The following is a crude compilation of web sites that may be useful in studying for boards or for individual classes. I have quickly reviewed (about 3-5 minutes/site) and evaluated each one in terms of usefulness for the USMLE (excellent, good, fair, poor). A "good" or above is higher yield for USMLE Step I. A "Fair" or "Poor" site may be low yield for the boards, however it may be good for individual classes. Please direct any additions or comments to the Medical Student Informatics Group so that the site can be updated with new listings, new improvements, and a more complete, thorough evaluation. Thanks to Dr. Suzanne Stensas for collecting the majority of the following links.
--Chris Carlin, MSIV
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LINK |
GRADE |
COMMENT |
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Overall
http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/QMTests/exam.htm
http://www.imc.gsm.com
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Good
Fair to good |
- 100-question test with clinical vignette style and review of the correct answer.
- This site has tons of potential. Free registration. You can select questions from different areas of anatomy, physiology, radiology, histology, pharm, path and others. Some questions may reflect board format. This site may be better for classes but it looks like a good resource.
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Microbiology
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Fair to good |
- This U of Florida web site has clinical cases that would be good for the boards that seemed quick and fun. Site also contains an alphabetical index and details about each organism plus old exams so should also be useful for class study. The logon is "bugs" and the password is "bugs."
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Neuroanatomy/Gross Anatomy
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Fair to poor
Fair
Fair |
- Brainstem quiz would be better for neuroanatomy than for USMLE. Point and click to correct area of brainstem.
- Good site for anatomy/neuroanatomy classes with some practical quiz questions. Probably low yield for the boards. Lots of anatomy links.
- Low yield for boards. May be useful for neuroanatomy.
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Pathology
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Good
Fair
Poor
Poor to fair |
- 90 board style questions made by students. Organ-system related questions with path pictures. Instant answer. Good overall path review.
- Path exams may be more suited for course review than USMLE study.
- This web site does not have any practice questions and clinical vignettes answers are not available. The only reason that I included it is that it has some slides and path pictures with groovy arrows pointing exactly to certain structures/spots of interest.
- Practice Path exams more suited for course review than USMLE study. Good collection of pictures if for some reason Klatt’s database wasn’t enough for you.
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Pharm
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Fair to good
Fair plus
Good to fair
Fair minus
Fair plus
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- Click on the "med pharm" book then on USMLE Step I review exam (in bottom left corner). Over 250 question test that gives a basic overview of pharm for USMLE. The major drawback is the U of Michigan professor doesn’t give out the anwers.
- Hundreds of review questions for pharm. Not necessarily in USMLE format but can be completed quickly. Correct answer supplied but explanation is lacking at this time.
- Requires password (which is free). Large amounts of test questions. Good explanations and clinical vignettes.
- Better for class study. Numerous questions on tons of topics but font is ugly and detail too great for USMLE. Lots of good pharm links though.
- Numerous questions and study links with decent format but probably too much detail for boards review. Probably good for drug class review. No explanations.
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Physiology
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Fair
Good to fair |
- Numerous questions on various physiology subjects. No explanations given. May be too detailed for boards study.
- Numerous review questions in cardio, pulm, GI, and histology. Some with explanations. Some dedicated to USMLE review.
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Biochemistry
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Fair plus
Fair plus |
- Hundreds of questions with some clinical correlation. Numerous topics within biochem to choose from. No explanations given yet. Probably too detailed for USMLE.
- Hundreds of questions designed for class test review from UHUHS medical school. Good format with explanations. Can be done by topic. May be too detailed for USMLE.
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Histology
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Fair
Fair minus
Fair minus |
- Lots of questions with photos. Probably low yield to study this much histo for boards but may be helpful for class.
- Same as above
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