Osmosis App

[FirefighterDoc]

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Has anyone checked out this Osmosis app?

www.osmosis.org

 

[dismorfik]

I would give it a spin if android version was available

 

[Evil_Abed]

We want to make knowledge literally diffuse into your brain.

'Nuff said.

 

[dismorfik]

Looks similar to gunner training/firecracker app

 

[OsmosisTeam]

Hey SDN! We're happy to answer any questions you have and field your feedback. Please feel free to message us via http://facebook.com/OsmoseIt, or our website, www.osmosis.org.

In terms of the Android app, we're hoping to get that out within the next few weeks, but will first release our review feature via a web platform this month.

Like other programs we use spaced repetition, but we have a lot of other features and cognitive principles in store that aim to change the paradigm of medical education! For example, check out this article: http://www.fastcolabs.com/3014088/o...-me-through-med-school-and-inspired-a-startup.

Looking forward to speaking with you all!

Best,
The Osmosis Team

 

[FirefighterDoc]

Hey SDN! We're happy to answer any questions you have and field your feedback. Please feel free to message us via http://facebook.com/OsmoseIt, or our website, www.osmosis.org.

In terms of the Android app, we're hoping to get that out within the next few weeks, but will first release our review feature via a web platform this month.

Like other programs we use spaced repetition, but we have a lot of other features and cognitive principles in store that aim to change the paradigm of medical education! For example, check out this article: http://www.fastcolabs.com/3014088/o...-me-through-med-school-and-inspired-a-startup.

Looking forward to speaking with you all!

Best,
The Osmosis Team

So is it only the ipad app currently? Is there a trial period?

 

[mdeast]

Not sure if this is an advertising thread or not (i.e. did someone from this company start this thread?).

I downloaded this app when it was released. I was pretty unimpressed with it. The concept could be good, but the content isn't.

I'm not sure if it's been updated/expanded, but when I opened it...it only had maybe 200 questions. It had answer explanations but they were generally short and not too detailed (i.e. this is no UWorld where you end up learning 10 additional facts and concepts just by taking the time to read the explanations thoroughly). They have teamed up with the ACP to offer internal medicine questions, so there's probably hope that they'll have better questions/explanations in the future.

Overall, I got the sense that the questions were designed to learn small facts and retain them. This approach is fine, but you need more than 200 questions to justify being relevant. Other question banks (i.e. UWorld) train you to memorize both facts and concepts so you retain them with a broader understanding. The explanations are richer, and they tell you not only why one answer is right, but why the others are wrong. I could see this being mildly helpful during 1st and 2nd year while you're trying to cram info, but you can't expect this is going to be very helpful with only a few hundred questions covering the entirety of the pre-clinical curriculum.

 

[oncology2020]

haha blatant advertisement of new company..in before the lock

 

[OsmosisTeam]

Not sure if this is an advertising thread or not (i.e. did someone from this company start this thread?).

I downloaded this app when it was released. I was pretty unimpressed with it. The concept could be good, but the content isn't.

I'm not sure if it's been updated/expanded, but when I opened it...it only had maybe 200 questions. It had answer explanations but they were generally short and not too detailed (i.e. this is no UWorld where you end up learning 10 additional facts and concepts just by taking the time to read the explanations thoroughly). They have teamed up with the ACP to offer internal medicine questions, so there's probably hope that they'll have better questions/explanations in the future.

Overall, I got the sense that the questions were designed to learn small facts and retain them. This approach is fine, but you need more than 200 questions to justify being relevant. Other question banks (i.e. UWorld) train you to memorize both facts and concepts so you retain them with a broader understanding. The explanations are richer, and they tell you not only why one answer is right, but why the others are wrong. I could see this being mildly helpful during 1st and 2nd year while you're trying to cram info, but you can't expect this is going to be very helpful with only a few hundred questions covering the entirety of the pre-clinical curriculum.

@FirefighterDoc, the app is only on iOS right now so if you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod you'll be good to use it. No trial period, we just haven't released the second larger set of preclinical questions yet.

