Uworld vs Anki vs Amboss

Introduction

There are a lot of good question banks around for medical students who wish to excel in their exams and try active recall, the new studying craze. They help in both in-house and international exams, yet with so many options, one gets confused about which to choose, especially if one is new to the medical school scene. Here, let's discuss some of the most widely known question bank providers, Anki, UWorld, and Amboss, and assess their strengths, weaknesses, and how they compare to each other.

Section 1: Easy and Accessible, Anki

Intro and Advantages:

Anki is a free, open-source program that uses flashcards as its main mode of learning. Its purpose is to create an algorithm for you to use for learning via spaced repetition and active recall. This helps improve and embed knowledge into your long-term memory. In Anki, users use premade decks (usually) to test themselves on what they have studied. Others make their decks and flashcards. The algorithm then reschedules cards based on your performance; if you answer an easy card correctly, it appears much later; if you answer a difficult card wrongly, it appears again at the end of the deck for revision. Multiple features accommodate every learning style; one can occlude images, embed audio clips, different links, and tag cards. Big decks like AnKing, Bros, Zanki, and Mehlman Arrows are well-known names for medical students as they are very helpful in testing. Overall, it is an incredible tool, if used right.

Drawbacks and Restraints:

Anki, due to the vast number of cards and decks present, poses multiple challenges as well. The great number of options present end up confusing its users, and sometimes you find yourself learning more about how to work the software than how to work for your exams. This ends up driving people away, and if you persevere, then best be consistent; otherwise, you end up with hundreds of cards to review! If you use Anki as a testing tool, it is best to use it once most of your studies are done for your particular subject. For the USMLE, it does not fare so well against Amboss or UWorld, as they are far superior and should not be relied on solely for USMLE MCQ preparation.

Section 2: Making a Name for Itself, Amboss

Amboss’ Advantages and Background:

Amboss is another great question bank that may not be as popular as UWorld, yet has its own incredible features that help you ace your exams. Its questions allow you to choose how much detail you wish to delve into about the subject, highlight the important facts, and also have more answer options than UWorld (6–8). In comparison to Anki, Amboss also has an extensive library that has in-depth knowledge of all the basic sciences and clinical practices. There is an analysis feature as well, showing the session timeline, results, progress, and study recommendations. It is cheaper than UWorld as well.

Disadvantages and falls:

Compared to Anki, Amboss is superior, based on its extensive library alone. Yet in comparison to UWorld, it falls in terms of popularity and its question bank. Amboss’ questions are much more difficult compared to both UWorld and the actual exam and not quite similar to the USMLE questions, while UWorld is a much better representative of what will appear in your STEPs. One can adjust the difficulty though. There is not enough empirical data to show how much of a difference this makes in a student's performance during the USMLE.

Section 3: The Reigning Champion, UWorld

UWorld’s Reputation and Media:

UWorld has a great reputation, and it lives up to it. Being the Gold Standard for USMLE, it provides an extensive question bank that makes its name shine. Not to mention, many of the questions are formatted and posed in such a way that they resemble USMLE MCQs to a great extent and are known to overlap with many questions asked on the day of the Steps. Two passes of UWorld help greatly in achieving high scores in your exams. They also have excellent flowcharts and videos for high-yield topics. The pharmacology of UWorld is excellent as well. To properly utilize U-World, one should have a First Aid copy by their side and annotate it with the information given.

The Downsides:

All this comes with a high price, literally and metaphorically. With 3 months of UWorld costing as much as a year of Amboss, it does not come cheap. That, and the explanations are very time-consuming, though very rewarding nonetheless. It does not have the best interface either, compared to Amboss, which has block sharing, allowing you to solve questions with your study partners in real-time. UWorld is also harder than the actual exam. UWorld doesn’t have a library of information; it is primarily focused on its flashcards and questions rationale. Overall, the disadvantages are few but great, still less in comparison to the great advantages.

Conclusion

Overall, all three have their own advantages and disadvantages, and Amboss seems to have the most advantages overall, given its features and its pricing. However, in the end, UWorld is the most widely used and popular, at least for now. While choosing a service for your preparation, make sure to consider it carefully, especially when it comes to international exams.

Additional Resources

• American Medical Association

https://www.ama-assn.org/

• Elite Medical Prep

https://elitemedicalprep.com/