USMLE step 1 studying will soon be in full gear for many second year medical students.  Step 1 is by far the toughest in the USMLE series, and definitely the hardest to study for.  To all second years, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, Step 2 is significantly easier to study for because you’ll feel the information is more clinically relevant, whereas Step 1 has a greater focus on the basic sciences.

With that said, Step 1 Q-banks are an absolute must for every medical student’s study chest.  Trying to pick which USMLE question bank to go with is often the toughest decision to make before your study month.  I’m personally a fan of USMLE World, but they have yet to translate any of their questions to mobile form.  In the past we’ve reviewed several other USMLE study apps, such as Lange’s Q&A Step 2 CK Question Bank, USMLE Buzz Flash Cards, and the USMLE Disease Deck.

Shockingly, there aren’t many USMLE Step 1 question banks to choose from in the App Store, the main two being First Aid and the Lange Q-bank.  Both of these apps are priced at a little over $40 each.  Now there’s another choice, the significantly cheaper and recently released USMLE Step 1 iBank, priced at just $4.99 with 300 questions.  This review will go over the layout of the application, along with a few example questions from this USMLE step 1 app.

Below is the layout of the application.  From this screen you can navigate to all the key parts of the question bank.

What I Liked:

• 300 questions for $4.99
• questions are derived from Wiki Test Prep, a site used by many medical students to study USMLE questions
• ability to add custom notes to questions
• ability to save a test and then continue later
• questions have great explanations
• nice “results” section after you complete a test, allows you to see sections you’re having troubles in
• custom test section is helpful

What I didn’t like so much, and what could be improved upon:

• application can be buggy and crashes at random times
• this would be difficult to implement, but references to each question would be a nice touch
• currently can’t select one subject easily  (e.g, biochemistry, pathology, etc) and then get tested on it.  In order to do this you have to de-select all the other sections in the “create custom test” section
• no horizontal mode
• need to have a normal lab values button, or inclusion of normal lab values into pertinent questions
• Only 300 questions, other Step 1 Q-bank Apps cost more, but contain upwards of 1,000+ questions

Question Quality:

• since many of these questions are derived from Wiki Test Prep, you could try out the questions available on that site (free) and see if you like them before purchasing this app
• overall, questions are solid and worth the $4.99 investment
• in the conclusion there are a few sample questions posted

Conclusion:

USMLE Step 1 iBank is definitely a noteworthy application.  Currently it’s the cheapest USMLE question bank in the app store, containing 300 questions for the price of $4.99.  If you want to do the math, that’s about 1.6 cents per question, compared to the other Q-banks, which are upwards of 3 cents per question (e.g. Lange Q&A Q-bank).

Andrew Yu, a medical student, is the creator of this application and says he started developing this app when there were no Q-banks available for the iPhone and while he was studying for Step 1.  He plans on keeping the price relatively the same and will continue to add questions to the application.

If you’re studying for Step 1, this is a great application to have.  It’s cheaper than the pizza you’ll be ordering while you’re studying, and a great way to do mobile studying.  You’ll have a question bank accessible 24/7 right in the palm of your hand.  You can use this application while waiting in line, riding the subway, taking the bus to campus, and if you’re obsessed with studying, even while using the bathroom.

As we’ve touched on in previous reviews of USMLE study apps, this application is no substitute for a dedicated Question bank, such as USMLE World or Kaplan.  Those Q-banks are robust and contain thoroughly reviewed questions similar to what you’ll encounter on test day.  The best way to use this mobile question bank on your iPhone or iPod Touch is as a supplement to your existing comprehensive USMLE Q-banks.

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One of the biggest surprises in the App Store is the lack of legitimate USMLE study resources. I thought one of the biggest markets in would be medical education. There are a good number of Q-banks available for USMLE studying, but most can’t be accessed on the iPhone. Can you imagine if Kaplan or USMLE World had an app with their Q-banks? I would think this wouldn’t be hard to implement, and I know many people who would jump at the chance to have their personal Q-banks mobile.

Right now the four main players in the App Store are First Aid Q&A series, Lange Q bank, Dr. Conrad’s Disease Deck, and USMLE Wiz Flash Cards. We’ve reviewed the Lange Q bank(step 2 version) and Dr. Conrad’s Disease Deck. These apps will cost you 33 dollars and 20 dollars, respectively. But now you have the USMLE Buzz App crashing this sparse party. The app usually costs $2.99, but is currently on sale for 99 cents. It’s significantly cheaper than the other Q-banks and offers a different type of question answer format.  This review will cover the features of USMLE Buzz along with the best way to use it for USMLE step studying.

Note:

When I used this application before it’s recent update the performance was great, but the recent update caused some bugs, which the developer is currently working on. Because of this the app is currently on sale for 99 cents until the new update has been approved by the App Store. The main issue pertains to slower loading times.

The App:

USMLE Buzz contains over 4,000 flash cards related to the Step 1 exam. It covers all the major topics covered on the exam as well: Immuno, Micro, Bio-Chem, Pulm, GI, Hem/Onc, Pharm, Cardio, Embryo, Endocrine, Gross Anatomy, Renal, Neuro, Derm, and more. The flash cards are not the typical “in depth” flash cards you’d find on typical computer based Q banks such as those offered by Kaplan and USMLE World. Rather, these questions are quick one liners pertaining to relevant subject matter for Step 1. I found these quick questions to be high yield and easy to go through.

What I liked:

• High yield questions, with short and quick answers
• Huge question database, over 4000 flashcards
• Can Save/Bookmark cards
• Can add personal notes to individual flash cards
• Can delete cards you don’t find useful
• Search function
• A free Lite version of the application is available to try before purchasing the full version of the application.

What I didn’t like as much:

• Selecting “word” format gives you the answer side of the card and leaves the question side blank until your selection. I didn’t find this helpful at all
• If your note is too long it can get cut off from the viewing screen
• The User Interface isn’t very aesthetically pleasing

What could be improved upon:

• A page with basic instructions on how to best use the application, and giving information on all the basic features.
• The ability to save question as “correct” and “incorrect”.
• Quiz mode
• Pertinent Wikipedia links for the flash cards

Conclusion:

When it comes to USMLE Step 1 studying, the USMLE Buzz Flash Cards App is definitely a legitimate application. These flashcards will by no means replace your computer based question banks and you should use this app as a supplement to your current studying resources. This application isn’t a robust question bank app, such as the more expensive Lange and First Aid Q banks offered on the iPhone. These Q-banks offer extensive answer explanations and added features.

Nevertheless, this study application is different, and is significantly cheaper, usually costing $2.99. The app is currently on sale for 99 cents until the new update is approved by the App Store. I liken this application to the short high yield fast hitting questions found at the end of the First Aid Step 1 Book.

This application is a must have if you have the following two needs:

1. You want to be able to study in places where you have downtime but no ability to access your computer based question banks, i.e. in the subway, waiting in line, or anywhere on the go
2. You want a supplemental Q-bank with high yield information, presented in a short and concise form, in the palm of your hand.

Overall, this app is an excellent source to supplement your USMLE step 1 studying and is a much needed addition to the sparse number of USMLE study applications. There are still some kinks that need to get worked out and we’ll be looking forward to future updates of this application.

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