Any thoughts on osmosis?

[killboards280]

i used anki awhile back but making my own cards was too time consuming. I started using this osmosis prime bc i heard they incorporated brosencephalons deck
so im just wondering if anyone has used this app or knows of people who have? if you can share your experience and whether you think its helpful for the boards let me know! ive done the whole UFAP thing but I desperately need help memorizing. I love the concept behind spaced out repetition so don't mind hearing about alternatives either! thanks

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[seminoma]

Trusting Osmosis is like volunteering to be part of a phase 1 or phase 2 clinical trial even though there are tons of safe and efficacious drugs readily available. Maybe you get your disease cured, or maybe you grow a third hand.

 

[Atticum]

I'm doing a trial with it right now, so here's my N of 1... it's amazing.

I don't have a lot of time so here's a brief "why it's awesome"
- I upload my class schedule (including test dates). It uses it to plan my studying.
- I upload my **COURSE DOCUMENTS**
- I can take notes right next to the power point slides, but its all in osmosis.
- I can make personalized flashcards from those slides and notes all in one screen, no tabbing back and forth, etc.
- It suggests questions to me based on the content. It suggests wikipedia pages. It suggests *picmonics* (especially helpful for pharm IMO).
- After the powerpoint it will have a bunch of pre-made questions I can do and flag. This also serves as immediate reinforcement of the lecture.
- The app sends me quizes

I had a physician big into resident education give a spiel on osmosis in an interest group earlier this year. He talked about the evidence-based learning that it is based on. I'm still exploring all the possibilities but so far this better than firecracker, memorizing slides, doing my own quizlet/ankhi cards, etc.

caveat: the questions are simple (firecracker-like), and do not replace vignette-based question banks like Rx. You still need to find time to do those as well.

Summary: think of it like firecracker that allows you to easily incorporate your own lecture material. That's the most basic premise and it gets better from there.

 

[killboards280]

thanks guys I appreciate the feedback!

 

[MDwannabe7]

I'm doing a trial with it right now, so here's my N of 1... it's amazing.

I don't have a lot of time so here's a brief "why it's awesome"
- I upload my class schedule (including test dates). It uses it to plan my studying.
- I upload my **COURSE DOCUMENTS**
- I can take notes right next to the power point slides, but its all in osmosis.
- I can make personalized flashcards from those slides and notes all in one screen, no tabbing back and forth, etc.
- It suggests questions to me based on the content. It suggests wikipedia pages. It suggests *picmonics* (especially helpful for pharm IMO).
- After the powerpoint it will have a bunch of pre-made questions I can do and flag. This also serves as immediate reinforcement of the lecture.
- The app sends me quizes

I had a physician big into resident education give a spiel on osmosis in an interest group earlier this year. He talked about the evidence-based learning that it is based on. I'm still exploring all the possibilities but so far this better than firecracker, memorizing slides, doing my own quizlet/ankhi cards, etc.

caveat: the questions are simple (firecracker-like), and do not replace vignette-based question banks like Rx. You still need to find time to do those as well.

Summary: think of it like firecracker that allows you to easily incorporate your own lecture material. That's the most basic premise and it gets better from there.

I agree wholeheartedly - so make it an n of 2. I love these features and am told there will potentially be a note reviewing feature added to the mobile app maybe later this year! It's great to write your own questions next to the slides and the supporting wikipedia, picmonics, first aid and youtube videos all in one place are very helpful!

 

[SeahawksFan]

I agree wholeheartedly - so make it an n of 2. I love these features and am told there will potentially be a note reviewing feature added to the mobile app maybe later this year! It's great to write your own questions next to the slides and the supporting wikipedia, picmonics, first aid and youtube videos all in one place are very helpful!

I have used Osmosis. A few things worth noting:

The spaced repetition part questions are not very good.
They point to links which open wiki pages. When the phrase is : Reentry circuit. A page for Reentry will open up on wiki and a page on circuit will open up. The page on circuit will show you the stuff u studied in high school in physics. It should open "Reentry cicrcuit" as in the WPW page. The wiki bit is ****ty
The app is buggy
The QBank is okish. Psych questions have many errors and are DSM 4 not dsm 5.

Overall my rating is: 2/5
Oh well atleast i didnt get hustled out of my money as i used it in the trial for a week and decided its not worth the time.

Make this n = 3. Recommendation : Avoid Osmosis.

 

[Domomuffin]

i used anki awhile back but making my own cards was too time consuming. I started using this osmosis prime bc i heard they incorporated brosencephalons deck
so im just wondering if anyone has used this app or knows of people who have? if you can share your experience and whether you think its helpful for the boards let me know! ive done the whole UFAP thing but I desperately need help memorizing. I love the concept behind spaced out repetition so don't mind hearing about alternatives either! thanks

Using osmosis has helped me to significantly increase my exam grade through allowing me spend less time making flashcards and more time actively learning through flashcards. I love how I can have flashcards on one side of the screen and try to guess the answer, then I can immediately refer to the slide from class that is on the left side of the screen. This allows me to go through multiple rounds of active repetition while not just using words, but also using visuals as well - as presented on the slides.

 

[Raorga1987]

Osmosis is amazing. I have been using it for about 1-2 months now and have definitely seen my grades improve. Making flashcards is such an easy process, which gives you more time to review and to actually memorize the material. The calendar quiz version allows yo to study the material for that week on the weekends etc. Its an excellent tool to actually master the art of repetition. Adding pictures to my flashcards is also a breeze, this is specially useful for visual classes, like anatomy, microanatomy or histology. Would definitely recommend osmosis to anyone, and I have, most of my friends are now using it and loving it.

 

[Focused1]

Terrible UI.. I would say..stick to Anki

 

[saxophoneguy]

I've tried osmosis and since there are basically no reviews out there, I thought I would offer my thoughts. It is a very cool concept, but is actually quite cumbersome to use and has many flaws. The questions and flash cards aren't all that great and the interface to make your own is quite slow to use. They want you to collaborate with other students and use their content, which they insist is the gold standard, but if you like to create your own cards or not use cookbook study materials this program isn't for you. I was very disappointed that I shelled out the money for this program, especially because promised improvements to it never came. Yes, they incorporated bros deck, but it isn't any better. They also talk about their improved spaced repetition algorithm, but I don't see how slight changes on when you review make a difference if the platform is so cumbersome to use that you don't actually use it.

 

[Jonathanwillgetit]

Not bad but nothing special still better than firecracker/alec's anki deck at a cheaper price lol, but no for real if you don't have like 2 years and some extra money to spend wouldn't suggest it