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PASS Program USMLE Review
Our detailed breakdown and review of the PASS Program USMLE prep course
With a long history of student success, the PASS Program is one of the most popular options for students preparing for Step 1 and Step 2 of the USMLE. But is the PASS Program still relevant in 2026, and are they worth the high price tag? After exploring the course from the inside, we break down the course features, pricing, and pros and cons to let you know whether this USMLE course will work for your learning style.
Since this is a lengthy, detailed review, we’ve added jump-to links above for easy navigation.
Video Review: Is Pass Program Worth It?
In the video above, John from the Test Prep Insight team covers the highlights and lowlights of the PASS Program USMLE prep courses. For more information, be sure to continue reading our full written review below so you can decide whether this prep course is right for you.
PASS Program Course Options and Pricing
For Steps 1 and 2 of the USMLE, the PASS Program offers students three types of prep options. These offerings include a live on-site class, live online class, and an on-demand home study package.
The live on-site class is PASS Program’s longtime flagship prep offering. Since the late 1990s, the PASS Program has brought students in from all over the country to attend live classes taught by Dr. Francis Ihejirika, founder of the PASS Program.
These classes are hosted at PASS Program’s facility in Houston, Texas and offer a traditional bootcamp-type experience where you meet almost daily for lectures. While the material is current, this method is about as traditional as it gets in terms of prepping for a high-stakes exam.
These live, in-person courses are offered in 5-week increments. They cost approximately $3,500 for the full program.
The cost for student housing is separate, and not included in these amounts. As a result, these prices are generally much higher than competing USMLE prep course costs.
The PASS Program also offers a live online version of their 5-week live course. This is not a separate course from the on-site experience; it is just a different format of the same class. You attend the same classes as the students in Texas, but instead stream the class from your home. These live online 5-week courses cost about $2,600.
A look inside the live online course from PASS Program
Finally, for students who do not have the flexibility to attend classes in-person in Texas or live online, the PASS Program offers a self-study, on demand package. This includes just the core components of the PASS Program coursework: 6 months of online access to on demand video lectures, a coursebook, and access to the quizlet (i.e. practice questions).
This home study course will run you right around $150 per month under a subscription model.
Our Evaluation of the Lessons and Curriculum
The PASS Program is definitely one of the most in-depth options when it comes to prepping for the USMLE. But after testing out all the major USMLE prep programs, it isn’t the right choice for most learners, considering how many other high-quality resources are now available in 2026.
Let’s start with who the PASS Program is a good fit for: students who want an in-person study experience. They bring students in from all over the country to a central facility in Texas, where you eat, breathe, and sleep USMLE prep for up to 12 weeks. This is a pretty unique offering, but it only works for a limited number of students who have the availability and budget for traveling.
After all, you’re not just paying the roughly $3,500 price tag of the course itself; you’ll also have to cover your own airfare, housing, and Uber or car rental fees for the full five weeks you spend in Houston. You’re looking at spending thousands on the in-person course, but you’re getting the exact same material that’s included in the live online class.
You’ll also be expected to participate and answer questions on the spot if you go with the live course option. If you’re a social learner or you’re confident about the material, that can be no big deal, but it might cause some added anxiety for learners who don’t feel comfortable under the spotlight.
So what about the live online class? Here’s what works well: this course starts and ends with its founder, Dr. Francis. He has an absolute mastery of the topics tested on the USMLE, including all organ systems and the top diseases.
Dr. Francis is known for his energy, passion, and knack for communicating complex topics. You’ll never fall asleep in this class; Dr. Francis has a booming voice and is easily excited about what he does.
Dr. Francis is an excellent USMLE teacher
Another nice feature is that each class starts off with a session about test taking strategies and techniques. Dr. Francis (or sometimes another doctor filling in, like Dr. Chacko or Dr. Parth) will pick a few random exam questions and demonstrate some test taking technique. The idea behind these workshops is to teach you to be more efficient in how you take the test.
