Picmonic: Worth it?

[dntke1518]

I was wondering if anyone has used picmonic for board prep or to supplement pre-clinical classes. It seems pretty cool, just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with it before I fork over the cash.

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[FrkyBgStok]

Bump. Curious to know as well. Specifically if it is valuable post biochemistry and microbiology.

 

[DopaDO]

Bump. Curious to know as well. Specifically if it is valuable post biochemistry and microbiology.

I really thought about getting it (especially bc our school had a huge discount), but I decided I already had enough resources for boards. I tried some of their free sample cards and they seemed pretty decent. I know a few of my classmates got it, but many have told me that everything gets too jumbled. You memorize these nonsense pictures and they're all so ridiculous that you start to forget what goes with what. I also heard that with all the time you spend trying to memorize the cards that its just better to try to learn the actual pathophys rather than memorize what a certain disease has to do with an old dude with his pants on fire. Just what I heard anyway.

 

[racerwad]

I love it. I think if you know the basic concepts well but forget the little memory details (what happens to X bacteria on Y agar, etc) it's just what the doctor ordered.

There is a lot of stuff on the cards but there is also a lot that gets repeated thematically (nuns, graham crackers, etc) so if you aren't using them to get down memory tidbits rather than learn de novo, I think it works well.

 

[DrWily]

Fortunately someone at my school is doing research on the use of audio-visual learning and we all get Picmonic for free for 2 years if we participate in the study. Score.

 

[dntke1518]

Fortunately someone at my school is doing research on the use of audio-visual learning and we all get Picmonic for free for 2 years if we participate in the study. Score.

Total score. From what I've seen so far it seems decent, the way I look at it, if I can get it for $99 and it lasts until after Step 1 might as well get it.

 

[Pic]

Total score. From what I've seen so far it seems decent, the way I look at it, if I can get it for $99 and it lasts until after Step 1 might as well get it.

Ya I got that email today, and I wonder if it will be worth it for basic sciences

 

[whatdidigetinto]

I just purchased picmonic for 99$ for 2 years. It's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me. I went over the mnemonics they're very easy to understand and you can memorize them with very little effort!

 

[Lizzybeth500]

I'm using it both to prep for boards and as I finish up my second year classes. I really like it, silly drawings help me remember things.
I was using it to help prep for my latest pharm test and that's one of the highest scores I've gotten in pharm, and I really think it's the picmonic that did it.

 

[rc4ch]

Just watched the video about this. Man, I wish I had this back when I was a 2nd year.

 

[NeuroLAX]

Fortunately someone at my school is doing research on the use of audio-visual learning and we all get Picmonic for free for 2 years if we participate in the study. Score.

Maybe they did that so you don't forget everything you learned over your unjustly long summer break.

That's pretty cool, though. I saw Picmonic's ad on Facebook and it did look pretty interesting. I'm just too scared of getting bogged down with too many resources.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I bought it and I absolutely love it. As a first year, I just listen to the diseases we are studying and a month later I still remember everything about that card. Plus each card takes an average of a minute to watch. And 2-3 times over a card is enough to really get it to stick. I normally don't push crap because everyone is different, but every test I've had since I've got it, (about 6 weeks ago), I can attribute 4 or 5 right answers directly to picmonic. I seriously wish I had this starting at day 1 and I plan on recommending to the first years when I am an OMS II that it is so worth it.

 

[dntke1518]

Agreed. I ended up getting it, and it was really useful. It covers tons of info, especially for micro/infectious disease. Like Frky said, cards only take a minute or two to do and really stick. Recommend.

 

[member 20]

it 100% depends on your learning style. I have friends who love it. I however find it a complete waste of time. You really need to buy a few of cards, test it out and then invest in the full thing if it's for you.

 

[Postal]

I got it. I just wish I had it since first year. Really helpful if you are a visual learner and need help remembering details ,particularly in micro and pharm

 

[SLC]

I've checked it out, got a friend who bought it. I didn't think it was worth my time honestly, maybe we just looked at the wrong cards but I honestly felt like there was too much nonsense and I didn't follow it well.

That being said, Mnemonics have rarely worked for me though, maybe that's why I didn't like Picmonic?

To each their own I suppose, I'm getting the most mileage out of the old school: Goljian Audio and First-aid.

 

[bad med advice]

I agree with everyone else posting on this thread--Picmonic is the future of mass memorization for medical school. It makes "grinding" through the material a lot more passive and manageable, and the cartoons and stories make the information "sticky."

I emailed the guys behind Picmonic before it was made public and they hooked me up with the product free of charge--just asked me to be a product rep. I tried it out, browsed the library, and then sent them a long-winded email on why I didn't feel comfortable recommending the membership:
-Overpriced (at $400)
-Too little content (at the time)
-Too little detail (on the topics covered)
-Limited ability to personalize and and interact with the cards and community.

Now they've lowered the price to $100, they add minimum two requested cards a week and regularly release new stacks. They have provided a comments and notes section on each card. They are working towards allowing students to annotate on the cards themselves, and they've really fleshed out the cards.

