USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in Minnesota

Minnesota has two MD schools and no DO school: the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, public and founded in 1888, and Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Rochester, private and founded in 1972 (school list).

In 2025-26 the University of Minnesota drew 6,843 applications for 264 first-year places and 85.6% of its entering class came from Minnesota; Mayo drew 5,920 for 109, and only 6.4% of its class came from Minnesota (AAMC FACTS). Clerkships run through 21 teaching hospitals, among them Hennepin County Medical Center, Abbott Northwestern Hospital and University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis and two Mayo Clinic hospitals in Rochester (CMS teaching hospital list).

Medical schools in Minnesota

Several of these schools teach students at more than one site: Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine also lists Scottsdale, Arizona, Jacksonville, Florida; University of Minnesota Medical School also lists Duluth, Minnesota.

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

Teaching hospitals in Minnesota by city

• Minneapolis: Hennepin County Medical Center; Abbott Northwestern Hospital; University of Minnesota Medical Ctr; Children's Health Care
• Duluth: St. Marys Medical Center; SMDC Medical Center; St. Lukes Hospital of Duluth
• St. Paul: Healtheast St. Josephs Hospital; Regions Hospital; Gillette Childrens Specialty Health
• Rochester: Mayo Clinic Hospital Rochester; Mayo Clinic Methodist Hospital
• Robbinsdale: North Memorial Health Hospital
• St. Cloud: St. Cloud Hospital
• Saint Paul: United Hospital
• St. Louis Park: Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital
• Mankato: MCHS - Southwest Minnesota Region
• Coon Rapids: Mercy Hospital
• Fridley: Unity Hospital
• Maplewood: Healtheast St. Johns Hospital
• Woodbury: Healtheast Woodwinds Hospital

Facts about Minnesota

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.

• The University of Minnesota Medical School offers the MD at three campuses, Twin Cities, Duluth and St. Cloud, and has had a medical school on the Twin Cities campus since 1888. (University of Minnesota Medical School)
• The University of Minnesota's Duluth campus, founded in 1972 to train family physicians for rural Minnesota and Native American communities, welcomed its first four-year class, the class of 2029, after 53 years of teaching the first two years. (University of Minnesota Medical School)
• The Duluth campus reports that 44% of its alumni practice in rural communities. (University of Minnesota Medical School)
• The University of Minnesota's Rural Physician Associate Program places third-year students in rural communities across Minnesota and western Wisconsin for nine months, and lists 1,700+ alumni and 120+ communities that have been RPAP sites. (University of Minnesota Medical School)
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine's 2026 first-year class has 55 students in Rochester, Minnesota and 50 in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona; 12 of them will finish their training in Jacksonville, Florida. (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine)
• Mayo reports 6,061 applications and a 3.5% acceptance rate for 2026, and a median MCAT of 521 and a median GPA of 3.97 for that first-year class. (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine)
• Mayo's MD curriculum has an 18-month Pre-Clerkship phase, an 18-month Clerkship phase that begins about halfway through the second year, and a 12-month Post-Clerkship phase. (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine)
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine reports a 99% pass rate on USMLE Step 2 in 2025 and a 99% NRMP placement rate in 2026. (Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine)
• In the 2025 Main Residency Match, programs in Minnesota offered 555 residency positions in 25 specialties, the most in internal medicine (119), family medicine (95), and pediatrics (43). (NRMP)

Sources: LCME, directory of accredited U.S. programs (checked October 29, 2026); AAMC FACTS, Table A-1, 2025-2026 (checked October 29, 2026); University of Minnesota Medical School, About Us and Twin Cities Campus (checked November 1, 2026); University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus (checked November 1, 2026); University of Minnesota Medical School, Rural Physician Associate Program (checked November 1, 2026); Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Class Profile (checked November 1, 2026); Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Curriculum (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).

The University of Minnesota teaches on three campuses

The University of Minnesota offers its MD at the Twin Cities, Duluth and St. Cloud campuses (University of Minnesota Medical School). Duluth was founded in 1972 to train family physicians for rural Minnesota and Native American communities, and for 53 years it taught only the first two years. The class of 2029 is its first four-year class, and the campus reports that 44% of its alumni practice in rural communities (Duluth campus).

