Whilst many medical schools were left a bit in the lurch with the sudden change in circumstances, some awesome people were already setting up free live online lectures to help.

Below I share several excellent providers of free live online lectures for medical students. If there are any I’ve missed please share them in a comment underneath this blog post!

All the below are aimed at UK medical students but if you’re outside the UK, no problem, you are still able to attend. Just be aware that these lectures teach UK guidelines.

Last updated: April 2021
First published: 15th June 2020

1. Bite Medicine

Some of Bite Medicine’s lectures are purely academic whilst others are focused on more practical matters, such as excelling at medical school (e.g. how to get published, how to come top of your class).

Lectures run most days of the week.

They sometimes collaborate with SMILE.

Teaching platform: Zoom

Recordings: Yes, uploaded to their website & YouTube

Slides provided: Yes

Mailing list: Yes, for BiteMedicine in general (scroll to the bottom of their website to find the sign up box)

Facebook group: BiteMedicine for Students

Facebook page: BiteMedicine

YouTube: BiteMedicine

Twitter: @BiteMedicine

Instagram: @bitemedicine

Website/webpage: Bitemedicine.com/watch

2. Pulsenotes

Pulsenotes’ lectures are super nice to look at. If you like pretty slides PLUS excellent teaching Pulsenotes lectures will be right up your street.

They team up with SMILE weekly.

Teaching platform: Zoom & Facebook live

Recordings: Yes, uploaded to their website (requires membership to view)

Slides provided: Notes are provided on their website

Mailing list: Yes, join here

Facebook group: Pulsenotes Community

Facebook page: Pulsenotes

YouTube: Pulsenotes (recordings from 3 years ago)

Twitter: @pulse_notes

Instagram:  @pulsenotes

Website/webpage: app.pulsenotes.com/live

3. The Unofficial Guide to Medicine

You may know that UGTM publish books for medical students, but maybe you don’t know that they are currently running free webinars.

What I really like about UGTM webinars is that they are super engaging thanks to the frequent use of Menti.com to get people to contribute ideas (e.g. differentials, possible investigations) as well as to set single best answer (SBA) questions.=

Teaching platform: Zoom + Menti.com

Recordings: Coming soon

Slides provided: Yes, in the Facebook group

Mailing list: Yes, join here

Facebook group: UGTM Key Clinical Cases Community

Facebook page: The Unofficial Guide to Medicine

Twitter: @UGTMedicine

Instagram: @ugtmedicine

Website/webpage: unofficialguidetomedicine.com

4. Quesmed

My favourite thing about Quesmed lectures is the huge number of single best answer (SBA) questions they get through in a single talk. Once you have a good grasp of a topic the best thing to do next is lots of practice questions so Quesmed lectures are an excellent option once you’re at this stage.

Quesmed sometimes team up with Study Hub (see below).

Teaching platform: Zoom

Recordings: Yes, uploaded to YouTube

Slides provided: No

Mailing list: No

Facebook group: Quesmed Tutorials

Facebook page: Quesmed

YouTube: Quesmed Tutorials

Instagram: @quesmed

Website/webpage: www.quesmed.com

5. Study Hub

Out of St George’s Medical School. It was started by a 3^rd year medical student wanting to organise some revision lectures for her year over the lockdown. In a short space of time it has rapidly expanded to cover multiple years and is open to students from other medical schools. Teaching is provided mostly by St George’s students and doctors.

Study Hub sometimes team up with Quesmed, Norwich MedEd and others!

Teaching platform: Zoom

Recordings: Yes, on their Notion site

Slides provided: Yes

Mailing list: Yes, join here

Facebook group: Study Hub

Website/webpage: study-hub.org

6. Norwich MedED

Out of Norwich Medical School’s Medical Education Society. Lectures are open to all medical students. Students as far away as Malaysia and Hong Kong have been signing up!

Teaching platform: Zoom

Recordings: Yes, sent to attendees who fill in feedback forms

Slides provided: Yes, sent to attendees who fill in feedback forms

Mailing list: No

Facebook: NorwichMedED

Twitter: @NorwichMedED

Website/webpage: www.norwichmeded.com

7. Learn Medicine

A more recent addition to this list, Learn Medicine offer free teaching also.

