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Morgantown has one medical school, West Virginia University School of Medicine (WVU), public and founded in 1903 (school list). Fewer than half of its 2025-26 entering class, 47.8%, came from West Virginia, and the school had 6,314 applications for 115 first-year places (AAMC FACTS, Table A-1).
The LCME dates the school's accreditation to before 1942 and lists its next full survey for 2030-31 (LCME). West Virginia University Hospitals, on Medical Center Drive, is the one Morgantown hospital on the CMS teaching hospital list (CMS teaching hospital list).
Facts about Morgantown
| School | City | LCME accreditation | Next full survey | 2025-26 applications | First-year places | Entering class from West Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia University School of Medicine | Morgantown | Full, since before 1942 | 2030-31 | 6,314 | 115 | 47.8% |
Accreditation: LCME directory; applications, places and in-state share: AAMC FACTS, Table A-1.
| City | Internal medicine residency program | First-time takers, 2023-2025 | Passed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morgantown | West Virginia University Program | 75 | 88% |
| Morgantown | West Virginia University Program (combined medicine-pediatrics) | 11 | 100% |
ABIM internal medicine certification exam by residency program: ABIM residency program pass rates; ABIM says to read rates from under 25 takers with caution.
- WVU medical students spend the first two years on the Morgantown campus: 45 weeks and 52 credit hours in the first year, 33 weeks and 38 credit hours in the second. (West Virginia University School of Medicine)
- The WVU second year ends with the NBME Comprehensive Basic Science Examination and USMLE Step 1; the clerkship year starts that summer, and students must pass Step 1 to stay in it. (West Virginia University School of Medicine)
- WVU third-year clerkships run at one of three clinical campuses: Morgantown, the Charleston Division or the Eastern Division in Martinsburg. (West Virginia University School of Medicine)
- The WVU fourth year has 12 weeks of required rotations (anesthesiology, a sub-internship, critical care and rural or community care) and 20 weeks of electives; graduation also needs 100 hours of community service and passes on Step 1 and Step 2. (West Virginia University 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); West Virginia University School of Medicine, MD curriculum (checked November 1, 2026); ABIM, residency program pass rates 2023-2025 (checked October 29, 2026).
Two years in Morgantown, then Step 1
Every WVU student spends the first and second years on the Morgantown campus (WVU curriculum). The first year is 45 weeks and 52 credit hours, about 20 scheduled contact hours a week, starting with biochemistry, human structure and physical diagnosis, then moving to immunity and infection, mechanisms of disease, pharmacology and the nervous system in the spring. The second year is shorter, 33 weeks and 38 credit hours, with microbiology, pathology, pharmacology and physiology taught together around organ systems.
The second year ends with two exams back to back: the NBME Comprehensive Basic Science Examination, which WVU runs as a course, and then USMLE Step 1 (WVU curriculum). That makes the CBSE the school's own dress rehearsal. We use its result the way we use any NBME practice exam: to decide which systems get the remaining weeks, and whether the Step 1 date should hold.
The clerkship year starts that summer, and WVU states that students must pass Step 1 to remain in it. A Step 1 result that arrives after rotations have begun can still pull a student out, so we plan the dedicated weeks to leave room for one retake before the clerkship calendar is at risk, without assuming one will be needed.
Morgantown, Charleston or Martinsburg for the clinical years
For the third and fourth years WVU places students on one of three clinical campuses: Morgantown, the Charleston Division or the Eastern Division in Martinsburg (WVU curriculum). The third year is 48 weeks and seven required clerkships, internal medicine, surgery, psychiatry, neurology, pediatrics, family medicine and obstetrics and gynecology, taken in any order. Each ends in its shelf exam, and because the order differs from student to student, two classmates can face the medicine shelf months apart.
Tutoring by live video (Zoom or Google Meet) works the same on all three campuses, which matters when a student moves to Charleston or Martinsburg and leaves the Morgantown study groups behind. We build the shelf calendar from the student's own rotation order rather than a generic one.
The fourth year and the community service rule
The fourth year is 34 weeks: 12 weeks of required rotations in anesthesiology, a hospital sub-internship, critical care and rural or community care, and 20 weeks of electives, with no more than 12 weeks in one specialty and at most 4 weeks of research (WVU curriculum). Required rotations stay with WVU faculty on the three campuses or at approved West Virginia sites.
To graduate, a WVU student also needs 100 hours of community service and passes on both Step 1 and Step 2 CK. Step 2 CK is the scored exam residency programs read, so we place it after the core clerkships while the shelf material is fresh, and before the elective weeks fill with interviews.
WVU also runs a peer tutoring service for first- and second-year students, PALS, started in fall 2012, which charges $3 an hour (WVU curriculum). It is a good fit for course material; one-on-one board tutoring with a physician is a different job, focused on the exam.
Medical school in Morgantown
| School | Degree | Founded | Type | Exam series | In Morgantown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia University School of Medicine | MD | 1903 | Public | USMLE | Main campus |
School list: LCME and COCA lists, via the list of medical schools in the United States, checked October 2026.
Teaching hospitals in Morgantown
On the CMS teaching hospital list (October 2026):
- West Virginia University Hospitals, Medical Center Drive, Morgantown, WV 26506
When Morgantown students must take the boards
West Virginia University School of Medicine states: “students are required to have taken Step 1 USMLE prior to the start of the clinical curriculum (i.e., third year of the curriculum). A passing score is required to remain in the third year of the curriculum.” (Graduation Requirements for the MD Degree).
The exams Morgantown students take, in order
WVU's graduation requirements make Step 1 a gate. Students must have taken Step 1 before the clinical curriculum starts in the third year, and a passing score is required to remain in the third year (Graduation Requirements for the MD Degree).
Shelf exams run through the clerkships, one after each core rotation (shelf exam tutoring). Step 2 CK comes next and Step 3 during residency.
For internal medicine residents the ABIM exam closes the sequence: 88% of 75 first-time takers from the West Virginia University program passed it in 2023-2025 (ABIM).
West Virginia board rules for Morgantown graduates
The USMLE program allows four attempts per Step, and West Virginia's medical board lists six (USMLE eligibility rules, FSMB). Counted in attempts, the state is looser than the exam program, so a Morgantown graduate reaches the exam program's limit first, at every Step.
How much Morgantown searches for board prep
Morgantown ranks 6th among US cities for “USMLE” searches over the past five years, with a score of 38 out of 100 (Google Trends, retrieved October 2026). “USMLE” is the only search term this page lists for Morgantown, and WVU requires USMLE Step 1 before the third year (Graduation Requirements for the MD Degree). Scores are relative, not counts of students.
- “USMLE”: number 6 among US cities, score 38 of 100