• If Santa Claus Were Your Patient

    If Santa Claus Were Your Patient

    The Osmosis official Instagram profile often includes references to popular culture, from Star Wars to RuPaul’s Drag Race. Our decision to do this is based on cognitive psychology studies that have shown such references, or “anchors,” improve memory and retention.  In the spirit of the holidays, we found a surprising number of Christmas references in medicine, ranging…

  • The 12 Hazards of the Holidays

    The 12 Hazards of the Holidays

    The holidays are almost here: A time to eat delicious food, to relax with family and friends, to open presents, and, for many of you… to continue studying for exams. If you fall into the latter camp and are feeling slightly bitter about the distractions of the holiday season, this…

  • How to Manage Diabetes During the Holidays

    How to Manage Diabetes During the Holidays

    Osmosis shares 8 tips to keep your blood sugar levels in check during the most tempting time of the year. Thanksgiving and the holidays are the most difficult times of year to maintain a healthy diet. If you’re living with diabetes, it can be especially challenging. How are you supposed…

  • How Working as a Hospital Chaplain Informed My Clinical Practice

    How Working as a Hospital Chaplain Informed My Clinical Practice

    Being present and connecting with patients can be difficult for any healthcare professional student. Sharada details her experiences as a hospital chaplain which has afforded her to better connect and to be present for her patients as she continues her medical career.  When I told my parents that I wanted…

  • The Flu Vaccine, Explained

    The Flu Vaccine, Explained

    It’s flu season! Here’s a quick primer from Osmosis on all things related to the flu season: what influenza is and how it spreads, and why you should get vaccinated if you haven’t already.  What is the flu? Influenza, or simply the flu, is caused by the influenza virus. Almost everyone has…

  • Multitasking with Osmosis

    Multitasking with Osmosis

    Want to know how to fit more time for studying into your busy schedule? A third year medical student shares how he was able to fit over 200 hours of extra study time into his routine! Medical school is one of the most challenging and time-consuming training programs there is:…

  • How to Manage Excessive Exam Anxiety

    How to Manage Excessive Exam Anxiety

    Stressed out about board prep? Osmosis learner Jane Zhang shares some techniques that can help you overcome your test anxiety.  Osmosis is not only a medical education platform, but also a strong advocate of student wellness. As an Osmosis Medical Education Fellow and someone who has experienced exam anxiety, I’d…

  • A Day in the Life of a Clinical Student

    A Day in the Life of a Clinical Student

    In today’s Osmosis blog, a medical student discusses their experiences while on clinical rotations compared to their basic science courses, and how he is successfully navigating this part of his medical educational journey.  As a basic science student, I had always speculated and dreamed of what it would be like…

  • How to use USMLE® Question Banks Efficiently on Osmosis

    How to use USMLE® Question Banks Efficiently on Osmosis

    Learn how to efficiently utilize USMLE question banks, like those found on Osmosis.org, to maximize your study time and test scores.   If you’re at medical school, chances are you’ve used a question bank or two in your time. And if you’re reading this, chances are my use of the…

  • 4 Ways You Can Start With The Heart This Thanksgiving

    4 Ways You Can Start With The Heart This Thanksgiving

    If you’re living in the U.S., you’ll know that it’s almost time for Thanksgiving. Traditionally, this holiday is a time when Americans celebrate the blessings of the harvest. Nowadays, people tend to reflect more generally on their personal good fortune and, if they have the means, look for ways to…

  • Mindfulness in Medicine

    Mindfulness in Medicine

    Keerat, a third-year medical student, discusses how she practices meditation to help develop mindfulness and strengthen her brain as she journeys through medical school.  Medical school can be overwhelming. With 8:00 AM lectures after 2:00 AM study nights, cadaver dissections with the omnipresent taste of formaldehyde, changing from white coat…

  • Clinical Encounters

    Clinical Encounters

    A medical student shares her best tips for keeping perspective and connecting with patients while out on clinical clerkship. “Hi, my name is Sarina and I’m a medical student.”  Medical trainees are all too familiar with this sentence, repeating it dozens and dozens of times in a day. We use…

  • Medical Terminology Flashcards on Osmosis: What you need to know

    Medical Terminology Flashcards on Osmosis: What you need to know

    Medical terminology flashcards have become one of the most vital tools in a medical student’s bag. Read how a second year medical student uses them to learn information quickly and retain it for the long-term to succeed in medical school.  There are many things that make Osmosis an amazing resource…

  • Shadowing Etiquette for PA Students

    Shadowing Etiquette for PA Students

    Making the decision to go into a medical career can be a challenging one. It all looks perfect on paper, but how do you know it is the right fit? In my opinion, the most important thing you can do to solidify your desire to become a Physician Assistant (PA)…

  • Osmosis Top 5 Videos: Dr. Rishi Desai

    Osmosis Top 5 Videos: Dr. Rishi Desai

    The Osmosis Product team has been hard at work making Playlists an even better experience for Osmosis learners. By popular demand, you can now subscribe to Playlists on the platform: just click the Follow button on a playlist and it will be added to the My Playlists menu on the left. Osmosis’s Chief Medical…