It's a good product for a great price, and it's already enough for me to use alongside lectures as an M1.

-BMA

 

[mkhuc]

Our school just caught the Picmonic "fever beaver." I like it so far. For $99 bucks, it's a great price as well.

 

[Postal]

Tomorrow is the last day to get the $99 special where you have full access until you pass (max of24months) in case anyone is interested.

 

[Dr Colbert]

Yes to picmonic...its amazing, for me at least.

 

[Mattinthehat250]

Is Picmonic useful for just general studying during 1st year classes or is it really only for board study?

 

[Bluesclera]

definitely recommend it, for me I tried firecracker and use it to some extent but always asked everyone of my friends what do you do to actually memorize the material? and I would get confused looks and stares like "dude just read it and write it out a bunch of times until...it sticks" and I accepted it for the most part until I ran into this resource, which I use in conjunction with FA + Uworld + a whiteboard/markers.

the pictures create a generalized storage site in my brain for diseases that have seemingly random associations (cough cough lysosomal enzyme diseases) for example: from the top of my head i can proudly remember that Tuberous sclerosis has the following key associations: (Seizures, mental ******ation, CNS +skin Hamartomas, subependymal giant cell Astrocytomas, Adenoma subaceum (aka angiofibromas), ash leaf spots, shagreen patches, Autosomal dominant, Renal angiomyolipomas, Cardiac Rhabdomyomas)

And everytime now that I recall TS I think of the hammer head shark (hamartomas CNS and Skin pictures in it etc) but it works

I think in part its because I am a visual learner and this website makes complete use of that and actually helps me RETAIN information that for me cannot just be written out a bunch of times until i got it down.

Also I have found that writing out certain things like charts and diagrams from FA does help and is more efficient most of the time (but for lets say the entire Biochem section of FA it helps to have Picmonic because I have pictures in my mind of diseases that for the life of me I would have trouble keeping straight because of the similar names and stuff).

So for me this is a great program, it might not be the best for everyone but It does answer that question "how do I memorize things".

Hope that helps people.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Is Picmonic useful for just general studying during 1st year classes or is it really only for board study?

i find it very useful. i wish i had it going through biochemistry on day 1 and microbiology. it is easily the best study item i have purchased. it just works for me. i purchased it months ago and the very first disease i learned was chediak higashi and i haven't looked at the card since, but i can still vividly remember 95% of the card which encompasses the major items of the disease. if someone is a visual learner, i would absolutely recommend picmonic to be started the first day you start med school. basically, when you get to a disease in class, look at the card. not before because it won't make sense.

 

[Postal]

I wish I had it first year, if you're gonna be a first year , supplement your micro and pharm with it. I realized way too late that I'm a visual learner. I can remember things about bugs because I can see the card in my minds eye and I remember pictures better than words.Micro ,to me, is random and I had a hard time memorizing things for it last year. Wouldn't recommend for path though, use Pathoma and understand the mechanism

 

[survivordo]

Seems pretty cool. I had to just come up with perverted mnemonics in the old days. You kids sure do have it easy!

Good luck on boards!

Survivor DO

 

[AEnomore]

Do they have this for the pre-req's too? Any help?

 

[genido]

If you're a visual learner it's great! I liked it, but I have a friend who hated it. Some of them are hit or miss. It's best for the topics that require a lot of straight memorization. They keep improving and adding new cards so I think it's going to be even better in the next few years.

 

[ostrich love]

Tomorrow is the last day to get the $99 special where you have full access until you pass (max of24months) in case anyone is interested.

When the hell is this price coming back. $399 way too much

 

[dntke1518]

When the hell is this price coming back. $399 way too much

Not sure if they will offer it to just everyone. They will probably give out discount codes to your whole class if you e-mail them about the price. I also saw that they have a new monthly option.

The $99 was a pretty sweet deal though.

 

[eatsleepmed]

anyone know of any current discount codes?

 

[KGflyboy]

anyone know of any current discount codes?

I am wondering the same thing. My school received a discount code, but it expired quickly. For some reason that doesn't stop Picmonic from bragging that they give 20% discounts to schools with advocates. It is very misleading. What they should say on their website is that those schools used to have a discount at one time. Their site seemed misleading to me when I tried to sign up. I'm curious how many customers they get to sign up at the current price.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I am wondering the same thing. My school received a discount code, but it expired quickly. For some reason that doesn't stop Picmonic from bragging that they give 20% discounts to schools with advocates. It is very misleading. What they should say on their website is that those schools used to have a discount at one time. Their site seemed misleading to me when I tried to sign up. I'm curious how many customers they get to sign up at the current price.

they are awesome to deal with. if your school got a discount and you ran into problems, if it wasn't that long ago, they may still honor it. i am not completely sure, i just know they helped out people at at my school when they missed the discount by a couple days.

 

[mdtobe249]

has anyone used picmonic over a longer period of time now/can speak to its effectiveness for long term retention? is it worth the longer subscription for a first year?

