Before we delve into the Future of MedEd, see my original review of OnlineMedEd’s free videos here: Resource Review, the first part of this series where I interview Jamie & Dustyn about their philosophy, part two where we discuss why their videos work for students and part three in which they talk about how to use the videos and other tools to do well on shelf exams and on the floor.

The Future of MedEd?

Folks on SDN, Tumblr and Reddit have compared you to Pathoma, and recommended the videos as the number one place to build a foundation for third year. What’s your hope for the Future of MedEd, and possible role of OnlineMedEd by attendings, faculty, medical school curricula or students?
Your [clinical] faculty likely aren’t paid to teach; they’re paid to practice and do research. They probably haven’t received instruction on how to teach, so they’re at a disadvantage. They often teach what they want, rather than what’s needed. That’s okay – they shouldn’t be teaching the foundations anyways; it’s a waste of their talents. We want to provide a standardized baseline to free faculty time and let them teach the nuances/experiential aspects of medicine.

We’d really like to see the full adoption of the flipped clerkship. A junior faculty member has the knowledge and experience to coach a topic, but likely doesn’t have the additional training or the “slide deck” to give an hour lecture. Enter OnlineMedEd.org: use the cases to get students discussing, learning, and teaching each other. Then put that faculty member in the room to guide the discussion. [While] few know how to teach most people can work through a problem or steer students in the right direction.

Yes, it fundamentally changes the learning paradigm. But the benefits of team based learning and faculty-as-discussants (rather than hour long, lights-off power points) realizes the full potential of adult learning.

Will the upcoming flashcard app be the same as QuickTables or is it different types of content?
It’ll use the flashcards on the site and new decks. It serves a similar purpose as QuickTables (repetition and key word recognition), but is entirely different content. It also has different goals; you’ll start with the core set we developed for the site with an option to jump into advanced, supplemental decks if you’re going for the gold. This is also an easy expansion into Step 3, which keeps coming up as a topic.

What about Step 3?
Honestly, if you master the content to the extent that it’s delivered on OnlineMedEd you should do fine (230+) on Step 3. We didn’t study for it except via UWorld cases, while Dustyn’s interns used OnlineMedEd for a few weeks and passed no problem. The core material is directly applicable. That said, gunners gun and many foreign-grads need to knock it out of the park, which is partly why we’re introducing the flashcard app. Now you can do it with us if that’s your goal.

Like everything else, it’s adaptive to your needs; you can toggle content based on core, Step 2 augmentation, or Step 3 studying. It’s going to be included with a subscription, or available separately if you don’t want the rest of the program. It’ll include the same time-based repetition we push on the site as well. Be sure to check it out in June!

What’s been the feedback on the intern guidebook you released last summer?
When we did an update we asked for feedback and it was all essentially, “you nailed it,” so we barely made any changes. People think it’s going to be a book about medicine, but most of it’s about life: people, teams, and time management. These things get passed over in school while we study the medicine. No one else is going beyond the tests, so we’re just trying to fill in gaps we see. Some people have asked for “how to be a resident.” That might be book number three.

Are there any plans to roll out more videos for the intern section?
Yes. Once we get through the core content refresh we’ll do more intern/resident material. This is a lot for the two of us to update and curate; we’re actively recruiting others to help us out and develop additional specialty-specific content.

Initially there’s going to be movement in two places. Since Dustyn does hospital medicine professionally, he’ll be moving to resident and even attending level material for inpatient medicine. This won’t be ABIM board prep, but rather how to actually take care of people.

We’ve also recognized our resource is filling a major void in international medicine, so we’re working on tropical medicine modules. We really want practitioners in Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America to have content on diseases that they actually see. Government programs have helped us expand our focus and go world-wide.

Since Dustyn is known to be board certified in internal medicine, we’re curious if there are long-term goals to branch out into other specialties? Any other plans you wish to share?
There are. We’re going to do what the two of us can do, but the vision is to have premed-to-retirement covered to some extent, whether by us or partners.

We’re working on it, but I don’t think many realize how hard it is to develop content until they try it. For us, it’s important to have quality material from people who buy into our philosophy rather than just having, “something up on the web”. So it’s a slow process, but we’re OK if adding check marks to some lists takes longer than others.

More About The Future of MedEd

Be sure to check out their site if you’re a soon-to-be third year who wants to do great on wards and shelf exams, or a fourth year with time before Step 2 / Level 2. And remember, early this summer OnlineMedEd are planning to roll out a new iOS flashcard app to supplement their 100% free clinical education videos!

I highly recommend you go and create a free account now, whether you’re a third or fourth year medical student. Be sure to check out the “Dashboard” page, which will direct you to the “Shelf & Step Guide” as well as two month, three month and full year versions of their recommended study schedules.

Disclaimer: FMS gets no cash, prizes or perks for this interview series – I just want you guys to do awesome on exams and on the floor.

This concludes our interview series with the awesome people behind OnlineMedEd.org – thank you guys so much!

Resources/Links

• Intern Content Videos – https://onlinemeded.org/intern-content
• OME Dashboard – https://onlinemeded.org/dashboard
• Test drive the notes, audio and clinical case with the free CAD video
• Compare OME versus other paid board prep services – https://onlinemeded.org/compare