USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Idaho

Idaho's only medical school is osteopathic: the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine in Meridian, private and founded in 2016 (school list). Its 2022 cohort entered with 162 students averaging 503.2 on the MCAT and 3.45 in undergraduate GPA (ICOM outcomes).

A University of Washington MD can start in Idaho too. Idaho WWAMI, a partnership with the University of Washington School of Medicine since 1972, admits only Idaho residents, who spend their first 18 months, the Foundations Phase, at the University of Idaho in Moscow (University of Idaho). Idaho programs offered 92 residency positions in the 2025 Match, across 4 specialties (NRMP).

Medical schools in Idaho

Schools based in other states also teach in Idaho: University of Washington School of Medicine (MD, based in Seattle, Washington) lists a campus at Moscow.

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

Teaching hospitals in Idaho by city

• Boise: St. Lukes Regional Medical Center; St. Alphonsus Regional Med Center
• Caldwell: West Valley Medical Center
• Idaho Falls: Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center
• Rexburg: Madison Memorial Hospital
• Pocatello: Portneuf Medical Center
• Coeur d'Alene: Kootenai Hospital District
• Nampa: St. Lukes Nampa Medical Center

Facts about Idaho

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

• Idaho WWAMI, a University of Washington School of Medicine partnership since 1972, admits only Idaho residents, who spend their first 18 months of medical school, the Foundations Phase, at the University of Idaho in Moscow. (University of Idaho)
• The Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine's outcomes dashboard shows a 93.88% first-time COMLEX Level 1 pass rate for its 2022 cohort, against 93.70% for first-time takers nationally. (Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• For the same 2022 cohort, ICOM shows a 96.58% first-time pass rate on COMLEX Level 2-CE, against 95.06% nationally. (Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ICOM's 2022 cohort entered with 162 students averaging 503.2 on the MCAT and 3.45 in undergraduate GPA. (Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ICOM shows 145 graduates from its 2022 cohort and a 100% placement rate. (Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ICOM students take COMLEX-USA Level 1 in May or June, after second-year classes finish, and Level 2-CE in June or July, after third-year rotations finish. (Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ICOM's third year is 12 core rotations at ICOM core sites, opening with a four-week Clinical Preparations course and including a four-week scholarly activity rotation. (Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ICOM's fourth year is nine elective rotations, typically four weeks each; one required rotation prepares students for COMLEX-USA Level 2 and residency, and one must be in primary care. (Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ICOM delivers its third and fourth years through regional sites in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and beyond, and assigns each student a regional site in the second year. (Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ICOM admits 220 students a year and recommends an MCAT at the 50th percentile overall with no section below the 35th, with a minimum competitive GPA of 3.2. (Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• ICOM requires students to pass COMLEX Level 1 and Level 2-CE and to finish every graduation requirement within six years of matriculating. (Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• Idaho WWAMI's Patient Care Phase is 12 months of family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery, with six weeks for a clinical elective or time off; the Explore and Focus Phase that follows lasts 15 months. (University of Idaho)
• Through WRITE, selected third-year Idaho WWAMI students do a 21- to 24-week longitudinal integrated clerkship in one of 30 rural communities in the WWAMI region. (University of Idaho)
• In the 2025 Main Residency Match, programs in Idaho offered 92 residency positions in 4 specialties, the most in family medicine (54), internal medicine (26), and psychiatry (8). (NRMP)

Sources: University of Idaho, Idaho WWAMI (checked October 29, 2026); Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, student achievement dashboard (checked October 29, 2026); Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, Career Planning & Residency Advising (checked November 1, 2026); Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, Clinical Experience (checked November 1, 2026); Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, Admissions (checked November 1, 2026); Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, Degree Programs (checked November 1, 2026); University of Idaho, Idaho WWAMI Academics (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).

Two schools, two exam calendars

ICOM students take COMLEX-USA Level 1 in May or June, once second-year classes finish, and Level 2-CE in June or July, once third-year rotations finish (ICOM career planning). Both sittings come at the end of an academic year, so the dedicated weeks for each are the summer weeks between years, and we plan them from the spring before: a baseline COMSAE in the spring, a weekly question target through the last block of classes or rotations, and the final weeks kept for review rather than new material.

