Over the last few years, AI has become more prevalent in education. From middle schoolers to PhD candidates, everyone seems to be using it—though, perhaps, not always correctly.
It’s no surprise that medical students are eyeing this for something as impactful as their USMLE/COMLEX exams. Students have tried seemingly everything from generating free practice questions to summarizing an entire textbook of First Aid. But does AI promise a study revolution, or does it fall short? Many seem to think that it’s only as good as the person who prompts it.
In this post, we’ll break down why you’ll want to think twice before you have AI write your practice questions, and a few ways that you can use AI to study for your med school exams. Let’s dive in.
What Happens When You Use AI-Generated Practice Questions
Sure, it’s definitely tempting to ask a chatbot to “write 10 Step 1 questions to help me prepare for the exam” to save a few bucks. But here’s why that request could be a dangerous game:
1. Hallucinations are real.
AI can write a question with confidence while being completely wrong about a mechanism of action or a diagnostic next best step.
There’s a reason Qbanks exist and are so costly, because they pay their question writers well in order to meticulously research each multiple choice question and answer choice explanation.
2. The complexity is lacking.
USMLE questions are often difficult and demand multistep approaches to answering them. The standard exam writers use specific descriptions to offer complex questions that are solved needing higher level thinking.
Most AI models tend to write questions that are either too first-order (simple recall) or include clues that the real exam would rarely give you.
3. You’re missing the blueprint.
Real Qbanks are mapped more accurately to the USMLE/COMLEX content outline. This outline can change, and AI likely won’t have the updated weighting of each topic. This misalignment can lead you to overstudy in some areas and understudy in others.
4. AI never took the exam!
The seasoned wisdom of experts still matters when it comes to writing questions. Resources like comprehensive question banks are designed by medical educators and clinicians who understand the USMLE exam structure, content, and the specific ways in which concepts are tested.
They not only test your knowledge by writing higher-level questions similar to those you’ll see on the USMLE or COMLEX, but also provide detailed explanations to help you learn why you were wrong and which areas you need to work on.
Overall, Qbanks written by experts better mimic exam style and difficulty. They replicate the intricate question stems, question length, labs & imaging, and challenging distractors you’ll encounter on test day. This helps prepare you for the long, drawn-out questions with various lab and imaging findings that are actually on the exam.
For additional support with practice questions, check out these other posts on the Blueprint blog:
5 Ways You Can Use AI to Prep for Boards
While AI shouldn’t be your primary question generator, it can be a supplementary study tool to enhance how you prepare for your exams.
Here’s how you can use AI to get ready for your USMLE/COMLEX exam:
1. Use AI to organize your notes.
Perhaps you’ve just finished a long lecture series on renal physiology. After class, your notes are a sprawling mess of bullet points, diagrams, and highlighted sections including various snippets from the professor’s slide deck.
Paste your raw notes into an AI program and ask it to organize these notes on renal physiology into a hierarchical outline. You can even have it focus on key concepts like tubular functions and acid-base balance. Mix and match to try different combinations and instructions to see which output you like best and then save the file. Rinse and repeat for future subjects.
2. AI can help you summarize complex topics.
After reviewing a dense chapter on coagulation disorders, including the different factors and varying cascading clotting functions from a textbook, you realize that you’d benefit from a quick overview of the main pathways and their clinical implications before diving into the details.
Prompt AI to summarize this text on coagulation disorders, highlighting the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways, common inherited disorders, and key diagnostic tests and clinical presentations. This can give you a quick refresher or overview of topics when you need it in order to grasp the bigger picture prior to drilling down into specifics.
3. Ask it to generate mnemonic devices.
You’ve heard of various medicine mnemonics, from the MUDPILES causing anion gaps to GET SMASHED for pancreatitis or the various PG to R rated mnemonics of cranial nerves. While these can be helpful and work to help you memorize each item, sometimes having AI generate mnemonic devices can personalize them to your advantage.
4. Have it explain things like you’re an MS1.
You may very well be an MS1 at this point—or, maybe you’re a 3rd year finishing your last core clinical rotation.
Regardless, sometimes you need something explained in a simple way in order to grasp it. Have AI break down the mechanism of action of ACE inhibitors in terms a high school grad would understand. Oftentimes, having a concept explained simply can unlock a deeper understanding and reveal gaps in your initial knowledge.
5. Create study content.
Lastly, use AI to create flashcards or other content besides multiple-choice questions. For instance, let’s say you’ve just finished reviewing a week’s worth of lecture notes on cardiac murmurs and want to create digital flashcards for key characteristics and what to listen for.
Try prompting an AI agent to generate flashcards based on your notes about cardiac murmurs, focusing on their timing, location, radiation, and associated conditions. AI is good at extracting relevant facts and structuring them into a flashcard format, saving you time making cards. You can even have AI quiz you on the notes.
Introducing Blue, Our AI Tutor Chatbot!
We understand the power of AI to augment learning, which is why we’ve integrated the Blue AI Tutor chatbot directly into our Step 2 & Shelf Exams Qbank.
Check it out here and see what Blue can do! 💙
Wait… I’m a tutor. Did I just write myself out of a job?
As many of you know, I’m a tutor here at Blueprint and have been for the past few years.
So, am I out of a job now? Has Blue put the kibosh on all my hopes and dreams?
The short answer is no (at least not yet). While I’m totally on board with you using AI to streamline your prep, there are some things a chatbot just can’t do. There’s a human element to any board prep that technology hasn’t mastered!
So, we don’t see Blue as a replacement for expertly written questions or an individualized human tutor, but rather a powerful companion designed to enhance your understanding of questions!
5 Things (Human) Tutors Do That AI Can’t
Let’s look at the exact areas where human tutors simply can’t be replaced:
1. Tutors can spot burnout before it hits.
AI is great at generating schedules, but it has no idea if that schedule is actually sustainable for a busy medical student. A tutor can tell when you’re hitting a wall or if your “productivity” is actually just high-functioning exhaustion. We’re here to make sure your mental health stays intact and that you won’t need any 12-hour study blocks.
2. They can help you conquer test anxiety.
A chatbot just isn’t as good as helping you navigate the second guessing spiralthat happens three hours into a seven-hour exam. We’ve literally taken the same exam and have been in your shoes!
We can help you build the mental toughness and exam-day ritual that AI simply can’t simulate because it hasn’t taken the test.
3. A tutor can help you see why you’re getting a low score.
If you’re crushing GI but failing neuro, an AI might just tell you to study more neuro. A human tutor can review your entire profile and might realize you aren’t struggling with the facts. Rather, you’re struggling with visualization or multi-step anatomical reasoning, and that’s causing you to miss more neuro questions.
4. Tutors can help you develop your critical thinking.
If AI is a library, then a tutor is a coach. Clinical reasoning, the art of pattern recognition, and learning how to make tough calls under pressure are things passed down through mentorship.
The USMLE and COMLEX exams are written to have many distractor answer choices that are almost correct. We guide you through complex cases, asking the “what if?” questions that force you to think like a physician.
5. We can address individual learning needs.
An AI cannot understand your unique learning style, anxieties, personal challenges, or the specific historical context of your struggles with a particular subject. A human tutor can adapt their teaching methods and identify underlying weaknesses (not just knowledge gaps) to provide tailored strategies.
Final Thoughts
There are some things AI can help you with, and some things it can’t. While AI offers incredible utility, it’s crucial to remember its limitations when it comes to generating practice questions and coaching you as a tutor. The bottom line: AI is a tool, not a substitute for personalized guidance! Combine its efficiency with expert content and human mentorship, and you’ll be well on your way to USMLE/COMLEX success.
