USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Missouri

Missouri has six medical schools in four cities: Columbia, Kansas City, St. Louis and Kirksville (list of medical schools). St. Louis and Kansas City host two each, Saint Louis University (1836) is the oldest school on the list, and only two of the six, the University of Missouri and the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), are public (list of medical schools).

Clerkships run through 32 teaching hospitals on the CMS list, nine of them in St. Louis and five in Kansas City (CMS teaching hospital list). The schools draw very different classes: 85.3% of the University of Missouri's 2025-26 entering class came from Missouri, against 8.9% at Washington University (AAMC FACTS).

Medical schools in Missouri

Several of these schools teach students at more than one site: University of Missouri School of Medicine also lists Springfield, Missouri; University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine also lists St. Joseph, Missouri; Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine also lists Joplin, Missouri.

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

Teaching hospitals in Missouri by city

• St. Louis: Mercy Hospital - St. Louis; Barnes-Jewish Hospital; SSM Health St. Marys Hospital - STL; SSM Saint Louis University Hospital; Missouri Baptist Medical Center; St. Lukes Des Peres Hospital; Christian Hospital Northeast; St. Alexius Hospital; St. Louis Childrens Hospital
• Kansas City: Amend #1 Research Medical Center; University Health Truman Med Center; University Health Lakewood Med Ctr; Saint Lukes Hospital of Kansas City; Children's Mercy Hospital
• Fulton: Fulton Medical Center; Fulton State Hospital
• Sedalia: Bothwell Regional Health Center
• Kirksville: Northeast Regional Medical Center
• Springfield: Coxhealth
• Jefferson City: Capital Region Medical Center
• Moberly: Moberly Regional Medical Center
• Fenton: SSM Health St. Clare Hospital
• Independence: Amend 1 Centerpoint Medical Center
• Bridgeton: SSM Health Depaul Hospital
• Poplar Bluff: Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center
• Joplin: Freeman Oak Hill Health System
• Columbia: Univ of Missouri Health Care
• Creve Coeur: Barnes Jewish West County Hospital
• Chesterfield: St. Lukes Hospital
• Lees Summit: Lees Summit Medical Center
• St. Peters: Barnes Jewish St. Peters Hospital
• Blue Springs: St. Marys Medical Center

Facts about Missouri

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.

• ATSU-KCOM's first-time pass rate on COMLEX Level 2-CE was 94.81% for 2025-2026, against 92.48% nationally. (A.T. Still University)
• ATSU-KCOM graduates passed COMLEX Level 3 at 97.09% on the first attempt in 2025. (A.T. Still University)
• Of the 159 ATSU-KCOM students in the class of 2026 who sought a residency, 158 were placed in graduate medical education. (A.T. Still University)
• The same Kansas City University report gives its osteopathic college 94.8% on COMLEX Level 2-CE for fiscal year 2024 and 97.7% on COMLEX Level 3 for calendar year 2024. (Kansas City University)
• The University of Missouri requires every medical student to take Step 1 at the end of the second year and to pass it before beginning the fourth year. (University of Missouri catalog)
• The University of Missouri's Springfield clinical campus, opened in 2016, takes 28 third-year and 28 fourth-year students a year for rotations with CoxHealth and Mercy; from 2027 it is set to admit first-year students, reaching four classes of 32 by fall 2030. (University of Missouri)
• UMKC's six-year program places students in docent teams of 12 to 15 from year 3, with a half day each week in a continuing care clinic and two months a year on the internal medicine rotation in years 4 to 6. (UMKC catalog)
• In the 2025 Main Residency Match, programs in Missouri offered 838 residency positions in 25 specialties, the most in internal medicine (210), family medicine (89), and pediatrics (89). (NRMP)

Sources: LCME, directory of accredited U.S. programs (checked October 29, 2026); AAMC FACTS, Table A-1, 2025-2026 (checked October 29, 2026); A.T. Still University, KCOM student outcomes (checked October 29, 2026); Kansas City University, board and licensure pass rates (checked October 29, 2026); University of Missouri catalog, School of Medicine (checked November 1, 2026); University of Missouri, Springfield campus expansion (2025) (checked November 1, 2026); UMKC catalog, six-year program description (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).

Mizzou: Step 1 after two years, a pass before the fourth

The University of Missouri states its rule plainly: every medical student takes Step 1 at the end of the second year and must pass it before beginning the fourth year (University of Missouri catalog). The catalog also lists a one-credit independent study course for the dedicated period, full-time Step 1 review with knowledge check-ins and one-on-one meetings with learning specialists; a student who tests before the course ends spends the rest of it preparing for clerkships.

