USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Hattiesburg

Hattiesburg has one medical school, and it is osteopathic: William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine (WCUCOM), a private school founded in 2010 with its main campus here (school list). The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation granted it full accreditation on May 3, 2014, and its students train in the Charles W. Pickering Institute of Primary Care, a 50,000-square-foot facility for hands-on osteopathic and clinical skills (WCUCOM; WCUCOM).

The college was built to train primary care doctors for Mississippi and the Gulf South, and it says over a third of its graduates from the past seven classes have stayed in Mississippi for residency and practice (WCUCOM). In 2024, 146 of the 148 graduates seeking a residency matched (William Carey student achievement). Forrest General Hospital and Merit Health Wesley are the two Hattiesburg hospitals on the CMS teaching hospital list (CMS teaching hospital list), but most clinical training happens at hub sites across the region.

Facts about Hattiesburg

• In 2024, 146 of the 148 William Carey osteopathic graduates seeking a residency matched, a 99% placement rate. (William Carey University)
• The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation granted William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine full accreditation on May 3, 2014. (William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• William Carey requires a pass on COMLEX Level 1 to graduate, and its students must also complete COMLEX Level 2-CE before graduating. (William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• William Carey says that over a third of its graduates from the past seven classes have stayed in Mississippi for residency training and practice. (William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• To start the third year, a William Carey student must score 450 or higher on the school-administered COMSAE and sit COMLEX Level 1 for the first time within 60 days of finishing the second-year courses. (William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• William Carey's clinical years run through regional hub sites, primarily across the Gulf South; each hub has at least one accredited full-service hospital, and its facilities are generally no more than about 60 miles apart. (William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• Thirty-two weeks of William Carey's third year go to 8 core rotations, at a single hub site whenever possible, plus a 4-week primary care selective and a 4-week elective. (William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• The fourth year has 36 weeks of rotations: 4-week core rotations in emergency medicine and rural medicine, and 28 weeks of electives, at least 12 of them in medical and 12 in surgical specialties. (William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• Most William Carey core rotations end with an NBOME COMAT exam, which counts for 25% of the rotation grade; a score of 80 is needed to pass, on a scale where the national mean is 100. (William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine)
• William Carey's Charles W. Pickering Institute of Primary Care is a 50,000-square-foot training facility for its osteopathic students. (William Carey University)

Sources: William Carey University, student achievement (checked October 29, 2026); William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine, About Us (checked November 1, 2026); William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Clinical Education Manual 2024-2025 (checked November 1, 2026); William Carey University, College of Osteopathic Medicine (checked November 1, 2026).

COMSAE 450, then Level 1 within 60 days

William Carey sets a hard gate between the second and third years. To become a third-year student, a WCUCOM student must finish every first- and second-year requirement, score 450 or higher on the school-administered COMSAE, and sit COMLEX-USA Level 1 for the first time within 60 days of finishing the second-year courses (WCUCOM Clinical Education Manual). A pass on Level 1 is required to graduate (WCUCOM).

That makes the school COMSAE the first real deadline, before Level 1 itself. We start from a baseline COMSAE or NBOME practice form, build the second-year spring around the systems that pull the score down, and leave slack in the calendar in case the first attempt comes in under 450. Students who also plan to sit USMLE Step 1 can use the same dedicated period, while the material is fresh; our Level 1 tutoring covers both.

Hub sites across the Gulf South

WCUCOM's third and fourth years are a 20-month clinical program taught at regional hub sites, mostly across the Gulf South. Each hub has at least one accredited full-service hospital and may add critical access hospitals, clinics and individual practitioners, and with rare exceptions its facilities are no more than about 60 miles apart. Most hubs are rural with little or no public transport, so the school strongly recommends a car, and students find their own housing in their hub (WCUCOM Clinical Education Manual).

The third year gives 32 weeks to 8 core rotations, kept at a single hub where possible, then a 4-week primary care selective and a 4-week elective. The fourth year has 36 weeks of rotations: 4-week cores in emergency medicine and rural medicine inside a WCUCOM hub, and 28 weeks of electives, at least 12 in medical and 12 in surgical specialties, which students may take anywhere in the country (WCUCOM Clinical Education Manual). Online tutoring fits a rural hub better than a commute does; sessions go around call schedules, not the other way round.

COMAT, not NBME shelf exams

At William Carey a core rotation ends with an NBOME COMAT exam, the osteopathic counterpart of the NBME shelf, except for the third-year clinical selective and fourth-year rural medicine. The COMAT is a quarter of the rotation grade. NBOME reports it on a scale where the national mean is 100 and the standard deviation 10, and WCUCOM needs a score of 80 to pass; a failed COMAT is retaken in a later block, and all third-year retakes must be done before fourth-year rotations begin (WCUCOM Clinical Education Manual).

COMAT content overlaps the shelf exams but adds osteopathic principles, so we review OMM alongside each specialty. The question work done for COMAT blocks is also the base for COMLEX Level 2-CE, which the fourth-year introductory course prepares for and which WCUCOM students must complete before they graduate.

Medical school in Hattiesburg

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

Teaching hospitals in Hattiesburg

On the CMS teaching hospital list (October 2026):

• Forrest General Hospital, 6051 U. S Highway 49, Hattiesburg, MS 39404
• Merit Health Wesley, 5001 West Hardy St, Hattiesburg, MS 39402

The exams Hattiesburg students take, in order

William Carey grants the DO, so its students follow COMLEX-USA: the school COMSAE, then Level 1 within 60 days of the second year's end, a COMAT at the end of most core rotations, Level 2-CE in the fourth year and Level 3 in residency. Many students add the USMLE; our Level 2 vs Step 2 CK guide covers whether to sit both.

Mississippi board rules for Hattiesburg graduates

Mississippi's medical board sets the licensing rules for William Carey graduates who stay for residency or practice. FSMB lists “3 attempts at each Step” for the state, one fewer than the four attempts the USMLE program allows per Step, and 7 years to complete the USMLE (FSMB, USMLE eligibility rules).

For COMLEX the same FSMB entry lists no limit on attempts or time, so the three-attempt cap matters to a WCUCOM graduate only for USMLE Steps sat alongside COMLEX (FSMB).

How much Hattiesburg searches for board prep

Hattiesburg ranks in the top ten US metro areas for both searches below over the past five years (Google Trends, retrieved October 2026). The COMLEX Level 2 result fits a town whose only school is osteopathic, and the USMLE result fits a school where many students also sit Step 1. Scores are relative to other metro areas, not counts.

• “COMLEX Level 2”: number 6 among US metro areas, score 41 of 100
• “USMLE”: number 10 among US metro areas, score 62 of 100