USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Oregon

Oregon has a single medical school to call its own: Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, a public MD school founded in 1887 (school list). In 2025-26 it had 7,114 applications for 150 first-year places, and 76% of its entering class came from Oregon (AAMC FACTS). It has been LCME-accredited since before 1942 and is due its next full survey in 2027-28 (LCME).

Oregon's 15 teaching hospitals include five in Portland and two in Hillsboro, plus one each in eight other cities, among them Bend, Klamath Falls and Coos Bay (CMS teaching hospital list).

Medical schools in Oregon

Schools based in other states also teach in Oregon: Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (DO, based in Pomona, California) lists a campus at Lebanon. DO students on that campus take COMLEX-USA.

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

Teaching hospitals in Oregon by city

• Portland: Providence St. Vincent Medical Ctr; Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Ctr; OHSU Hospital and Clinics; Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital; Providence Portland Medical Center
• Hillsboro: Tuality Healthcare; Kaiser Westside Medical Center
• Corvallis: Good Samaritan Hospital Corvallis
• Albany: Samaritan Albany General Hospital
• Roseburg: Mercy Medical Center
• Bend: St. Charles Medical Center
• Klamath Falls: Sky Lakes Medical Center
• Milwaukie: Providence Milwaukie Hospital
• Coos Bay: Bay Area Hospital
• Clackamas: Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center

Facts about Oregon

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.

• OHSU's Foundations of Medicine phase spans six terms, from the summer term of year 1 to the fall term of year 2, in seven blocks that each include an enrichment week. (OHSU School of Medicine)
• Every OHSU student completes a rural rotation of at least four full-time weeks in a rural Oregon community and a continuity clinical experience of at least eight weeks. (OHSU School of Medicine)
• OHSU's testing intersessions are typically one-week courses in which students study for and take a national exam, such as an NBME shelf exam in a core clerkship subject. (OHSU School of Medicine)
• OHSU interviews 20 to 40 applicants a week on a virtual Multiple Mini Interview circuit, and ranks the top 120 to 200 applicants on its alternate list by May 1. (OHSU School of Medicine)
• Western University of Health Sciences opened COMP-Northwest in Lebanon in 2011 with Samaritan Health Services, Oregon's first new medical school in more than 100 years; in 2026 it was renamed the Heatherington College of Osteopathic Medicine. (Western University of Health Sciences)
• In the 2025 Main Residency Match, programs in Oregon offered 310 residency positions in 23 specialties, the most in internal medicine (98), family medicine (59), and surgery (27). (NRMP)

Sources: LCME, directory of accredited U.S. programs (checked October 29, 2026); AAMC FACTS, Table A-1, 2025-2026 (checked October 29, 2026); OHSU School of Medicine, MD Program Curriculum (checked November 1, 2026); OHSU School of Medicine, MD Program Admissions (checked November 1, 2026); Western University of Health Sciences, Oregon campus (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 OHSU's YourMD curriculum shapes Step 1 prep

OHSU front-loads the basic sciences. Its Foundations of Medicine phase runs six terms, from the summer term of year 1 to the fall term of year 2, through seven blocks: Fundamentals; Blood and Host Defense; Skin, Bones and Musculature; Cardio, Pulmonary and Renal; Hormones and Digestion; Nervous System and Function; and Developing Human. Each block has an enrichment week that students can shape themselves (OHSU curriculum).

That block order is the order of First Aid and most question banks only loosely, so we map an OHSU student's question-bank work to the block they are in. Hematology and immunology questions go with Blood and Host Defense, renal and pulmonary physiology with block 4, and the enrichment weeks become catch-up weeks for the systems a student found hardest. By the end of the fall term of year 2 the content has been seen once in OHSU's order and once in the exam's.

OHSU's catalog does not print a Step 1 date for MD students, so we build the dedicated period around the date each student and the school agree on, not a calendar we assume.

