If you couldn’t join us live, the full session is now available on demand below.

Turning Passive Learning into Active Understanding

Every medical educator has faced the same challenge: students who can recall facts but struggle to apply them. Traditional lectures and static slides often fail to help students connect foundational concepts to clinical reasoning.

That’s where Rx Bricks comes in. Built for flexibility and faculty empowerment, Bricks transforms the learning experience from content delivery to concept discovery.

Each Brick is an interactive, modular learning unit: peer-reviewed, visually rich, and structured for active engagement. Faculty can assign Bricks as pre-class preparation, use them during flipped sessions, or integrate them into case discussions, allowing class time to focus on higher-order learning and application. You can also explore the Brick we created on this webinar here.

What You’ll Learn in This Office Hours Session

This Faculty Office Hours webinar explores practical ways to integrate Bricks into your curriculum, regardless of whether you teach foundational sciences or clinical reasoning. Topics discussed include:

• How Bricks supports active and team-based learning through structured questions and embedded quizzes.

• Using Bricks analytics to identify student engagement and comprehension levels.

• Flexible teaching strategies—from pre-class assignments to in-class application and formative assessments.

• Real-world examples of how medical schools are using Bricks to improve student outcomes and curriculum alignment.

The session also includes Q&A highlights from faculty around the world who are using Rx Bricks to modernize their teaching and foster deeper student participation.

Why Faculty Are Rethinking Engagement

Active learning isn’t just an educational trend—it’s a proven approach to improving retention, critical thinking, and long-term clinical competence. Yet implementing it can feel daunting without the right structure or tools.

Rx Bricks simplifies this process by offering:

• Modular, customizable content that maps easily to your existing curriculum.

• Built-in self-assessment tools that promote retrieval practice.

• Seamless integration with other ScholarRx tools like Qmax and Lists.

• Support for both independent study and collaborative classroom experiences.

Instead of creating everything from scratch, educators can focus on guiding students through problem-solving and synthesis—the core of professional learning.

Insights from Faculty Using Bricks

During the discussion, participating faculty shared how they’ve used Bricks to:

• Replace traditional readings with interactive pre-work that prepares students for deeper discussion.

• Embed Bricks into case-based and team-based learning activities.

• Use analytics to spot where students struggle—and address gaps before exams.

• Engage large groups without losing individual accountability.

One common theme emerged: Bricks help students take ownership of their learning while giving faculty more time to facilitate, mentor, and connect concepts across disciplines.

The Power of Simplicity and Structure

At ScholarRx, we’ve seen that innovation in education doesn’t always mean adding complexity. Sometimes, it’s about simplifying how learning happens.

Bricks are built on this principle, each one is concise, concept-driven, and visually engaging, allowing students to focus on mastering the material, not decoding it. For faculty, that means more freedom to teach in the ways that matter most—through connection, collaboration, and clinical reasoning.

Watch the Full Webinar

If you missed this Faculty Office Hours session, you can watch the full recording above. It’s a great resource for anyone looking to integrate more active learning into their curriculum with minimal prep time and maximum impact.

Whether you’re rethinking pre-clinical teaching, designing team-based learning sessions, or seeking ways to measure engagement, this session provides actionable insights to bring active learning to life.

Ready to Learn More?

Discover how Rx Bricks can help your faculty save time and elevate student engagement. Explore the Brick Exchange or sign up for a free trial here.

The post A Smarter Way to Actively Engage Students: ScholarRx Faculty Office Hours Replay appeared first on ScholarRx.

What’s New in the Immunology Collection?

Enhanced Visual and Interactive Learning Experience

One of the most exciting aspects of this update is the comprehensive enhancement of our visual and interactive elements. We’ve refreshed virtually all immunology-specific figures throughout the collection, ensuring that complex concepts are illustrated with greater clarity and precision than ever before. Additionally, we’ve strengthened our active learning components with improved interactive questions and added more images to our flashcards, creating a more engaging and effective study experience.

New Content Areas

Our collection now includes dedicated bricks covering autoinflammatory diseases and diagnostic laboratory immunology, giving students essential practical knowledge they’ll need in clinical settings. We’ve also added a comprehensive new brick on immunodeficiency disorders titled “Immunodeficiency Disorders: Putting It All Together,” which guides students through the systematic evaluation of patients suspected of having immunodeficiency.