Teaching platform: Zoom

Recordings: Yes, see their website

Slides provided: Yes, see the individual event pages for each lecture on their website

Mailing list: Yes, join here

Facebook: LearnMedicine

Instagram: @learnmedicine_

Twitter: @learnmed1

Website/webpage: learnmedicine.org

Currently inactive

These lecture series are mothballed for now, but perhaps they will come back to life in future…

SMILE

Definitely the most popular provider of online lectures in 2020. They frequently had 1,000+ students tuning into each lecture!

Lectures ran every day of the week. Sometimes up to 3 lectures a day.

Lectures were not recorded and slides were not provided for copyright reasons but don’t let this put you off. The quality of the lectures was fantastic so it was worth tuning in for the live teaching.

Something unique about SMILE was its very active chat which I personally really enjoyed because you could ask and answer each other questions. There was also a bit of general chat and banter – although organisers tend to encouraged keeping this to a minimum.

Teaching platform: Zoom

Recordings: No

Slides provided: No

Mailing list: Yes, join by emailing them (click here)

Facebook group: SMILE: Sustaining Medical education In a Lockdown Environment

Twitter: @Lockdown_MedEd

Instagram: @smile_lectures

Website/webpage: No

Funky Anatomy

They ran a few free lectures in early 2021 including some live free ones via Instagram.

Teaching platforms: Zoom, Instagram

Recordings: Yes, some available via YouTube, others only accessible by members via their website

Slides provided: No

Mailing list: Yes

Instagram: FunkyAnatomy

Facebook group: No

Facebook page: TheFunkyProfessor

YouTube: TheFunkyProfessor

Becoming a Doctor

Lectures ran most days of the week. BAD (what an acronym!) also broadcasted live via YouTube and Facebook.

Teaching platforms: Zoom, YouTube, Facebook live

Recordings: Yes, uploaded to the Learning Hub on their website (requires account) & YouTube

Slides provided: No

Mailing list: Yes, join here

Facebook group: Becoming a Doctor – Current Medical Students

Facebook page: BecomingaDr

YouTube: Health Careers Live

Twitter: @BecomingaDr

Instagram: @becomingadr

Website/webpage: becomingadr.org/tutorials

COVID Medical Education

Out of King’s College London. They were one of the first to start providing free live online lectures when lockdown began. They ran weekday evening lectures that usually started around 5.30/6pm.

Teaching platform: Zoom

Recordings: Yes on request

Slides provided: Yes, on their website

Mailing list: Yes, join here (use a .ac.uk email address)

Facebook page: COVID Medical Education

Twitter: @EdCovid

Website/webpage: www.covidmedicaleducation.com

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Enjoy! Sign up to my mailing list to get more study tips in your email inbox.

Have some feedback on this article? Did I make an error? Please contact me via the contact page or leave a comment below.

You might also be interested in my article 5 Fantastic iPad Accessories For Medical School.

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The post 7 Amazing Free Live Online Lecture Series for Medical Students appeared first on Graduate Medicine Success.

But the ever growing popularity of social media has given rise to some fantastic educational accounts on platforms such as Instagram.

Over the past 12 months I’ve been seeking out the best educational content on IG. In this blog post I share who I think are the best 8 Instagram accounts if you want to learn anatomy.

1. REV MED

Possibly the most active and engaging anatomy IG account I’ve come across.

They seem to have 10-question quizzes in their stories daily. Plus they regularly post motivational content and 2D diagrams with written explanations. They’ve recently started doing animated posts which are essentially visual mnemonics.

Instagram account: @rev.med
Website: click here

2. Institute Of Human Anatomy

Completely different approach to @Rev.Med yet still super helpful.

Their bread and butter content is short video explanations by a smiley, cheerful demonstrator using cadavers. They occasionally post quizzes in their stories.

Instagram account: @instituteofhumananatomy
YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/InstituteofHumanAnatomy

3. Funky Anatomy

AKA The Funky Professor. Their mission is to make learning anatomy fun.

They also have a popular YouTube account with nearly 50,000 subscribers.

They have a nice variety of posts: videos, study tips/motivation, quizzes and 3D diagrams with written explanations.

