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Best USMLE Prep Courses & Resources (Steps 1-2-3)
Our expert guide to the best USMLE prep courses and study materials
The USMLE is a series of grueling, high-stakes exams, and your career as a doctor rides on nailing each step. As such, choosing the right prep course for your USMLE studies can often be a make or break decision, and you shouldn’t leave anything to chance. In order to help you make a more informed decision on which prep course is right for you, our team of experts has reviewed just about every USMLE prep course on the market and ranked the best ones here.
To quickly navigate through this USMLE resource guide, use the jump-to links above to read more on each company.
Video Guide: The Top-Rated USMLE Courses & Study Materials
In the video above, John breaks down our expert team’s picks for the best USMLE prep courses on the market. For more details regarding any of the courses he covers, be sure to keep reading.
With hundreds of hours of live class time, on demand video lessons, thousands of exam-like practice questions in their Qbank, and first rate textbooks, we rank Kaplan’s USMLE prep package as the best in the space.
From a high level view, the course curriculum is neatly organized by USMLE topic, and Kaplan provides a clear-as-day study plan to guide you through all of the essential study material in the most efficient manner. In addition, the Kaplan curriculum has a certain cohesiveness and natural flow to it that you simply don’t get with other courses.
A look inside the Kaplan USMLE prep course
Their core lesson work, offered through both the live classes and on demand video lessons, is curated by some extremely well-respected faculty members, and it shows. Kaplan does an incredible job distilling an enormous amount of study material down to a reasonable amount, making it easy to comprehend and retain. More on the live classes below, but these virtual classroom sessions are a particular highlight of the course.
While our team wasn’t crazy about the delivery format of some of the on demand video lessons (they were a little dry), this was about the only complaint we could find with the Kaplan USMLE course.
And in any event, the content of these lessons was absolutely on point. What’s more, the practice work backing up the instruction is some of the best we have seen. The practice questions are incredibly exam-like, and are accompanied by some excellent text explanations.
Best-In-Category Live Classes
As mentioned above, Kaplan offers some of the best live class work in the industry. Their classes are led by faculty members who rotate in and out based on area of specialty, and I found them all to be very good communicators.
On this point, that was a highlight of the Kaplan program. I loved Kaplan’s decision to employ a team of specialists to teach their classes, rather relying on one or two generalists to teach everything. That never seems to work out well with other courses I’ve reviewed.
Engaging video lessons from Kaplan
The virtual classroom sessions meet nearly daily over several weeks and are jam packed with both content review and test taking strategies. The instructors frequently stop to ask questions and poll students on their thoughts, keeping the classes engaging.
It is clear Kaplan does not want their classes to be monotonous lectures, and they make a point of emphasis to keep a group atmosphere and students participating.
Additionally, Kaplan is right near the top of the market in terms of class time. In total, Step 1 students get over 270 hours of live class time, while Step 2 students get 210 hours, and Step 3 students will meet for around 100 hours.
This is a massive resource for those students that need the accountability and commitment that comes with scheduled, live classes.
Awesome USMLE Prep Books
The other highlight of the Kaplan USMLE course is their set of awesome prep books. Step 1 students will receive a 7-volume set, Step 2 students a 5-volume set, and Step 3 students a thinner 2-volume set. In addition, Step 2 students get a handy review book, which boils all of the Step 2 content down to a manageable cram book.
These books are absolutely fantastic. They are detailed, well-organized and clearly written. The books are neatly organized in an outline-style format, which keeps the text concise and to-the-point. There are no rambling passages or lengthy diatribes, which we loved.
In addition, mixed in throughout the text are high-yield summary boxes, calling out and summarizing the most critical points.
In addition, these books are littered with a ton of color pictures, illustrations of processes and systems, illustrations, tables and more. The graphics in these books are abundant and extremely well-done. This is a huge advantage to visual learners, and makes these prep books particularly accessible to students who prefer to learn by text or visuals.
Bottom line, Kaplan is a rock solid USMLE prep course that you can’t go wrong with. They easily get our highest grade.
Med School Bootcamp Offers The Best Value In USMLE Prep
Before I dive into my explanation of why I believe Med School Bootcamp offers the best value in USMLE prep, let me offer some context on USMLE courses generally. Essentially, there are two categories of prep courses.
