Lecturio has been on my horizon for a while now as a medical student. Wherever I go on YouTube I see an advert for it on med-related channels. I’ve also heard a few good things about it from med school colleagues of mine.
Curious to finally find out more – and with a bit of time on my hands now hospital-based study has gone into lockdown – I thought I’d check it out.
Hopefully this research can help other med students, nurses, pharmacists and whoever else interested in Lecturio, to see if it’s worth the hype.
DISCLAIMER: I am not paid by Lecturio neither is their any affiliate link used in this article. The following is result of personal research only.
Is Lecturio Worth It? Key Points
| About: | A medical education resource and learning platform for medical and nursing students |
| Price: | $17.50 per month (3 month plan) or $10 per month (2 year plan). Various pricing tiers |
| Discount: | No discount. Free 24-hour premium access trial available. |
| Pros: | High quality lectures from prestigious tutors. Excellently structured. Good question bank |
| Cons: | Not enough unique content to justify the price. Subscription model payment system |
| Verdict: | Useful reference resource for students who can afford it. Not an absolute necessity |
| Overall Rating: | 3.5/5 |
Born and raised in the UK, Will went into medicine late (31) after a career in journalism. He’s into football (soccer), learned Spanish after 5 years in Spain, and has had his work published all over the web. Read more.
What Are The Best Resources For Med School?
I’m on a mission to review all the top resources students can use during their medical education. My goal is to be transparent, honest and say with clarity what’s worth spending money on or not. You can find all my reviews and current scores on my recommendations page.
What Is Lecturio?
Lecturio is a medical education resource used by students of medicine and nursing. It is also aimed at students training to become physician assistants, pre-med students and anyone interested in learning more about the core medical sciences.
Here’s how the main site looks…
The platform is designed to closely mirror the nursing or medical school curriculums of traditional universities and prepare students for USMLE, COMLEX, GAMSAT, MCAT and NEET exams. They do this by delivering online lectures and classes and integrate videos with question banks and spaced repetition-based learning.
Med students like myself may have heard of the platform through their YouTube marketing efforts. Specifically on channels like DocOssareh, MedKinza and Antonio J. Webb.
Here’s an example of YouTuber White Coat Chronicles exploring Lecturio’s features (note they are paid to endorse it)…
Although the site markets itself as focused on US-based exam boards, it’s comprehensive enough to be used by med students in any country.
Lecturio also has an app downloadable for iOS and Android.
How Does Lecturio Work?
The premise of Lecturio is pretty simple. You use the platform to watch videos related to a particular subject of study. After each video ends you then answer multiple choice-style questions, read some extra information or continue on that particular learning ‘track’. Information you learn can be re-tested automatically the next time you use the platform.
The lectures are delivered by professors from a variety of top medical schools including Harvard, John Hopkins, University College London and more…
A full list of educators (and their profiles) can be seen on Lecturio’s Educators page.
Videos cover all the major core pre-medical, medical and nursing subjects; anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology etc.
Here’s the course preview for anatomy. This gives you a good idea of Lecturio’s style and delivery…
Aside from lectures are here are Lecturio’s other key features…
- Advanced question bank (400+ questions): to apply concepts by practicing clinical case questions
- Integrated spaced repetition: to aid retention and recall
- Bookmatcher: match relevant video topics with pages in your medical textbooks (First Aid, Robbins Basic Pathology etc)
Is Lecturio Legit?
Lecturio is definitely legit. The company was founded in 2008 by Leipzig Graduate School of Management alumni, originally as a resource for recorded University lectures.
According to the site itself, they have over half a million users.
Online software review service Capterra gives the platform a solid 4.5.
Reviews among med students seem pretty mixed. Many say they feel it’s inferior compared to other teaching materials like Pathoma and First Aid. Others say it’s a comprehensive and good supplementary resource with a strong question bank.
Either way, research confirms Lecturio to be a legit and safe platform to use and definitely not a scam.
Is Lecturio Good For Studying Medicine?
I’d say Lecturio is good for studying medicine. It’s a comprehensive platform and has useful features that make it a useful supplementary resource.
Other pros:
- High-quality professional lectures (better than alot of those at European med schools for example)
- 3D anatomy models (serve as a great visual reference)
- Integrated quiz questions (fits in learn with my active recall methodology)
Personally I don’t find the downloadable slides all that useful – I just don’t take notes or highlight things in general. Compared to medical lecture-based platforms like Dr Najeeb however (see my review), it’s a lot better organised.