In the third year, students can leave the Twin Cities altogether through the Rural Physician Associate Program: nine months living and training in a rural community in Minnesota or western Wisconsin, under community preceptors. RPAP lists more than 1,700 alumni and more than 120 communities that have hosted students (RPAP).

Nine months in a small town is excellent clinical training and a hard place to find study help in person. That is where online tutoring fits: an RPAP student's shelf and Step 2 CK sessions run by live video (Zoom or Google Meet) from the clinic town, at the same times every week, with nobody driving to Minneapolis.

Mayo's clerkships start halfway through second year

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine runs an 18-month Pre-Clerkship phase, an 18-month Clerkship phase that begins about halfway through the second year, and a 12-month Post-Clerkship phase (Mayo curriculum). Its 2026 first-year class has 55 students in Rochester and 50 in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, and 12 of them will finish their training in Jacksonville, Florida (Mayo class profile).

The class is small and the bar is high: Mayo reports 6,061 applications and a 3.5% acceptance rate for 2026, with a median MCAT of 521 and a median GPA of 3.97 (Mayo class profile). It also reports a 99% Step 2 pass rate for 2025 (Mayo curriculum). At that level tutoring time usually goes to the Step 2 CK score rather than to passing, and the earlier clerkship start brings the Step 2 CK plan forward too.

Minnesota's residency positions

Minnesota programs offered 555 positions in the 2025 Main Residency Match, across 25 specialties; internal medicine (119), family medicine (95) and pediatrics (43) offered the most (NRMP). Family medicine's second place fits a state whose medical school runs RPAP and a rural-mission campus in Duluth.

For a resident in any of those programs, Minnesota's licensing rules below start to matter in the first year of residency, because the Step 3 deadline runs from Step 2 CK, not from graduation.

Which board exams Minnesota students take

Both Minnesota schools award the MD, and the MD points to the USMLE, not COMLEX-USA. Students sit Step 1 (reported pass/fail since January 26, 2022), Step 2 CK and Step 3 after graduation (USMLE), with NBME shelf exams on the clerkships in between.

Minnesota has no DO school; the DO students who train in its hospitals come from out of state and take COMLEX-USA (NBOME), and our COMLEX tutors work with them as well. Residents in Minnesota's internal medicine programs go on to ABIM's exam; the program table above gives each program's 2023-2025 first-time pass rate.

Minnesota licensing rules that affect your exam plan

Minnesota's board sets three rules: 1 year of training before a first license; 3 attempts at each USMLE Step (a fourth for physicians currently licensed in another state and board certified) and at each COMLEX Level; and Step or Level 3 passed within 5 years of Step or Level 2 or before residency training ends (FSMB).

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

What Minnesota's rules mean for how you study

• Treat three as your limit. Minnesota allows 3 attempts at each USMLE Step and each COMLEX Level (FSMB), one fewer than the USMLE program's cap of four per Step (USMLE eligibility rules).
• The fourth USMLE attempt is for physicians who hold a current license in another state and current specialty board certification (FSMB). A student or new graduate should plan for the third sitting to be the last.
• Step or Level 3 must be passed within 5 years of Step or Level 2 or before residency training ends (FSMB). A research year or leave eats into that window, so book Step 3 early in residency.
• A DO graduate seeking a Minnesota license gets the same 3 attempts at each COMLEX Level, so a COMLEX plan needs the same discipline as a USMLE plan (FSMB).

Many Minnesota students rotate, interview or match next door. Minnesota's neighbors on our list: Iowa (1 MD, 1 DO), North Dakota (1 MD, 0 DO), South Dakota (1 MD, 0 DO), Wisconsin (2 MD, 0 DO).

How much Minnesota searches for board prep

Over five years, Minnesota's interest leans toward USMLE. Among the 50 states and DC, it ranks 33rd of 51 for USMLE searches and 48th for COMLEX, in line with two MD schools and no DO school. USMLE Step 2, at 25th, is its best term and the only one in the top half; USMLE Step 1 is 31st and the shelf exam 42nd (Google Trends, retrieved October 2026).

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