Mon. Jul 7th, 2025

EdTech Developer’s Examine Recreation Method Aces Med Faculty Testing Curve

Developments in schooling expertise, or EdTech, come from modifications of method within the wake of shortcomings. Revolutionary instructional expertise can adapt current instruments or create new ones to assist individuals navigate studying obstacles.

King of the Curve (KOTC) is a disruptive EdTech startup with its sights set on serving to to ease the looming physician scarcity. KOTC combines recreation and social methods to help science college students in scoring higher on medical college entrance exams and associated challenges. The corporate can also be growing productivity-style apps to assist well being care employees within the subject handle the challenges of meting out medical therapies higher.

Heath Rutledge-Jukes based the corporate whereas eyeing a profession in psychology earlier than specializing in changing into a surgeon. He’s now a medical scholar at Washington College Faculty of Drugs.

Earlier than coming into medical college, although, he took an unanticipated detour to place his science expertise to make use of as a software program developer. Rutledge-Jukes transitioned from designing educational methods for individuals with dyslexia to making a sequence of examination preparation apps for medical college candidates.

KOTC doesn’t mimic different self-study merchandise and isn’t based mostly on typical studying app pondering.

“Individuals have their very own particular person studying paths. That’s what schooling must be based mostly on. It’s not only a cookie-cutter template for everybody,” Rutledge-Jukes instructed TechNewsWorld.

App Adapts To Person Efficiency

That philosophy is clear in his instructional pathway. As a psychology main, Rutledge-Jukes researched completely different studying strategies. His analysis primarily used video video games to study reliable expertise comparable to eye-hand coordination, strategizing, vital pondering, and way more.

After graduating school, he designed instruments for kids with dyslexia to study. That endeavor concerned creating tactile devices for younger college students to understand and retain info higher.

In contrast to different studying instruments, KOTC doesn’t turn into routine or much less helpful to customers resulting from over-familiarity. As a substitute, the app adapts to a person’s efficiency to allow them to enhance, not simply memorize pre-set solutions.

King of the Curve gamification app for MCAT study

The King of the Curve app makes use of game-based parts to assist college students examine for medical college entrance exams. Its options embody Adaptive Query Financial institution, Overview Mode, Countless Mode, Timed Mode, and Multiplayer Mode. (Photographs Courtesy of King of the Curve)


Instructional apps can linger with out updates for prolonged durations. Or they depend on rote studying ways, which restrict progress to the confines of educating to the check. “That makes customers extra determined to strive one thing else,” Rutledge-Jukes famous.

Constructing a Higher Mousetrap

Rutledge-Jukes began KOTC in 2020 with a give attention to getting ready college students for the medical college entrance check often called the Medical Faculty Admission Take a look at or MCAT. Take a look at prep for stepping into medical faculties was a logical start line for his firm’s first instructional app. The developer was already well-versed in its content material.

“That’s how we began. That was a seed for placing this app collectively to assist individuals qualify for the varied exams,” he mentioned.

KOTC’s mission, as its founder sees it, is easy: rework college students’ stress into success. That method, the coed of immediately turns into the skilled of tomorrow.

Fixing a Nationwide Medical Disaster

In its personal method, KOTC’s distinctive technique for prepping college students for the MCAT helps to get extra candidates accepted. Coaching competent physicians can take so long as 10 years, in response to the 2022 AMA President Gerald E. Harmon, M.D., in a Management Viewpoints column.

The Affiliation of American Medical Schools (AAMC) projected the U.S. faces a scarcity of 37,800 physicians — and 124,000 inside 12 years — in its report launched in June 2021. Within the wake of this pending doctor scarcity, KOTC’s gamified methods go an extended strategy to stopping “Recreation Over” for physician hopefuls.

setWaLocationCookie(‘wa-usr-cc’,’sg’);

Rutledge-Jukes acknowledged that 60% of the individuals who apply to medical college usually are not accepted. Candidates are 3 times extra prone to attend medical college in the event that they rating above 510 on the MCAT, and it’s the solely a part of the med college utility that’s standardized.

KOTC’s success price in serving to candidates rating greater is spectacular. The MCAT’s rating vary for the four-part written examination is from 472 to 528. Scores for the 4 sections are mixed to create a complete rating. The midpoint is 500.

The KOTC growth crew is staffed by individuals who know the MCAT testing course of effectively. So as to be employed, they should have scored within the 99th percentile.

Enlargement Plans

The app developer additionally met that commonplace, which is smart from an app person’s perspective. Rutledge-Jukes took the MCAT and scored effectively “above the curve,” so he’s effectively versed in its content material. Beginning out, he dealt with many of the query silos and app development duties himself.

