USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Dothan

Dothan is a one-school town: the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM) is a private DO college founded in 2010 (school list). It has its own Dothan campus and is the academic arm of Southeast Health, the region's largest health system, whose Medical Center at 1108 Ross Clark Circle is the only Dothan hospital on the CMS teaching hospital list (ACOM, Southeast Health; CMS teaching hospital list).

ACOM reports 4,514 applications for its class of 2030 and 1,626 graduates since 2017 (ACOM institutional effectiveness).

Facts about Dothan

ABIM internal medicine certification exam by residency program: ABIM residency program pass rates.

• The Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine reports a 97.21% first-time pass rate on COMLEX Level 1 for 2025-2026, against a national average of 90.19%. (Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ACOM reports 99.5% residency placement for its class of 2026. (Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ACOM reports 4,514 applications for its class of 2030 and 1,626 graduates since 2017. (Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• Southeast Health Medical Center in Dothan, established in 1957, is a 420-bed regional referral hub serving more than 460,000 residents, and ACOM is the academic arm of the Southeast Health system. (Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• Southeast Health Medical Center is one of four certified Comprehensive Stroke Centers in Alabama and a Level II Trauma Center, and it runs the region's only Level III NICU and only inpatient pediatric unit. (Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ACOM's core clinical sites for third- and fourth-year students are grouped in four regions, North, Central, South and Southeast, with sites from Florence and Huntsville to Mobile, Gulfport, Pensacola and Tallahassee as well as Dothan. (Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ACOM's Clinical Competency Committee works with students on passing COMLEX Level 2-CE on the first try and on getting the residency auditions and interviews they need to match. (Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• The state-funded Alabama Medical Education Consortium, incorporated in 2004, built the core teaching sites later committed to ACOM; it reports that residents in AMEC-affiliated programs grew from 21 in 2017 to 231 in 2023, when 13 Alabama hospitals had established residency programs. (Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine)

Sources: Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, institutional effectiveness (checked October 29, 2026); Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Southeast Health (checked November 1, 2026); Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Core Sites (checked November 1, 2026); Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Road to Match (checked November 1, 2026); Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Graduate Medical Education (checked November 1, 2026); ABIM, residency program pass rates 2023-2025 (checked October 29, 2026).

A medical school tied to a regional hospital

Southeast Health Medical Center was established in 1957 and today is a 420-bed referral hub for more than 460,000 people. It is one of four certified Comprehensive Stroke Centers in Alabama and a Level II Trauma Center, and it runs the region's only Level III NICU and only inpatient pediatric unit (ACOM, Southeast Health).

For exam prep that mix matters. A student who rotates at the Medical Center sees stroke, trauma and neonatal cases that turn up as COMLEX and shelf vignettes, so we tie question sets to the service a student is on that month: neurology and emergency medicine blocks around the stroke and trauma teams, pediatrics around the NICU and the pediatric unit.

Third year anywhere from Florence to Tallahassee

ACOM delivers its third and fourth years through community hospitals and clinics across the region rather than one campus hospital. Its core sites fall into four regions, North, Central, South and Southeast, from Florence and Huntsville in north Alabama to Mobile, Gulfport in Mississippi, and Pensacola and Tallahassee in Florida, with Dothan among the Central sites (ACOM core sites).

That puts many Dothan students hours from campus during the year they carry the most exams: a shelf at the end of each core rotation and COMLEX Level 2-CE ahead of residency applications. ACOM's Clinical Competency Committee works on exactly that, helping students prepare to pass Level 2-CE on the first try (ACOM, Road to Match). Our sessions are online, so they move with the student from site to site.

Alabama's growing residency map

The core sites came from the state-funded Alabama Medical Education Consortium (AMEC), incorporated in 2004 to bring more physicians to rural and underserved Alabama. AMEC later helped hospitals start residency programs; by its count, residents in AMEC-affiliated programs grew from 21 in 2017 to 231 in 2023, when 13 Alabama hospitals had graduate medical education programs (ACOM, Graduate Medical Education).

ACOM reports 99.5% residency placement for its class of 2026 (ACOM institutional effectiveness), and Southeast Health trains its own internists: 91% of the 45 first-time takers from its internal medicine program passed ABIM's exam in 2023-2025 (ABIM). For a Dothan graduate who stays in Alabama for residency, COMLEX Level 3 comes during that residency and, for internists, the ABIM exam after it.

Medical school in Dothan

Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine lists 644 students on Wikipedia; its listed teaching hospital is Southeast Health, Alabama Medical Education Consortium.

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

Teaching hospitals in Dothan

On the CMS teaching hospital list (October 2026):

• Southeast Health Medical Center, 1108 Ross Clark Circle, Dothan, AL 36301

The exams Dothan students take, in order

ACOM grants the DO, so the licensing exams are COMLEX-USA. Level 1 comes first; for 2025-2026 ACOM reports a 97.21% first-time pass rate on it, against a national average of 90.19% (ACOM institutional effectiveness). Students who want a USMLE score for residency programs that compare DO and MD applicants can add Step 1.

The clinical years bring an NBME shelf exam per core rotation and Level 2-CE; our Level 2 vs Step 2 CK guide helps decide whether to sit USMLE Step 2 CK as well. Level 3 follows in residency.

Alabama board rules for Dothan graduates

Alabama counts USMLE attempts as one pool: its medical board lists 10 attempts across all USMLE Steps, one pool shared by Step 1, Step 2 CK and Step 3 rather than a count per Step (FSMB, summary checked October 2026).

The USMLE program's own limit is four attempts per Step (USMLE eligibility rules); across three Steps that could reach twelve, so Alabama's ten is the tighter number. Any USMLE sitting an ACOM student adds to a COMLEX plan draws from that pool. The full Alabama rules are on our Alabama tutoring page.

How much Dothan searches for board prep

Over five years, Google Trends puts Dothan 4th among US metro areas for USMLE searches, with a score of 83 of 100, and 7th for COMLEX Level 2, with a score of 36 (retrieved October 2026). The better rank goes to USMLE even though Dothan's only school grants the DO. Scores compare metros against each other; they are not head counts.

• “USMLE”: number 4 among US metro areas, score 83 of 100
• “COMLEX Level 2”: number 7 among US metro areas, score 36 of 100