USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in New Hampshire

The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Hanover is New Hampshire's only medical school, a private MD school founded in 1797 (school list). LCME lists it as accredited since before 1942, with its next full survey due in 2028-29 (LCME).

Geisel's 96 first-year places drew 10,330 applications in 2025-26, and only 4.2% of the entering class came from New Hampshire, so more than nine in ten Geisel students grew up elsewhere and many will be licensed elsewhere (AAMC FACTS). The CMS list counts five teaching hospitals, one each in Concord, Lebanon, Nashua, Portsmouth and Manchester (CMS teaching hospital list).

Medical schools in New Hampshire

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

Teaching hospitals in New Hampshire by city

• Concord: Concord Hospital INC.
• Lebanon: Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hosp
• Nashua: Southern NH Medical Center
• Portsmouth: Portsmouth Regional Hospital
• Manchester: Catholic Medical Center

Facts about New Hampshire

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.

• Geisel's curriculum runs in three phases, Foundations of Medicine, Clinical Immersion, and Exploration and Differentiation, with an 8.5-week summer break between blocks 4 and 5 of the first phase. (Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth)
• Geisel's Clinical Immersion phase begins in April of the second academic year, with six- to eight-week clerkships in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and family medicine at sites that include Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont. (Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth)
• Because required clerkships end by April of the third academic year, Geisel students have 5-6 months for electives and sub-internships before they apply to residencies. (Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth)
• Geisel's 2025-2026 graduation checklist requires a passing USMLE Step 1 score and Step 2 CK by a deadline set by Clinical Education, alongside a sub-internship, 24 credits of electives and a scholarly project. (Geisel School of Medicine)
• In the 2025 Main Residency Match, programs in New Hampshire offered 140 residency positions in 19 specialties, the most in internal medicine (35), family medicine (22), and psychiatry (16). (NRMP)

Sources: LCME, directory of accredited U.S. programs (checked October 29, 2026); AAMC FACTS, Table A-1, 2025-2026 (checked October 29, 2026); Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Curriculum Overview (checked November 1, 2026); Geisel School of Medicine, Graduation Checklist for 2025-2026 (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).

How Geisel's calendar shapes board prep

Geisel moves students onto the wards early. Its Clinical Immersion phase begins in April of the second academic year, with six- to eight-week clerkships in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and family medicine (Geisel curriculum). Before that, the Foundations phase runs in blocks with problem-based learning cases and an 8.5-week summer break between blocks 4 and 5, the one long pause in the first phase.

Many Geisel students cross the river for clinical work: the school's two affiliated academic centers are Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont, and clerkships also run at regional hospitals and practices (Geisel curriculum). Every core rotation ends in an NBME shelf exam, so the shelf season starts in the spring of the second year, earlier than at many schools.

Required clerkships end by April of the third academic year, which leaves Geisel students 5-6 months for electives and sub-internships before residency applications (Geisel curriculum). Step 2 CK, the scored exam since Step 1 went pass/fail, has to fit in that window too, so we place it on the calendar before the away rotations and interviews fill it.

What Geisel requires to graduate

Geisel's 2025-2026 graduation checklist lists a passing USMLE Step 1 score and Step 2 CK by a deadline set by Clinical Education, next to the clerkships, a sub-internship, 24 credits of electives, a Transition to Residency course and a scholarly project (Geisel graduation checklist). Neurology and Advanced Ambulatory Medicine are Phase 3 clerkships, so the neurology shelf comes later than the other cores.

For tutoring, that means two separate plans: a Step 1 plan built from the Foundations blocks and a first NBME practice exam, and a Step 2 CK plan that uses each shelf score as a checkpoint through the clerkship year.

Hanover's small class also means a Geisel student often studies without a large local study group. We fill that gap with weekly one-on-one sessions: a review of the past week's question blocks, the explanations the student got wrong for the same reason twice, and a short plan for the next week. Between sessions the student keeps a running list of missed concepts, which becomes the review list for the final two weeks before each exam.

Matching to a residency in New Hampshire

New Hampshire's 2025 Main Residency Match had 140 positions spread over 19 specialties; 35 in internal medicine, 22 in family medicine and 16 in psychiatry led the list, and 71 of the positions went to US MD seniors (NRMP). Most specialties have only a handful of places, so a New Hampshire graduate who wants to train in the state is usually applying to one program per specialty.

Internal medicine residents in Lebanon later sit ABIM's certification exam; in 2023-2025, 95% of 60 first-time takers from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock/Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital program passed it (ABIM).

Which board exams New Hampshire students take

Geisel grants the MD, so Hanover students take the USMLE: Step 1, reported pass/fail since January 26, 2022, then Step 2 CK, then Step 3 in residency (USMLE). Shelf exams close each Clinical Immersion clerkship.

The school list shows no DO school in the state (school list). Osteopathic students who rotate or train in New Hampshire hospitals come from out of state and sit COMLEX-USA (NBOME).

New Hampshire licensing rules that affect your exam plan

New Hampshire writes one rule for both exam series: three attempts at each USMLE Step or COMLEX Level, with no time limit on either, and 2 years of training before a first license (FSMB).

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

What New Hampshire's rules mean for how you study

• Three attempts per exam is one fewer than the four per Step the USMLE program allows (FSMB, USMLE eligibility rules). Treat the second sitting as the one that has to pass.
• The count is per exam, so a Step 1 retake does not use up a Step 2 CK attempt (FSMB).
• With 4.2% of Geisel's class from New Hampshire, most graduates will apply for a license in another state; check that state's rule too, since a time limit there can apply even though New Hampshire sets none (FSMB).

Many New Hampshire students rotate, interview or match next door. New Hampshire's neighbors on our list: Maine (0 MD, 1 DO), Massachusetts (4 MD, 0 DO), Vermont (1 MD, 0 DO).

How much New Hampshire searches for board prep

On four of the five searches measured, New Hampshire ranks in the bottom ten of 51 (the 50 states plus DC): 46th for “USMLE”, 45th for “USMLE Step 1”, 46th for “USMLE Step 2” and 42nd for “COMLEX” (Google Trends, October 2021 to October 2026). A one-school state with about a hundred students a year is a small search audience.

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