Heath Rutledge-Jukes is founder of King of the Curve
Heath Rutledge-Jukes, Founder
King of the Curve

“I think about myself a technical founder in that sense as effectively. Not simply technical on the content material facet, however technical on the sort of growth facet,” he supplied.

He constructed many of the preliminary apps and taught himself app programming over the pandemic shutdown. He began the KOTC venture with the assistance of two co-founders and an angel investor. Considered one of his main jobs now, even whereas attending medical college, is main the crew.

Since producing extra income from monetizing in-app characteristic additions, he has been capable of onboard extra employees. As soon as customers get into the app, they’ll buy customization and extra upgrades.

His firm workers vacillate between two-to-10 full-time and part-time workers who excel in both check content material areas or app constructing. That features 4 interns, two content material specialists, and two builders.

“We positively are increasing the crew as we develop. Proper now, we’re about to open a spherical for funding to broaden the crew much more,” Rutledge-Jukes mentioned.

Take a look at Prep Course Stock

KOTC’s studying lineup now gives check prep apps for a sequence {of professional} admissions exams with extra updates on the best way. The workers is comprised of scholars and researchers in every of the check prep areas. They preserve high-level content material.

The first course stock contains medical college admissions exams for the nursing examination (NCLEX), the Examination Grasp’s Doctor Assistant Faculty Admission Take a look at (PA-CAT), and the Registered Dietitian Examination (RDE).

setWaLocationCookie(‘wa-usr-cc’,’sg’);

In accordance with Rutledge-Jukes, the corporate plans to broaden into two different high-pressure tutorial check prep areas: the LSAT for regulation college hopefuls and the Bachelor of Accounting (BAcc) entrance examination.

To offer one other all-inclusive choice for future customers, the corporate plans to broaden its current web site as a house base for on-line studying separate from providing check prep via cell apps, confided Rutledge-Jukes.

The apps are actually out there for Android, iPhone, and iPad gadgets. Some usually are not out there on all three platforms, nevertheless.

For Established Medical Professionals

KOTC’s ongoing objective is to assist college students and entry-level well being care professionals hone their data. It is also now addressing the wants of already established physicians. These different app classes deal with a extra complete vary of content material and goal particular skilled areas which might be largely medical-science associated.

As an illustration, Present Procedural Terminology (CPT) targets enhancing the affected person expertise with medical suppliers on the bedside. A crew of pre-medical college students designed its intuitive expertise to restrict obstacles for sufferers in discussing the funds concerned in vital medical selections.

One of many newest that Rutledge-Jukes initiated in March 2022 is Telecatalyst. This app particularly fills the wants of medical personnel in Tanzania who want an information assortment and telehealth app.

Additionally below growth for medical help is the Regenerative Ache and Backbone app. Anesthetists will use it to generate studies concerning their sufferers throughout surgical procedure to file blood strain, machine checks, and affected person info.

Critical Studying Whereas Gamifying the Course of

In accordance with the developer, med college hopefuls have few choices apart from paying the excessive tuition connected to taking the industry-standard check or hiring tutors.

“We’ve crafted our app to advertise a sports activities and social component as a result of all these college students are going via the identical course of. They need to be on the identical crew as they transfer ahead,” mentioned Rutledge-Jukes.

Constructed into this all-in-one MCAT examine recreation are some 7,000 questions divided into six classes: biology, biochemistry, basic chemistry, natural chemistry, physics, and the behavioral sciences.

“We simply principally dump all of the questions on the person firstly. We’re capable of present the product to individuals in the event that they completely can’t afford a subscription. They’ll nonetheless use it and will nonetheless put together successfully,” he mentioned.

setWaLocationCookie(‘wa-usr-cc’,’sg’);

However the add-ons let college students maximize their effectiveness by zeroing in on particular elements of the check, he added. The app recommends movies to look at and factors college students to specific elements of the examine information based mostly on the accuracy of solutions.

One other benefit to KOTC is the remark sections on particular person questions the place individuals can clarify their rationale. The check prep lets college students problem different customers to check scores section-by-section as they undergo this system.

“That is extra of the gamification, however we even have month-to-month competitions between faculties. As an illustration, each March, we imitate March Insanity, however we do it with faculties from round the USA, and their customers will enhance with them,” the developer defined.

Masking All Bases

KOTC is constructed on the general image of EdTech, together with parts from adaptive studying fields. Competency-based studying can also be a big component.

“I feel competency-based studying is the way forward for schooling,” mentioned Rutledge-Jukes. “After you have the foundations, it hits these checkboxes.”

King of the Curve is out there at Google Play and the App Retailer.

Related Post