Updated Terminology and Classifications

To align with current medical nomenclature, we’ve made several important updates:

• B and T cell disorders are now classified as “Disorders of Humoral and Cell-Mediated Immunity”
• The Phagocyte Dysfunction brick has been expanded and renamed to “Disorders of Innate Immunity,” now including detailed coverage of leukocyte adhesion defects (LAD)
• Complement disorders have been given their own dedicated brick, separate from the main Complement content, allowing for more in-depth coverage

Enhanced Treatment Coverage

Understanding the rapidly evolving landscape of immunological treatments is crucial for modern medical practice. We’ve significantly expanded our coverage of therapeutic options:

• The immunosuppressants content has been thoroughly updated and split into two distinct bricks: “Immunosuppressants” and “Biologic Agents”
• Enhanced coverage of novel biologics provides students with the latest information on cutting-edge treatments

New Sequestered Questions Coming Soon

To complement the updated collection, we’re excited to announce that new Rx Bricks Assessment Bank questions for the Immunology collection will be launching this spring. These carefully crafted questions will help students test their understanding and apply their knowledge of the updated immunology content, which you can deliver through ExamSoft.

Why These Updates Matter

These updates reflect our commitment to providing medical students with the most current, clinically relevant content possible. By aligning our terminology with current medical standards, expanding our coverage of critical topics, and enhancing our visual learning tools, we ensure that students are well-prepared for their exams and future clinical practice.

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to enhance our educational resources to meet the evolving needs of medical education.

Immunology Table of Contents

Here are the bricks contained in the 2nd edition of our Immunology collection:

1. Immunology: Foundations and Frameworks
2. Innate Receptors and Cytokines
3. Complement System
4. Major Histocompatibility Complex
5. Structure and Function of Antigen Receptors and Antibodies
6. Antigen Receptor Gene Rearrangement
7. Antigen Processing and Presentation
8. B-Cell Activation and Differentiation
9. T-Cell Activation and Differentiation
10. Cell-Mediated Immunity
11. Immunologic Tolerance
12. Hypersensitivity Reactions
13. Allergic Diseases and Anaphylaxis
14. Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology
15. Disorders of Innate Immunity
16. Disorders of the Complement System
17. Disorders of Humoral and Cell-Mediated Immunity
18. Immunodeficiency Disorders: Putting It All Together
19. Vaccines
20. Autoinflammatory Diseases
21. Amyloidosis
22. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
23. Rheumatoid Arthritis
24. Sjögren Syndrome
25. Systemic Sclerosis
26. Immunosuppressants
27. Biologic Agents
28. Blood Types
29. Blood Transfusion
30. Transplantation

The post Rx Bricks Update of the Immunology Collection appeared first on ScholarRx.

August 2024 marked a significant milestone for Rx Bricks, but the true story lies beyond the numbers. We’re witnessing the growth of an emerging community of practice—a global network of educators dedicated to shaping the future of medical education through collaboration, innovation, and shared expertise.

What is a Community of Practice?

A community of practice is more than just a group of people working independently; it’s a collective effort where individuals come together to share knowledge, experiences, and tools to pursue a common goal. For Rx Bricks, this community includes medical educators, content creators, and subject matter experts worldwide who are committed to advancing the quality of educational content through active collaboration.

Collaboration and Sharing in ActionOne of the core strengths of the Rx Bricks Create platform is how it facilitates content sharing and adaptation. In August alone:

• 111 Bricks were created and published from scratch, reflecting the innovation and creativity of educators worldwide.
• 219 Bricks were cloned and published, demonstrating the adaptability and usefulness of content as it is refined and repurposed to fit various curricula.

This growing global collaboration is reshaping the way educators think about content creation. Instead of working in isolation, educators are building on one another’s work, ensuring that Bricks evolve through collective input and shared experiences. The platform’s clone-and-publish feature, in particular, has enabled educators to quickly adapt high-quality content for their institution’s needs, amplifying the value of each Brick and saving time while maintaining educational integrity.

