USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Massachusetts

Massachusetts's list has MD schools only. Harvard is the oldest on it and UMass Chan in Worcester the newest. Harvard, Boston University and Tufts are private; UMass Chan is the public school. Tufts also lists a site in Portland, Maine.

Tufts drew 15,455 applications for 204 places, Boston University 11,429 for 138 and Harvard 8,275 for 165, while UMass Chan drew 5,630 for 233 (AAMC FACTS). UMass Chan also filled 61.4% of its class with Massachusetts residents, against 32.6% at Boston University, 26% at Tufts and 15.2% at Harvard (AAMC FACTS). The CMS list counts 39 teaching hospitals, 10 of them in Boston (CMS list).

Medical schools in Massachusetts

Several of these schools teach students at more than one site: Tufts University School of Medicine also lists Portland, Maine.

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

Teaching hospitals in Massachusetts by city

• Boston: Boston Medical Center; Steward St. Elizabeths Medical Ctr; Massachusetts General Hospital; Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; New England Baptist Hospital; Brigham and Womens Hospital; Tufts Medical Center; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Children's Hospital Corporation
• Brockton: Brockton Hospital INC.; Good Samaritan Medical Center
• Jamaica Plain: Faulkner Hospital; Lemuel Shattuck Hospital
• Worcester: Umass Memorial Medical Center; Saint Vincent Hospital
• Leominster: HealthAlliance-Clinton
• Cambridge: Mount Auburn Hospital
• Lawrence: Lawrence General Hospital
• Malden: Cambridge Health Alliance
• Hyannis: Cape Cod Hospital
• Greenfield: Baystate Franklin Medical Center
• Dorchester: Steward Carney Hospital INC
• Fall River: Steward St. Annes Hospital
• Salem: North Shore Medical Center
• Pittsfield: Berkshire Medical Center
• Marlborough: Marlborough Hospital
• Medford: Melrosewakefield Healthcare INC
• Springfield: Baystate Medical Center
• Methuen: Steward Holy Family Hospital
• Needham: Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham
• Milford: Milford Regional Medical Center INC
• Newton: Newton Wellesley Hospital
• Winchester: Winchester Hospital
• Burlington: Lahey Clinic Hospital INC.
• Natick: Metrowest Medical Center
• Woburn: Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hosp
• Charlestown: Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
• Belmont: Mclean Hospital

Facts about Massachusetts

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.

• Boston University's MD curriculum, redesigned in 2022, ends its pre-clerkship phase with 10 Advanced Integration Weeks and a Consolidation and Preparation for Clerkship course that includes Step 1 study time before a transitional clerkship. (Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine)
• After the BU core clerkship year, students take advanced rotations in geriatrics and home care, a sub-internship and 6 months of electives; the third and fourth years together hold at least 28 weeks of elective time. (Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine)
• Tufts students start core clerkships in the spring of year two: eight weeks each of medicine and surgery and six weeks each of family medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics and psychiatry, plus a 4-week neurology clerkship in the clerkship year or the fourth year. (Tufts University School of Medicine)
• UMass Chan's Vista curriculum map for 2024-25 places a 5-week Step 1 block in year two, after the Discovery Phase and before the first 12-week integrated clerkship unit of the Exploration Phase, and notes that timing may vary from year to year. (UMass Chan Medical School)
• UMass Chan says 42 percent of its medical students enter primary care. (UMass Chan Medical School)

Sources: LCME, directory of accredited U.S. programs (checked October 29, 2026); AAMC FACTS, Table A-1, 2025-2026 (checked October 29, 2026); Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, MD curriculum (checked November 1, 2026); Tufts University School of Medicine, MD curriculum overview (checked November 1, 2026); UMass Chan Medical School, Vista At A Glance (AY24-25) (checked November 1, 2026); UMass Chan Medical School, Prospective Students (checked November 1, 2026); ABIM, residency program pass rates 2023-2025 (checked October 29, 2026).

Four schools, three different Step 1 calendars

Massachusetts students do not all reach Step 1 at the same point, and the school's own calendar decides the plan more than the state does. Boston University, whose curriculum was redesigned in 2022, closes its pre-clerkship phase with 10 Advanced Integration Weeks of case-based review and then a Consolidation and Preparation for Clerkship course that holds the Step 1 study time, ahead of a transitional clerkship (BU curriculum). A BU student comes to Step 1 straight out of a structured review, so the dedicated weeks can go to practice tests and gaps.

