PASS ProgramReviews of pass-program.com

I attended the PASS program to help me pass my Level 2 exam. 90% of the context was geared toward Level 1. Only 2 hours each day was for my test content. This was not information that was easily found in the course description. I was very disappointed with the setup of the course and the fact that it was not clearly spelled out for me before I purchased the content. If I could I would ask for my money back. Not worth it for a Level 2 student.

I competed the 5‑week program, and I'm leaving deeply disappointed—not because of the lectures, but because of a fundamentally broken tutoring system. The Good (The Lectures) The founder, Dr. Francis, and the majority of the lecturers are exceptional. Dr. Francis has a gift for breaking down complex concepts in a way that sticks. What some reviewers call "tangents," I see as relaxed, memory‑retaining diversions that actually help you absorb the material without stress. About 70% of the staff are great, and the overall atmosphere is conducive to studying—provided you don't need tutoring. The Fatal Flaw (Tutoring & Communication) The tutoring department is a mess. Here's what happened: · My session was originally scheduled for a Tuesday. When I logged in to confirm the time, I discovered it had been moved to Monday—with no direct notification. I missed it. · When I reached out, my tutor was nonchalant about the miscommunication and flatly stated it couldn't be made up. · In Week 1, I emailed my assigned tutor and never received a reply. · Result: I'm in Week 4 and have had only one tutoring session. When you point out that their explanations don't make sense, the tutoring leadership gets defensive. The tone of their emails suggests they don't actually care about the students' progress—it feels like their real goal is pushing you to buy extra tutoring sessions. At 10 per question**—steep for a program already costing thousands. Trust & Professionalism I initially trusted Dr. Francis and the staff, but my experience with the tutoring director and their team has completely tarnished that trust. Professional leadership means staying composed, focusing on facts, and addressing issues that block a customer from getting value from your product. Getting defensive and dismissive does the opposite. They don't know how to accept feedback and not see it negatively. Instead the CAO and her team retaliate. People come here to learn, not to deal with unnecessary drama. Amenities & Logistics A few quality‑of‑life upgrades would go a long way—an automatic barista machine for coffee drinks and a prepped‑meal vending machine would be great. I also wish they had a housing partnership so students could stay closer to the center. These are minor compared to the tutoring issues, though. The Cost This 5‑week endeavor—program tuition, food, lodging, car rental, and incidentals—has cost me nearly $9,200. That is a massive investment. I didn't pay this much to chase down tutors or feel pressured into buying more sessions. Final Verdict & Advice Looking back, I should have taken an online review course or Kaplan. It would have been far less stressful. If you're considering this program, I would only recommend the "pay to study independently at the center" option—it puts you around other students and creates a productive peer‑learning environment. Avoid relying on their tutoring system unless you're willing to accept unreliable scheduling and dismissive support. This review is honest, objective, and based on facts. I'm leaving disappointed, but I hope this helps future students make a fully informed decision before spending nearly $10,000.

Sitting 12 hours/day for only 3-4 key info/day is not a smart use of your time. A lot of deviations from high-yield content, with additional info or life stories. Course can be made significantly shorter, i.e. 4 highly efficient hours, where the students can use the remaining time to review and solve, rather than be too exhausted to do anything when the class itself is too long and insufficient.

Too many rants about questionable topics. It was difficult to differentiate between what was factual science and what was a learning tool, what were patterns that Dr Francis had identified to help with STEP performance, and what was actually supported thinking in the practice of medicine.

