A collaboration of teachers and scientists, Wisebridge is the originator and host of the WikiPremed Project.
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 PHYSICS |
HyperPhysics - Rod Nave - Georgia State University
HyperPhysics is the best site on the web for the comprehensive review of undergraduate physics concepts. The level and manner of presentation are excellent for MCAT review. Highly recommended. |
PY105 & PY106 Notes - Andrew Duffy - Boston University
Andrew Duffy at Boston University has published an extremely well thought-out and comprehensive set of lecture notes from PY105 and PY106, the two semester general physics course he teaches at Boston University. This is an introductory physics course at Boston University taken primarily be pre-medical students and life science majors. These pages are not fancy, but the concepts are extremely well explained. |
IUN/FYDE Introductory Physics Notes - University of Winnipeg
Notes and illustrations constituting a general, non-calculus introductory physics course, based on lectures given through the IUN/FYDE distance education program of the University of Winnipeg. Spare but clear discussions. |
Monterey Institute for Technology & Education AP Courses > Advanced Placement Physics B
Animated, multimedia tutorials covering the fundamental concepts of 1st year college physics. Created for Advanced Placement students, but also excellent for premedical students preparing for the MCAT, especially those who need a user friendly refresher on the basics. | Electromagnetism and Optics - Richard Fitzpatrick - University of Texas at Austin
Clearly written, illustrated lecture notes from a non-calculus based survey course on electricity & magnetism and light & optics. An excellent place to turn if you are having difficulty with specific concepts from these areas in MCAT review. |
Physics 2000
Extremely well-designed and entertaining collection of Physics Applets on topics in Modern Physics. | Fowler's Physics Applets - Michael Fowler - University of Virginia
Nice collection of physics animations. |
| GENERAL CHEMISTRY |
Chemistry Topic Review - Bodner Research Group - Purdue University
Excellent, straightforward, comprehensive tutorials covering general chemistry. Perfectly calibrated for MCAT review. There are other resources which are better in places, but we think this site presents the best overall summary treatment of General Chemistry on the web. |
Chem1 Virtual Textbook - Stephen Lower
Highly recommended. The design of the site reflects development over three or four distinct stages over many years, but the quality of the explanations is unsurpassed on the web, so don't be put off. What Dr. Lower has to teach, MCAT students need to hear. Take a half hour to figure it out, and you will be rewarded with real insight into chemistry. The Wisebridge Learning Center may help you organize your approach to the Chem1 Virtual Textbook. |
Chemguide - Jim Clark
Excellent, clear tutorials covering both Organic and Inorganic Chemistry. MCAT level. |
Molecular Modeling - Georgia Southern University
Good clear discussions of stereochemistry in the context of general chemistry. Topics include: Lewis Structures, Formal Charge, Resonance Structures, Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion Theory, Bond and Molecular Polarity, and Intermolecular Forces. | | ORGANIC CHEMISTRY | Virtual Textbook of Organic Chemistry - William Reusch - Michigan State University
For MCAT students, this is the best all-around site for Organic Chemistry on the web. Comprehensive treatment of both the concepts and reactions of organic chemistry. Very well explained. Highly recommended. | O-Chem Directory - University of Southern Maine
Comprehensive set of tutorials over organic chemistry, from basic to challenging. Each tutorial includes quick questions and answers for drill. We wish the background were a little lighter though. | On-Line Learning Center for "Organic Chemistry" (FrancisA. Carey) - University of Calgary
Good concise treatment of organic chemistry functional groups and reactions. Systematic, well-organized presentations. Great for quick review cycles. |
Chemguide - Jim Clark
Excellent, clear tutorials covering both Organic and Inorganic Chemistry. MCAT level. | | BIOLOGY | Kimball's Biology Pages
This excellent site was created by professor and text-book author, John Kimball. Kimball's Biology Pages is the best all-around site for comprehensive instruction in general undergraduate biology on the web. As a primer for the MCAT, it is superior to any published MCAT materials for biology. The depth of treatment is exactly right. In our opinion, the site does suffer a bit from an over-reliance as 'search' as the primary means of navigation, so be advised to keep a separate outline handy to guide you. You could also approach the pages through the navigational interface provided within the Wisebridge Learning Center, where you will find extensive reliance on Kimball's Biology Pages. This site is highly recommended. | On-Line Biology Book
Good, clear comprehensive set of tutorials. Excellent place to go for an accelerated, friendly review cycle through first year biology fundamentals. |
MIT Biology Hypertextbook
Well-designed and illustrated tutorials. Although not fully comprehensive, this site is highly recommended for MCAT review. |
The Biology Web - Clinton Community College
Excellent, well-organized tutorials covering the fundamentals of first year biology in a clear, concise way. Very good resource for MCAT review. | The Medical Biochemistry Page - Michael W. King - IU School of Medicine
Great biochemistry resource. Although Biochemistry is technically not a prerequisite for the MCAT, in truth, the MCAT does knock you around a bit if you haven't gone beyond general biology to take a step or two into biochemistry. A typical strategy on the MCAT is to present a difficult biochemistry topic, but then ask questions which are at the fundamental level. This is a good site to read through to prepare for such passages, but don't panic if you don't know everything. Save that for medical school. | The Biology Project Home > Biochemistry - University of Arizona