 

[rahndell]

So I used it for my Micro block 2 months ago, but I am still able to recall most antibiotics and bugs. I'm doing reproductive now, but still able to recall all the important drugs and side effects. Honestly, i thought it was a gimmick with pretty pictures. I wouldn't substitute first aid or my class notes with Picmonic, but I definitely will use it for step 1. I had a few pictures pop up in my head during a test, and just felt like I was cheating.

 

[Polishcheeka34]

I was wondering if anyone has used picmonic for board prep or to supplement pre-clinical classes. It seems pretty cool, just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with it before I fork over the cash.

This is my first time responding to ANYTHING on these boards so I hope I get this right! I am an MS2 and I am very much a visual learner. Everything is color coded and I'm the one with the 10 different color pens/highlighters bc it helps me organize the massive amount of info. I tried Picmonic for a month and I absolutely LOVED IT and signed up for the service actually (there was a discount if I agreed to being a "pilot" for their program). It might still be available actually! I've been using it since the start of MS2 and while I would not abandon using FA, Pathoma, or BRS and resort to just using Picmonic - I use it as a supplement to things that I struggle with remembering. I actually can remember the information on the cards I've done even now. We did Cardio earlier in the year and I can still remember the classes and the side effects of the antiarrythmatics. Digoxin I have down solid.

I've noticed that once I remember a little portion of the card, I can basically remember the rest of the story. While some of the "creative" stories aren't helpful and are just a mess with the buzz words, I have made up my own story to go with the picture and remember the card anyway. I've noticed that I'm scoring several points higher on the exams for which I've supplemented my coursework with Picmonic which makes a huge difference since I would consistently miss a grade higher by 1 or 2 points last year! (GRRR!) From my personal experience, I highly recommend it. I'm terrible at reading something and just remembering it and while not all the cards are great, most of the ones I've gone through have helped me retain the information.

 

[rahndell]

I ended up signing up for it. AWESOME! Holy crap, its a nice way to unwind from being in classes or from catching up on lecture. My girlfriend (law school) has fun watching these images with me and gets a kick out of the funny stories. It's a poor man's date night, and I can't argue b/c I'm getting smarter.

 

[Hauskhat]

Is Picmonic useful for just general studying during 1st year classes or is it really only for board study?

The cards are broken down by subject matter, so yeah, you could easily use it to study for 1st AND 2nd year classes. But like racerwad said, they are more for nailing down the material, rather than learning de novo. If you take good notes in class and get the concepts pretty quickly, Picmonic is Ah-MAY-zzing for any type of studying.

 

[Hauskhat]

My only problem is that I don't want to study any other way!

 

[AnonymousD.O.]

Great for pharm as well. Its amazing in general. For things like bone tumors, I always confused them, but picmonic helps them stick. Also, I think many are surprised how many things they remember long term. Sure you don't remember every little thing on the picture, but you remember some of the key things that come up in questions.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Could anyone tell me if it's useful for anatomy?

 

[IH8ColdWeath3r]

Could anyone tell me if it's useful for anatomy?

No, its not.

 

[ser453]

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[ser453]

Picmonic Code 20% off
adv1817

 

[zero0]

Can anyone else comment on this? I feel like I could benefit from this since I'm a visual learner but part of me feels like it's just a gimmick.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Can anyone else comment on this? I feel like I could benefit from this since I'm a visual learner but part of me feels like it's just a gimmick.

It works, but I feel sometimes picmonic is incomplete compared to what you need to know for classes or boards. If you're going to invest, do the sketchymedical videos, but they only cover micro and pharm. However, they cover almost the same as FA and FC. The other benefit is that sketchy has less videos/images in total. Remembering hundreds of picmonics, which sometimes overlap, can start to create confusion.

 

[Rekt]

Can anyone else comment on this? I feel like I could benefit from this since I'm a visual learner but part of me feels like it's just a gimmick.

I only watched two, on a topic I knew well just to see how it paralleled and I thought the picture/card actually significantly complicated the topic much more than just learning it. I've used SketchyMedical and that blows Picmonic out of the water.

 

[Elevencents]

Picmonic literally saved me for micro and biochem diseases. If you try and do too many cards it gets out of hand quickly but if you just pick the ones you are struggling with it can be a god send. I love it.

 

[zero0]

I only watched two, on a topic I knew well just to see how it paralleled and I thought the picture/card actually significantly complicated the topic much more than just learning it. I've used SketchyMedical and that blows Picmonic out of the water.

Yeah I hear good things about Sketchy. Seems like a safer bet.

 

[MedNation907]

Sketchy >>>>>>>>>> picnomic ... n=1 + all of my med school friends

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I've not used sketchy micro, i have seen it and it looks pretty cool, but i will say that as a 4th year, there have been numerous pimping scenarios where i was able to remember back to the picmonic card and get the pimping question right. if i could pay a reasonable price to review the cards once a year for the next few years, i would definitely consider it. the benefit picmonic has over sketchy micro (i think) is that i remember the pharm and biochem cards more than the micro cards.