There’s already a huge amount of knowledge at your disposal from university lectures, seminars and tutorials, and they act as a great foundation to your education. But everyone learns differently, and you need to find your own methods for absorbing, retaining and recalling everything you learn.
You’ll need to commit a hefty amount of time and effort to revising what you’re told in class, and it can seem a little overwhelming at times when faced with the sheer amount of information. Not to worry, Pastest has rounded up nine of our favourite online resources to give your revision efforts the best headstart possible.
Quesmed
Available on: Website, Apple Store, Google Play Store
Price: Monthly membership starts from £9.99 per month, but you can start with a free trial.
Quesmed is one of the most popular revision resources available. There’s flexible pricing which means that you can only subscribe for what you need depending on when your exams are.
Source: Quesmed
What’s included?
Quesmed’s all-in-one question banks covers medical school and postgraduate exams including:
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Anatomy and Pre-Clinical
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Clinical and MLA Qbank
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MRCP Examinations
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Interview Qbanks
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Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MRSA)
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PLAB Qbank
There’s a web app, and a mobile app that can be downloaded onto Android and Apple devices for on-the-go revision - which feature timed mock exams designed to get you ready for the real thing. In your account you’ll find progress trackers, detailed questions, flashcards, notes and videos all to help you focus on areas that need it most.
Source: Quesmed
PassMedicine
Available on: Website, web app
Price: Pricing dependent on exam being studied for, and length of time accessing the PassMedicine platform
Current and former medical students will be familiar with PassMedicine. Featuring Qbanks, a revision mode, timed tests, each question set by PassMedicine will be accompanied by detailed answers and revision notes, so you’re able to consistently expand your knowledge. There’s also an option to add your own revision notes - so it works hand in hand with your lectures and clinical placements.
There’s undoubtedly a lot to learn when it comes to any medical school exam. To help with your memory and information recall, the PassMedicine system utilises findings from memory research to give you powerful and useful recall tools.
What’s included?
Passmedicine is one of the most comprehensive revision resources out there, covering a multitude of examinations that students and postgrads will encounter on their medical journey, including:
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Medical student years 1-3
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UKMLA
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UKCAT
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MRCP - parts 1 and 2
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MRCGP AK test
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Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA)
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DRCOG
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PLAB - part 1
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Pharmacy Registration Assessment
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MRCEM
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MRCOG
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Paediatrics
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MRCPsych
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MRCS
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USMLE - step 1
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FRCOphth - part 1
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Situational Judgement Test
As you work through your PassMedicine course, the system will build a histogram based on other candidate’s scores, which will be updated on a daily basis. Not only does this allow you to see where you place compared to others, but it also helps to predict when you’ll be ready to take on the real exam.
Zero to Finals
Available on: Website
Price: You need to become a member of the Zero to Finals Patreon to access the members area. Prices for Patreon start from £8 per month.
Rather than breaking down their revision resource according to the different exams, Zero to Finals organises by medical subject, including sub-sections of Medicine (from cardiology to opthalmology) to Paediatrics and Obs and Gynae. This is handy if you know there is a particular area that requires additional focus, you can focus your revision efforts here rather than broad exam study.
Source: Zero to Finals
What’s included?
Signing up to the Zero to Finals Patreon gives you access to:
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Members Site
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Digital Flashcards - with illustrations and questions on the front and detailed answers on the back
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Question back - in the short of short answer questions, multiple choice questions, and extended matching questions
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How To Learn Medicine Course
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Videos and podcasts prior to their general release - the medical revision podcast is a great way to support your learning elsewhere by listening on-the-go
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OSCE practice tool for the more practical examinations
BMJ On Examination
https://www.onexamination.com/
Available on: Website, Apple Store, Google Play Store
Price: Quotes provided to educational institutions
You’ll know it instantly by the name, BMJ OnExamination is an amazing resource for medical students studying for their MCQ exams, especially if they are able to gain paid-for access through their university. Here you’ll get access to high-quality questions, as well as a library full of resources. You can also track your results and compare them to other users to track your progress.
What’s included?
As soon as you get access to the platform, you’ll be able to set your own filters to allow you to revise by topic, difficulty, question type, and keyword. Each question that you work through will test a key learning point, and each revision session completed will end with a summary of key points you’ve covered. Any revision notes that you make along the way can be stored alongside each question, for you to see whenever you go back and review.
You’ll also be able to practise and prepare with mock tests that are relevant to particular subjects - although it’s worth noting that not all resources on this platform have mock tests. BMJ simulates an exam situation as much as possible by presenting the test in the right format, with the correct time pressures, number of questions and topic spread.