Good collection of chemistry and fundamental biochemistry tutorials presented within an exceedingly well-designed interface. | Structure and Function of Macromolecules - University of Paisley
Good primer on basic biochemistry. MCAT level. |
Todar's Online Textbook of Bacteriology - Kenneth Todar - University of Wisconsin
Great resource. Beautiful well-illustrated site. Bacteriology is an important MCAT topic, but only the fundamentals. Treat this site as optional, supplemental reading comprehension. | Biology 470 - Biotechnology - Stan Metzenberg - California State University Northridge
Well-presented and illustrated lecture notes from an upper level undergraduate course in Biotechnology. This is a favorite area to derive MCAT passages. This is excellent reading comprehension work for MCAT preparation. You need to be able to read this kind of material with fluent comprehension, but don't try to memorize everything. The molecular biology questions on the MCAT won't be abstruse. | Population Biology Simulations - Ken Holsinger - University of Connecticutt
Interesting collection of demonstrations of principles of population biology and population ecology. A bit off the path and specialized to spend a great deal of precious MCAT review time here, but interesting and deserving of notice. |
Evolution 101 - University of California Museum of Paleontology
Evolution 101 provides the nuts-and-bolts on the patterns and mechanisms of evolution. Excellent resource. |
Glossary of Genetic Terms
Easy-to-use learning resource for genetics. | Biology of Plants - Ross Koning - Eastern Connecticutt State University
Nice set of illustrated lecture notes for plant biology. Remember that plant biology is not an MCAT focus, so be careful with your time. | | COMPREHENSIVE SITES - ALL FOUR DISCIPLINES | MCAT Pearls - A. O. Diallo
A wonderful resource, MCAT Pearls is an open-source educational initiative that Alfa Diallo first thought about while he was a medical student at the University of Virginia and developed while a resident at Johns Hopkins. Using the AAMC recommended MCAT topics, Diallo has assembled an excellent presentation of the fundamental MCAT concepts from start to finish. Although the treatment is spare in some topics, especially in the physical sciences, Diallo has an expansive vision to fulfill, so MCAT Pearls will be even better in the future. We suggest utilizing MCAT Pearls as a fast complete review cycle (an epicylce) at the beginning of one's study program to stimulate comprehensive familiarity and structure your knowledge base. | Wikipedia
Wikipedia can be a bit uneven. Some articles are too basic and some articles are too advanced for MCAT review. However, the average treatment tends to be at the level of introductory undergraduate work. If you have a question about a particular concept, don't forget Wikipedia. More often than not, you will receive a clear, well-organized explanation faster than anywhere else. |
Awesome Library
Awesome Library hosts compendious and exceptionally well maintained directories of science and science-related resources. |
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MCAT-Prep.com
Publishing company and on-line MCAT preparation service. Many different product levels. Advertises a complete MCAT course which would be a less expensive alternative to Kaplan or Princeton Review. Their comprehensive program includes video CD-ROMs, comprehensive review books, chat rooms, live online teaching, audio cassettes, online and paper exams. | Exam Krackers
Up-and-coming competition for Kaplan and Princeton Review. Well received publications. Live courses now in fourteen states. |
MCATPrep.Net
Mnemonics for the MCAT is great. Rapid review sections are useful. |
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studentdoc
Many resources for premedical students. Includes medical school rankings , medical school requirements and advice on the personal statement and interview. Hosts an MCAT forum. |
MomMD
This site eyes to be a meeting ground for women who are mothers or are planning their family and want to incorporate medical career into their life (or motherhood into their MDlife). | National Society for Nontraditional Premedical and Medical Students
Beginning as a six person mailing list just a few short years ago, OPM, the National Society for Non-Traditional Pre-Medical & Medical Students, has grown into an organization of nearly 4,000 registered users. |
American Medical Association - Becoming a Doctor
Web version of Journal of the American Medical Association's medical student section. Free online access to some excellent articles. | The Premedical and Medical School Admissions Guide
This Guide is intended to give American premed students advice for the premed track through the end of the actual application process. Section I: The Premedical Curriculum. Section II: The Application. And, Section III: Personal Advising. | Advice for Pre-Meds
Highly recommended advice for premeds. |
Alex' Illicit Guide to Medical School Admissions
Fun, offbeat site with a lot of useful advice for premeds. | Heart Failure - Diary of a Third Year Medical Student
Bracing diary by a disillusioned recent medical school graduate. One person's point of view. Definitely worth reading. | | Bronson Terry at UMass. | Medical Links
Excellent comprehensive portal to resources on the web for premedical students. Links for Physician & Student Organizations, Premed Resources, Med Student Resources, Other Health Professions, Research, and General Advice from Fellow Students and Instructors. |
Medical Education FAQ
Excellent collection of Usenet postings that answer many questions about premedical education. Medical Education FAQ Part 1 and Part 2. The place for a premed to start exploring medicine, allopathic or osteopathic. This excellent FAQ is derived from Usenet's misc.education.medical newsgroup. Subjects covered include: preparing for medical school, MCAT, the application process, interviews, financing, curricula, residencies. |