Driving Educational Innovation

As more educators join this community, the level of innovation in medical education continues to rise. The record-breaking number of Bricks created in August is a testament to how this collaborative approach fosters creativity. Faculty are designing new learning modules and experimenting with multimedia elements, interactive features, AI, and novel teaching methods to engage learners more effectively.

This innovation is happening globally as educators from different regions contribute diverse perspectives and teaching strategies, enhancing the richness of the content available on the platform. Each Brick built reflects the hard work and ingenuity of a global community striving to make medical education better, more accessible, and more engaging.

A Focus on Accessibility and Equity

One of the most meaningful aspects of this community of practice is its commitment to accessibility. By sharing high-quality educational materials through Rx Bricks, educators are helping bridge gaps in medical education, particularly in underserved regions of the world. The ability to clone and adapt Bricks allows faculty to offer their students the best possible learning experiences, regardless of geographical or resource-based limitations.

Looking Ahead: A Growing Movement

This is just the beginning. As more educators discover the power of Rx Bricks Create and the Rx Brick Exchange, the potential to transform education only grows. Each new Brick, whether built from scratch or adapted from an existing one, represents a step toward a more connected and innovative educational landscape.

The record activity from August isn’t just a reflection of the platform’s capabilities—it’s a testament to the strength of the global community built around it. Together, we’re creating a future where collaboration drives education forward, one Brick at a time.

The post Building a Global Community of Practice with Rx Bricks appeared first on ScholarRx.

The post Revolutionizing Medical Education with Brick Analytics appeared first on ScholarRx.

Multiple, Impactful Images

One of the significant advantages of the image carousel is that you can add multiple images to your Brick. Before now, it was always a struggle to display and compare various images of medical conditions, especially when there are different stages to be covered. But that’s not the case anymore. With an image carousel, you can comfortably add up to ten images, allowing students to scroll horizontally through the photos with a simple click. This new method of displaying multiple images can add more visual impact to your teaching, making it easier for students to understand each stage of the medical condition.

Adding an image carousel is as easy as adding an image, a card, or a formula. To do so, use the toolbar and select the “Image Carousel” option.

You can drag and drop your images or use your device’s file finder to load them one at a time. Within the image carousel, you can add up to ten photos to display best whatever you’re trying to share with students.

You also have the option to add descriptions and attributions to your images and a title for them.

Your Slide Deck, Easily Accessible

We’ve also updated capabilities to include embedding PowerPoints, Google Slides, or PDFs. To embed a presentation, add a new element to your Brick, click “< >,”  aka “Add Embed,” and paste the link to your presentation. However, note that you can only embed presentations that are on the web or uploaded to a cloud-based server. Presentations that live on your computer or device cannot be embedded.

Improving Teaching and Learning Outcomes

Incorporating these new features encourages educators to create more engaging, interactive, and impactful courses. A histology class, for instance, can leverage the image carousel to teach students about cellular structures better. The carousel can help professors showcase various aspects of the cell that the students need to learn about, such as the Golgi apparatus, the nucleus, and the mitochondria.

High-Yield Learning That’s Faculty Friendly

At ScholarRx, we’re committed to delivering an exceptional learning experience. The new features we’ve introduced today, the image carousel and the ability to embed presentations, will make online teaching more engaging and impactful. We’re excited to see how you use these new features.!

The post The Release of Two Powerful Features Within Bricks Create – Image Carousel and Embedding Presentations appeared first on ScholarRx.

The Intersection of Human Health and Environmental Wellness

An emergent notion of planetary health lies at the intersection of human health and environmental wellness. This concept casts a broader net than public and global health, drawing the two into a holistic context and unveiling a nuanced understanding of our intricate relationship with our environment.

Our existence is tethered to the health of our environment. The elements — air, water, food, and shelter — form the basis of human life, granting us protection and nurturing our mental and spiritual well-being. The World Health Organization reports that environmental factors contribute significantly to the global disease burden, and modifiable ecological risks account for 1 in 4 global deaths. We’ve glimpsed the deadly potency of these environmental determinants, with air pollution, freshwater contamination, chemical pollution, and severe weather events causing widespread harm and disease.

