Read Time: 9 minutes
Anika Koithara (Year 4) takes you through the ten best youtube channels to help aid learning the material of the early years of medical school.
The first few years of medical school are constantly underestimated in their intensity. It’s mostly lectures after all but let’s be honest, the workload is like no other.
It’s the golden triangle of biochemistry, anatomy and physiology. Oh wait, let’s not forget pharmacology, clinical skills and the rest of it. It isn’t a triangle, it’s probably more like a dodecahedron. However, this article will breakdown the top-ten list of fantastic YouTubers that will help get you through the degree.
This list will feature lesser known but useful YouTubers along with a few much more popular channels. Honourable mentions should of course go to both Lecturio and Osmosis for their content, however, this article will feature individual YouTubers who are mostly free to access.
Quick disclaimer: Obviously, this is one person’s opinion, so feel free to check any of the channels out and make your own mind up. Let us know if we’ve missed any of your favourites in the comments section.
Each YouTube channel was rated based on three key factors:
- Range of content/topics available
- Quality of delivery/engagement
- Level of detail to the videos.
So let’s get into it.
This channel specialises in highlighting how different therapeutical drugs work. It covers a range of different types of medication; their mechanisms of action, side effects and contraindications. Each video consists of quite straightforward explanations with an emphasis on how the drugs are grouped/classified. This makes it easier to keep the different drugs in your head and to mind map the information, for revision.
In terms of delivery, if you can get past the slightly odd tone and intonation of the explanations, then it still serves to engage well. The videos are very diagrammatic and colourful to keep those of you who are visual learners happy. 🙂
Level of detail is probably enough to help you answer SBAs and figure things out by process of elimination. However, for assignments such as writing a poster based on how a drug works or assessments where more detailed knowledge is required. These videos would serve more as a good spring-board for what to read further into.
Top tip for this channel: Use the video playlists to structure your revision. The drugs are nicely organised into sections which will help make your learning more systematic .
It’s name boasts a big promise of ‘perfecting’ medicine. However, we all know that’s not really possible. For those visual learners, this channel is perfect. Not only does it have exciting thumbnails that demonstrate what the video is trying to explain; it also embraces the concept of short and sweet, with each video averaging around 6/7 minutes.
This is perfect for those who need a quick refresher of a topic, in anticipation of being quizzed in tutorials.
Also, what the channel achieves by shortening individual videos, is a larger range of content. The channel covers everything from organelle structure to key clinical signs of particular pathologies. The level of detail and explanations is reasonable, meaning that you could probably review a topic with a video and flicking through some of the lecture notes from the Treasure trove.
The only pitfall to this channel is the awkward sometimes stilted narration and unusual intro sequence. Hence 9th place.
Top tip for this channel: Skip the first 5-10s after the ad (the videos have an odd intro sequence)
For those of you who haven’t seen this channel, do check it out. Although a little less known, this channel is great as a starting point for your learning of different topics. Dr Been scores well for effective delivery of material which is quite old school, in that its just a teacher and his whiteboard. However, complex topics get broken down effectively into bite-size, more manageable amounts.
Dr Been’s range of topics is huge and conveniently organised by system. The level of detail is pretty good, but you could always do with keeping a copy of Gray’s or a physiology textbook nearby. Be careful to ensure you are watching what is relevant to your revision, and then if you’re a keen bean, there are a few interesting interviews and videos relating to COVID-19 as well → might be handy for that I&D module in first year.
Top tip for this channel: Keep a pen and paper handy whilst watching, will make going through/reviewing the content after watching the video much easier.
How can we write about educational videos on Youtube and not mention this channel! A great channel for understanding key concepts in clinical medicine e.g. V/Q mismatch and the cardiac cycle. This channel is fantastic for engagement and has enthusiastic high energy narration. Although maybe that’s just the American accent in general.
Khan Academy’s range of content is great for pre-clinical medicine, the only thing I would say to supplement learning from this channel, is to try and link the information provided (usually from a biomechanics standpoint, in their videos); to the clinical presentations of the patients. Also, this channel works best as a revision tool, after you have read the topic.
