The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine is Iowa City's only medical school, a public MD school founded in 1870 (school list). It took 4,527 applications for 153 first-year places in 2025-26, and 64.1% of the entering class came from Iowa (AAMC FACTS, Table A-1).
The LCME has accredited Carver since before 1942 and lists its next full survey for 2033-34 (LCME). The one Iowa City hospital on the CMS teaching hospital list is University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, on Hawkins Drive (CMS teaching hospital list).
Facts about Iowa City
| School | City | LCME accreditation | Next full survey | 2025-26 applications | First-year places | Entering class from Iowa |
|---|
| University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine | Iowa City | Full, since before 1942 | 2033-34 | 4,527 | 153 | 64.1% |
Accreditation: LCME directory; applications, places and in-state share: AAMC FACTS, Table A-1.
| City | Internal medicine residency program | First-time takers, 2023-2025 | Passed |
|---|
| Iowa City | University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center Program | 70 | 97% |
ABIM internal medicine certification exam by residency program: ABIM residency program pass rates.
- The Carver College of Medicine admits 152 new MD students each year, and their clerkships start after three semesters of preclinical instruction, in January of the second year. (University of Iowa General Catalog 2026-2027)
- Carver's core clerkships (Phase II) take 44 weeks: internal medicine 10 weeks; family and community medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology and surgery 6 weeks each; neurology and psychiatry 4 weeks each; emergency medicine 2 weeks; plus 10 weeks of selectives. (University of Iowa General Catalog 2026-2027)
- After the core clerkships, Carver students must pass USMLE Step 1 before they are promoted to the pathways part of the curriculum; they take Step 2 during Phase III and must pass it to graduate. (University of Iowa General Catalog 2026-2027)
- Carver's Phase III asks for 4 weeks of critical care medicine, a 4-week advanced inpatient subinternship and 32 weeks of advanced electives. (University of Iowa General Catalog 2026-2027)
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 Iowa General Catalog 2026-2027, Doctor of Medicine (checked November 1, 2026); ABIM, residency program pass rates 2023-2025 (checked October 29, 2026).
At Carver, the clerkships come before Step 1
Carver students reach the wards early. After three semesters of preclinical courses they begin 44 weeks of core clerkships in January of their second year, and Step 1 comes after those clerkships: the college promotes a student to the pathways part of the curriculum only once Step 1 is passed (University of Iowa catalog). The student handbook adds the outer date, the first Step by March 31 of the third year (Carver student handbook).
That order shapes how we tutor Step 1 in Iowa City. By the time a Carver student opens a dedicated Step 1 book, they have already sat a medicine shelf after a 10-week block and pediatrics, surgery and ob-gyn shelves after 6-week blocks, so the basic science has been met first through patients. We use each shelf as a checkpoint: the questions missed on a shelf practice test usually point at the mechanisms Step 1 asks about, and those become the first weeks of the Step 1 plan.
The shorter blocks need their own plan. Neurology and psychiatry run four weeks each and emergency medicine two, so for those we start the question bank before the rotation rather than in its last week.
Placing Step 2 CK in Phase III
Phase III takes the three remaining semesters: 4 weeks of critical care medicine, a 4-week advanced inpatient subinternship and 32 weeks of advanced electives, and Step 2 is taken during this phase; Carver requires a pass on it to graduate (University of Iowa catalog).
Because Step 1 is pass/fail, the Step 2 CK score is the number residency programs read, so its date deserves as much thought as the subinternship. We help Carver students set it early enough that the score is back before applications go out, and away from the subinternship and critical care months, when call leaves little time for questions.
Medical school in Iowa City
| School | Degree | Founded | Type | Exam series | In Iowa City |
|---|
| University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine | MD | 1870 | Public | USMLE | Main campus |
School list: LCME and COCA lists, via the list of medical schools in the United States, checked October 2026.
Teaching hospitals in Iowa City
On the CMS teaching hospital list (October 2026):
- University of Iowa Hosp & Clinics, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242
When Iowa City students must take the boards
University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine states: “All students must take and pass both USMLE Step 1 and USMLE Step 2 exams in order to graduate. ... The initial USMLE step exam must be taken by March 31st of the third year of the curriculum.” (The Student Handbook (updated Fall 2026), PDF p.13, Fall 2026).
The exams Iowa City students take, in order
Carver's student handbook sets the clock: the first USMLE Step must be taken by March 31 of the third year, and students must take and pass both Step 1 and Step 2 to graduate (Carver student handbook, Fall 2026).
Step 1 has been pass/fail since January 26, 2022, so Step 2 CK is the scored exam residency programs now weigh most. Shelf exams fall between them, one after each core clerkship (shelf exam tutoring), and Step 3 waits for residency.
Internal medicine residents then face the ABIM exam: in 2023-2025, 97% of 70 first-time takers from the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center program passed it (ABIM).
Iowa board rules for Iowa City graduates
Iowa's medical board allows six attempts at Steps 1 and 2 and three at Step 3 (FSMB). The USMLE program stops at four attempts per Step (USMLE eligibility rules), so at Steps 1 and 2 the exam program's limit comes first and the board's six is never reached.
Step 3 is where Iowa's rule is the tighter one, three attempts against four (FSMB, USMLE eligibility rules). For an Iowa City graduate who plans to train or practice in Iowa, that leaves less room for a retake at Step 3 than at Steps 1 or 2.
How much Iowa City searches for board prep
Google Trends ranks Iowa City 11th among US cities for “USMLE” over the past five years, with a score of 32 out of 100. For “shelf exam” it ranks the metro area Google labels Cedar Rapids-Iowa City 10th among US metro areas, with a score of 50, so that result covers Cedar Rapids as well (retrieved October 2026). Scores are relative, not counts of students.
- “USMLE”: number 11 among US cities, score 32 of 100
- “Shelf exam”: number 10 among US metro areas (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City), score 50 of 100
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