Medical school question banks are integral to evidence-based study. Along with active recall and spaced repetition, regular question practice is the best way to go if you want to score high on your exams without wasting your valuable time.
What’s even better than great question banks is when they’re completely free.
So that’s what this guide is going to show you, you’ll learn:
- The best free medical school question banks for general question practice
- Free question banks for specific subjects
- Other recommended resources for solid practice
Ready to get started? Let’s go.
General Medical School Question Banks
The free resources we’ll be covering here are:
- PassMedicine
- Made Ridiculously Simple (MedMaster)
- MedBullets
- Lecturio Free Question Bank
- MDLexicon
- 4Tests
- ValueMD
- Test Prep Review
- Zanki
Please note that while a lot of these are designed for the USMLE exam, the questions are still 100% relevant to the basic science subjects of any medical school curriculum. Use them as extra practice for your school exams no matter what country/institution you find yourself!
PassMedicine – Medical Students Years 1-3
Mainly used by UK-based students and junior doctors for exam prep, PassMedicine has an excellent free resource for pre-clinical study.
The 3,865 questions here cover general principles, all organ systems, haemtology and oncology, psychiatry and neurology.
The best thing about this resource?
Most questions are case-based (vignette style). Making them perfect for applying your knowledge (rather than recalling it)!
You’ll have to sign up and list your institution of study, but that’s all you need.
Here’s how a typical question looks…
What’s also cool about this platform is the feedback. You’ll see the percentage of students answering for each question type and a detailed explanation (including links out to useful YouTube content) too.
To find out more about PassMedicine’s features check out our PassMedicine review here.
Made Ridiculously Simple (MedMaster)
MedMaster Inc is the company behind the Made Ridiculously Simple series of books (ones I recommend a lot on my study guides across this site).
The main website is home to a ton of free downloadable content (for both Mac and PC) for various med school areas. You’ll have to subscribe with your name and email before downloading.
Here’s what you’ll find in terms of question banks:
- USMLE Step 1 Made Ridiculously Simple Question Bank: 1,100 organized “mix and match style” question for quick review
- NCLEX-RN Made Ridiculously Simple: 1000 questions quiz
The quizzes run in a separate program so you’ll need access to a desktop or laptop to make use of them.
Here’s an example of a question from the respiratory section…
Note: MedMaster recommends using them alongside their books for maximum effectiveness. But it’s still a nice touch anyone can download them for free!
MedBullets
MedBullets is home to 1000+ free USMLE Step 1 style Qbank.
Again, you’ll have to sign up for a free account first.
MedBullets is essentially a community site where people can submit questions and content for later review. You can create custom tests from specific topics or mix and match as you like.
You can set up different learning modes choosing to see explanations at the end of the test or for each question as you work through them. You can also set how many questions you want to do and time per question.
Here’s how a quick 4 question oncology-based quiz looks using the platform…
Their 90-day premium trial is insanely generous too (especially compared to some of the other platforms on this list). Signing up for that will enable you to practice with even more questions.
Lecturio Free Question Bank
Lecturio’s free question bank is a great resource for COMLEX, USMLE and MBBS materials.
The USMLE Step 1 pre-clinical Qbank has over 2200 free questions to practice with. It even includes a statistics report and the ability to see your peers accuracy when faced with the same questions (similar to PassMedicine).
Like MedBullets you can set up custom tests, order by difficulty and subject and set the number of questions you want to answer in each round (max. per test: 40).
You can also toggle the tutor and timer modes as you see fit.
You’ll have to sign up for a Lecturio account first.
The Premium (paid) upgrade provides in-depth explanations and linked video lectures.
MD Lexicon
MDlexicon.com is a simple site home to a host of question banks covering all categories of the USMLE and a core “basic sciences” medical school curriculum.
Here’s how the main website looks…
Each of these are internal links within the site to appropriate questions.
You won’t get to take “rounds” or blocks of questions like you can on some of the platforms above (you have to answer each individually), but it’s still a very useful, free resource.
Here’s how a typical question looks (most are vignette style)…
4Tests
4Tests is home to a free 60 question USMLE-style exam that’s provided by Kaplan Test Prep.
You can take the test directly on the site. There’s no need to sign up for an account or provide login details.
