How to Get Started With the Khan Academy MCAT® Course: Tips From Medical Students

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If you have MCAT® preparation in your future, you don’t want to overlook the Khan Academy MCAT Course. You are probably already aware of this free resource that helps students study and practice answering MCAT exam-style questions. However, you might be wondering how to get started using it. We can help! Over the summer, we talked to two medical students about how they used the Khan resources to help them prepare for the MCAT exam. Here’s what they said.

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African American female Student studying on laptop

Fill in knowledge gaps.
Dina Zamil, a medical student at Baylor College of Medicine, didn’t take any psychology or sociology courses as an undergrad. She used the Khan lessons in the MCAT course to help her gain the content knowledge she needed in all five foundational concepts covered in the “Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior” section. For each foundational concept, lessons are broken down by content area so you can review all the content like Dina or pick and choose based on your needs. Each foundational concept also includes question sets so you can practice what you learned. Ready to start filling in your content gaps? Check it out now.  


Become an active learner.
Austin Rios, a recently accepted medical student, realized that he needed to become a better active learner and used Khan to help improve those skills. He had originally approached his preparation for the MCAT exam similar to how he had studied for his tests in undergrad — by reviewing his notes and rereading textbooks. He used Khan resources to slow down and take the time to review and understand concepts more thoroughly so that he could better apply his knowledge when answering questions.

Refresh content you may have forgotten.
The MCAT exam tests concepts from introductory courses in the sciences. Maybe it has been a while since you took intro to biology, chemistry, or physics. Refresh your knowledge or revisit a concept — just like Dina and Austin did!

Learn how to do targeted studying.
In medical school you need to know how and which content to target when studying. Dina reflected on how studying for the MCAT exam felt similar to having large amounts of information come at her in medical school. The brief, easy-to-understand videos in the course helped her focus on what she needed to learn most and be efficient in her studying.

These are just a few tips, but you can watch Dina and Austin describe them in detail in new videos on the MCAT Prep YouTube playlist.

Be sure to check out the Khan Academy MCAT Course today. With more than 1,000 videos and 3,000 review questions, this is a great free resource to integrate into your preparation. And, if you are interested in sharing your story about how you prepare using the Khan Academy, email us at mcatprep@aamc.org.

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