USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in South Carolina

South Carolina has four medical schools, and three of them are public. school list The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, founded in 1824, is the oldest; the University of South Carolina has MD schools in Columbia (1977) and Greenville (2012); and Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Carolinas in Spartanburg (private, 2010) is the DO school. school list

South Carolina's MD schools fill most of their classes from home: 91.1% of MUSC's 2025-26 entering class, 75.8% in Columbia and 66.4% in Greenville came from South Carolina. AAMC FACTS Clerkships draw on 25 teaching hospitals, with three in Columbia and two each in Charleston and Greenville. CMS teaching hospital list

Medical schools in South Carolina

Several of these schools teach students at more than one site: Medical University of South Carolina also lists Anderson, South Carolina; University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia also lists Florence, South Carolina.

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

Teaching hospitals in South Carolina by city

• Columbia: Prisma Health Richland Hospital; Prisma Health Baptist Hospital; Ph Baptist Parkridge Hospital
• Charleston: Medical University of South Carolina; Trident Regional Medical Center
• Greenville: GHS Greenville Memorial Hospital; Ph Patewood Hospital
• Spartanburg: Spartanburg Regional Medical Center
• Seneca: Oconee Memorial Hospital
• Easley: Ph Baptist Easley Hospital
• Georgetown: Georgetown Memorial Hospital
• Anderson: Anmed Health
• Walterboro: Colleton Medical Center
• Greer: Ph Greer Memorial Hospital
• Simpsonville: Ph Hillcrest Hospital
• Conway: Conway Hospital
• Florence: Mcleod Regional Medical Center
• Sumter: Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital
• Greenwood: Self Regional Healthcare
• West Columbia: Lexington Medical Center
• Aiken: Aiken Regional Medical Center
• Myrtle Beach: Grand Strand Regional Medical Center
• Murrells Inlet: Waccamaw Community Hospital
• Cheraw: Mcleod Health Cheraw
• Manning: Mcleod Health Clarendon

Facts about South Carolina

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.

• MUSC's Immersion Phase (Year 3) has 7 core clerkships, in family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery, and students choose up to 3 selectives. (MUSC College of Medicine)
• MUSC's Flex Scholarly Concentration has four pathways (Research, Global Health, Health Humanities and Physician as Teacher), and Year 4 ends with the Internship 101 Capstone course. (MUSC College of Medicine)
• The University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville starts its students with EMT training in their first week and calls itself the first school in the country to integrate EMT certification into its first year. (University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville)
• The University of South Carolina's Columbia school is now the Floyd School of Medicine, with a new Health Sciences Campus in the BullStreet District. (University of South Carolina Floyd School of Medicine)
• In the 2025 Main Residency Match, programs in South Carolina offered 660 residency positions in 27 specialties, the most in family medicine (143), internal medicine (127), and emergency medicine (56). (NRMP)

Sources: LCME, directory of accredited U.S. programs (checked October 29, 2026); AAMC FACTS, Table A-1, 2025-2026 (checked October 29, 2026); MUSC College of Medicine, Curriculum (checked November 1, 2026); University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville (checked November 1, 2026); University of South Carolina Floyd School of Medicine (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).

Three MD schools, three different first years

MUSC in Charleston teaches its preclerkship phase in organ-system blocks that teach normal and abnormal together, with early clinical experiences in the hospital, the community and simulation in each block (MUSC curriculum). Its Flex Scholarly Concentration adds a mentored project in one of four pathways: Research, Global Health, Health Humanities or Physician as Teacher.

The University of South Carolina's Greenville school starts with EMT training in the first week and calls itself the first school in the country to integrate EMT certification into its first year; it also describes itself as the first ACLM Platinum Plus certified curriculum in lifestyle medicine (USC School of Medicine Greenville). In Columbia, the university's school is now the Floyd School of Medicine, with a new Health Sciences Campus in the BullStreet District (USC Floyd School of Medicine).

For Step 1 the differences matter less than they look: every school teaches the same content the exam samples, in its own order. We map an MUSC student's question bank to the current organ-system block, and pair a Greenville student's early clinical work with question sets on the physiology and pharmacology behind it.

Year 3 in South Carolina: seven shelves

MUSC's Immersion Phase, Year 3, has 7 core clerkships: family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery, and students choose up to 3 selectives (MUSC curriculum). Each core clerkship ends in an NBME shelf exam, so an MUSC student sits seven of them in one year, and Year 4 ends with the Internship 101 Capstone course.

Neurology as a separate clerkship means a separate neurology shelf, which some schools fold into psychiatry. We treat it as its own exam, with its own question set, rather than as a chapter of medicine.

Where South Carolina graduates train

In the 2025 Main Residency Match, South Carolina programs offered 660 positions in 27 specialties. Family medicine led with 143, ahead of internal medicine with 127, and emergency medicine and the transitional year had 56 each (NRMP).

Those internal medicine residents later sit ABIM's exam; the program results are in the table above. For family medicine residents, Step 3 is the last licensing exam, and South Carolina's ten-year window to finish the USMLE leaves room to plan it around a residency schedule.

Which board exams South Carolina students take

MUSC and the two University of South Carolina medical schools, in Columbia and Greenville, all grant the MD, so their students follow the USMLE through Step 1, Step 2 CK and Step 3. USMLE Their LCME accreditation dates run from before 1942 at MUSC to 1976 in Columbia and 2011 in Greenville. LCME

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Carolinas in Spartanburg is the one DO route, and its students follow the osteopathic series, COMLEX-USA Level 1, Level 2-CE and Level 3. NBOME Via students weighing the USMLE as well can start with our COMLEX Level 2 vs USMLE Step 2 CK guide.

After training, internal medicine graduates sit ABIM's exam. In 2023-2025, 88% of 75 first-time takers from the Medical University of South Carolina Program in Charleston passed, as did 90% of 42 from the Prisma Health/University of South Carolina SOM Columbia Program and 100% of 36 from its Greenville counterpart. ABIM

South Carolina licensing rules that affect your exam plan

South Carolina's board applies one rule to both exam series: four attempts per USMLE Step and per COMLEX Level, with ten years to complete either. FSMB The FSMB's separate time-limit line says only to contact the board, and training is one year before a first license, or three for international graduates. FSMB

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

What South Carolina's rules mean for how you study

• South Carolina's four attempts per Step match the USMLE program's own cap, so the board adds no extra room; treat the fourth sitting as a safety net, not part of the plan. FSMB USMLE eligibility rules
• The same count of four applies to each COMLEX Level, so DO students get a separate budget for Level 1, Level 2-CE and Level 3 rather than one shared pool. FSMB
• Ten years to complete the USMLE or COMLEX is the clock to watch, but the FSMB's time-limit row only says to contact the board, so ask when the ten years start before planning a research year. FSMB

Many South Carolina students rotate, interview or match next door. South Carolina's neighbors on our list: Georgia (4 MD, 1 DO), North Carolina (4 MD, 1 DO).

How much South Carolina searches for board prep

South Carolina's best results on Google Trends are a tie: COMLEX and shelf exam both rank 24th of 51 over the five years to October 2026, the only two terms in the top half.

The USMLE terms rank lower, at 32nd for Step 2, 37th for Step 1 and 38th for USMLE, so COMLEX out-ranks all three in a state with three MD schools to one DO school.

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