It’s no good doing all this revision without knowing how it might translate into a real-life senior. BMJ has a performance feedback and peer comparison system included which indicates how likely you are to pass, along with detailed graphs showing your current performance, with benchmarks against your peers available to view also!
Source: BMJ On Examination
Geeky Medics
Available on: Website, Apple Store, Google Play Store
Price: Freemium - you will have to pay for some resources, and with bundles available to purchase. All resources on the website can be accessed for free. On the app, the cardiovascular examination section and the communication guides are free to access - to unlock the full content of the app, you’ll need to make a one-off payment of £4.
Created by medical students and junior doctors studying and working in the UK, Geeky Medics is an incredible freemium learning resource, with content mostly focusing on clinical skills. Featuring eye-catching graphics and incredibly in-depth revision notes on topics ranging from Anaesthetics to Toxicology - there’s unlikely to be a subject matter you won’t be able to revise on Geeky Medics!
What’s included?
Geeky Medics have certainly done a good job of making medicine fun again. On their website and app you’ll find dozens of resources all about the most common medical and surgical conditions, as well as guides on key clinical skills, and there’s even a Geeky Quiz feature to test what you’ve learned. This feature is relatively new, and you can even contribute your own quiz questions, achieve medals and earn a CPD certificate for contributing to medical education!
The app has videos and mark schemes for the clinical skills you’ll come across most, including clinical procedures and examinations, data interpretation, written skills and communication skills.
For OSCE revision, the videos on Geeky Medics tick all the boxes and contain everything you’ll need to know. The app also features a timer and the ability to mark yourself against a marksheet - like a digital practice OSCE. Every resource is annotated for extra context.
Pulsenotes
Available on: Website, Apple store and Google Play store
Price: £10 per month
Pulsenotes is the brainchild of a group of UK doctors who - in their own words - “one day put our heads together and thought - there’s a better way of doing this.” Described as an ideal medical study companion, covers more than 440 topics in 170 video lectures with more than 2,750 mock questions to test your knowledge, and is ideal for most in the medical industry from junior doctors to nursing and allied healthcare students.
What’s included?
For £10 a month, which subscribers can cancel at any time, you’ll get access to expert, up-to-date notes, a 2,700+ strong Question Bank with single-best answer (SBA) questions, kickstart your revision, and a Lecture Library where you can rewind and rewatch any videos on demand. The videos are just one-size-fits-all either, as you can scale your revision up or down depending on where you are in your studies. Through the on-demand courses you can access masterclasses, workshops, foundations for pre-clinical medicine and even finals crash courses for that last minute cramming.
NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries
Available on: Website.
Price: Free.
You might say that the NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) website is the holy grail for both practising doctors and medical students, because it contains every single guideline needed for clinical practice in the UK. The CKS page was originally made for GPs to give them an easy way to look up diagnostic criteria and how to treat a range of illnesses and diseases, and has quickly become one of the most loved revision resources for med students.
What’s included?
Pretty much everything you would ever need to know about how to diagnose and treat key conditions that you’ll likely come across during your second and third years of study. What’s handy is that all clinical knowledge summaries are split into various specialties, which is good if you’re particularly organised when it comes to your revision, as you can work your way down the list or align it with your university studies. A resource such as this also gives you a headstart when it comes to putting guidelines into practice.
Mind The Gap
https://www.blackandbrownskin.co.uk/mindthegap
Available on: Website.
Price: Free.
Social media has highlighted what many have described as a lack of diversity in traditional medical literature, which has meant that some conditions can go undiagnosed; Mind The Gap is a handbook that specifically shows clinical signs in Black and Brown skin. This resource has been co-authored by a number of medical students and clinical lecturers and covers a number of conjunctivitis to measles and chickenpox.
What’s included?
Each page in the handbook covers a different condition, and includes an explanation of what it is along with what to look out for on Black and Brown skin, along with accompanying visuals. While not related to any specific examinations you may go through during your time at university and beyond, Mind The Gap is an incredibly handy tool to study and have to hand, as it will help you deliver a better service to all patients.
And there you have it! Pastest’s round-up of nine of the best online revision resources out there for medical students. Of course, don’t forget to check out free and easy-to-access platforms like YouTube where experienced physicians upload videos on a regular basis to educate those who have recently qualified, and those who are still working their way through university.
Ready to give your med school revision the ultimate boost? Pastest’s Med Student resource was developed by Medical Educators to take you through every single year.