Incoming MS1s...Do you have plans to commit to Firecracker or Zanki?

[slowthai]

As a rising M2, let me just say Zanki is the GOAT for long-term retention; even if step 1 becomes P/F I would highly recommend it for all of path (cards based on Pathoma), and all of Pharm (mostly based on sketchy)--it will pay off for Step 2/rotations

+ lolnotacop for micro

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[MilesDavisTheDoctor]

+ lolnotacop for micro

My first block is biochem, what should I be doing for that?

 

[slowthai]

My first block is biochem, what should I be doing for that?

If we're talking boards resources, BnB for comprehensive coverage of biochem, and Pixorize (sketchy for biochem) for hard to remember pathways. As far as Anki, there's a paired down Zanki biochem deck I could post if you're interested. The Zanki biochem deck is gargantuan, and this deck is like 1000 cards less.

 

[deleted1005514]

My first block is biochem, what should I be doing for that?

If you’re going to use Boards and Beyond you might want to look at the lightyear deck.

 

[MilesDavisTheDoctor]

Lol should I be caring about boards anymore though if I'm an incoming ms1? I was mainly just talking about what I should do to do well in the classes.

 

[Ho0v-man]

My first block is biochem, what should I be doing for that?

Memorizing the slides/handouts. Biochem on boards is not incredibly high yield and your school likely goes way overboard. Trying to incorporate boards material right off the bat is a bad idea for most people. Figure out what you need to do to pass classes first.

 

[slowthai]

Lol should I be caring about boards anymore though if I'm an incoming ms1? I was mainly just talking about what I should do to do well in the classes.

It it were me, I'd still study hard for step 1 because it'll make it easier to do well on step 2. But that's just me.

As far as classes go, these resources are so high quality that it makes studying class material pretty easy. It just depends on what your goals are. Do you want AOA? Gonna have to know the crap out of your school lectures if your school only gives in-houses. Do you want a very strong foundation for step 2? Gonna have to hammer the boards resources and use some sort of spaced repetition (Anki, questions, your own system of longitudinal review, etc)

 

[catlovingmedstudent]

Isn't the actual implementation of P/F not set in stone yet, with 2022 being the earliest? Until they officially say 2022 is P/F, the proper course of action is to prepare as if it won't be, no?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Isn't the actual implementation of P/F not set in stone yet, with 2022 being the earliest? Until they officially say 2022 is P/F, the proper course of action is to prepare as if it won't be, no?

That would be safest, yes.

 

[MilesDavisTheDoctor]

I'm an incoming M1 and go to a school that takes step 1 3rd year so I feel like the likelihood of it being P/F when I'm taking it will be pretty high right?

 

[Crassus]

I'm an incoming M1 and go to a school that takes step 1 3rd year so I feel like the likelihood of it being P/F when I'm taking it will be pretty high right?

I'm planning on preparing as if it's still scored (though not at the expense of research activity since that'll have even more weight now), with my underlying philosophy/justification being extensive preparation for a P/F step 1 will serve me well for step 2 (there's a more limited "dedicated" time for step 2 I believe).

I would hate to plan for a match in one specialty and then find out my step 2 score is too low right before I apply, so prepping hard for step 1 and 2 can help minimize the probability of that outcome (or at least that's what I'm telling myself).

 

[slowthai]

Doesn't AnKing combined them?

That's correct. I was just specifying that lolnotacop would cover micro (not technically part of Zanki). Pre-AnKing, people used to run Zanki + lolnotacop for complete coverage. I'm sure some still do.

 

[slowthai]

I'm planning on preparing as if it's still scored (though not at the expense of research activity since that'll have even more weight now), with my underlying philosophy/justification being extensive preparation for a P/F step 1 will serve me well for step 2 (there's a more limited "dedicated" time for step 2 I believe).

I would hate to plan for a match in one specialty and then find out my step 2 score is too low right before I apply, so prepping hard for step 1 and 2 can help minimize the probability of that outcome (or at least that's what I'm telling myself).

This is exactly how I would approach it. It's basically what I'm doing right now; gunning hard for high step scores and doing research on the side. This is in light of the fact that they may mask our scores.

 

[kkl2018]

That's correct. I was just specifying that lolnotacop would cover micro (not technically part of Zanki). Pre-AnKing, people used to run Zanki + lolnotacop for complete coverage. I'm sure some still do.

So is Zanki (Anking) now, cover everything?there are so many decks iv been reading but im still a bit confused

 

[Kardio]

So is Zanki (Anking) now, cover everything?there are so many decks iv been reading but im still a bit confused

Check out AnKing’s ‘Evolution of Decks’ video. Also, in his reddit post, he breaks down how the AnKing deck is organized and what’s included in it.

I’m C/O 2024 and, although I may not hammer the whole 30k cards, will definitely incorporate the 3k cards with overlapping Step 1 and Step 2 tags.

 

[slowthai]

So is Zanki (Anking) now, cover everything?there are so many decks iv been reading but im still a bit confused

Yes, AnKing covers everything. Some use the Dorian anatomy deck as an add on deck for high yield anatomy, but otherwise, it's the most comprehensive deck out there.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

So is the extra 2-3 hours you put into Anki every day worth the investment for P/F step 1 and making understanding lecture easier? With P/F Step 1, not a lot of motivation to start the grind day 1.