Shelf exams, testing weeks and the rural rotation

In the Clinical Experience phase OHSU schedules testing intersessions, typically one-week courses in which students study for and take a national exam such as an NBME shelf exam in family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry or surgery (OHSU curriculum). A week is short for a shelf, so the real preparation happens during the rotation; we plan a daily block of questions on the subject from the first day of the clerkship so the testing week is for review.

Every OHSU student also completes a rural rotation of at least four full-time weeks in a rural Oregon community, defined as 10 or more miles from the centroid of a population center of 40,000 people or more, and a continuity clinical experience of at least eight weeks (OHSU curriculum). Students on a rural rotation often have less time near a library or a study group, which is one reason online one-on-one sessions fit this part of the year.

Residency positions in Oregon

In the 2025 Main Residency Match, Oregon programs offered 310 positions in 23 specialties. Internal medicine had 98 of them, family medicine 59 and surgery 27, followed by pediatrics with 18 and anesthesiology and psychiatry with 16 each (NRMP). Nearly a third of the state's positions are in internal medicine, so many Oregon residents later sit the ABIM exam as well as Step 3.

For applicants to OHSU itself, the school runs a virtual Multiple Mini Interview circuit, interviewing 20 to 40 applicants a week, and ranks the top 120 to 200 applicants on an alternate list by May 1 (OHSU admissions). Premeds preparing for that stage can start with our MCAT tutoring.

Which board exams Oregon students take

Oregon Health & Science University is an MD school, so its students sit the USMLE: Step 1, Step 2 CK and Step 3 (USMLE).

Oregon also trains osteopathic students. Western University of Health Sciences opened COMP-Northwest in Lebanon in 2011 with Samaritan Health Services, which WesternU calls the state's first new medical school in more than 100 years, and in 2026 renamed it the Heatherington College of Osteopathic Medicine (WesternU Oregon). Its DO students take COMLEX-USA (NBOME): Level 1, Level 2-CE and Level 3, and many add the USMLE; our COMLEX Level 2 vs Step 2 CK comparison helps with that choice.

Portland also trains internists, who face ABIM's internal medicine exam. In 2023-2025, 93% of 105 first-time takers from Oregon Health & Science University's program passed (ABIM). So did 84% of 55 from Legacy Health's Emanuel Medical Center program and 92% of 24 from Providence's St Vincent Hospital and Medical Center program; ABIM advises caution with any rate based on fewer than 25 takers (ABIM).

Oregon licensing rules that affect your exam plan

Oregon's attempt rule names only the last exam: three attempts at USMLE Step 3 or COMLEX Level 3, a fourth after one more year of postgraduate training, and a possible waiver for physicians certified by ABMS or AOA (FSMB). The window is seven years to complete USMLE or COMLEX, and training before a first license is one year, or three for international graduates (FSMB).

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

What Oregon's rules mean for how you study

• Oregon's attempt rule names only Step 3 and COMLEX Level 3, three tries each (FSMB). For Steps 1 and 2 CK, plan around the USMLE program's cap of four per Step (USMLE eligibility rules).
• A fourth Step 3 or Level 3 attempt needs one more year of postgraduate training first, and a waiver may be available for ABMS or AOA certified physicians (FSMB). Plan Step 3 so you never need either.
• Oregon's seven years apply whether you sit USMLE or COMLEX, but the FSMB entry does not say when they begin (FSMB). Get the start date from the board before you plan research time or a leave.
• International graduates need three years of training before a first Oregon license, against one year for other applicants (FSMB). Build that extra time into your residency and exam calendar.

Many Oregon students rotate, interview or match next door. Oregon's neighbors on our list: California (13 MD, 3 DO), Idaho (0 MD, 1 DO), Nevada (3 MD, 1 DO), Washington (2 MD, 1 DO).

How much Oregon searches for board prep

Four of Oregon's five Google Trends terms rank 45th or lower of 51 (the 50 states plus DC): “USMLE Step 1” 45th, “USMLE Step 2” 46th, “USMLE” 47th and “Shelf exam” 49th. “COMLEX” is the best at 35th, ahead of every USMLE term even though Oregon's listed school grants the MD (Google Trends, United States, October 2021 to October 2026).

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