True Learn and StatPearls are two popular learning resources among the medical education sphere. Both have there pros and cons and can serve different purposes if used in the right way. but if you had to choose between the two which should you buy? In this article I will be comparing the True Learn and StatPearls Question bank and do an objective review of each.

StatPearls and TrueLearn Question Bank Price

• Statpearls: For Statpearls, The Price will vary based on which subscription that you decide to purchase. For example purchasing a subscription such as the Anatomy question bank has 3 different price ranges which are $39.00 for a month, $79.00 for 3 months, and $119.00 for 6 months.

• True Learn: True Learn does not individual packages for specific disciplines such anatomy like Stat pearls does, but they have a very robust set of questions for the USMLE step 1 examination. These prices are $419.00 for 545 days, $539.00 for for 545 days and a mastery bundle which is priced at $949.00 for. This is arguably the best deal because it also includes the package for Step 2.

For the USMLE step 2ck Question Bank for True Learn, the prices are $449.00 for 365 days, as well as $539.00 for 365 days (includes the Picmonic subscription package).

StatPearls and TrueLearn Question Bank Features

• Statpearls:  The Statpearls question banks is an extension of the Statpearls website which is one of the largest medical libraries that consists o fup to date publications of all the latest medical research as well as basic science and clinical knowledge. Statpearls contains question banks for standardized tests such as the USMLE exam for both Step 1 and Step 2 as well as other indiciudal topics for basic sciences such as
  • article quizzes
  • Both Step 1 and Step 2
  • Includes articles to match each topic
  • Subscription packages based on individual disciplines and subjects such as Anatomy and Physiology
  • User friendly interface, that is frequently updated fir the best user experience
  • frequent updates of questions so all of the info is accurate and reliable
• True learn: The True Learn Question Banks consist of Smartbanks which basically track all of your data and use it to make recommendations on which topics you should be spending most of your energy on. Its features include the following which are listed below
  • Smartbank
  • In depth explanations which reference third paryt materials such as First aid and Picmonic
  • Interface which almost exactly mirrors USMLE exams
  • Shows your performance in comparison to other test takers who answered the same questions as you

Pros of StatPearls and TrueLearn Question Bank

StatPearls Question Bank

• Custom quizzes: The biggest Pro of Statpearls is by far the ability to make the custom quizzes. Other question banks make it so that you have to answer all of the questions of all topics at once without any ability to search through and fins a specific topic that you want.
  • Price, Statpearls has really affordable prices. This really reduces a lot of the financial burden that prevents medical students from purchasing question banks. As mentioned before, One can easily afford the price options for the subjects such as anatomy for Medical Students. Compare this to a lot of other question banks which often times can exceed $200.00 just for 3 months of use.

• In depth explanations: StatPearls provides you with detailed explanations and for each question you get incorrect and gives the logic behind the correct answer.
• Good level of difficulty: questions are not overly difficult. Everytome a tok an quiz i always felt that the questions were fair and not well written

True Learn Question Bank

• Saves Previous attempts: The True Learn interface saves all of your quiz attempts and  allows you to go back and retake the test or review the test as many times as you want. This is great because you will inevitably come later on in your medical school career to re do or review questions which you did in the past. True Learn makes it easier than ever to do this.
  • Custom Quiz builder: True Learn allows you to make your own practice test based on things such as Discipline as well as organ system. 
  • In depth explanations: The 
  • Good Question Similarity to USMLE: One of the things that you immediately notice is that the True Learn interface is very similar to the USMLE testing interface . The interface has the hallmark blue color way seen on USMLE testing screen and has features such as strikeout, and highlighter.

Cons of StatPearls and TrueLearn Question Bank

StatPearls Question Bank: 

• Repeated questions: Some of the questions in the Step 2 question bank are simply repeated questions from the Step 1 question bank
  • Doesn’t keep track of # of times you attempted a question sometimes: The article quiz maker feature does not always keep track of which questions that you have answered and which questions you haven’t answered. For example, you may make a quiz and select only questions that you have not yet answered to be added into the custom quiz. However, the Stat pearls interface for whatever reason still includes questions that you have answered in the quiz. This is likely a bug of some sort and should be fixed in the future
  • Slow operating system: The system has a tendency to operate slow depending on what browser you are using
  • Cant go back: You can’t go back and look at indicifdual question in a quiz, you have to wait till the end of the quiz to review all your answers
  • Incomplete explanations: Explanations do not always go over the other wrong answer choices
  • Some of the question types may be beyond the scope of what you are learning in a given organ system. For example I was asked a lot about renal wen I had made a custom quiz for cardio

True Learn Question Bank

• True Learn does not allow you to create quizzes that are as customizeable as the quizzes you can make in statpearls
  • Questions are very difficult
  • Maximum of 100 questions per practice test
  • Because it is a new test the questions have not been tested extensively
  • No articles or videos to accompany certain topics, however True Learn does offer  you a year long  Pcmonic subscription with a True learn Subscription if you purchase this deal which can be found here

StatPearls and TrueLearn Question Bank Interface

StatPearls Question Bank

Statpearls interface is fairly simple and user friendly. Most of the navigatio takes place from the dashboard which is located on the Left hand side of the screen. This where you can make your own custom quiz questions

True Learn Question Bank

True Learn also has a very simple and clean interface. The user dashboard immediately tells you all of your performance statistics and the option to create a test is easy to find in the top right hand corner of the screen.

Should you buy TrueLearn or StatPearls question bank?

In general I think StatPearls is very useful to use in the very beginning of your medical school career and can be used throughout, because it has exams which test you on individual disciplines, as well as practice questions to help you with board examinations. True Learn I think Is much more useful beginning in the second year of your medical education because that is when you really start to be exposed to board style questions. Additionally I think The True learn subscription packages with Picmonic makes this a ideal resource to be used to start implementing spaced repetition in preparation for your boards. If money is no issue than I think True Learn is a better option, but if you money is an issue the go with StatPearls. in an ideal world I think purchasing both of these resources is actually the best option.

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