USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Rochester

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Rochester's only medical school, is a private MD school founded in 1972 (school list). Its class comes almost entirely from outside Minnesota: only 6.4% of the 2025-26 entering class came from the state, from 5,920 applications for 109 first-year places (AAMC FACTS, Table A-1).

The school has been LCME-accredited since 1972, its founding year, and its next full survey is due in 2026-27 (LCME). The CMS teaching hospital list names two Rochester hospitals, Mayo Clinic Hospital Rochester and Mayo Clinic Methodist Hospital (CMS teaching hospital list).

Facts about Rochester

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.

• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine runs its four years in three phases: Pre-Clerkship (18 months), Clerkship (18 months) and Post-Clerkship (12 months), so the eight core clerkships begin about halfway through the second year. (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine)
• Mayo's Post-Clerkship year includes a subinternship and the Transition to Residency and Internship Boot Camp courses, and its selectives are one- to two-week clinical experiences. (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine)
• Mayo's 2026 first-year class has 55 students in Rochester: 41 on the Minnesota 4-year track, 6 on the Minnesota/Florida track and 8 in the M.D.-Ph.D. program. (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine)
• For 2026 Mayo received 5,499 M.D. applications, interviewed 681 applicants and issued 180 acceptances; the class has a median MCAT of 521 and a median GPA of 3.97 and comes from 31 states. (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine)

Sources: LCME, directory of accredited U.S. programs (checked October 29, 2026); AAMC FACTS, Table A-1, 2025-2026 (checked October 29, 2026); Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, M.D. Program Curriculum (checked November 1, 2026); Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Class Profile (checked November 1, 2026); ABIM, residency program pass rates 2023-2025 (checked October 29, 2026).

Mayo's 18-month clock and what it means for Step 1

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine splits its four years into three phases: Pre-Clerkship (18 months), Clerkship (18 months) and Post-Clerkship (12 months) (Mayo curriculum). The basic sciences are taught in blocks over the first 18 months, and the eight core clinical clerkships begin during the last six months of the second year, earlier than at most schools.

A shorter preclinical phase means less calendar between the last block and the first clerkship, so Step 1 review cannot wait for a long gap at the end. With Rochester students we run question-bank work alongside the blocks from the first term, keep a running list of weak systems, and test with a practice exam before the clerkships start. Mayo's curriculum page does not give a Step 1 date, so the dedicated period is set from the date each student and the school agree on.

Once the clerkships begin, each core rotation closes with its NBME shelf exam. Mayo's selectives, one- to two-week clinical experiences that let students try a specialty early (Mayo curriculum), sit between the larger blocks; a selective week is a good time for a practice shelf, not new content.

Rochester's class, and the students who leave for Florida

Mayo's 2026 first-year class has 55 students training in Rochester: 41 on the Minnesota 4-year track, 6 on the Minnesota/Florida track and 8 in the M.D.-Ph.D. program (Mayo class profile). Students on the Florida tracks finish their training at Mayo's Jacksonville campus after the first year and a half, so a student who starts in Rochester may sit the shelf exams in Florida. Online sessions follow them without a change of tutor.

For 2026 Mayo received 5,499 M.D. applications, interviewed 681 applicants and issued 180 acceptances. The first-year class has a median MCAT of 521 and a median GPA of 3.97 and comes from 31 states (Mayo class profile). Strong entering scores do not change the plan for Step 1: it is pass/fail, and what matters is passing on the first attempt in a state whose board allows three (FSMB).

M.D.-Ph.D. students spend research years away from the clinical sequence, so we plan a refresher on clinical content, with timed question blocks, before they return to the wards.

The final year at Mayo

Mayo's Post-Clerkship year includes a subinternship, rotations at Mayo Clinic and affiliate institutions, and two courses aimed at residency, Transition to Residency and Internship Boot Camp (Mayo curriculum). Step 2 CK is the scored exam on a residency application, so we aim to have it done before the subinternship and interviews take over the calendar.

Medical school in Rochester

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

Teaching hospitals in Rochester

On the CMS teaching hospital list (October 2026):

• Mayo Clinic Hospital Rochester, 1216 Second Street Sw, Rochester, MN 55905
• Mayo Clinic Methodist Hospital, 201 West Center Street, Rochester, MN 55902

When Rochester students must take the boards

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine states: “Passage of United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2 CK (Clinical Knowledge) according to the USMLE Requirements Policy.” (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine policy (graduation requirements), Last effective date 10/16/2025).

The exams Rochester students take, in order

Mayo's graduation policy requires passage of USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK (Clinical Knowledge), according to its USMLE Requirements Policy (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine policy, last effective 10/16/2025).

Step 1 comes first, then shelf exams after each core clerkship in the Rochester teaching hospitals (shelf exam tutoring), then Step 2 CK. Step 3 waits until residency.

Internal medicine residents sit the ABIM exam: 98% of 155 first-time takers from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science (Rochester) program passed it in 2023-2025 (ABIM).

Minnesota board rules for Rochester graduates

Minnesota's medical board lists three attempts at each USMLE Step or COMLEX Level (FSMB). The USMLE program allows four per Step (USMLE eligibility rules), so at every Step the board's limit is one attempt tighter than the exam program's.

The line quoted from Mayo's policy above sets no attempt limit, so the board's three is the tightest limit on this page (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine policy, FSMB). A Rochester graduate who means to stay in Minnesota should plan each Step around three attempts, not four (FSMB, USMLE eligibility rules).

How much Rochester searches for board prep

Rochester is first among US metro areas for “USMLE Step 2” searches over the past five years, with a score of 100 out of 100, and second for “USMLE,” with 99. It ranks 14th for “shelf exam,” with a score of 45 (Google Trends, retrieved October 2026). Two of its three ranks are in the top two nationally. Scores are relative, not counts of students.

• “USMLE”: number 2 among US metro areas, score 99 of 100
• “USMLE Step 2”: number 1 among US metro areas, score 100 of 100
• “Shelf exam”: number 14 among US metro areas, score 45 of 100