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The first two years of medical school are not merely "prep courses" for USMLE Step I. It's for you to build the basic foundation of a career in medicine. Otherwise, why not just go the Kaplans review courses? I'm sure people can pass USMLE Step I simply with Kaplan's review courses. Besides, 6 students is hardly a statistically significant number in terms of statistical power.
There are things in the first two years of medical school that simply cannot be taught by computer. Things like Physical Diagnosis. You simply cannot teach someone how to palpate a liver, auscultate heart sounds... etc by computer. Plus, patient interview skills, patient contact (you know, the art of medicine) simply cannot be taught in the sterile setting of internet... you need actual people. This is why, as you said, there are superb basic science students who do miserably in their clinical years. And this is why intergrating patient contacts from the very first semister of med school is crucial in educating competent physicians in both the science and ART of medicine. Most medical schools do this nowadays... and this is why, to answer your question, Basic Science education in the US will NEVER be completely internet driven. Real world patient contacts, guided by experienced clinicians/professors must start from Day 1 of medical school. And, medical school is a full time endever... it's not something you can do part time on the internet while holding a job. In fact, most US schools prohibts their students from working during school year.
So, to quote one of my professors again, the first two years of medical school is not a "prep course" for Step I. If that's all it takes to become a competent physician, Kaplans would have become the premier medical school in the US with branch campuses in every town.
Picard
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