It’s so much easier to follow topics and find complementary videos for quick reading in First Aid and other books. Way more so than most other medical education platforms.
Is Lecturio Good for USMLE Step 1?
I’d say Lecturio is useful for USMLE Step 1 but perhaps not the best “core material” to study from (there are much better free flashcard deck approaches in my opinion).
Where most med students seem to agree it could be worth it is in the length and depth of its videos – both short and succint. For that reason it serves as a good review aid to help solidify key concepts in addition to books, lectures etc.
Another commonly mentioned pro is how the question bank links directly videos and First Aid for USMLE.
Is Lecturio Good For Studying Nursing?
Unfortunately I couldn’t find many reviews or testimonials from nurses having used the platform. I don’t feel confident to say how good it is for students here.
One thing that’s worth mentioning is that Lecturio’s nursing modules are just as comprehensive as their medical ones (and use the same features). At a surface glance, it looks to be a useful resource…
What Are Other Students Saying About Lecturio?
Lecturio promotes itself heavily across the YouTube medical student community. Many of these testimonials are incentivized or given free access.
Here’s what some of these students (and teachers/professors) say…
In the Reddit community it has a mixed reputation.
Some students say it’s “unnecessary, long and boring” (especially for USMLE Step 1) while others praise the premade study schedule and question bank.
It’s generally agreed that it’s well focused on high yield content however (the absolute essentials you need to know).
How Do You Sign Up For Lecturio?
You sign up for lecturio on their main site or via the app. Signing up is free to begin with.
Starting the process, you’ll first be asked if you’re studying to be a nurse or a doctor. Then by what exam you’re preparing for (or ‘none’ if you’re using it for general purposes)…
You’ll then be asked to sign up for a free account via an email and password. You can also login on the main site via your Google, Facebook or Apple account. Click the link on the email confirmation to finish the process.
The whole thing takes a couple of minutes.
What is Lecturio’s Free Trial?
Lecturio offers a free 24-hour trial for all their courses as soon as you sign up. In this time you’ll have full access to videos, all features and the question bank.
Outside of the free trial there is a lot of free to access content too – more than 250 lectures and 1000 quiz questions.
There is also a free version of the question bank for members that sign up too.
What Are Lecturio Coupon Codes?
Lecturio coupon codes can sometimes be found on coupon and software discount sites around the web. These can often reduce sign up costs by 50% or more.
At the time of writing I couldn’t actually find any viable codes. Regular Googling could work if you’re desperate though.
How Much Does Lecturio Cost?
Lecturio works on a subscription-based model. Full access to its features is available on a number of plans dependent on the length of sign-up.
Here’s how the pricing breakdown usually works…
You also got a 10-day money-back guarantee. My research hasn’t shown there to be any reported problems with this.
Maybe a good option is to go with the 3-month plan and time your use of Lecturio around exam sessions. Personally, I can’t see the 4-year plan being that much value for money.
But maybe that’s just me – especially as I enjoy flashcard-based learning with a variety of resources.
Criticism of Lecturio
The main complaints based on my research:
- Lack of engagement: some lecturers can be a bit boring or dull
- Not enough unique content or features to justify the pricing
- Subscription-based pricing costs more long-term than one-off purchases (of books, video courses etc)
Praise of Lecturio
But there are certainly pros. These are the main ones:
- Good free question bank that fits well with Pathoma
- Great organisation of topics and modules
- Bookmatcher feature: superb for cross-referencing and clarifying first-pass material
- Lecturio potentially being more “up to date” than other resources (Boards and Beyond etc)
Alternatives to Lecturio
The following resources are commonly recommended and used by med students as good alternatives to Lecturio.
- Pathoma
- Boards and Beyond
- Dr Najeeb (see my review)
- Marrow
- Kaplan
Final Thoughts: Is Lecturio Worth It?
Lecturio is a good resource and definitely has its uses if you have the budget and it fits your learning style. Personally though I don’t see myself using it that much.
Given the pricing model and what it offers, I still feel there’s better value for money out there.
I’ll give it a respectable 3.5/5.
If you like this review, you might like these articles:
- How To Study In Medical School: Reddit’s 26 Best Tips
- How Do Medical Students Pay For Living Expenses? (Crucial Money Saving Tips)
Born and raised in the UK, Will went into medicine late (31) after a career in journalism. He’s into football (soccer), learned Spanish after 5 years in Spain, and has had his work published all over the web. Read more.