AnKing in first year+ preclerkship grades

[Lolaaa]

hi I'm a first medical student and I've been trying to start using AnKing but I feel like I'll fail my classes if I do that. I'm a very average student in med school, I sometimes fear not passing a course even when I'm not doing any extracurriculars or anything else besides studying for my exams. Has anyone here used AnKing during the first year? how did you manage your time?

Second, next semester I'm gonna try to be more involved in extracurriculars, but I don't really know what to prioritize since my grades from the first semester are below average. How important is it to have high pre-clerkship grades? I don't think I'll be seeking a very competitive residency but I don't really know how to do better in my classes. I've been relying on anki mostly. Any helpful studying tips?

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[Darrow O'Lykos]

High pre-clinical grades help, but are not essential to match into a competitive field. If you are average in years 1 and 2, but then kill it on rotations, that'll help your prospects far more than honoring everything in pre-clinical and being average on your rotations. Although obviously there is a correlation between those that do well 1st and 2nd year and those that go on to do well 3rd year.

Do as well as you can. Develop study habits that work best for you and implement those changes sooner rather than later. I started using AnKing towards the end of 1st year and wish I had started sooner. There are tags at the end of the deck on the left hand side of the Browse menu that you can use as you progress through different sections, like pathoma, sketchy, etc. You can suspend the entire AnKing deck and just un-suspend each tag as you go through it and build up from there. Use those resources along side your school-specific stuff, and that should help you get a better grasp on things.

Best of luck!

 

[Lolaaa]

High pre-clinical grades help, but are not essential to match into a competitive field. If you are average in years 1 and 2, but then kill it on rotations, that'll help your prospects far more than honoring everything in pre-clinical and being average on your rotations. Although obviously there is a correlation between those that do well 1st and 2nd year and those that go on to do well 3rd year.

Do as well as you can. Develop study habits that work best for you and implement those changes sooner rather than later. I started using AnKing towards the end of 1st year and wish I had started sooner. There are tags at the end of the deck on the left hand side of the Browse menu that you can use as you progress through different sections, like pathoma, sketchy, etc. You can suspend the entire AnKing deck and just un-suspend each tag as you go through it and build up from there. Use those resources along side your school-specific stuff, and that should help you get a better grasp on things.

Best of luck!

thank you!!! I'll try my best next semester, I just downloaded AnKing and I'll try to use it along with the courses material

 

[Darrow O'Lykos]

thank you!!! I'll try my best next semester, I just downloaded AnKing and I'll try to use it along with the courses material

There are introductory tutorials on how to use it, as well as Anki in general. Save yourself headaches down the line and watch some of them now. Although you may not find yourself needing to edit many cards, understanding the scheduling aspect can be of great benefit.

 

[Sidus1011]

I began using anking and third party resources as primary learning tools last block. I think the ease of use of the deck primarily lies in if you are in a systems based curriculum or not. Usually I can find a corresponding video related to a topic by searching key words from my ppt in anki, which I watch as my first pass through. I unlock said cards and continue doing them after the exam. This has substantially improved my workload and I do feel I have a better understanding of the material over time as I make even more connections.

However, I could not switch solely to anking or third party resources because my teachers also include things they find important as well. So usually what I do is after finishing my first pass of material, I spend a few days before the exam making my own school specific cards. I dump these cards afterwards. While some of this info is low yield, medicine isn’t all boards. It’s important to learn these low yield things as well because as preclinical students, what’s important for clinical practice may not be as apparent to us yet if it’s not in first aid. Furthermore, I have taken a hit to my preclinical grades, but I’m now at my class average rather than above it. I think it’s important to have a good footing using solely class resources before making the switch to also employing third party sources.

What I have been doing on days that the balance between the two decks is unsustainable is use the postpone deck add on. Some may disagree, and I used it only twice in the past block, but I find it makes things much more realistic of task in the long run. It’s important to have self control and really try to use the add on only when necessary, otherwise anki is worthless.