against 90.25% nationally, and for the class of 2024, 95.29% on Level 1 and 97.35% on Level 2-CE, against 90.60% and 92.51% (Rocky Vista board pass rates).

Many DO students also sit the USMLE so residency programs can compare them directly with MD applicants. Taking both series means two score reports and two sets of dates to plan around the clerkships; our COMLEX Level 2 vs Step 2 CK comparison sets out the differences, and we tutor both series.

Residency positions in Colorado

In the 2025 Main Residency Match, Colorado programs offered 428 positions in 24 specialties: 104 in internal medicine, 85 in family medicine, 39 in surgery, 28 in pediatrics and 23 in psychiatry (NRMP). Almost one position in five was in family medicine.

On ABIM's internal medicine exam in 2023-2025, 95% of 147 first-time takers from the University of Colorado program in Aurora passed, as did 90% of 31 from HCA HealthONE's Sky Ridge Medical Center program in Lone Tree and 86% of 29 from Saint Joseph Hospital's program in Denver (ABIM). Residents in those programs sit the ABIM internal medicine exam we also tutor.

Which board exams Colorado students take

At CU the series is the USMLE: Step 1 once the Foothills clerkship year is done, then Step 2 CK, and Step 3 in residency. The clerkship year brings its own NBME shelf exams.

Rocky Vista's students take COMLEX-USA (NBOME): Level 1, Level 2-CE and, in residency, Level 3. Rocky Vista also teaches in Ivins, Utah, and runs the Montana College of Osteopathic Medicine in Billings, which reports its board results separately; students there sit COMLEX too (school list).

Colorado licensing rules that affect your exam plan

FSMB's Colorado entry lists no limit on USMLE attempts and “No information available on COMLEX” (FSMB). Colorado's clock is seven years from first sitting to complete the USMLE or COMLEX, or ten years for MD/PhD and DO/PhD candidates, and a first license needs one year of training (FSMB).

Source: FSMB state licensure requirements, checked October 2026; confirm with the board before relying on them.

What Colorado's rules mean for how you study

• Colorado lists no cap on USMLE attempts (FSMB), so the exam program sets your ceiling: four attempts at one Step without passing makes you ineligible for any Step (USMLE eligibility rules).
• Colorado counts its seven years from your first sitting, not from graduation, whether you sit USMLE or COMLEX (FSMB). Mark that date and plan to finish your last exam inside seven years of it.
• MD/PhD and DO/PhD candidates get ten years instead of seven (FSMB). That is room for a research degree; confirm with the board which date starts the clock.
• On COMLEX attempts, FSMB's Colorado entry reads “No information available” (FSMB). Rocky Vista students should ask the Colorado board directly rather than assume there is no cap.

Many Colorado students rotate, interview or match next door. Colorado's neighbors on our list: Arizona (2 MD, 2 DO), Kansas (1 MD, 1 DO), Nebraska (2 MD, 0 DO), New Mexico (1 MD, 1 DO), Oklahoma (1 MD, 1 DO), Utah (1 MD, 1 DO), Wyoming (0 MD, 0 DO).

How much Colorado searches for board prep

Colorado's best Google Trends rank is “Shelf exam” at 24th of 51 (the 50 states plus DC), the end-of-rotation test that clerkship students sit. “COMLEX” comes next at 31st, then “USMLE Step 2” at 40th, “USMLE Step 1” at 45th and “USMLE” at 48th (Google Trends, United States, October 2021 to October 2026). COMLEX outranks every USMLE term in a state with one MD school and one DO school.

Source: Google Trends, United States, past 5 years, retrieved October 2026; ranks show relative interest, not student numbers.