USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Milwaukee

Milwaukee has one medical school, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), a private MD school founded in 1893 whose main campus is here (school list). LCME has accredited MCW since before 1942, and its next full survey is due in 2026-27 (LCME).

MCW received 10,711 applications for 274 first-year places in 2025-26, about 39 per place, and 51.5% of its entering class came from Wisconsin (AAMC FACTS, Table A-1). Seven Milwaukee hospitals are on the CMS teaching hospital list: three Ascension hospitals, Aurora Health Care Metro, Froedtert, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex (CMS teaching hospital list).

Facts about Milwaukee

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 Medical College of Wisconsin launched its MCWfusion curriculum in July 2023; on the Milwaukee campus, Phase 1 lasts 18 months, Phase 2, the clerkship year, 12 months and Phase 3 17 months. (Medical College of Wisconsin)
• MCW's Phase 1 closes with Individual Professional Development (IPD 1), which includes the time for Step 1 study. (Medical College of Wisconsin)
• On the Milwaukee campus, MCW's Phase 2 gives 16 weeks each to a hospital clerkship, a surgical clerkship and an ambulatory integrated clerkship. (Medical College of Wisconsin)
• MCW's Phase 2 Capstone closes the clerkship year with the NBME Comprehensive Clinical Science Exam (CCSE) and MCW's own Clinical Reasoning Exam. (Medical College of Wisconsin)
• Phase 3 at MCW requires two acting internships, an Integrated Science Selective and a Preparing for Residency course. (Medical College of Wisconsin)
• MCW's regional campuses, MCW-Green Bay and MCW-Central Wisconsin, run three-year MD programs with a 15-month Phase 1 and a 10-month Phase 2. (Medical College of Wisconsin)
• MCW-Milwaukee lists Children's Wisconsin, Froedtert Hospital, Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin and the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center as its partners for clinical experience. (Medical College of Wisconsin)

Sources: LCME, directory of accredited U.S. programs (checked October 29, 2026); AAMC FACTS, Table A-1, 2025-2026 (checked October 29, 2026); Medical College of Wisconsin, MCWfusion Curriculum (checked November 1, 2026); Medical College of Wisconsin, MCW-Milwaukee campus (checked November 1, 2026); ABIM, residency program pass rates 2023-2025 (checked October 29, 2026).

Step 1 at MCW comes after 18 months

MCW launched its MCWfusion curriculum in July 2023. On the Milwaukee campus the first phase is 18 months of organ-system Integrated Science blocks with early clinical courses, and it closes with IPD 1, the individual development block that holds the Step 1 study time (MCWfusion curriculum). Step 1 therefore lands in the middle of the second year, not at its end, and the clerkship year starts soon after.

That timing shortens the gap between the last Integrated Science block and test day, which helps, but it also means the dedicated period is the only long stretch before clerkships. We start Milwaukee students on a light question-bank routine during the later Phase 1 blocks, so IPD 1 is spent on weak systems and full-length practice exams rather than first passes through the material.

A clerkship year in three 16-week blocks

MCW-Milwaukee's Phase 2 is built from three 16-week blocks rather than eight separate rotations. The hospital block covers general internal medicine, general pediatrics, psychiatry and critical care in the ER or ICU; the surgical block covers general surgery, a surgical specialty, anesthesia and obstetrics and gynecology; and the ambulatory integrated block mixes family medicine, neurology, pediatric specialties and urgent care (MCWfusion curriculum).

The year ends with a Phase 2 Capstone that tests all of it at once: the NBME Comprehensive Clinical Science Exam (CCSE) and MCW's own Clinical Reasoning Exam (MCWfusion curriculum). The CCSE draws on the same clinical science as Step 2 CK, so we treat the capstone as a full Step 2 CK checkpoint, and our guide to the NBME CCSE explains how its score is reported.

Phase 3 follows: 17 months on the Milwaukee campus, with two acting internships, an Integrated Science Selective, a Preparing for Residency course and electives, two of which Milwaukee students can use as vacation (MCWfusion curriculum). We usually aim the Step 2 CK date early in Phase 3, while the capstone material is still fresh and before acting internships and interviews fill the calendar.

Green Bay and Central Wisconsin run a shorter clock

MCW also trains students at two regional campuses, MCW-Green Bay and MCW-Central Wisconsin, on a three-year MD. There Phase 1 lasts 15 months, Phase 2 10 months and Phase 3 10 months, and Central Wisconsin students complete their clerkships as a longitudinal integrated clerkship at regional sites (MCWfusion curriculum).

With a year less in total, regional-campus students reach Step 1 sooner and have less slack after a slow practice score. We tutor them the same way, online, but plan Step 1 and Step 2 CK as one calendar from the first month of Phase 1.

Medical school in Milwaukee

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

Teaching hospitals in Milwaukee

On the CMS teaching hospital list (October 2026):

• Ascension Columbia St. Marys Milwaukee, 2323 North Lake Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53211
• Ascension St. Francis Hospital, 3237 South 16th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53215
• Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital INC, 5000 West Chambers Street, Milwaukee, WI 53210
• Aurora Health Care Metro INC., 2900 West Oklahoma Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53215
• Froedtert Mem. Lutheran Hospt., 9200 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226
• Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, 9000 W.Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53226
• Milwaukee Cty Mental Health Complex, 9455 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226

Other teaching hospitals near Milwaukee

The same CMS list has one more teaching hospital in the Milwaukee ZIP region, useful for electives and away rotations: Aurora West Allis Medical Center (West Allis).

When Milwaukee students must take the boards

Medical College of Wisconsin states: “Pass the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 (see Step attempts policy) ... Pass the USMLE Step 2 CK examination (see Step attempts policy)” (MCW School of Medicine Student Handbook (graduation requirements, PDF p.38), 2026-2027AY).

The exams Milwaukee students take, in order

MCW grants the MD, so Milwaukee students take the USMLE. Step 1 comes at the close of the 18-month Phase 1, Step 2 CK after the clerkship year, and MCW's handbook makes passing both a graduation requirement (MCW School of Medicine Student Handbook).

The clerkship blocks carry integrated knowledge assessments, and we tutor the NBME subject exams students meet on rotations as well (shelf exam tutoring). Step 3 comes in residency, where Milwaukee also trains its own internists for the ABIM exam at Froedtert, the Zablocki VA and the other MCW-affiliated hospitals (MCW-Milwaukee).

Wisconsin board rules for Milwaukee graduates

Milwaukee graduates who stay in Wisconsin for residency or practice fall under Wisconsin's medical board. FSMB's summary, checked in October 2026, lists 3 attempts at each USMLE Step or COMLEX Level, so the cap reaches Step 1 and Step 2 CK as well as Step 3 and sits one below the USMLE program's four per Step (FSMB, USMLE eligibility rules).

Wisconsin also wants Step 3 passed within 10 years of passing Step 1, and 2 years of postgraduate training before a first license (FSMB). MCW's handbook points to its own Step attempts policy for Step 1 and Step 2 CK; read it before you book a retake (MCW School of Medicine Student Handbook).

How much Milwaukee searches for board prep

Google Trends files Milwaukee's numbers under Wauwatosa. Over the past five years it ranks 5th among US cities for “USMLE” searches, with a score of 48 out of 100, and 2nd for “USMLE Step 1”, with a score of 66 (retrieved October 2026). Step 1 outranks the umbrella term, and the scores are relative, not counts of students.

• “USMLE”: number 5 among US cities (Wauwatosa), score 48 of 100
• “USMLE Step 1”: number 2 among US cities (Wauwatosa), score 66 of 100