You don’t have to know 100% of the material to pass. Dr. Francis teaches you a number of techniques that help simplify questions and quickly eliminate incorrect answers. This focus on strategy is a definite advantage for the PASS Program and honestly one of their biggest strengths.
PASS Program video lesson example
But it isn’t all just learning shortcuts and test-taking tricks. You still need to learn the hard material, which is what you spend most of your time on. Each day, you’ll cover a primary topic split up into a number of subtopics.
This part of the course is a fairly traditional lesson, with Dr. Francis employing a whiteboard in class. You follow along in your lecture notes, which are detailed enough that you can mostly just listen, without having to take many notes of your own.
While Dr. Francis is a great lecturer who makes the material relatable through stories, clinical experiences, and studies he’s read, it’s still an old-school style approach. Sure, he’s loud and expressive, which keeps the content at least somewhat interesting. But if you prefer really interactive or modern learning methods, or you do better with a hands-on approach where you’re mostly working practice problems and learning from your mistakes, you might do better with a resource that’s oriented around a question bank, like Med School Bootcamp or BoardVitals.
Now, I do have some hesitations about the PASS Program course, whether you go with the in-person or live online option. For one thing, the schedule is brutal. Even if you take the course from home, you’re expected to log in for seven hours a day, five days a week, with optional evening drill sessions on top of that. If you’re like me, it’s hard to stay focused for that long. To give you some context, Kaplan’s live online class only meets for four hours a day, which makes it much easier to stay engaged and get the most out of each session.
Whether you take the live online or on-demand course, you also get access to video lectures that are similar to the actual class sessions. Dr. Francis appears in the bottom right corner of the screen, while on-screen notes from the lecture handout and his occasional hand-drawn notes on the whiteboard take center stage.
Another USMLE lesson example from PASS Program
While I found these videos to be well thought out, they were not the best I have seen. I actually think Kaplan’s and Lecturio’s are better. That is mostly because of the production value.
They feel dated and old school, whereas the other prep companies feel more relevant.
Beyond the video lectures, the practice work is just okay. The PASS Program questions are fairly realistic in terms of closely resembling the content and structure of actual USMLE questions, but you only get about 2,000 practice questions. Keep in mind that SmashUSMLE offers 4,000+ practice questions through a handy test bank, while Med School Bootcamp provides you with over 10,500 practice questions.
The PASS Program does provide a number of video explanations, but unfortunately, they haven’t yet produced a video explanation for every practice question, which would be nice. Plus, the text-based explanations are a little thin compared to other providers.
Plenty of lessons and practice work
That said, I did like the explanations in the PASS Program Clues booklet. That resource offers a number of practice questions and answers, along with explanations that do a great job breaking everything down.
If you study best by doing lots of practice work and then reviewing problem explanations, the PASS Program probably won’t work for your learning style. You might want to go with a course that’s built around a high-quality question bank, like Med School Bootcamp or BoardVitals.
PASS Program USMLE Prep Book
When you sign up with the PASS Program, they will ship you a hardcopy book full of course notes. In total, this book has more than 600 pages of fact-intensive content review.
Let me just say, it is a dense, heavy book. It is brimming with substantive material and is almost like a USMLE notes bible.
The book is largely grouped by topic to follow along with the class, so you can take notes in it as you follow along.
In my opinion, this is a well-written and extremely thorough book, although it doesn’t compare to Kaplan’s prep books. But I wouldn’t recommend using it in a vacuum; it is best complemented by the live course.
PASS Program USMLE Practice Tests
Just about every PASS Program course option comes with two full-length NBME practice exams. The first one is taken very early on in the course as a diagnostic to test your baseline knowledge and skills.
It also pinpoints your weaknesses and gives you something by which to measure your progress. The other full-length practice exam is taken near the end of the course. For me, it was taken during my second to last week in class.