Tufts moves earlier. Its core clerkships start in the spring of year two: eight weeks each of medicine and surgery, six weeks each of family medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics and psychiatry, and a 4-week neurology clerkship that can fall in the clerkship year or the fourth year (Tufts curriculum). Tufts students are with patients from the second month of medical school, which helps on the clinical vignettes Step 1 is built from.

UMass Chan's Vista curriculum map for 2024-25 shows a 5-week Step 1 block in year two, between the Discovery Phase and the first 12-week integrated clerkship unit of the Exploration Phase, with a note that the timing can change from year to year (UMass Chan Vista). Five weeks is a tight dedicated period, so for UMass Chan students we start Step 1 question work during the Discovery Phase organ blocks rather than waiting for the block to open.

Clerkships, shelf exams and Step 2 CK in Massachusetts

Shelf exams come at a different pace at each school. A Tufts student meets medicine and surgery in eight-week blocks and the other core disciplines in six; BU's core year runs medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, family medicine, neurology and psychiatry, then moves to geriatrics and home care, a sub-internship and 6 months of electives, with at least 28 weeks of elective time across the third and fourth years (BU curriculum). We match the shelf exam plan to the block length: a six-week block leaves room for about one NBME practice form, an eight-week block for two.

Step 2 CK is the scored exam residency programs read now that Step 1 is pass/fail, and elective-heavy fourth years like BU's give room to schedule it before applications go out. UMass Chan, which says 42 percent of its medical students enter primary care (UMass Chan), sends a large share of its class toward primary care residencies, and for them too Step 2 CK is the number on the application.

For residents, the state's internal medicine programs feed the ABIM exam, and Massachusetts's own Step 3 rule, three attempts, makes that exam the one where a careful single sitting matters most (FSMB).

Which board exams Massachusetts students take

Harvard, Boston University, Tufts and UMass Chan all grant the MD, so their students sit the USMLE: Step 1, reported pass/fail since January 26, 2022, then Step 2 CK, then Step 3 after graduation (USMLE).

Massachusetts's table has no DO school, but the board's attempt rule still names COMLEX-USA beside USMLE Step 3 (FSMB). See the COMLEX overview for that series.

The ABIM internal medicine exam follows residency. In Boston, 96% of 174 first-time takers from Massachusetts General Hospital and 93% of 150 from Brigham and Women's passed in 2023-2025, as did 99% of 139 from Boston University Medical Center and 99% of 76 from Tufts Medical Center; Worcester's St Vincent Hospital passed 95% of 65 (ABIM).

Massachusetts licensing rules that affect your exam plan

Massachusetts caps USMLE Step 3 or COMLEX at three attempts (Board Regulations 243 CMR 2.02 (3)(b)) and gives you seven years to complete USMLE or COMLEX, with a waiver available under specific conditions (243 CMR 2.02 (3)(c)(2)) (FSMB). Before a first license it wants two years of training for domestic graduates and, after January 2014, three for IMGs (FSMB).

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

What Massachusetts's rules mean for how you study

• Massachusetts caps Step 3 or COMLEX at three attempts, a sitting sooner than the USMLE's own four per Step, so treat every Step 3 attempt as one of three (FSMB, USMLE eligibility rules).
• Massachusetts's attempt rule names only Step 3 or COMLEX, so for Step 1 and Step 2 CK the USMLE's four-attempt limit is the one to plan around (FSMB, USMLE eligibility rules).
• Massachusetts gives you seven years to complete USMLE or COMLEX, so plan every Step inside that window; a waiver exists only under specific conditions, so ask the board before counting on one (FSMB).

Many Massachusetts students rotate, interview or match next door. Massachusetts's neighbors on our list: Connecticut (3 MD, 0 DO), New Hampshire (1 MD, 0 DO), New York (15 MD, 3 DO), Rhode Island (1 MD, 0 DO), Vermont (1 MD, 0 DO).

How much Massachusetts searches for board prep

Massachusetts's best Google Trends rank is 10th of 51 for 'USMLE'; 'USMLE Step 1' ranks 12th, 'USMLE Step 2' 15th and 'Shelf exam' 16th. 'COMLEX' ranks 46th, near the bottom, in a state whose table lists no DO school (Google Trends, United States, past five years, retrieved October 2026).

Interest here sits on the USMLE side, as a state with only MD schools would predict.

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