Quesmed: Why It Was My Number One Learning Tool

When I started medical school, I faced an endless struggle with how to tackle new styles of exams I was unfamiliar with.

How could I prepare for my SBA/UKMLA exams while juggling lectures, tutorials, and placements?

How do I even begin to practise for my CPSA/OSCEs which had seemingly endless different station types?

I decided to use an online learning platform. That's where I found Quesmed - an incredibly useful method of learning that allowed me to consolidate all the learning materials I needed with a few taps on the screen.

Sounds good? I've broken down all of the features of the Quesmed platform below to show you just how useful it can be during your medical school studies.

Why I chose Quesmed as my online learning platform

Online learning tools such as Quesmed have repeatedly proven their ability to make our lives easier as medical students. Whether it's free time on the wards or a lengthy commute, having interactive learning materials at hand makes it far easier to study.

So out of all available online learning platforms, why did I choose Quesmed?

First things first - Quesmed is a multifunction platform. It links a huge array of learning resources in one compact, integrated system accessible on both the website and mobile app.

With a few swipes on their Question Bank platform, you can start doing questions, read relevant notes, assign flashcards to your daily feed and watch tutorial videos. As you progress through the platform, the system understands what concepts you're weak on and suggests daily flashcards to keep you on track.

Personally, I found that regularly answering questions and reading the accompanying notes and flashcards the most helpful. This feature helped me pull together all the information I needed both for my own learning and for exams.

The Question Bank

Quesmed's Question Bank has made my life as a medical student a lot easier.

I loved how the online learning platform had both pre-clinical material like anatomy and physiology as well as more complex clinical material every UKMLA condition and presentation.

The sheer breadth of questions was amazing, covering every single possible speciality and learning objective I needed to know for exams.

A great feature they have is that you can choose between core, medium and hard questions.

This helped me develop my confidence early and allowed me to progress through the bank one step at a time. Each question has with it an explanation of the correct answer. If I were to answer a question wrong, I would read the accompanying notes, which allowed me to direct my learning to my weaker areas. This was super helpful when I came to the wards, as I could justify my decisions when asked questions by senior doctors.

Finally, I really enjoyed how the book of notes and questions linked together. Quesmed has a fantastic section of notes available that covers all medical UKMLA AKT core conditions and presentations. These notes are progressive and explain each topic to you in detail. Once you reach the end of a chapter, you'll be prompted by a "Start Questions" button which lets you test your newfound knowledge!

OSCE Platform

CPSAs or OSCEs are known to be some of the most challenging exams in medical school. You're expected to go through simulated tasks under time pressure with a senior doctor watching your every move while being expected not to be phased by nerves.

The stations on the Quesmed CPSA platform were incredible. It literally had everything - from history taking and communication skills to ABCDE stations and procedures.

The best thing about the OSCE platform? The stations are extremely similar to the actual exam, allowing you to revise every possible scenario. You could really tell that a lot of thought was put into them as they had lots of twists and turns, just like the real thing.

It was also very useful to use it to revise with friends. Before I used Quesmed, I used textbooks and simplistic PDF mark schemes. Now, I just log on to the app, select a station (and timing) and pass my device to my friend, who can examine me on any station I need. After the session, I can go back through the app to see where I went wrong, which allows me to monitor my performance during multiple OSCE practice sessions.

Another incredible thing about the OSCE platform is the Group Study mode. I sometimes use it when my friends and I are in different placements, and we can connect via an in-built video link within the platform to revise.

I also really enjoyed the 'Find a Study Buddy' feature as I can just log on and find other people keen to revise online (sometimes through dedicated Mock OSCEs that Quesmed runs frequently).

Lastly, the video OSCE guides really stood out for me. In addition to the classic examination stations, I loved how realistic the communication skill videos were and they really helped me prepare for difficult communication stations that came up in my actual OSCE (look up the Explaining Medication Error on Youtube to see what I mean!)

Quesmed's Social Media

While not an actual product, Quesmed's social media is worth highlighting as I found myself returning to it regularly for revision (and some excellent memes)! They post one multiple-choice question on their Instagram, @quesmed, each morning.

These are very useful, as they really push my ability to actively recall information that I may have gone over weeks or even months ago. I always try to answer the day's question when I'm out and about, and I sometimes do them with my medic friends and compare answers.

They also post really useful 'cheat sheets' that have quick summaries on different conditions, which I've screenshotted and saved to my notes. These summaries are great for having a skim through whilst on the way to a lecture or tutorial.

Conclusion

It wasn't until I moved onto my third year of medical school that I was able to crack the code with regards to finding a personalised revision method that worked for me.

I discovered that I am an active learner and need a good mix of methods to stimulate my mind. Quesmed helped me find that mix. With all the questions, notes, videos and flashcards at my disposal, I could finally excel at my studies and apply my newfound knowledge to clinical practice.

You need to work out your own balance and discover what works best for you.

I think you will find that interactive online learning is the best way forward, and having an app like Quesmed, which compiles everything into one app, is the easiest and most effective way to learn at medical school.

I hope it helps you save time that you can use to have fun, explore other interests, and enjoy life as a medical student!

About the Author

Tiarnán is a third-year medical student at the University of Plymouth with a keen interest in medical education, marketing and social media. He currently works with Quesmed as Social Media and Marketing Lead.

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