Instagram account: @funkyanatomy
Website: www.thefunkyprofessor.com
YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCWOnuUxMHgRAg-QoZmX8d9Q

4. Surgical Anatomy

Who doesn’t love super aesthetic anatomy drawings? Even better when they’re accurate and educational.

Their approach is simple but effective. With each pretty and detailed 2D diagram they offer a written explanation.

Instagram account: @surgicalanatomy

5. QMed Learning

Another fantastic account due to their regular quizzes (see their stories) and clear 2D diagrams with written explanations.

Instagram: @qmedlearning
Website: qmedlearning.co.uk

6. Allied Anatomy

Again, plenty of quizzes in their stories and diagrams with clear explanations. They use both 2D and 3D diagrams.

They’ve also recently started making content on YouTube.

Instagram: @alliedanatomy
YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCNLm_sQqBnUtVuGzoHyo7MQ

7. Ortho Initiative (Dr Nabil Ebraheim)

I first came across Dr Nabil Ebraheim’s content via YouTube where he has over 500,000 subscribers. He provides clear video explanations of MSK anatomy especially. 

If you’re keen on sports medicine and orthopaedics like me, you’ll probably love all of his content.

Instagram: @orthoinitiative
YouTube: youtube.com/user/nabilebraheim

8. Anatomy Zone

New to Instagram, but very established on YouTube with over 750,000 subscribers. AnatomyZone have finally made it to IG!

Their content is growing and the account manager, Peter, tells me they’re experimenting with different things at the moment. Definitely one to watch. 

Currently they’re posting quizzes and written explanations with both 2D and 3D diagrams.

Instagram: @anatomyzone
Website: www.anatomyzone.com
YouTube: youtube.com/anatomyzone

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You might also be interested in my article 9 Amazing Free Live Online Lecture Series for Medical Students.

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The post 8 Best Instagram Accounts for Learning Anatomy appeared first on Graduate Medicine Success.

That’s why I’ve written this blog post. I’ll be recommending to you my favourite accessories for the latest generation of iPads.

You might be wondering why I’ve written this post. Well, I’m a “bit” of an Apple fangirl. Maybe I shouldn’t admit to this, but once upon a time I had 3 different iPads, a MacBook AND an iPhone. I’m also generally a massive tech-head and have been since birth.

If you don’t yet have an iPad and would like to buy one, I recommend investing in either an

• iPad Mini 5th generation (7.9-inch)  (Small, lightweight and awesome. Unlike the previous Mini generations, it works with an Apple Pencil so you can draw and write on the screen like it’s a notepad!)

Or, if you would like a bigger screen without the price tag of the iPad Pros, try the

• iPad Air 3^rd generation (10.5-inch) (Essentially the same as the old 2017 iPad Pro 10.5-inch but slightly lighter, bigger than the iPad Mini and unlike the previous Air generations, it works with an Apple Pencil so you can draw and write on the screen like it’s a notepad!)

If you fancy one of the most powerful iPads available and unlocking your iPad with facial instead of fingerprint recognition, you should get one of the iPad Pros! The latest iPad Pros work with the 2nd generation Apple Pencil only.

• iPad Pro 3rd generation 11-inch (Smaller of the Pros. So, better for taking on clinical placements.)
• iPad Pro 3rd generation 12.9-inch (Bigger of the Pros. Screen is closest to A4 paper size. So, better for hours of studying at a desk or in the library.)

Note: Apple Pencils do not come included with iPads. You have to buy them separately.

1. Case with or without a Bluetooth Keyboard

The first thing you need is a case. The case will protect your iPad from internal damage when you (inevitably) drop it, thereby extending its working life. It will also protect it from aesthetic damage which will help you sell it for more money when you want to upgrade or no longer need it.

I recommend saving your back by eliminating the need to carry both a laptop and an iPad. Do this by also buying a Bluetooth keyboard for your iPad. Even better, buy a case-and-keyboard 2-in-1 combo.

Considering the needs of the typical student, there are few things laptops, even MacBooks, have over the newest iPads. So, don’t be afraid to switch over entirely to an iPad and sell your old laptop!

In my personal experience, Logitech and Apple keyboards are the best. Both manufacturers make comfortable, reliable, slick-looking, good quality keyboards that don’t make loud tap tap tap sounds when you type. However, Logitech keyboards are always cheaper than official Apple ones. So, I’ll mostly be recommending Logitech.

