Med school anki update#

It shows you what you don't know and it helps get it in there.Īlso, by doing a small number of cards each day (no more than 100 new cards/day is my rule), you make your successive review loads much more manageable. You'll be amazed at how much you will have already forgotten! That's what Anki is good for. So do your reviews right after you make your cards. Studies have shown that in order to get stuff into your long term memory, you need to review within 24 hours. I heard from a lot of people that they were making hundreds of cards and then waiting until right before their tests to start using them. That means a lot of cards.Īfter you're done with your study session, study your cards IMMEDIATELY! This is something I should have mentioned in the guide. If you want to destroy class exams, that means you need to remember most everything. Capture as much detail as is necessary for your goals. Make cards as you're studying your preferred source.

No need to be redundant and do double duty. If you use mostly lecture slides, make cards as you go over your slides. If you like to read, make cards for anything important that you read. How do you primarily learn? Lecture slides? Videos? Text books? A mixture? There is no way around it.įor your situation, I'd say forget about the past. In medical school, we're expected to remember lots of fine detail. Think of it this way - if you want to remember something, make a card. To spend so much time and energy (and a lot of money too) just to quickly forget most of what I was to learn! I remember recoiling when I first heard this. So What Should I Study ? You’re going to forget most of what you learn in first year anyway, so don’t worry too much.” This is what I was told at the beginning of my first year in med school by a lot of people. Studying smarter, not harder is the goal, and in my opinion, Anki is the way to achieve that. You need to commit lots of information to memory. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below and I'll address them as soon as I can. I figure there are other people out there who would benefit from it too, so I'm posting it here. For that reason, I wrote a guide a week ago for the incoming 1st years at Duke.

It has helped me so much that I want to share my experience and advice with my fellow med student colleagues.

So many of you know that I found an incredible learning tool called Anki last fall. I've continued using it for the entire year, and I'm still using it on the wards. This book is an essential companion to the ideas in this post.

Med school anki update#

Update : I've c o-written a comprehensive guide to learning in medical school that incorporates Anki with a host of other evidence-backed study hacks.