@MDEast and oncology2020, trust us in that we did not start the thread, @FirefighterDoc, who appears to be an MS1 at Midwestern's CCOM, began the thread. Since we're medical students too we follow SDN so wanted to be proactive if any questions came up. We're trying to build a movement in medical education, not just sell a product, and it's our job to convince you of that.

@MDEast, the initial set of 200 questions and the upcoming 1,000 questions are primarily meant for MS1s and MS2s who have few-to-no alternatives in terms of reasonably-priced, innovative, and multimedia-rich questions. We aren't aiming to be a UWorld or Kaplan, and certainly don't want to charge $100/month for access to questions whose costs of production and delivery are miniscule.

We'll be releasing more question sets through our partnerships with publishers, such as the American College of Physicians which you pointed out (MS3s and MS4s are in for a treat). Many of these sets will have more detailed explanations, though one unique element of our initial set is the number of images and videos which serve to reinforce concepts by offering context, whether it's a patient story, doctor interview, mnemonic, hand-drawn tutorial, or knowledge rap.

You may have heard the analogy of the forest versus trees, or put another way the cathedral versus stones. A good physicians will understand the big picture, that is they will see and appreciate the cathedral. However, to get there they need to first build up the edifice using stones, or individual concepts and facts that then serve as their foundation. Though Osmosis is providing a few hundred starter stones, and through our partners many thousand more in the coming weeks, the most accurate way to view us is not only as the stones, but as the mortar that holds them together. We are accomplishing this through our novel delivery algorithms and beautiful design.

Thanks for your interests and please do get in touch with any additional feedback or ideas.

Best,
Shiv, on behalf of the Osmosis Team

 

[OsmosisTeam]

Not sure if this is an advertising thread or not (i.e. did someone from this company start this thread?).

I downloaded this app when it was released. I was pretty unimpressed with it. The concept could be good, but the content isn't.

I'm not sure if it's been updated/expanded, but when I opened it...it only had maybe 200 questions. It had answer explanations but they were generally short and not too detailed (i.e. this is no UWorld where you end up learning 10 additional facts and concepts just by taking the time to read the explanations thoroughly). They have teamed up with the ACP to offer internal medicine questions, so there's probably hope that they'll have better questions/explanations in the future.

Overall, I got the sense that the questions were designed to learn small facts and retain them. This approach is fine, but you need more than 200 questions to justify being relevant. Other question banks (i.e. UWorld) train you to memorize both facts and concepts so you retain them with a broader understanding. The explanations are richer, and they tell you not only why one answer is right, but why the others are wrong. I could see this being mildly helpful during 1st and 2nd year while you're trying to cram info, but you can't expect this is going to be very helpful with only a few hundred questions covering the entirety of the pre-clinical curriculum.

@FirefighterDoc, the app is only on iOS right now so if you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod you'll be good to use it. No trial period, we just haven't released the second larger set of preclinical questions yet.

@MDEast and oncology2020, trust us in that we did not start the thread, @FirefighterDoc, who appears to be an MS1 at Midwestern's CCOM, began the thread. Since we're medical students too we follow SDN so wanted to be proactive if any questions came up. We're trying to build a movement in medical education, not just sell a product, and it's our job to convince you of that.

@MDEast, the initial set of 200 questions and the upcoming 1,000 questions are primarily meant for MS1s and MS2s who have few-to-no alternatives in terms of reasonably-priced, innovative, and multimedia-rich questions. We aren't aiming to be a UWorld or Kaplan, and certainly don't want to charge $100/month for access to questions whose costs of production and delivery are miniscule.

We'll be releasing more question sets through our partnerships with publishers, such as the American College of Physicians which you pointed out (MS3s and MS4s are in for a treat). Many of these sets will have more detailed explanations, though one unique element of our initial set is the number of images and videos which serve to reinforce concepts by offering context, whether it's a patient story, doctor interview, mnemonic, hand-drawn tutorial, or knowledge rap.