| Medical Education FAQ Part 2 |
National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health
U.S. National Library of Medicine. The web's premier source of medical information. |
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| AP PHYSICS B |
DOLORES GENDE: AP PHYSICS B HOME
Dolores Gende of the Parish Episcopal School has built an extremely authoritative and compendious resource site for the AP Physics B exam. AP Physics B Home has a great deal to offer both to students and teachers, on the site itself and via links other resources on the web. |
Rio Americano High School Physics: Dean Baird's Phyz Home Page
Dean Baird of Rio Americano High School has put together an excellent resource page for AP Physics teachers and students. He has created a set of Guides within his Book of Phyz which are excellent summary pages for individual subtopics. They are well written and illustrated. These would be useful not only for AP Physics students, but also MCAT, IB Physics, and UK Physics A Level students. |
Dr Hoselton's Physics Pages
Well designed site with many useful conceptual discussions, illustrations, animations and exercises, both internally hosted and externally linked. Many discussions were composed by Dr. Hoselton. There are many well-chosen links to animations for particular subtopics. If you are interested in Flash tutorials and Applets as a form of stimulating review, you will benefit from Dr. Hoselton's editorial decisions. Pay special attention to the PDF downloads containing Dr. Hoselton's study and test-taking advice for the AP exam. | Exploring Physics - The Physics Resource Page of Liz Woolard
Fun, straightforward pages. Good collection of concise tutorials. |
Home Page of Peggy E. Schweiger
An excellent resource for high school physics teachers and students. Many labs and demonstrations plus an excellent set of lecture notes for AP Physics B as well. There is also a well-thought out portal to a variety of tutorials on the web, arranged by subtopic. |
Great Neck South High School's Sckalor AP Physics Pages
Sckalor's AP Physics Pages is an example of an extremely well designed advanced placement class site. Fun stuff. Good collection of resource links. Sckalinks! |
Advanced Placement Physics - Deer Valley High School
Physics teacher home page at Deer Valley High School. Can you solve the Punkin Chunkin Bonus Problem? | North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
Great resource for laboratory and demonstration ideas. | AP Physics at BHS
Some well-chosen links with a focus on preparation for AP Physics at the beginning of the year. |
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| TUTORIALS & LECTURE NOTES |
HyperPhysics - Rod Nave - Georgia State University
HyperPhysics is the best site on the web for the comprehensive review of undergraduate physics concepts. The level and manner of presentation are excellent for both AP Physics B or C review. Highly recommended. |
PY105 & PY106 Notes - Andrew Duffy - Boston University
Andrew Duffy at Boston University has published an extremely well thought-out and comprehensive set of lecture notes from PY105 and PY106, the two semester general physics course he teaches at Boston University. This is an introductory physics course at Boston University taken primarily be pre-medical students and life science majors. The level of the discussion is perfect for AP Physics B students. These pages are not fancy, but the concepts are extremely well explained. |
The Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom Tutorial presents a series of basic conceptual introductions to the major topics of Mechanics, Waves and Light & Optics. They were written for high school physics students, but these tutorials would also be helpful to undergraduate students working to get a hand-hold on basic physics concepts. The site is a work in progress, so hopefully Mr. Henderson will add sections for Thermodynamics, Electricity & Magnetism and Modern Physics in the future. | IUN/FYDE Introductory Physics Notes - University of Winnipeg
Notes and illustrations constituting a general, non-calculus introductory physics course, based on lectures given through the IUN/FYDE distance education program of the University of Winnipeg. Spare but clear discussions. | The Physics Zone by Science Joywagon
A resource for learning introductory level, algebra based, physics. Lessons and review organized by topic. The Physics Zone is designed for high school or introductory college level students. The treatement is fairly comprehensive, although somewhat scattershot. Hopefully Steve will be fleshing out the Mechanics soon and adding a Thermodynamics section. After 7 free years on the internet, the Physics Zone has become one of the highest ranked physics lesson sites. In order to afford the bandwidth, a small membership fee is now required. | Multiple Choice Questions - University of Guelph
Excellent collection. Recommended. |
Electromagnetism and Optics - Richard Fitzpatrick - University of Texas at Austin
Clearly written, illustrated lecture notes from a non-calculus based survey course on electricity & magnetism and light & optics. An excellent place to turn if you are having difficulty with specific concepts from these areas in MCAT review. | | ANIMATIONS AND MULTIMEDIA |
Monterey Institute for Technology & Education AP Courses > Advanced Placement Physics B
Animated, multimedia tutorials covering the fundamental concepts of 1st year college physics. Created for Advanced Placement B students. |
Physics 2000
Extremely well-designed and entertaining collection of Physics Applets on topics in Modern Physics. |
Fowler's Physics Applets - Michael Fowler - University of Virginia
Nice collection of physics animations. |
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How to Study Science on the Web
At Wisebridge Learning Systems we have a great deal of experience helping premedical students studying for the MCAT. Our work has lately become well received within the Advanced Placement community as well. Our comments here are for AP students also.