The lectures for step 2 were generic

This program covers Step topics relatively comprehensively in a relatively short amount of time, but it is not worth the money. During my 3 years of medical school, I have purchased many study resources - Board and Beyond, Pathoma, Sketchy, UWorld, Amboss, OnlineMedEd, etc. Most of these resources are comprehensive, well-made with beautiful websites, edited with meticulous attention to fixing mistakes, well-designed book/PDFs, AND nowhere near as expensive as PASS. They all offer 6-12month plans for <$500. PASS is comprehensive, yes. But it is full of errors. The website is very clunky - something you make yourself or from the early 2000s, with different menus and options and no clear organization. For the $1,000 6-months On-Demand version, I was only given videos and a "textbook" which is essentially a long, messy Word Document in a 3-ring binder. No pdf of the slides. No proper textbook with quality editing, organization, and pictures. When there's an error in the textbook, they've literally wrote "should say this" on a side textbox instead of actually editing the "textbook". For the price, this does not line up with the market of Step 1 resources -- you should not be charging $1,000 with poorly edited videos, a word document binder of "notes", and clunky outdated website. For the quality of what's offered, this program is worth no more than $300 for 6 months, if not less. And if you ignore the blatant rip-off the program is and how they are preying on desperate medical students just hoping to pass an important exam, the content is not that amazing either. Dr. Francis acts like he's uncovered the magical potion for understanding all content for Step 1. He has not. Watching his video is not going to provide you an immediate solution for learning Step 1 material. Yes, sometimes the way he explains physiology is helpful and straightforward. Yes, his videos are relatively shorter than other resources (4-6 hours for an entire subject) which makes it easier to cover everything in a limited time. But, he does not cover every detail and his 'tricks' aren't as 90% foolproof as he claims. It's also incredibly annoying that he spends half the time of the videos and morning questions boasting about how great and smart he is that he 'figured this out'. I don't want to hear about how great and magical Dr. Francis is when I'm hurriedly trying to learn content. What i love about Pathoma and Bnb is that they're very humble teachers that know how to explain content and NEVER boast about themselves or their teaching styles -- they just simply teach and move on. The program would have been a lot more worthwhile if Dr. Francis just spent time teaching and less time saying how he's "empowered you!" with his magic. Overall, do not recommend buying this program unless you have a lot of money to spend. It may be useful, but it's not worth $1000+.

I signed up for the On-Demand program for Step 2 CK. So far, I've had to spend about 5 weeks just going back and "re-learning" normal. That's not a very good way to spend dedicated Step 2 study time by studying for Step 1. Well, did it anyway. There a lot of useful bits here, don't get me wrong (which is why it scored 2 stars), but there's a lot more negative. The quizzes consist of 5 questions, all answered on a video. Not helpful with either the amount of questions or really figuring out how to approach the questions or topics. With all the emphasis on organization, a lot of it is really disorganized. Why are we being taught seizures in the infectious disease part? Doesn't that belong in Neuro? Finally, the lecturers themselves are a hit or miss. Our main lecturer REALLY wants to emphasize how important he is to the program. I'm not really interested in that part or reading the poetry left in one of the pages on the main book. The main Step 2 lecturer is REALLY difficult to understand. To understand the lecturer, I have to increase the volume on my computer... which is a bad idea. Their voice suddenly takes a dive and gets too quiet only for moments later to sound like they're yelling. There is plenty that's helpful (and a lot more that's really repetitive) in the program but overall, I don't think it's worth the price or the length to get through it.

I used the Pass program (online live) to study for my first go at COMLEX level 1. I have very mixed reviews/feelings about the program. Dr. Francis' lectures were great but anything taught by the other teachers was not even worth the time. You were better off using boards and beyond, pathoma, sketchy, or first aid for those subjects. I hands down believe sketchy prepares you the best for the micro. I also purchased 4 tutoring sessions and did not feel thy were worth $100 per session. My tutor barely explained the questions that I missed. I ended up having to read the explanations at a later time. If I asked her to re-explain a concept that confused me from class, instead of trying a new approach she would verbatim repeat the notes. I was repeatedly asked why I did not take the NBME practice exam and I kept having to explain over and over again that I was taking COMSAE practice exams since I was ONLY taking COMLEX. I was not going to purchase practice exams for an exam I was not going to take at the time. At the end of the 5 weeks I sent my advisor/tutor from the Pass program my COMSAE practice exam score. All I received back was an email asking me to send the score/ subject area breakdown and then I never heard from her again. Dr. Francis contacted me towards the end of the 5 weeks to ask how studying was going. At first I thought this was great that he cared enough to reach out, then the next week he called again and asked the exact same questions like he didn't remember speaking with me a week ago. Every time it was an offer of a FREE tutoring session with him to see if I needed to "purchase more tutoring session." I was not going to drop another $100. Felt it was very much a money maker. Trying to contact or call back Dr. Francis was like playing phone tag. I know he has tons of students that go through the program and he is a busy man, but many times he would call me after 10pm when I was usually asleep in bed. I know it's just my own personal pet peeve but I do not like it when people are calling me after 9pm unless it's an emergency. For reference I did pass COMLEX level 1 my first go around. I had friends who attended the Pass program before taking their boards and they did not pass. If I had to go back and do it all over again I would probably purchase the online-demand (not online live class) or I'd use a prep course like DIT so I could go at my own pace. His lectures helped provide a good base but I used other resources in the month or so after my course ended to expand and fill in the blanks. Ultimately I did not feel the course stood up to the hefty price tag.