Graduation Rates by Entering Year
Overall graduation rates are the number of students that start out in medical school who then graduate at the end of six years. Although 87-95% of our students graduate within four years, many factors can impact a student not completing in four years. These may include an illness or injury that puts the student behind, academic failure, moving to a five-year program of study, suspension, withdrawal, or dismissal for integrity violations, etc. Des Moines University students have a very high graduation rate compared to many schools across the country.
| Entering Cohort | Graduation Rate |
| 2017-18 | 86.8%* |
| 2016-17 | 95.9%* |
| 2015-16 | 96.8% |
| 2014-15 | 95.0%* |
| 2013-14 | 97.3% |
*These classes include students still active in the program as of 7/1/2021. As they complete the program the graduation rate will increase.
Internship and Residency Match Rates
Finding graduate medical education (GME) after medical school is a top priority for our students at Des Moines University’s College of Medicine. Not every student decides to pursue a residency right away but for the majority that do, they will be well prepared for what lies ahead on their career path. Competition for GME is solid with the unified Match of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), but our goal at Des Moines University is to equip students to be competitive applicants. Des Moines University prides itself on a high placement rate percentage and in the 2021 cycle, we had a 99% placement rate.
| Match Rate Percentages | |||||
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
| DMU Overall | 99.5 (206/207) |
99.5 (219/220) |
97.1 (206/212) |
99.5 (203/204) |
100.0 (220/220) |
| Military Match* | 4.8 (10/207) |
5.0 (11/220) |
2.8 (6/212) |
5.8 (12/204) |
3.2 (7/220) |
| AOA Match | 14.9 (31/207) |
8.2 (18/220) |
N/A | N/A | N/A |
| ACGME Match | 79.8 (165/207) |
86.4 (190/220) |
94.3 (200/212) |
93.1 (190/204) |
94.1 (207/220) |
Last updated April 2022
*Percentage of class matching military
Board Pass Rates by Graduation Year
DMU pass rates on COMLEX board exams consistently exceed the national average. Board exam results provide an important measure of knowledge for review as part of the graduate medical education (residency) application process. Three-year averages represent the most recent three years of data.
| Graduation Year | Level 1 | Level 2-CE | Level 2-PE | Level 3 |
| 2016 | 97.6 93.9 NA |
97.6 92.2 NA |
97.6 93.0 NA |
100.0 96.7 NA |
| 2017 | 97.7 92.3 NA |
96.3 93.2 NA |
96.7 92.9 NA |
98.4 95.4 NA |
| 2018 | 95.7 92.7 NA |
98.1 92.8 NA |
94.6 93.2 NA |
98.2 97.5 NA |
| 2019 | 99.6 96.0 NA |
99.1 95.6 NA |
95.6 93.2 NA |
98.5 97.0 NA |
| 2020 | 95.8 93.0 NA |
98.6 96.8 NA |
96.2 92.1 NA |
97.7* 96.9 NA* |
| 2021 | 97.6 94.3 NA |
99.0 96.5 NA |
||
| 2022 | 97.7 93.7 NA |
97.3* 95.5 NA* |
||
| 2023 | 98.6* 92.8 NA* |
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| 3-Year Average** | 98.0 93.6 NA |
98.3 96.3 NA |
95.5 92.8 NA |
98.1 97.1 NA |
*Test cycle remains open for 2023 COMLEX Level 1 and 2022 COMLEX Level 2-CE
**COMLEX Level 1 (2021-23), COMLEX Level 2-CE (2020-22), COMLEX Level 2-PE (2018-20) and COMLEX Level 3 (2018-20).
NA = National Average.
Last updated January 2022