ValueMD
ValueMD is a forum that has over 4000+ USMLE style questions to practice from.
Categories are broken down into:
- Anatomy
- Behavioral Science
- Biochemistry
- Microbiology
- Pathology
- Pharmacology
- Physiology
You’ll need to register and login to get started, but it’s quick, easy and free.
Test Prep Review
Test Prep Review has several free module-based questions to practice with based on the USMLE, COMLEX and beyond.
You can find access to 20-question long practice tests in all the core medical science subjects. An answer key is included at the end.
Zanki
Although it’s not strictly a Qbank, I feel Zanki is well worthy of a mention on this list.
It’s an Anki (digital flashcard) deck that’s 30K+ cards rich in med school content.
The Anking overhaul (the gold standard version of Zanki), has made this into an essential free resource for med students across the globe looking to master the basic medical sciences.
Zipping through it, you can unlock cards relevant to topics/organ systems as you go and test yourself rapidly using cloze-style (fill-in-the-gap) formatted cards.
Take a look at my article; What Is The Best Anki Deck For Step 1? for more information.
Subject-Specific Medical School Question Banks
After these great free general question bank resources, let’s look at subject specific platforms.
Free Question Banks for Anatomy
University of Minnesota’s Web Anatomy
UM’s WebAnatomy is old and hasn’t been touched in several years but it’s still an excellent free resource for students wanting to practice anatomy and physiology questions.
The main menu links out to the subcategories within the subject as well as covering biochemistry and histology.
Most questions are drop down multiple choice but there are also lots of diagram matching quizzes too.
For more free anatomy and physiology question practice see the article below:
Related: 9 Anatomy & Physiology Study Games For College Students (Free, Quick & Fun)
Free Question Banks for Pathology
Utah Med (Webpath)
The University of Utah’s WebPath resource is a massively useful resource that’s home to both tutorials and question banks. It’s been around now an incredible 26 years!
It covers the following areas:
- General Pathology
- Systemic Pathology
- Anatomy & Histology
You can find all their free questions and quizzes in the Examination section of the site.
Most are multiple choice, some are timed and the question rounds last anything between 20-60 questions.
Here’s an example of their timed review quizzes for the cell injury topic inside general pathology.
Free Question Banks for Pharmacology
Pharmacology2000.com
Pharmacology2000.com is a 50 chapter deep resource jam packed with free topic-specific multiple choice tests and question quizzes.
The primary resources used to build the Qbank include:
- Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine
- Basic & Clinical Pharmacology from Katzung
- Goodman & Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics
No need to login, register or anything else. Just dive straight in and start practicing pharma.
Free Question Banks for Microbiology
SanFoundry
SanFoundry is home to 1000+ microbiology MCQ’s free to practice with in browser.
The questions cover over 100 topics including:
- Microorganisms characterisation and identification
- Microscopic examination of microorganisms
- Morphology and fine structure of bacteria
- Reproduction and growth
- Antibiotics and other chemotherapeutic agends
An excellent resource for sharpening your microbio skills!
Medical School Question Banks: Free Trials
As well as all the resources above (that’ll take you a while to go through), I strongly recommend exhausting the free trials at the following sites.
Each has extensive question banks you can make use of for extra practice.
Note: You will have to create a free account with your email or social media accounts first though. So expect email updates!
- Firecracker: 7 day free trial
- Kaplan (3300+ questions): 7 day free trial
- Pastest (48 hour free unlimited access trial): 38,000+ questions covering USMLE, OSCEs, MRCP etc
- QUPI: 30 day free trial (10,000+ questions)
I suggest timing your use of these so you only have one trial going at a time. That way you can get through as many free questions as possible!
What Are The Best Question Banks For The USMLE?
As for non-free Qbanks that are considered the best in the game, this is the trifecta that most U.S. students recommend:
Summary: Best Free Medical School Question Banks
Medical school question banks are fundamental to helping you master concepts and score well in both internal school and important board exams.
The list above? Should hopefully keep you busy!
If you enjoyed this post, you might find the following articles useful:
- How To Study Pharmacology In Medical School (Ultimate Guide)
- USMLE STEP 1: Reddit’s Best Tips
- How To Study For Biochemistry (Ultimate Guide)
Image Credit: @Emily Morter at Unsplash
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.