MD & DO Anki: Making your own cards vs. using others

[Henry101]

I don't really understand the new fad. M2s (and some M1s) keep talking about new Anki Step 1 decks that seem to be popping up on a regular basis. From Bros to Zanki to Torcky to godknowswhat. I've usually just stuck to making my own cards from FA/Pathoma/Costanzo but I'm beginning to think that maybe I'm missing out on something by not joining this new fad and maybe there is an advantage to using one of these public decks made by students who have proven to rock Step 1?
What do ya'll think?

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[Henry101]

@Foot Fetish What do you think? Curious to know your honest opinion on this topic...

 

[Donald Juan]

I always made my own. I used anki as a supplement for the things that felt like rote memorization, and specifically the things I had trouble remembering. Tried using some online deck but it felt like it was a lot of wasted time going through things i already knew.

 

[libertyyne]

here is a small study looking at a similar question
Student-directed retrieval practice is a predictor of medical licensing examination performance

 

[Save a life]

making your own: you learn the material as you make them. It’s more time intensive but you will be more likely to get the cards right as you study them and it’s not like new material everytime you go study. For me, that’s what makes Anki fun is that I know most of the cards and I only get wrong the ones I needed a refresher on.

Using another persons deck: This is easier upfront but the problem is that it can be frustrating. Even if you know the material, you will likely get a lot of the new cards wrong. You will have to spend a bunch of time memorizing the cards the other person made.

Bottom line is that it’s a personal preference. I’m only an M1 with a lot of time until my step dedicated so it is easy for me to just make my own along with my classes. If I was an M2 slowly approaching that dedicated time I’d probably do bros deck at this point just because making my own from scratch would take forever.

 

[jcorpsmanMD]

Just another M1 here but personally I been using the Zanki deck and I love it. They’re well-made, succinct, and there’s not much “what the hell are they asking” going on as I go through the cards. My cards are not so good compared to these, i do still make some of my own cards but i use the pre-made ones much more. Plus as I go through the cards I can edit them, put more info on them, add images, etc. slowly tailoring them to my liking. I think it’s saved me a lot of time, study wise, and given me more time to use other resources or spend time trying to draw out concepts on paper / link them together. I had that problem when I was using Anki solely (as I didn’t have time to make cards, review them, and stay current). Felt like I was just learning a bunch of random facts, anyways, that’s just my opinion.

 

[kb1900]

Just another M1 here but personally I been using the Zanki deck and I love it. They’re well-made, succinct, and there’s not much “what the hell are they asking” going on as I go through the cards. My cards are not so good compared to these, i do still make some of my own cards but i use the pre-made ones much more. Plus as I go through the cards I can edit them, put more info on them, add images, etc. slowly tailoring them to my liking. I think it’s saved me a lot of time, study wise, and given me more time to use other resources or spend time trying to draw out concepts on paper / link them together. I had that problem when I was using Anki solely (as I didn’t have time to make cards, review them, and stay current). Felt like I was just learning a bunch of random facts, anyways, that’s just my opinion.

Same here. Every time I see that a lecture topic is in zanki I'm so relieved because I can fly through zanki. It's just less work than making you're own cards but I still do that too for stuff that is factoid heavy.

 

[Osteoth]

here is a small study looking at a similar question
Student-directed retrieval practice is a predictor of medical licensing examination performance

Each 445 MCQ questions or 1700 Anki cards gives another point? Jesus F Christ

 

[libertyyne]

Each 445 MCQ questions or 1700 Anki cards gives another point? Jesus F Christ

if you go through uworld 2x, thats 5 points right there.

 

[Osteoth]

if you go through uworld 2x, thats 5 points right there.

Makes it seem as though all this studying is pretty much worthless lol.

 

[libertyyne]

Makes it seem as though all this studying is pretty much worthless lol.

It's a small study. But going through uworld is studying too.

 

[Cognovi]

It's a small study. But going through uworld is studying too.

The study should be read in context of the setting, a single top-ranked institution where students perform towards the right tail of the bell curve (WashU). The marginal benefit of additional retrieval practice is probably greater for those in the middle part of the bell curve (i.e. students scoring around national average).

A recently published study conducted at another institution (Univ of Michigan) found in a multiple linear regression model that each additional point on Step 1 was independently associated with approximately 285 additional unique practice questions. (Study Behaviors and USMLE Step 1 Performance: Implications of a Student Self-Directed Parallel Curriculum. - PubMed - NCBI)

An older unpublished study conducted at a lower-ranked institution (Albert Einstein) found the association of one point for every 200 questions. (https://members.aamc.org/eweb/upload/Are Questions the Answer PPT 11-6-12 10PM.pdf)

All three studies adjusted for MCAT and preclinical grades.

Notice that as the mean Step 1 score of the study institution drops (WashU > Michigan > Einstein), the number of practice questions associated with one additional point decreases (445 > 285 > 200).

As with most endeavors in life, the principle of diminishing marginal utility applies to Step 1 studying.