But no matter when you take your second practice exam, it is helpful. There is nothing better than replicating exam-like conditions with a practice test, so I was grateful to have two full-length opportunities.
User Experience – Online Portal
The student portal of the PASS Program is pretty basic. There are no bells or whistles, or sleek designs. It just gives you access to your quizlets, on demand videos and other features in a straightforward fashion. Don’t get me wrong; it is absolutely functional. But it is not pretty.
The load speeds were generally fine, and I have never had an issue streaming my classes or watching on demand videos. If user interface is a big deal to you, you probably won’t be happy with what the PASS Program has to offer. But if you don’t care about aesthetics, then you’ll be just fine.
PASS Program Private Tutoring
Almost all of the live PASS Program courses offer private tutoring. You will meet with one of the PASS Program instructors once, twice or three times per week (depending on your course) and discuss your progress. This is a huge advantage that other USMLE prep courses do not generally offer as a standard feature of their course.
Your tutor will be up to date with your performance on practice questions, and will want to know how you have been coming along in class.
My tutor was very interested in making sure I was happy with the class and my progress. We started most sessions by reviewing my progress, then engaged in a free-flowing discussion about topics I wanted help on and where I could improve. This individual support is definitely an area where the PASS Program shines, as I always had someone I could check in with when I needed it.
Content Access Period
You will have access to your online PASS Program course materials for six months after the course ends. The exception here is the on-demand course. Given there is no live class, the content access period is just six months total.
This doesn’t apply to individual class recordings, though. These are generally only accessible for 30 days after each class session. That said, the on-demand video lessons will remain open for the full six months.
Is There a Mobile App?
Unfortunately, as of the writing of this review, the PASS Program does not offer a mobile app. This is too bad, as a number of other USMLE prep providers have much better mobile access.
Sometimes it is nice to watch a video lecture on the go, or work some practice questions when you have free time. So the fact you don’t get that with the PASS Program is a bit of a bummer.
Is There a Pass or Money Back Guarantee?
No, the PASS Program does not offer a cash back promise if you fail to pass your Step 1 or Step 2 USMLE exam.
This is a serious drawback, as many other programs include a money back guarantee, including Kaplan, Med School Bootcamp, and Achievable. If you’re looking for that extra security, the PASS Program doesn’t offer it.
Verdict: PASS Program USMLE Course Review
So, is the PASS Program a worthwhile investment? It’s a tough call. Ultimately, while the PASS Program is undeniably one of the most rigorous prep packages on the market, in my opinion, there are better resources out there in 2026 that help you prepare more efficiently.
While the PASS Program offers engaging lectures, a great review book, and an in-person option that works well for students who are able to carve out some time for travel, there’s so much information that it’s almost overwhelming. The reality is that it’s hard for most people to focus on studying for 7+ hours a day. Plus, the video lectures are dated, and there’s no mobile app or cash back guarantee.
With one of the highest price tags in the industry, the PASS Program isn’t the most doable option out there. For students wanting the most comprehensive live online course on the market, go with Kaplan, whose two-instructor model provides tons of personal support while keeping sessions efficient. Other options worth considering: Med School Bootcamp has really in-depth problem explanations, and Achievable’s quick lessons work great for people with a busy schedule.
All in all, the PASS Program is a decent option; it just doesn’t feel like the best choice when there are more modern and streamlined alternatives out there.
Depending on which course option you select, the PASS Program USMLE prep packages range in price from around $150/month up to about $3,500.
How many live classroom hours do I get with the PASS Program?
The PASS Program offers both 5-week and 12-week USMLE course packages. These course options provide 175 and 420 hours of live class time, respectively.
Is the PASS Program USMLE prep worth it?
With a high price tag, the PASS Program USMLE prep package is not the most doable or efficient study option out there. Kaplan offers the most comprehensive USMLE prep course, while Med School Bootcamp provides more practice questions.