You may have heard the analogy of the forest versus trees, or put another way the cathedral versus stones. A good physicians will understand the big picture, that is they will see and appreciate the cathedral. However, to get there they need to first build up the edifice using stones, or individual concepts and facts that then serve as their foundation. Though Osmosis is providing a few hundred starter stones, and through our partners many thousand more in the coming weeks, the most accurate way to view us is not only as the stones, but as the mortar that holds them together. We are accomplishing this through our novel delivery algorithms and beautiful design.

Thanks for your interests and please do get in touch with any additional feedback or ideas.

Best,
Shiv, on behalf of the Osmosis Team

 

[chronicidal]

We're trying to build a movement in medical education, not just sell a product, and it's our job to convince you of that.

+1

The future of medical education is learner-oriented, technologically-aided, and grounded in proven cognitive science principles like retrieval practice (spaced repetition) and elaborative encoding (mnemonics).

 

[gunit9690]

using it every day actually
right now the questions are getting stale but i'm excited for the release of new questions
overall i think it's a nice app and worth a try

 

[dismorfik]

Can anyone comment on differences/similarities between Osmosis and Firecracker? I'm looking to invest in one or the other. Thx

 

[FirefighterDoc]

haha blatant advertisement of new company..in before the lock

They are correct, I am in fact an MS1 at CCOM who was just curious about the site. Thank for answering my questions guys

 

[Brain Bucket]

+1

The future of medical education is learner-oriented, technologically-aided, and grounded in proven cognitive science principles like retrieval practice (spaced repetition) and elaborative encoding (mnemonics).

The future of medical education is the same as its past. Sit your ass down and read your book.

All kidding aside, yeah it would be nice if all major texts had a FA version. Spaced repetition and mnemonics are not new ideas. I would add - a ton of MCQs allowing you to see a concept from every testable angle.

 

[topsurgeon2010]

All kidding aside, yeah it would be nice if all major texts had a FA version.

that too has already been done..

there are "review book" versions of some of the major texts for Pharm and Micro

Pathoma = sometimes word-for-word copy of Robbin's Pathological Basis of Disease (nearly identical chapter organization as well)

entire first aid series (not just Step 1) in of itself a copy and paste of factoids from major resources from Pharm, Robbin's, Goljan, etc

 

[OsmosisTeam]

Can anyone comment on differences/similarities between Osmosis and Firecracker? I'm looking to invest in one or the other. Thx

@dismorfik, We don't view ourselves as mutually exclusive. Some differences: Osmosis doesn't have monthly subscriptions, and we also are aiming to change the way students engage with both official curricular material and unofficial supplemental material (web platform announcements to come!) We aren't interested in only test prep, but more broadly in how we learn and retain information. This article will give you a taste of what we're working on: http://www.fastcolabs.com/3014088/o...-me-through-med-school-and-inspired-a-startup.

@Chronicidal - well-said!

@Brain Bucket - keep your eyes peeled for the FA feature you requested ;-)

 

[Brain Bucket]

that too has already been done..

there are "review book" versions of some of the major texts for Pharm and Micro

Pathoma = sometimes word-for-word copy of Robbin's Pathological Basis of Disease (nearly identical chapter organization as well)

entire first aid series (not just Step 1) in of itself a copy and paste of factoids from major resources from Pharm, Robbin's, Goljan, etc

I get what you mean (I think, since I haven't seen the ones for pharm and micro)... but that's not what I'm talking about. I'd like review books with identical structure to the gold standard text with condensation at the level of FA with accompanying mnemonics. On the sides (like RR Blue boxes - the location, not the content) I'd like to see notes on how that particular piece of info is commonly presented or tested in Qs.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Brain Bucket]

Duplicate

 

[DoctorJedi]

Can anyone comment on differences/similarities between Osmosis and Firecracker? I'm looking to invest in one or the other. Thx

You're not really going to "invest" in osmosis just yet- it's free, and only a few hundred questions while Firecracker has built up a much larger database for the moment of questions and charges monthly fees for access. I'd try osmosis just because it's free, but if you're taking your exam soon, I'd try the firecracker demo and see if that works for you in addition to all the other things you'll be doing to prep.