USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Gainesville

The University of Florida College of Medicine (UF) is Gainesville's only medical school: a public MD school founded in 1956 (school list), accredited by LCME since 1958, with its next full survey due in 2030-31 (LCME).

UF had 5,612 applications for 136 first-year places in 2025-26, and 86.8% of its entering class came from Florida (AAMC FACTS). The college puts its entering students' average science GPA at 3.85 and their average MCAT at 516 (UF admissions FAQ). Two Gainesville hospitals are on the CMS teaching hospital list, UF Health Shands on Archer Road and HCA Florida North Florida Hospital on West Newberry Road; a third, Citrus Memorial Hospital, sits in Inverness, inside the Gainesville ZIP region (CMS teaching hospital list).

Facts about Gainesville

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.

• UF College of Medicine students take USMLE Step 1 in a capstone course after Phase 1 and before the Phase 2 clerkships begin, and sit the NBME Comprehensive Basic Science Exam within 1 week of finishing Phase 1 courses. (UF College of Medicine)
• UF sponsors a student for Step 1 when its prediction model and the first CBSE both point to a pass, a CBSE score that corresponds to a better than 50% chance of passing; other students retake the CBSE after up to 5 weeks of study. (UF College of Medicine)
• UF requires Step 2 CK after Phase 2 and before October 31 of the fourth year, and its students take the Comprehensive Clinical Science Self-Assessment within 1 week of finishing the Phase 2 clerkships. (UF College of Medicine)
• UF students must pass Step 1 within two years of completing Phase 1, and the college runs seven clinical skills exams over the four years, with the spring exam at the end of Phase 2 a graduation requirement. (UF College of Medicine)
• Since the 2025-2026 application cycle, UF College of Medicine has offered a Jacksonville Regional Medical Campus track, with years one and two in Gainesville and years three and four in Jacksonville; the track currently has 13 spots. (UF College of Medicine)
• UF College of Medicine gives its entering students' average science GPA as 3.85 and average MCAT as 516, and asks for an MCAT of at least 500 from a single sitting for an application to reach interview review. (UF College 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); UF College of Medicine, Office of Student Affairs, USMLE policy (checked November 1, 2026); UF College of Medicine, Jacksonville Regional Medical Campus admissions (checked November 1, 2026); UF College of Medicine, Medical Admissions FAQ (checked November 1, 2026); ABIM, residency program pass rates 2023-2025 (checked October 29, 2026).

UF's Step 1 gate: the CBSE before clerkships

UF does not leave the Step 1 date to the student. Step 1 sits inside a capstone course at the end of Phase 1, and it has to be done by the Sunday before orientation to the Phase 2 clerkships. Within a week of the last Phase 1 course, every student takes the NBME Comprehensive Basic Science Exam, and second-year students also get a prediction of their Step 1 performance built from their grades through the fall semester (UF Office of Student Affairs).

That first CBSE sorts the class. A student whose prediction and CBSE both point to a pass, a score worth better than a 50% chance, is sponsored for Step 1. A student with a good prediction but a lower CBSE studies for up to 5 more weeks and retakes it. A student the model flags as at risk meets the learning specialist, writes a structured plan, and retakes the CBSE after 4 weeks of study; anyone who has not reached the benchmark before clerkship orientation goes on academic leave and must sit Step 1 by March 15 of the following year (UF Office of Student Affairs).

So the score that decides a UF student's spring is the CBSE, weeks before Step 1 itself. We plan backward from it: a first NBME practice exam early in the second-year spring, content repair by system while Phase 1 courses are still running, and the dedicated weeks aimed at clearing the CBSE benchmark on the first try rather than at Step 1 day alone.

Step 2 CK by October 31, and a two-year Step 1 limit

UF students take Step 2 CK after the Phase 2 clerkship year and before October 31 of their fourth year, and they cannot graduate without passing it. The Comprehensive Clinical Science Self-Assessment comes within a week of the last clerkship, and students whose shelf scores put them in the at-risk group must reach the Step 2 CK passing equivalent on it before they are cleared to sit (UF Office of Student Affairs).

The Step 1 rules are stricter than the board's. A UF student must pass Step 1 within two years of finishing Phase 1; a third failed attempt, or no pass in that window, leads to dismissal, subject to appeal. Alongside the Steps, UF runs seven clinical skills exams over the four years, and passing the spring one at the end of Phase 2 is a graduation requirement (UF Office of Student Affairs).

For a student retaking Step 1, the college lets those in good standing finish the current clerkship, with a study plan a dean approves, and register before the next one starts. That leaves little room, so we help put the plan on paper the week the result arrives; our guide for students who did not pass Step 1 covers what to change.

The Jacksonville track

Since the 2025-2026 application cycle UF has run a Jacksonville Regional Medical Campus track: the first two years in Gainesville on the standard curriculum, then the third and fourth years at UF Health Jacksonville, an urban safety-net teaching hospital. The track has 13 spots for now, and applicants need an MCAT of at least 500 (UF admissions).

Jacksonville-track students sit the same CBSE and Step 1 gate in Gainesville before they move, and their shelf exams and Step 2 CK then come from Jacksonville clerkships. Students on the regular track also spend some time training there.

Medical school in Gainesville

University of Florida College of Medicine lists 1,642 students on Wikipedia.

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

Teaching hospitals in Gainesville

On the CMS teaching hospital list (October 2026):

• UF Health Shands, 1600 Archer Rd, Gainesville, FL 32610
• HCA Florida North Florida Hosp, 6500 W Newberry Road, Gainesville, FL 32605

Other teaching hospitals near Gainesville

The same CMS list has one more teaching hospital in the Gainesville ZIP region, useful for electives and away rotations: Citrus Memorial Hospital (Inverness).

When Gainesville students must take the boards

University of Florida College of Medicine states: “A passing score on the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) examinations are required for graduation from medical school.” (United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE/CSE) - UF COM Office of Student Affairs).

The exams Gainesville students take, in order

The college grants the MD, so Gainesville students take the USMLE; the school table lists no DO school here. The order is the CBSE, Step 1 before clerkships, an NBME shelf exam at the end of each Phase 2 clerkship, the clinical science self-assessment, Step 2 CK by October 31 of fourth year, and Step 3 in residency.

Internal medicine residents meet one more exam: the ABIM internal medicine exam. In Gainesville, 92% of 101 first-time takers from the University of Florida program passed it in 2023-2025, as did 86% of 58 from the University of Central Florida/HCA Florida Healthcare (Gainesville) program (ABIM).

Florida board rules for Gainesville graduates

FSMB's October 2026 summary shows no attempt limit from Florida's board (FSMB). That leaves the USMLE program's own ceiling of four attempts per Step for the board (USMLE eligibility rules), but UF's own limit is tighter: three attempts and two years for Step 1 (UF Office of Student Affairs).

How much Gainesville searches for board prep

Gainesville is in the top five among US metro areas on three searches: 2nd for “USMLE Step 2” (score 88 of 100), 3rd for “USMLE” (score 96) and 5th for “Shelf exam” (score 58) (Google Trends, five years to October 2026). Its best rank is for Step 2, one of the two exams UF requires students to pass to graduate. Scores are relative, not counts of students.

• “USMLE”: number 3 among US metro areas, score 96 of 100
• “USMLE Step 2”: number 2 among US metro areas, score 88 of 100
• “Shelf exam”: number 5 among US metro areas, score 58 of 100