  • His Hallucinations: A Clinical Experience

    His Hallucinations: A Clinical Experience

    Osmosis colleague and junior doctor, Armando, reflects on clinical experience during medical school.  The burden of mental health is often overlooked. One in five Australians will suffer from a mental health illness each year. This includes anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and also a variety of eating disorders. An often understated…

  • Celebrating Women in Medicine Month

    Celebrating Women in Medicine Month

    It’s Women in Medicine Month, a time to celebrate the incredible, inspiring work performed by women working in the health professions around the world. There are so many innovative and inspiring women working in the medical field, and it hasn’t been an easy road. Shout-out to all the women who…

  • Establishing Balance in Medical School

    Establishing Balance in Medical School

    Second-year medical school student Percy Takyi discusses the importance of finding balance, from making time to working out to maintaining his friendships, all while being a medical school student.  While medical school is comprised of many difficult topics, perhaps its most difficult aspect is learning how to deal with the…

  • How to Osmose Through PA School

    How to Osmose Through PA School

    A physician assistant shares their perspective and tips on using Osmosis while attending PA school with two goals in mind.   Physician assistant (PA) students and medical students are more similar than they are different. Both are expected to have a solid understanding of a wide range of complex topics…

  • Neurophobia, Let’s Talk About It

    Neurophobia, Let’s Talk About It

    Neurology has a reputation as one of the toughest medical specialties to master, but what does it mean to fear it?  Four weeks into our twelve-week long neurology module, I had an unsettling realization, “I think my brain hates itself.” I had developed an intense distaste for learning neurology. There…

  • What’s a Mind Map?

    What’s a Mind Map?

    Dr. Yifan Xiao, manager of the script writing team at Osmosis, explains how mind maps work. He also details the benefits of drawing schemas for difficult medical topics and turning them into memory palaces. Imagine you’re trying to learn pharmacology but there’s just so many unfamiliar drug names and side…

  • A Day in the Life of a Dual Degree Program Student

    A Day in the Life of a Dual Degree Program Student

    Meet a graduate student tackling a masters and medical school simultaneously. Here is how they do it and what they find rewarding about it.  I’m a medical student and graduate student in a small program, a hidden medical school at UC Berkeley, called the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program (JMP).…

  • 5 Ways to Get Your Health Back on Track

    5 Ways to Get Your Health Back on Track

    Osmosis Health Coach, Ishan Dahal, shares some insights on maintaining your health and well being with 5 simple tips that you can implement today. Ishan Dahal is our Osmosis Health Coach and founder of Himalayan Health, a company dedicated to enhancing the health and well-being of individuals and companies. Ishan believes…

  • Studying for Step 2 and Making the Transition to Clinicals

    Studying for Step 2 and Making the Transition to Clinicals

    Studying for USMLE Step 2 or COMLEX Level 2 is similar, but can be fairly different than studying for USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX Level. Both require countless dedication and self-discipline. However, with Step 2/Level 2, those days of being able to sit in the library all day are reserved…

  • Our Sedentary Situation

    Our Sedentary Situation

    For many of us, the pandemic forced us into making our homes our work/study space as well, resulting in having far fewer options for exercise and movement. Medical student Daniel reminds us that it’s up to us to set time to exercise throughout the day for our health’s sake! If…

  • Overcoming Failure in Medical School

    Overcoming Failure in Medical School

    A medical student bravely shares her experiences struggling with—and ultimately overcoming—the intense test anxiety that caused her to fail her first year of medical school. I failed my first year of medical school. I survived, don’t worry! As someone who had pretty much never failed anything else in my life…

  • Breathing Practices to Calm the Mind Before a Test

    Breathing Practices to Calm the Mind Before a Test

    Osmosis team member, Hillary Acer, and Yoga Instructor shares breathing techniques to help relieve stress. At some point in medical school, you might have found yourself feeling a little bit stressed out. Maybe that stress even presented itself in a physiological sensation in the body—like tightness in the chest, sweaty palms, or…

  • The Clinical Experience That Shaped Me

    The Clinical Experience That Shaped Me

    Clinical experiences can shape the way clinicians think, feel, and their approach to providing care. A med student shares an important experience as she learns to become the best doctor she can be. As a 7 year old learning about how my grandpa gave himself insulin injections everyday, I wanted…

  • How to Stick to a Strict Study Schedule in Medical School Using Osmosis

    How to Stick to a Strict Study Schedule in Medical School Using Osmosis

    Get tips on how to stick to a strict study habit to be successful in medical school and the boards. The pressure of the reckless flow of water from the water hose gushed down my throat for hours upon hours without a slight moment to catch my breath, and then,…

  • Learning How to Use Spaced Repetition in Medical School

    Learning How to Use Spaced Repetition in Medical School

    Second year med student dramatically improved ability to memorize and recall medical facts with spaced-repetition. As a Canadian graduate entry student, I believed I began my medical degree with a solid understanding of the way I learned best. Having completed a BSc in biochemistry, I felt well prepared to face…