Idaho WWAMI students follow the University of Washington MD calendar instead. After the 18-month Foundations Phase in Moscow comes the Patient Care Phase, 12 months of family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery with six weeks for an elective or time off, and then the 15-month Explore and Focus Phase (Idaho WWAMI academics). Their exams are the USMLE, so two Idaho medical students on rotation in the same month can be preparing for two different exam series.

ICOM's rotations run across five states

ICOM assigns each student a regional site in the second year, and the third and fourth years are delivered through regional sites in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and beyond (ICOM clinical experience). The third year is 12 core rotations at ICOM core sites, opening with a four-week Clinical Preparations course and including a four-week scholarly activity rotation; the fourth year is nine elective rotations, typically four weeks each, one of them aimed at COMLEX Level 2 and residency readiness and one in primary care (ICOM clinical experience).

Core rotations of four weeks mean a new subject roughly every month, and a student far from Meridian has no classmates down the hall to study with. That is where one-on-one tutoring by live video (Zoom or Google Meet) helps most: one tutor who follows the student from rotation to rotation, keeps the Level 2-CE plan on track across the year, and works around whatever site and time zone the rotation puts them in.

ICOM requires a pass on COMLEX Level 1 and Level 2-CE to graduate, and every requirement has to be finished within six years of matriculating (ICOM degree programs). A failed Level 1 therefore costs time on two clocks at once, the rotation schedule and the six-year limit, which is why we treat a first-attempt pass as the whole goal of Level 1 preparation.

Rural training on the WWAMI side

Through WRITE, selected third-year Idaho WWAMI students spend a 21- to 24-week longitudinal integrated clerkship in one of 30 rural communities in the WWAMI region (Idaho WWAMI academics). An integrated clerkship mixes medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology and psychiatry in the same weeks, so shelf preparation has to mix them too; we split each week's questions across the disciplines the student is seeing rather than taking one subject at a time.

Which board exams Idaho students take

ICOM grants the DO, so its students take COMLEX-USA (NBOME): Level 1, Level 2-CE, then Level 3. ICOM's outcomes dashboard shows a 93.88% first-time pass rate on Level 1 for the 2022 cohort, against 93.70% nationally, and 96.58% on Level 2-CE, against 95.06% (ICOM outcomes). It also lists 145 graduates from that cohort and a 100% placement rate (ICOM outcomes).

WWAMI students are University of Washington MD students, so they take the USMLE: Step 1, reported pass/fail since January 26, 2022, then Step 2 CK and Step 3 (USMLE).

In Boise, 87% of the 30 first-time takers from the University of Washington residency program passed ABIM's internal medicine exam in 2023-2025 (ABIM).

Idaho licensing rules that affect your exam plan

FSMB's Idaho entry sets a checkpoint, not a ceiling: “Failure to pass USMLE after 2 attempts may lead to Board interview or evaluation”, with no limit on COMLEX (FSMB). It lists no time limit on either series, and 1 year of training before a first license, or 3 for international graduates (FSMB).

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

What Idaho's rules mean for how you study

• After 2 attempts without passing the USMLE, FSMB says a board interview or evaluation may follow (FSMB). The USMLE program allows four attempts per Step (USMLE eligibility rules), so Idaho's checkpoint comes two sittings sooner.
• FSMB lists no limit on COMLEX attempts, so a DO student meets the 2-attempt checkpoint only by adding a USMLE Step (FSMB).
• Neither series has a time limit in Idaho, so a research year, a leave of absence or a late Step 3 starts no Idaho clock (FSMB).
• Training before a first license is 1 year, or 3 years for international graduates; an IMG in good standing in an Idaho residency, who has signed to finish it in Idaho, can be licensed after 2 (FSMB).

Many Idaho students rotate, interview or match next door. Idaho's neighbors on our list: Montana (0 MD, 1 DO), Nevada (3 MD, 1 DO), Oregon (1 MD, 0 DO), Utah (1 MD, 1 DO), Washington (2 MD, 1 DO), Wyoming (0 MD, 0 DO).

How much Idaho searches for board prep

Idaho sits near the bottom for USMLE searches: 50th of 51 (the 50 states plus DC) for “USMLE”, 49th for “USMLE Step 1” and 40th for “USMLE Step 2”, with “Shelf exam” at 42nd (Google Trends, October 2021 to October 2026). “COMLEX” breaks the pattern at 12th (Google Trends). The two exam series sit far apart, which fits a state whose one in-state school is osteopathic.

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