Below, I’ve recommended both solo cases and keyboard-case combos.

iPad Mini 5 (7.9-inch)

Ktotop case with in-built Apple Pencil holder (What I really like about this case is that it has a little storage slot for an Apple Pencil so that you’re less likely to lose it.)

Wineecy keyboard and case with in-built Apple Pencil holder

iPad Air 3 (10.5-inch)

Ktotop case with in-built Apple Pencil holder (What I really like about this case is that it has a little storage slot for an Apple Pencil so that you’re less likely to lose it.)

Logitech keyboard and case with in-built Apple Pencil holder (Bonus: backlit keys just like a MacBook.)

iPad Pro 11-inch

Ktotop case with in-built Apple Pencil holder (What I really like about this case is that it has a little storage slot for an Apple Pencil so that you’re less likely to lose it.)

Logitech keyboard and case with in-built Apple Pencil holder (Bonus: backlit keys just like a MacBook.)

iPad Pro 12.9-inch

Ktotop case with in-built Apple Pencil holder (What I really like about this case is that it has a little storage slot for an Apple Pencil so that you’re less likely to lose it.)

Logitech keyboard and case with in-built Apple Pencil holder (Bonus: backlit keys just like a MacBook.)

2. Screen protector

Back when I was an Apple novice, I avoided screen protectors because I liked the feel of touching the screen directly. However, I ended up regretting it. A few years ago my iPhone at the time fell out of my pocket while I was sports coaching. I accidentally stood on it with the studs of my football boots creating faint scratches on my screen. Result? I got far less money for the phone when I later sold it than if I had kept the screen immaculate.

Invest £5-10 now so you can sell your iPad for the maximum price possible when you want to upgrade or you no longer need it.

I’ve had great experiences with JTech screen protectors.

iPad Mini 5

JTech screen protector

iPad Air 3

JTech screen protector

iPad Pro 11-inch

JTech screen protector

iPad Pro 12.9-inch

JTech screen protector

3. Apple Pencil

Make sure you don’t buy the wrong Apple Pencil for your iPad model!

If you have the latest generation of iPad Pros, i.e. the iPad Pro 3^rd generation 11-inch or the iPad Pro 3^rd generation 12.9-inch you will need the 2^nd generation Apple Pencil.

If you have the latest iPad Mini 5, iPad Air 3^rd generation, 1^st or 2^nd generation of iPad Pros (9.7-inch, 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch) or iPad 6^th generation you will need the 1^st generation Apple Pencil.

Protect your Apple Pencil from damage and ensure you don’t lose it by either buying an iPad case with a slot to stow your Pencil or buy a separate case.

A separate case will be especially helpful if you own a 1^st generation Apple Pencil because in order to charge it there is a little connector around the length of a fingernail that can be easily lost. You should have also got a replacement nib and cap with your Apple Pencil. A specifically designed case will have slots to store all these little bits and pieces so that you don’t lose them.

Try the slick-looking Belkin Case Plus Stand for Apple Pencil 1^st generation.

4. Power bank

An annoying issue with all electronic devices is battery life. The latest iPads should last at least a whole day at medical school if you start the day fully charged. However, running out of battery mid-way through a lecture or bedside teaching session is always a possibility.

The solution to this is to always have a charged power bank with you. You can charge up a power bank just like any other electronic device. Then, when your iPad (or iPhone) is out of juice, simply plug it into the power bank and it will charge while you’re on the move.

Try Anker’s PowerCore 13000. It is suitable for charging iPads, is compact and comes with a little bag to help protect it.

5. Extra-long charging cable

Lecture theatres often have plugs but if your school is like mine, all plugs are on the walls or in the aisles. This can lead to having to stretch wires across aisles and potentially trip up classmates!

Get around this by buying an extra-long charging cable.

Try Syncwire’s 2m charging cable. The braided nylon design helps to prevent wires eventually poking out due to wear and tear – an issue the often arises in plastic charging cables.

When purchasing a charging cable make sure you’ve picked the right connector. Different generations of iPads have different types of connectors. Don’t get caught out!

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What are your favourite iPad accessories? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

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The post 5 Fantastic iPad Accessories for Medical School appeared first on Graduate Medicine Success.