On the one hand, you’ve got a bucket of comprehensive, more robust prep courses which give you everything and the kitchen sink. This is Kaplan (and PASS Program, as discussed below). These courses are more expensive and are in a different tier, as they tend to cost a couple thousand dollars or more.
Then, the second category of courses are more cost effective and efficient courses. Rather than price tags around $2,000, they tend to cost just a few hundred dollars. To be clear though, they also offer fewer features, and the courses are more streamlined. Thus, there is a bit of a bifurcation with two tiers of courses.
Med School Bootcamp quiz question with solution
With that all being said, while Kaplan is our top pick among more comprehensive and expensive courses, of the value-driven USMLE courses we’ve taken and reviewed, our favorite by far is Med School Bootcamp. They have absolutely shot up our best list in the last year or so.
When you boil it down, Med School Bootcamp gives you three core study materials: video lessons, review quizzes, and board-style questions. Allow me to quickly explain each of those components.
Very Good Video Lessons
The Med School Bootcamp video lessons are 100% on demand, and break down all of the high-yield concepts (and then some) in pretty granular detail. They have incredible production value, and the team of instructors they have found to lead these video lectures are fantastic.
Plus, Bootcamp gives you a PDF handout to follow along in, which tracks with the slides in the video lecture. That was really helpful.
Med School Bootcamp has top-notch video lessons
Your instructor runs you through each lesson in 8 to 15 minutes typically, though some are longer and some are shorter. These video lessons are very good, and are a main highlight of the course in my opinion.
Bite-Sized Review Quizzes
After every video lesson, you get a review quiz. To be clear, these are not board-style problems, but instead just bite-sized questions intended to test and reinforce what you learned in the video lesson.
There are usually a dozen or so problems in every quiz after the video lesson. These miniature-sized questions are excellent at doing just what they’re meant to do: having high-yield content (and even some strategy element) sink in.
Excellent Board-Style Questions
The third study component of the Med School Bootcamp program is board-style questions. That is just what it sounds like.
Bootcamp has a bunch of board-style questions in their Qbank that each come with a detailed explanation, and they offer a ton of value. We found the problems to be highly realistic of actual boards problems in terms of difficulty, length and style.
The board-style questions are very realistic
Plus, almost all of the explanations come with some pretty nice visuals. We found those to be particularly useful.
Lastly, while I really like these three core study material elements, the best part of all with Bootcamp is that while Kaplan and PASS Program (our two highest-rated expensive tier courses) cost around $2,000 or more, Bootcamp is just $200 (literally one-tenth of the cost).
This price point kind of blows me away given how much you get, and how good their materials and user experience are. It feels like they can’t keep prices at this level forever.
For many students, the best way of tackling the USMLE is to absolutely immerse yourself in prep work for a few weeks, grind out some long days of studying, and crush the exam. If this sounds like you, then you will likely love the PASS Program.
PASS Program was founded nearly 25 years ago as a live on-site, fully immersive prep course. The idea was to offer a bootcamp style prep option, allowing students to get in, cram hard for a few weeks, and nail the exam so they could move on with their medical schooling and career.
And honestly, not much has changed as of today, except that these courses are now offered virtually, as well as in-person.
A sneak peek of the PASS Program prep course
PASS Program offers the most immersive and hands-on experience in USMLE prep. For 6 to 12 weeks (depending on your course), you’re going to meet Monday through Friday for 8 hours per day of lectures, content review, practice problem sessions, and more.
The days are jam packed with learning, and it feels like med school on steroids. You really can’t find old school, bootcamp style prep like this anywhere else. I know friends who took this course and felt a little overwhelmed the first week, but settled into a nice groove after a few days.
Everyday starts with a test taking strategy session, where you cover a specific exam taking technique and see how it plays out through a series of carefully selected practice questions.
The rest of the days are filled with live lectures, content review, drills and general USMLE immersion. It should be noted that the PASS program also offers a self-study on demand option, but honestly, we think the true value with the PASS Program lies in their deeply engaging class experience.
Stellar Instruction
Whether you attend in-person or virtually, the PASS Program classes are some of the best in the game – mostly as a result of great teaching. Almost all of your class sessions are led by program founder Dr. Francis Ihejirika (just Dr. Francis for short), who has been teaching to the USMLE for more than 25 years himself.
He clearly lives for helping students prep for the USMLE and has one of the best understandings of the ins and outs of all three steps of the exams that we have seen. He has a booming, commanding voice and lectures are never dull.