Yet, as our ecosystems shudder under the weight of human damage, it is crucial to remember that not all inhabitants of Earth bear equal responsibility. Industrialized nations have accumulated wealth at the expense of the environment, while lower-income countries and vulnerable communities pay a steeper price. The poignant plight of island nations, losing their homes to the rising seas driven by our greenhouse gas emissions, is a stark testament to this injustice.

Our world has reached a juncture where we must confront the irreversible toll of our actions. We’ve breached five out of nine planetary boundaries: climate change, land-system changes, biodiversity loss, novel entities like plastic, and disruptions to global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. We’ve set into motion changes that risk triggering a cascade of nonlinear, abrupt environmental shifts.

Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a blueprint for building a better and more sustainable future for all. These 17 interconnected goals, launched in 2015, were designed to address the most pressing global challenges we face, including poverty, inequality, climate change, and environmental degradation. They underscore the intricate links between human health and planetary health, recognizing that our well-being is intrinsically tied to the health of our planet.

Several SDGs directly address vital environmental determinants of health, highlighting the need for clean water and sanitation, climate action, and protecting life below water and on land. These goals remind us of our collective responsibility to work towards sustainable development for ourselves and future generations.

Facilitating Learning

Education on planetary health is relevant and necessary at a critical juncture in our relationship with our planet. Whether you’re an aspiring health professional or an educator responsible for shaping the curriculum, understanding the intricate relationship between the environment and human health is pivotal.

To facilitate this learning, the Medical Student Alliance for Global Education, or MeSAGE, has designed a wide range of free and open-access digital learning modules, which we call Bricks. Our bricks are more than just resources for self-directed learning – they also provide an invaluable guide for educators looking to incorporate vital topics into their curricula.

Our newest collection of bricks delves into the complexities of Planetary Health. The introductory brick to this collection provides a comprehensive understanding of how our health is intertwined with the health of our planet. It explores the need for sustainable development and the urgency of reshaping our societies, economies, and health systems to ensure a resilient and healthy world.

What sets MeSAGE apart is our commitment to democratizing education. Not only are our bricks free and open-access, but they can also be adapted using ScholarRx’s free authoring platform, Bricks Create. This platform empowers educators to modify our materials to fit their regional context, making the learning experience more relevant and enriching for their students.

To the educators reading this – our new collection serves as a resource for integrating planetary health into your curriculum. The aim is to foster in-depth understanding, spark thoughtful discussions, and encourage critical thinking.

We invite you to start your journey into Planetary Health by diving into our introductory brick. Join us in this collective learning journey, moving towards a more informed, healthier, and sustainable future. With access to knowledge, we can collectively drive the change we need for our planet’s health. So, use our resources, adapt them to your needs, and build a better future together.

The post On the Precipice: A Meditation on Planetary Health appeared first on ScholarRx.

“Climate change is the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century.” – The World Health Organization

A New Rx Brick Collection from MeSAGE

The Medical Student Alliance for Global Education, or MeSAGE, has released its newest collection of Rx Bricks, which focuses on Planetary Health. This set of free, open-access digital learning modules from ScholarRx covers the interplay between human health and the environment, aiming to equip current and future healthcare professionals with everything they need to effectively address the impact of a shifting climate.

Why Planetary Health?

The climate continues to impact our lives, leading the World Health Organization to say, “It threatens the essential ingredients of good health – clean air, safe drinking water, nutritious food supply and safe shelter – and has the potential to undermine decades of progress in global health.”

According to WHO, “Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress alone. The direct damage costs to health are estimated to be between US $2-4 billion per year by 2030. Areas with weak health infrastructure – mostly in developing countries – will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond.”

We see the effects of climate change more and more each year. From warming, rising oceans to hotter temperatures, increased drought, and more severe storms, it’s nearly impossible to escape them. As these effects lead to species losses, less food, poverty, displacement, and compounding health risks, we must prepare health professionals for the myriad of questions and issues they will see.

These Bricks provide an in-depth look into how planetary health will affect the medical profession. Climate change’s impacts on different sectors of society are interrelated, with drastic results and harmful consequences hovering on the horizon. This interrelation will influence many doctors’ care decisions, and having a solid foundational understanding of planetary health is vital.

