This is a story full of cheese and sausage. Wait, stop, don’t go! We’ll soon get to the part about U.S. medical education.
In 2010, a group of medical students were finishing up their final board exams in Germany. This group, made up of friends and study buddies, found themselves spending too much time collecting medical information for their classes. Accustomed to compiling data from lecture notes, textbooks - and yes, Google - they were compelled to find a simplified process to study for their exams. Why wasn’t there a single, unified platform that could serve as a reference-based resource and an exam prep tool?
"There had to be a better way for future physicians to study for their exams, because learning medicine and working to be an amazing doctor is hard enough."
This team of recent graduates took on the task of solving this dilemma themselves, and what followed was a year of adrenaline highs and caffeine-pumped enthusiasm. Sharing a tiny, Germany-based flat, they compiled a significant medical library by day and developed the platform by night. In the process, an extensive medical knowledge library interlinked with a comprehensive Qbank was created - and soon, AMBOSS was born.
Things started happening at a rapid rate! Realizing other medical students shared their desire for an integrated learning resource, the team started recruiting friends, physicians and programmers. AMBOSS was launched in 2012 under Miamed GmbH in Germany.
Since then, the platform has taken off. By 2014, over 90% of German medical students were using the system and by 2015, over 100,000 users were on-board. At the same time, students all over the world were asking for the platform in English.
Based on the momentum AMBOSS was gaining in Germany, our founding team of physicians decided to create a platform specifically for the USMLE and English speaking community of students. U.S. physicians and MS4 students joined the AMBOSS editing team to produce Articles and questions.
"A USMLE-specific Qbank was developed from the ground up - taking two years, over 50 medical editors and one over-worked espresso maker."
With a firm belief in a collaborative process, each individual Articleand question is developed, checked and cross-checked by a group of physicians to ensure all exam prep material is both clear and comprehensive. Extensive research and testing were conducted to affirm that the learning material was perfectly aligned to meet the needs of U.S. medical students. The medical knowledge library and U.S.-based Surgery Shelf Qbank was launched in February 2017 and has been readily received.
"Today, over 150,000 users in 76 countries are accessing the AMBOSS platform."
Having an English language-based platform is helping AMBOSS move towards its long-term objective of providing global access to a holistic platform to both study and prepare for medical exams. This includes those with limited access to medical education due to socio-economic factors. The good news is that the platform is continually growing, with regularly added Articles and new subject-optimized Qbank material every week. Pretty cool stuff indeed!
So that’s the short story. It’s continually inspiring to see first-hand just how passionate everyone at AMBOSS truly is and how much effort, belief and excitement goes into continually developing the platform. If you ever get the chance to meet the AMBOSS team, you’ll immediately see just how incredible the people are and how infectious their enthusiasm is for helping medical students around the world. Stay tuned for more inspiration from AMBOSS and follow us on Facebook and Instagram!