Useful (and Lesser Known) USMLE Resources

As many of you know, I’m actively preparing for the USMLE. Studying day in and day out isn’t the easiest, but every once in a while I come across a new USMLE resource and that really perks me up. So I thought I would share these with you, and maybe you can benefit from it.

NOTE: A lot of these resources AREN’T ONLY for USMLE. If you’re in med school and not planning on taking the USMLE, some of these resources might still be incredibly helpful for you. If you’re unsure, feel free to ask (you can always message me on Instagram).

Here’s the checklist I’m using to track my USMLE studies, feel free to download the file and use it. You can even edit it to suit your needs! The checklist can be found here.

Resources from Day 1:

• USMLE Rx: it’s made by the creators of First Aid. I used the Express videos and did some of the Qbank questions as well. I like it a lot and use it to really solidify concepts that I feel weak in (i.e. I’ll do a set of 20 physio questions, because I’m terrible at physio). At the beginning, I used it as my primary Q-bank, but since I got UWorld, Rx questions are just supplemental.
• Pathoma: the king of pathology, Dr. Sattar makes the subject so digestible and logical. I love his videos and I have the book, so I use them together. Highly recommend for ANYONE studying pathology.
• Sketchy: I’m a huge proponent of Sketchy – I watched Micro religiously, and also did all of Pharm. I’m doing some Sketchy Path videos as I go along. Check out my blog post on why Sketchy is amazing here.
• UWorld: of course – the gold standard of USMLE prep, UWorld. I do 40 questions a day, and for a closer (and messier) look at how a study day goes, check out my live Insta video.
• Osmosis: I watch the odd Osmosis video if I feel lost in a specific subject/disease; definitely haven’t watched them all though! (Another amazing resource no matter what exam you’re preparing for!)
  • update: I since purchased a 1-year premium subscription to Osmosis, because it was on sale. I’m glad I did, because the library is much bigger and better organized than their YouTube. And I’m doing some (not many) of their flashcards).

Collecting UWorld Tidbits

Another thing I’m doing is collecting important USMLE associations and common (but unusual) clinical presentations. I decided to make it a Google Doc so I can access it from anywhere, and it can be viewed HERE. Feel free to take a look and see if anything in there surprises you. “Commenting” is enabled on the document, so if you find a mistake (or have a really great tidbit to add!) please don’t hesitate to comment.

Onto the Resources: Videos

I’ll be updating this list as I discover newer and newer things, so be sure to check back! I learn really well from videos (or so I think), so I love to use them.

For most of the resources I listed below, all the topics they cover can be found on their website – be sure to check them out!

• PHYSEO: I discovered this AFTER Pixorize (see below), which means I’d already covered most of the biochemistry videos from Pixorize, so I can’t really comment on their biochemistry videos. The benefit of Physeo is that it’s TOTALLY FREE. All of their videos were recently made free, which I think is incredible.
  • Theory AND mnemonic sketches: they have combined theoretical knowledge and added in mnemonics, and it’s been really helpful.
  • The mnemonic videos are very similar to Sketchy but they covered ALL of microbiology, so I went through and watched any microbes that weren’t in Sketchy (psst. check out why Sketchy Micro is worth your time here). So far I watched Moraxella and Ehrlichia/Anaplasma and many others.
  • I found the following theory videos incredibly helpful:
    • EQUATIONS: pulmonary and renal equations –> I’m terrible at calculations and they really really dumbed it down for me.
    • ANATOMY: I struggled to find a good resource for lower and upper limb anatomy and I think they did a good job covering the material.
  • They also do tons of practice questions, which is great, and there are “textbooks” (PDF files) that accompany their videos that’s available in the premium version of Physeo.

• PIXORIZE: Sketchy for biochem and some pathologies. I discovered it two weeks ago and I’m in love. They have a few free videos, check it out! It helped me a lot of biochem.

Pre-made Anki Decks

Anki is amazing – if you’re not convinced, check out my YouTube video on why it’s so great. If you need tips on how to get started, or you want to learn some new tricks and tips, check out this blog post on Anki.

• Pepper’s UWorld Anki Deck: wish I had found this sooner. Will be doing some every night from here on out, because they seem fantastic. I loved Pepper’s Sketchy Pharma deck as well.
  • That link has a ton of free Anki decks, feel free to pick and choose whatever suits your needs!
  • P.S. If you’re still not convinced Anki is amazing, check out my YouTube video on it here.
• ZANKI: I have now found a deck that is a conglomerate of all things USMLE — I’m using The AnKing’s “Overhaul” deck, that was supplemented with pictures by another Reddit user. It contains Zanki and some Pepper and tons more. It has over 20,000 cards so I doubt I’ll get through them all, but I try to do a bit each day.
  • The original post is here — make sure to scroll down to u/sconebutter’s edit, which has the link to the FULL deck (saves a lot of time for any Anki newbies out there). The link to that FULL deck is here, but I recommend reading The AnKing’s post anyway, to learn.

Miscellaneous

• MedBullets: free Qbank (although I don’t know if that’s a good primary resource). I don’t use it for the questions, but sometimes if I want to gain some specific USMLE-oriented knowledge, I’ll search it on Medbullets. I like that it’s free.

NEW ADDITION: Goljan audio files

I’ve never listened to Goljan, but I thought I’d give it a go. So far, I’m not as huge a fan of it as everyone else seems to be, but I thought I’d share the link anyway, because this is a special one: someone on Reddit fixed the audio quality, and put the audio files into subject-based chapters.

The kind-heartedness of people on Reddit never ceases to amaze me – click here for the link to the files!