Created under the oversight of lead editor and planetary health expert Michelle McLean, Ph.D., these peer-reviewed Bricks are quick and easy to deploy in your curriculum or courses. Topics in the Planetary Health collection include:

• Air Pollution
• Climate Change and Health
• Environmental Justice
• Food and Water Security
• Mental Health and the Environment
• Severe Weather Events

And so much more. Please learn more about the collection here.

What is MeSAGE?

MeSAGE aims to empower student organizations with the tools and expertise to build medical education content that often falls outside the traditional curriculum and make that content freely available to any student, school, or institution worldwide.

MeSAGE is the largest student-driven curriculum alliance on the planet, composed of student organizations representing over 1.3 million medical students in over 130 countries, from partners including:

• AMSA: The American Medical Student Association
• AMWA: The American Medical Women’s Association
• APSA: American Physician Scientsists’ Association
• AMSA-International: Asian Medical Students’ Association
• EMSA: The European Medical Students’ Association
• FAMSA: Federation of African Medical Students’ Associations
• IFMSA: International Federation of Medical Students Associations
• Phi Delta Epsilon: The International Medical Fraternity
• SNMA: The Student National Medical Association
• SNO: Student Network Organization
• SOMA: The Student Osteopathic Medical Association

MeSAGE utilizes the groundbreaking digital learning platform Rx Bricks to create interactive educational modules that focus on critical topics identified during a global needs assessment, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, digital health, planetary health, students as educators, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Together, we aim to leverage the expertise and passion of medical students to develop engaging and open medical education content that educators worldwide can use.

The post MeSAGE Releases Planetary Health Brick Collection appeared first on ScholarRx.

The post Introducing Bricks Create Clone & Translate appeared first on ScholarRx.

To ring in March, we have released two updated Brick editions – Hematology and Cardiovascular. We consistently update our Bricks to stay up-to-date and accurate. Still, we also conduct more extensive revisions of the collections to improve your students’ learning experience.

You can access the first editions, toggle seamlessly between both, or move forward with the new versions. Check out the Conversion Guides below for more information.

Switch Easily Between Brick Versions

You can just use Editions 1 and 2 with little effort. Click the down arrow and move the collections with ease!

Why were these Bricks updated?

Students and faculty from across the world reach out with feedback on ScholarRx’s Bricks, and when you do, we listen. We aim for our Bricks to be evergreen, and while we always strive for accuracy, we make revisions when there are ways in which we can improve our approach and content. We are incredibly thankful to all who have helped us achieve our mission of sustainable medical education by enhancing our instructional design.

Is anything else new?

We continued beyond updates, of course. You will also see the following:

• New and improved illustrations
• Fewer mnemonics
• More standardized Bricks with formatting you will find throughout our platform
• Even more high-yield content
• Please learn more by reading our Conversion Guides:
  • Cardiovascular Conversion Guide
  • Hematology Conversion Guide
    • PDF
    • Word

We hope you and your students put these updated Bricks to good use. Together, we’re on the path toward sustainable, engaging medical education.

The post New Rx Cardiovascular and Hematology Brick Editions for 2023 appeared first on ScholarRx.

ScholarRx is pleased to announce that grant applications for our 2023 Medical Education Research and Innovation Challenge (MERIC) are now open. MERIC is a program designed to promote global educational innovation and scholarship through the ScholarRx/USMLE-Rx platform.

Learn More about MERIC 

About the Grants

Each year, MERIC grants work to support health profession investigators seeking to collaborate with ScholarRx. They focus on testing education innovations and addressing questions about educational methods, curricular development, student assessments, and much more. We expect to fund 2-3 grant applications ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 in 2023.

If you are interested in developing a novel educational innovation and addressing a significant gap in medical education literature, this may be the grant for you! Projects must utilize ScholarRx/USMLE-Rx tools as a substantial element of their innovation.

How to Apply

Please submit a letter of intent (LOI) by 11:59 pm EST on December 16, 2022. Selected investigators will be notified in mid-January 2023 and invited to submit a full proposal due by February 28, 2023. Learn more about the evaluation criteria and how to apply.

The post Now Open: 2023 MERIC Innovation Grant Applications appeared first on ScholarRx.