Converting Notes to Anki Cards?

[ophthalmologeyes]

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Hey everyone!

I'm starting MD school this fall. My undergrad was in the arts, so I'm a complete Anki novice.

I'm trying to get my study workflow refined over the next couple of months. I was wondering about how people bridge the gap between their lecture notes and Anki study material. Particularly:

1. Do you convert your notes to Anki cards, or do you primarily use pre-made Anki decks?
2. Do you find the process of converting notes to Anki decks a helpful part of the study process, or is it a time sink?

I have been assuming that having decks based on lecture notes would be ideal, but that they take a lot of time that could be better spent on pre-made decks? I've seen "school-specific" decks that seem to make an attempt at closing this gap, but this is all speculation from a novice POV.

Would love to hear input for people more experienced with Anki than me!

 

[RockClimberMed]

Use Anking and dont look back. Your school most likely has a tag for the inhouse lectures and if it doesnt just tag them yourself. Anking's youtube videos will explain everything on how to use it if you have more questions

 

[stew_md]

If you like to write notes, it could be a good idea to modify your note writing style to line up better with what you anki cards will look like. For example, instead of writing down a bunch of facts that you learned from the lecture, you could write them down in the form of a question. This way, when it comes time to make your own anki cards, you can simply copy and paste parts of your notes to turn them into cards.

I learned how to make my own cards when I was studying for the MCAT and it helped fill the gaps A LOT. I highly recommend watching "The Anking" on youtube, he has a lot of informative videos on how to set up your settings, how to make cards, useful plug-ins, etc. His pre-made deck is also very popular for studying for the STEP exams. Simply un-suspend the cards from the relevant section as you are going through pre-clinical.