Boards and Beyond Question bank review
Boards and Beyond is a series of video lectures covering various topics spanning from basic as well as clinical sciences. Along with each video are a series of multiple choice quiz questions written in USMLE style format. Before making the decision to spend money on this resource it is important to understand what features it come with the question bank and whether our not it suits your learning style. This post is an objective review of all of the features of Boards and Beyond and is based on my own experience with the product.
Boards and beyond Question Bank Price
This resource is definitely on the more expensive side. 1 month subscription is $89.00 and the most expensive plan is $400.00 for two years. There is however a lot of flexibility with this resource as this is one of the rare resources that offers a 1 week subscription for only $24.00.
Which subject is Boards and Beyond Question Bank Best for
This resource is very useful for classes such as Physiology, as well as Pathology. These subjects tend to have questions which are of much higher quality and . Whereas some other question banks will test physiology at a very basic level The Physiology Questions from boards use depictions such as graphs or charts in their questions to see if you can understand visual representations of difficult physiological concepts.
Additionally, Boards and beyond is also one of the few question banks which is very good for developing clinical reasoning skills, as their step 2 question bank contains many high quality questions. It is very comparable to question banks such as Amboss and Lecturio in this regard.
Question format and difficulty
The Questions are written in USMLE exam format as they are presented as clinical vignettes. This is important ot note because some question banks present only first order basic identification type questions which are only meant to test your ability recognize or identify. Depending on what stage of your studying you are in you may find that these question types might be more beneficial to you. As far as difficulty level is concerned It is just below Amboss in difficulty which is notorious for having thought provoking and difficult question stems.
Filtering Functionality
The filtering capacity is not quite as good as something such as Amboss or medbullets or even Picmonic, however it is still decent. It can filter down as far to something such as Disease category but necessarily a speciic disease. What do I mean by this? For example if I wanted totake practice questions on Sarcoiosis, I would be able to pull up a section that contains these questions. Instead I would have to pull up the session that is entitled Restrictive Lung Diseases which includes Sarcoidosis inside of it as well as the other Restrictive Pulmonary diseases.
What is the best way to use Boards and Beyond Question Bank?
There are a variety of ways you can use it. Some of the ways are the following
- You can use the videos as a way to prep for your lecture exam. The videos explain topics at a broad level so they are a useful way of introducing your brain to the new material. Then when you go to lecture you can fill in the details
- You can use the question bank as an extra set of study questions for topics that you are still unfamiliar with. For example if you are struggling with memorizing all of the systemic fungi, then you could create a quiz on the boards and beyond playlist videos that talk about this topic. This makes Boards and beyond a great tool to implement a more targeted study strategy
- You can simulate real test day conditions by creating a quiz that encompasses an entire organ system
- You can also supplement Boards and Beyond with resources that are more detail oriented such as Picmonic.
- You can download the powerpoint documents and use them alongside your close notes to better understand the material.
Is Boards and Beyond Question Bank Right for me?
Boards and beyond Question Banks helpful for the following people:
- people who like understanding things at a foundational level rather than just memorizing facts. The boards and beyond question really focus on the underlying concepts. One thing I noticed when I took the step 1 questions is that they were a lot of questions which showed
- people who struggle with physiology
- people who prefer listening to explanations rather than just reading. If you get a question wrong, you can just go the video where the quiz question was taken from and watch that video over again. This makes boards and beyond a great resource for individuals who are auditory learners.
Step 1 vs Step 2 Question Banks
Boards and Beyond contains separate bundles for step 1 and step 2. these have to be purchased separately.
Is Boards and beyond good For Step 1?: Yes, the question Bank is good for Step 1. The questions in the step 1 bank focus primarily on the. basic sciences.
Is Boards and Beyond goof for Step 2: Yes. This one surprises a lot of people because they tend to rely on other resources such as Online Med Ed for learning the more clinical sciences. However the Boards and Beyond Step 2 Bank is actually just as good, if not better than Online Med ed. What I like about the videos and the questions in the step 2 bank is that they focus on High yield clinical management for certain diseases such as Pulmonary Embolism. Not only this but the step 2 question bank repeats a lot of the same concepts in different questions. For example, in the questions about pulmonary embolism, the question bank frequently tested this topic by asking questions that required you to know the high yield facts about pulmonary embolism such as when to use heparin, when to order a CT angiogram as well as when to use V/Q scan. This continual repetition of the same concept over and over is really beneficial for long term retention of information.
Does Boards and Beyond Question Bank have a spaced repetition feature or flashcards?
Unfortunately no. This is probably the only con (other than the price). I think that it would be extremely helpful if Boards and Beyond utilized some type of daily quiz feature that utilized spaced repetition. You can however download the Anking Medical Deck for Step 1 which contains a boards and Beyond tag. The flashcards in this deck were created straight from the Boards and Beyond Videos themselves.
Explanations
At the bottom of each answer choice there is a brief explanation, explaining why one answer choice was incorrect in comparison to the others. These explanations are very in depth but at the same time do not overwhelm you with unnecessary facts. They point out the important aspects of the questions and the underlying reasoning behind the wrong and right answer choices
Can I use Boards and Beyond Question Bank for Free?
Boards and Beyond offers a free trial which allows you to use some of their quiz questions. To access the free trial, click on quizzes, then click on the button which says free sample. Form here you will be brought to a page which has all of the free videos as well as sample questions.
Boards and Beyond Question Bank: Organ Systems
Gasteroenterology
There is a lot of emphasis on knowing which imaging to use after a diagnosis. This is especially evident in the Step 2 question bank. Due to the large amount of Diagnoses involving the abdomen being able to distinguish between when to use X ray, Ct scan, and ultrasound is definitely something that the Boards and Beyond Question bank wants you to pay specific attention to.
below is an example of a question that you might see in this organ system.
Should you buy it?
Yes. I think it lacks in certain areas such as anatomy, but it is pretty solid everywhere else. The flexibility of the pricing makes it at least worth trying for a week for $24.00. At the very least the concise and very focused video summaries make it a valuable resource to use in the beginning of your classes to help expose you to the material before for a first pass through
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