Dr. Francis is passionate, expressive and generally cares about the material he teaches. It is a very refreshing change of pace compared to other courses where instructors just go through the motions.
Example video lecture from Dr. Francis
Dr. Francis frequently calls on students to participate, asks questions of the class, and generally keeps things engaging. When combined with some very well-written lesson plans that track the lectures, this is one of the most effective means of driving material comprehension and retention.
All in all, if you have the time and money, this old school style prep course is about the most robust and surefire USMLE prep tool on the market.
If you’re reluctant to pay the high prices charged by Kaplan, PASS Program, and other major USMLE prep providers, like Med School Bootcamp, Achievable may be your answer. This new-ish USMLE prep course has skyrocketed up our list of best USMLE prep courses list for a few simple reasons: value, killer tech, studying efficiency, and an awesome digital textbook.
We love Achievable’s commitment to efficiency and smart tech. It just feels like they are trying to change a prep space filled with old school learning tactics and heavy-handed lessons by leveraging the power of the learning science and algorithms to optimize your study plan.
And that is precisely why our team gives this budget prep course such high marks – we had been waiting for a prep course just like this to come along.
The digital textbook from Achievable is packed with color illustrations and graphs for visual learners
Built around a detailed and well-written digital textbook written directly to the exam, with focused review quizzes that allocate questions based on your performance, Achievable offers solid content review while also making studying for the USMLE about as efficient and easy as possible.
This course was designed for med school students getting ready to take Step 1 who just don’t feel like they need to be clobbered with a million live class hours and video lessons. In short, if you’re a motivated self-studier on a tight budget, our team is a huge fan of the USMLE Step 1 course from Achievable.
Awesome Tech & Interface
As mentioned, one of the biggest selling points of the Achievable course and why our team gives this prep option such high marks, is their dedication to learning efficiency and optimization. As you work through the digital text and take review quizzes following each module, Achievable’s algorithm works in the background to identify your key weaknesses and strengths.
It then relocates content throughout your future quizzes based on the concept of spaced reviews, meaning you will see the same topic multiple times at strategic intervals during your studies to maximize retention.
Long story short, it’s a classic learning method that we frankly think not enough prep companies utilize. So it’s surprising that the one company that does in this space is the value course. In any event, this smart tech is also combined with a gorgeous digital platform that is visually appealing and easy to use.
Achievable clearly put a ton of money into their user experience, which honestly, I haven’t found with all the USMLE courses I’ve reviewed. With a clean and modern interface wrapped around about the best adaptive learning software in USMLE prep, Achievable just feels like the most intelligent prep course in the space.
Highlight: Bite-Sized Lessons
The other major advantage of Achievable USMLE prep program is their utilization of short, bite-sized lessons. As most med school students take the USMLE Step 1 exam during their second or third year of medical school (MS2 or MS3), life can be pretty hectic while you’re studying.
Actually, “hectic” may even be understating it – life can be utterly crazy busy.
So to account for this, Achievable has broken out their lessons into the narrowest of subtopics to create short and engaging learning modules. Each module generally consists of an assigned reading from their digital text (which as an aside, is filled with awesome illustrations and exhibits for visual leaners) and a review quiz.
That’s it. Each reading is short, taking just 5 to 15 minutes on average, and the accompanying quizzes are generally less than 10 questions.
This means you can knock out a module in under a half hour. We loved the design of this program with short, digestible sections, enabling busy med school students to power through their studying whenever they have free time.
For the bargain hunters out there who also happen to be visual learners, Lecturio will likely be your jam. They snag a spot on our list of best USMLE prep courses for a few reasons, but most notably for their high value, bang for your buck pricing and stellar video lessons.
But do not think for a second that just because Lecturio carries a low price tag that they are some sort of discount prep option – not even close. Despite its affordability, Lecturio still somehow manages to offer a very solid USMLE prep package.
Included with your premium subscription to their service, you get over 3,400 USMLE practice questions, hundreds of hours of on demand videos, 3 full-length practice exams and some helpful e-books.
The Lecturio USMLE dashboard
This is a lot of prep for a little price. And the quality is shockingly good. As discussed in more detail below, we loved their short and engaging video lessons, as well as their practice questions and accompanying explanations.
In fact, their detailed problem explanations are some of the best we have seen, with thorough analysis and illustrative graphics.
Bang for Your Buck
As mentioned at the top of this section, Lecturio is all about value, value, value. Their Premium 3-Month Plan runs for just shade over $100, and the prices go up from there – but not drastically.