So the whole third year sits between the exam and the deadline for passing it, and it is also the year of the core clerkships and their shelf exams. We plan the dedicated weeks so the clerkship year is spent on clerkships, and we start Step 2 CK preparation inside the clerkships rather than after them.

Springfield: from a clinical campus to a four-year school

Mizzou's Springfield program opened in 2016 as a clinical campus. Each year 28 third-year and 28 fourth-year students do their rotations there through CoxHealth and Mercy, after two years of classes in Columbia (University of Missouri). In 2025 the Board of Curators voted to make it a full four-year program: the first first-year class is planned for 2027, with four classes of 32, 128 students, by fall 2030, pending LCME review.

The university says the curriculum will be identical on both campuses, with some lectures streamed both ways. For board preparation that means the same Step 1 rule applies in Springfield, while the clerkship sites, and so the patients behind each shelf exam, are different. We tutor students on both campuses by live video (Zoom or Google Meet).

UMKC: medicine from high school, Step 1 inside six years

UMKC's six-year BA/MD program combines the bachelor's and MD degrees and puts students in docent teams from the start: teams of 10 to 15 classmates in years 1 and 2, then teams of 12 to 15 students from years 3 to 6 who spend a half day every week in a continuing care clinic and work together on the internal medicine rotation two months a year in years 4 to 6 (UMKC catalog).

In year 3 students move from the Volker campus to the Health Science District for the pre-clinical medicine that prepares them for Step 1, and in year 4 they return to Volker to finish the bachelor's degree while keeping clinical assignments. UMKC requires passing scores on Step 1 and Step 2 CK to graduate. A Step 1 candidate there is balancing undergraduate courses with clinic, so we keep Step 1 plans short and regular rather than built around one long dedicated block.

Residency positions in Missouri

In the 2025 Main Residency Match, Missouri programs offered 838 positions in 25 specialties: 210 in internal medicine, 89 each in family medicine and pediatrics, 53 in surgery, 48 in psychiatry and 46 in emergency medicine (NRMP). Internal medicine residents later sit the ABIM exam, whose program results are in the table above.

Which board exams Missouri students take

The four MD schools prepare students for the USMLE. They are the University of Missouri in Columbia, which also lists Springfield; UMKC in Kansas City, which also lists St. Joseph; and Saint Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis.

The two DO schools take COMLEX-USA. They are A. T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine and Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine, which also lists Joplin. ATSU-KCOM reports a first-time COMLEX Level 2-CE pass rate of 94.81% for 2025-2026, against 92.48% nationally, and 97.09% on Level 3 on the first attempt in 2025 (ATSU-KCOM outcomes). Kansas City University reports, for its college as a whole, 94.8% on Level 2-CE (fiscal year 2024) and 97.7% on Level 3 (calendar 2024) (KCU pass rates).

Some osteopathic students add the USMLE to compete for residencies that read it; our COMLEX Level 2 vs Step 2 CK comparison helps decide whether that is worth the extra exam.

Missouri licensing rules that affect your exam plan

Missouri's FSMB entry puts everything in the attempts line: three attempts at USMLE Step 3, three attempts on COMLEX, seven years to complete the USMLE (waived for MD/PhD candidates) and no limit on COMLEX (FSMB). The separate time-limit line only says to contact the board (FSMB).

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

What Missouri's rules mean for how you study

• Step 3 is where Missouri is tighter than the USMLE, with three attempts against four per Step, while Steps 1 and 2 CK have no Missouri limit listed, so the USMLE's own four applies (FSMB, USMLE eligibility rules).
• For DO students the FSMB says three attempts on COMLEX without saying per Level or in total, so ask the Missouri board and, until you hear back, plan as if three is the total across Levels (FSMB).
• The listing gives seven years to complete the USMLE, waived for MD/PhD candidates, yet its time-limit line says to contact the board, so confirm which date starts the clock before you take a research year (FSMB).

Many Missouri students rotate, interview or match next door. Missouri's neighbors on our list: Arkansas (2 MD, 1 DO), Illinois (8 MD, 2 DO), Iowa (1 MD, 1 DO), Kansas (1 MD, 1 DO), Kentucky (2 MD, 1 DO), Nebraska (2 MD, 0 DO), Oklahoma (1 MD, 1 DO), Tennessee (5 MD, 2 DO).

How much Missouri searches for board prep

Four of Missouri's five Google Trends terms rank in the top ten of 51 over the past five years: USMLE Step 1 (3rd), shelf exam (4th), COMLEX (7th) and Step 2 (9th). Only USMLE overall, at 13th, falls outside. A 7th place for COMLEX is a strong showing for a state with two DO schools against four MD schools.

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