Students preparing for a comprehensive science exam have many types of learning materials competing for their attention. Should they study their textbooks and lecture notes, search for tutorials on the web, or stay with specialty publications and courses geared toward their exam? All are useful. The answer is to recognize the advantages and disadvantages of each and use them well together.
- Textbooks - A modern undergraduate science textbook results from major effort on the part of highly accomplished academic authors, talented illustrators, and careful editors. The quality of explanation tends to be superb, though suffering every now and then from the specialization of the authors. The chemical thermodynamics in a typical biology textbook is often cringe-worthy, for example. Nevertheless, a modern science textbook is a great treasure, and can definitely be an asset for comprehensive review. However, when you have limited time before your exam, don't try to read every word in your textbooks. Instead, force yourself to sit down and actually read the table of contents. Use your textbook to adjust your mind to the shape and scope of the knowledge as a whole. Carefully skim the entire book from cover to cover. Read the bold headings of each section and reflect for a moment on the phenomena described within each section. Don't try to memorize everything. There are many ways to read a textbook. Sometimes you can focus in. Sometimes you can pan back.
- Test-prep Publications - Compared to textbook publishing, the world of test-prep publishing is the wild west, full of unaccountable promises and wild claims. On one end of town, there is the fellow in his garage selling Your Super Secret Keys to Test-Prep Success. On the other end, you can find well-intentioned work, such as Wisebridge publications, which are the result of a great deal of experience, thought and effort. Often the discussions in test-prep books tend to lack much insight, and there is little attention to the actual process of learning. Nevertheless, there are three main advantages to the big test review book. First, there is specific focus on the most relevant material. Second, the summary nature of the material makes it easy to achieve multiple study cycles, which is crucially important for a structured learning process. Third, there are often helpful exercises modeled after test questions and practice exams.
- Websites - Several very experienced teachers and professors have created comprehensive tutorials on the scientific disciplines and made them freely available on the web, contributing a great deal to science education over the past few years. There are several excellent choices for each of the disciplines providing a quality of scientific instruction that is truly excellent and well-calibrated for MCAT or AP review. There are obvious advantages to the web-based learning environment compared to printed material in terms of navigation and flexibility. However, there are also disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is not so obvious at first. This derives from the need for there to be a stage of learning to size up the scope and structure of the challenge itself. The physical character of printed materials is an advantage, serving as an 'advance organizer' in education lingo. This is difficult aspect to explain, but it is important to understand in order to use the web properly for learning. With a book, you can hold it in your hand. It has a weight. You can flip through it, and it is easy to see the beginning and end. With a website, though, it is harder to get your mind around the material to sense the shape of the knowledge. The mind needs that sense of overall scope and structure for effective learning. Some sites are better at providing an overall structure than others. Always take time to understand a website''s main navigational structure, its table of contents, and get comfortable with its navigational mode before starting serious study. Walk around the mountain before you start tunnneling. This is crucially important.
Another concern with using the resources on the web is the difficulty in certifying that the information and instructional level specifically pertains to your needs for your test. There is a great deal of marketing by the test-prep industry, which profits from students purchasing niche publications instead of using general, often better, resources. Still, the concerns are valid. To allay these concerns, the links on this page were specifically chosen because of their appropriateness. For the MCAT, don't let yourself spend two months studying plants and jellyfish on a general biology site. Those are not MCAT topics. Use the AAMC guidelines to keep you on track. Use your test-prep book to organize your approach, and use the Wisebridge Learning Center. Take responsibility for your knowledge base.
Regarding the resource lists above, under each scientific discipline, the list of links begins with our most highly recommended sites for general study, and works down from there to more specialized resources. Please note that in addition to this resources page, there are nearly 3000 links to the specific content within these sites organized and presented by the Wisebridge Learning Center. Feel free to take advantage of this alternative, structured navigational framework to access web-based learning materials.
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