The Premium 1-Year Plan runs right around $300, the Premium 2-Year Plan a bit under $500, and even their crazy-long Premium 4-Year Plan costs just over $700. You may have found yourself reading those numbers twice. Like I said, value.
Relative to other courses (apart from Achievable), this is a steep discount. For reference, the analogous SmashUSMLE 3-month course is almost 6x that cost. Now to be clear, this course doesn’t have quite the same depth of curriculum that you get with Kaplan and the PASS program; but all things considered, this course offers serious bang for your buck.
Great On Demand Video Lessons
Despite the extremely affordable price point, Lecturio offers hundreds of excellent on demand video lessons. These video lectures are the real substantive highlight of this course.
The videos are quick-hit in nature, allowing for maximum comprehension and retention of material. Yet despite their short durations, the videos are still full of excellent content.
The lessons are led by a team of experienced professors, doctors and medical researchers, who are all very engaging. Lecturio employs subject matter experts across a wide range of scientific and medial disciplines, giving students lessons from people who are masters of their specific niches, which we really like.
Excellent video lessons from Lecturio
Throughout all of the videos, your instructor appears onscreen and lectures to the camera. As they speak though, bullet points, graphics and other key lecture material appears to the side of them onscreen.
And the camera will frequently jump to a digital whiteboard to demonstrate the most critical of points that need visualization. In other words, the production value of these videos is through the roof – which is really surprising given the budget nature of their pricing structure.
Anyway, we won’t question it – we’re just happy they invested so much in the quality and value of these helpful video lessons.
For experiential learners who love to learn by doing, there is often no better means of studying than just hammering tons and tons of practice questions. Generally, these types of students can’t stand lectures or reading assignments and just want jump in, do it, and learn from their mistakes as they go.
It is for these students that BoardVitals exists. BoardVitals offers some of the deepest and most robust question banks in the USMLE prep industry.
Offering no live lectures or on demand videos, BoardVitals sole focus is high-quality, exam-like practice. And that is exactly what they deliver. The practice questions are about the most realistic we have seen.
They really match the content, structure and style of real USMLE exam questions. And with over 3,200 practice questions to work for Step 1, 1,200+ questions for Step 2, and 1,300 or so questions for Step 3, it is hard to imagine students running out of practice.
In terms of price, this is all offered for just around $100 to $200 depending on which step you are on, and the length of access you need.
BoardVitals USMLE practice question
In addition to the practice work, BoardVitals does offer a couple of very cool features that you don’t even get with some of the higher end courses. The first noteworthy function is their “Ask a Clinician” tool.
If you get stuck on a question and just can’t figure it out, or don’t understand the accompanying explanation, this feature allows you to shoot their team of in-house USMLE experts a question.
I found the response times to be very quick, generally same day. And wrapped around the entire course is a 100% pass guarantee. Fail your exam, and you can repeat the course free of charge. This is an incredible insurance policy that you don’t even get with the giants in USMLE prep.
Fantastic Question Explanations
Even more impressive than the library of well-written practice questions are the text-based explanations that accompany each problem. These solutions are crazy detailed, and go to great lengths to explain the content being tested, the rationale behind the correct answer, and why the incorrect choices were not right.
BoardVitals has done a masterful job artfully explaining everything you need to know about each question, and this is where the learning process comes in with BoardVitals.
BoardVitals USMLE quiz question
The most useful portion of each explanation is the “Vital Concepts” section, which summarizes the key facts being tested through the question. If you review every text explanation that comes with each problem – both when you get a question correct or incorrect – you will cover a ton of great content.
In our team’s opinion, these explanations are much more robust than you find with other courses. In fact, many of them contain helpful illustrations and graphics, to demonstrate a key process or system visually.
Yes. Just like you needed a prep course to study for the MCAT, you will also need a prep course for each step of the USMLE. There are a number of excellent options to choose from, ranging widely in price and features.
How much does a USMLE prep course cost?
USMLE review courses can cost anywhere from just over $100 all the way up to $6,000. These courses vary widely in features, scope of study materials, practice work levels, and more.
Will a USMLE prep course help me pass?
Yes. Every year, thousands of med school students make the mistake of relying solely on their class work or clinical experience to help prepare them for the USMLE. The better option is to study with a commercial prep course that provides prep materials targeted to your exam.