It’s a little less detailed than you would need to get a thorough understanding of the topic, but if supplemented with some lecture notes and reading; can get you through a key topic smoothly.
Top tip for this channel: Play at 1.5x speed, some of their narration is slower than necessary 🙂
Although this channel features my initials, I assure you I am not biased. These videos have succinct explanations of complex topics [by which I mean: embryology], as well as biochemistry. Although the You-tuber’s delivery style itself can take a few minutes to adjust to, the detail and quality of the videos, is quite good – so do try and give it a chance. The range of content available is also what brings AK Lectures into 6th place, it’s quite impressive and well organised.
Top tip for this channel: Just copy down what is on the board behind the presenter in the video, everything he talks through is basically on the board. Use this as a key points/concepts list to structure your learning of the topic.
This dynamic duo provides some excellent tutorials in key concepts of medicine. They score very well for delivery because the pace of the explanation is not too fast that you have to pause frequently, but not too slow that you feel the need to play it at faster speeds. These guys effectively synthesise complex information into short snippets or bullet summaries, the average videos being around 6-7 minutes, but they also supply some longer, more in-depth content of around 12-24 minutes. Leaving it up to you to decide how much/what level of video you have time for. And after all, every viewer likes the luxury of choice.
This channel also has a good quality range of topics but more than that a lot of their content is focused on quite high yield content, meaning that whatever you end up watching is likely to end up being useful somewhere in the curriculum.
Top tip for this channel: Their older videos and content are better than their more recent stuff
This channel wins fourth place because of its course on how to understand electrocardiograms. Let’s be honest, those ECGs are hard to interpret and when the lecturer talks through it (especially if on Zoom/Blackboard) it can be hard to understand what they mean by the tiny bumps that supposedly represent P waves or T waves.
In addition, most of the topics on this channel like understanding hypoxaemia, hyperkalaemia or hyponatremia are all made much more straightforward, so credit goes to this channel for simplifying things well. Also the content is very well linked to clinical conditions, which makes things easier when you get those clinical case based SBA questions, especially if things like Case of the Year assessments are to continue.
Top tip for this channel: Commit to watching a whole playlist at once, this YouTuber builds on his points over the course of a collection of videos, so try to watch them consecutively if you have time. It helps consolidate the information better
In relation to the previous post on this blog. This YouTube channel is the equivalent of the Golden ticket when it comes to anatomy teaching. You may not get to go to Willy Wonka’s factory, but the quality of explanations, linking to real life clinical signs and the bringing together of the muscular, nervous and skeletal system is second to none. I placed it third, because it is *only* anatomy.
Sam Webster teaches anatomy at the University of Swansea, and does an excellent job of explaining the intricacies of the human body, in a way that doesn’t get boring.
Top tip for this channel: He uses a lot of anatomy lab models and pro-sections, so do try and watch his videos before you go to the anatomy lab. This will make it easier to draw the parallels between his content, your dissection and teaching on the topic.
This YouTuber is one of the best for quality of explanations and his diagrams are fantastic. With very well-thought out and sufficiently detailed explanations, these videos provide thorough explanations, which can then be reinforced by the lecture on that topic. Armando manages to cover most of the salient points in an efficient manner that gets the message across. If you’re not watching his videos already, would definitely recommend. They also aren’t too long and can easily be squeezed into a morning commute/walk to Cruciform.
Top tip for this channel: I would say commit to really listening to these videos, not ones to rush through for a quick synopsis, these videos work much better to lay a grounding to start building your knowledge on.
If you’re not watching these guys already, then you are living under a rock. Just kidding! Top quality content, detail and delivery. One of the best medical education channels on Youtube. Their videos are extremely detailed and cover physiology in a way that is genuinely interesting and entertaining. Maybe it’s the fact that Zach, the main presenter, is American and brings his gung-ho attitude to topics as mundane as the names of tubercles on bones; but it makes learning more exciting and if you haven’t watched them already, I would very highly recommend it! Hence its well deserved 1st place!
Top tip for this channel: Their videos are long, but commit to them, it’s worth it!