 

[Gilakend]

So is the extra 2-3 hours you put into Anki every day worth the investment for P/F step 1 and making understanding lecture easier? With P/F Step 1, not a lot of motivation to start the grind day 1.

I don't use lectures at all. I go to a P/F unranked school. If I was starting this year M1 I would still use Zanki. It's just better imo. It definitely is not as efficient for my quizzes/exams as lectures, but I would rather know things that get pointless high scores on my quizzes/exams.

However, I would probably stick to more of the base Zanki/lol: Pathoma, sketchy, Costanzo. Wouldn't worry as much about the 500 cards on discrete first aid facts in each system.

 

[CJhooper123]

So is the extra 2-3 hours you put into Anki every day worth the investment for P/F step 1 and making understanding lecture easier? With P/F Step 1, not a lot of motivation to start the grind day 1.

For me, absolutely. M1 year it was more like 1-2 hours of extra grind. M2 year will probably be more like 3 hours of extra grind. But for real, Zanki covers a lot of factoids that you might not get in lecture. It reinforces things very well.

Even if step is P/F, don’t get grind less. Sure step I is probably filled with useless knowledge that might not indicate clinical skills/quality of physician... but studying hard for step I will prep you for step II CK and beyond. IMHO.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

So is the extra 2-3 hours you put into Anki every day worth the investment for P/F step 1 and making understanding lecture easier? With P/F Step 1, not a lot of motivation to start the grind day 1.

Going through zanki each day was like 1.5 hours. 2 tops. Totally worth it and I would do it even if there was no step because it was great for my classes.

 

[AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson]

Going through zanki each day was like 1.5 hours. 2 tops. Totally worth it and I would do it even if there was no step because it was great for my classes.

And you can do anki during "dead" time, such as online for something, public transport, walking, etc so its overall impact on time is reduced even further

 

[ChymeofPassion]

Sounds like Zanki it is? Anyone have any recs on number of new cards per day?

 

[CJhooper123]

Sounds like Zanki it is? Anyone have any recs on number of new cards per day?

Depends when you take step 1. My school takes it spring M2 year - if you do ~50 new cards/day (assuming you start day 1) you will complete it.

 

[slowthai]

Sounds like Zanki it is? Anyone have any recs on number of new cards per day?

You can count the number of cards (about 30K), figure out when you want to finish, and divide by the number of days. Most people try to finish before dedicated, which is sometime in the late spring/early summer of second year for those on a 2 year curriculum. Just know that it's better to start out with less cards (40-50) and titrate up as you feel comfortable than to start out with 100 because you want to finish quickly and then you end up dropping the ball. The more news, the more reviews, and they build up fast. The only issue here is that will probably be too slow of a pace to keep up with your curriculum, so you may have to end up increasing anyway. Another option, which is what I did, is to start doing another subdeck before you see it in class. That way, I never got behind and I was honestly always ahead.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Sounds like Zanki it is? Anyone have any recs on number of new cards per day?

I personally use lightyear. I like it better than zanki but both are good. But I do what slowthai said. I divide the total number of cards for the system I’m in by the number of days and that tells me how many new cards to do per day. I usually add a few to that so I can finish a day or two early.

 

[readmypostsMD]

- is s1 def p/f for class of 2024?

 

[Amba]

I’m actually not planning on using anki at all. I used it during my SMP and wasn’t too impressed. I can see why some people swear by it, but it doesn’t do it for me.

Going through zanki each day was like 1.5 hours. 2 tops. Totally worth it and I would do it even if there was no step because it was great for my classes.

Someone clearly changed their mind about Anki.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Someone clearly changed their mind about Anki.

Yeah I did haha. I didn’t use it for the first block, but it was just a much more efficient way to get way more info in there.

 

[BluMist]

There is no shame in changing mind while figuring out what works better for you throughout school (and life).

Someone clearly changed their mind about Anki.

 

[kkl2018]

I personally use lightyear. I like it better than zanki but both are good. But I do what slowthai said. I divide the total number of cards for the system I’m in by the number of days and that tells me how many new cards to do per day. I usually add a few to that so I can finish a day or two early.

how do you unlock add more cards if you havent covered the material yet? do you just learn the material of the remaining cards you have to do/mature?

 

[bioboy23]

Is it sustainable to unsuspend zanki cards in order to keep up with curriculum and never suspend them again? (Like not suspend them once the block is over)

 

[AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson]

Is it sustainable to unsuspend zanki cards in order to keep up with curriculum and never suspend them again? (Like not suspend them once the block is over)

Yes, and that is how Anki is meant to be used to keep the information retained for Step 1.

 

[slowthai]

Is it sustainable to unsuspend zanki cards in order to keep up with curriculum and never suspend them again? (Like not suspend them once the block is over)

Yes, I talk about how I dealt with this in this thread. Also, one thing people don't really talk about is how to minimize your daily Anki workload. This is crucial if your school's a big fat meanie because you still have to study their crap in order to pass, for maintaining school/life balance, and for giving you more time to hit practice qs and other resources.

1. Optimize your Anki settings (no capped max interval)

I use Conaanaa's settings. They are specific for maximizing long term retention (beyond 6 months). He and AnKing differ in their approach to this. Yes, your retention (% correct) will naturally suffer because you have no cap on your max interval. But if you do put a cap on, you're artificially inflating your retention because you're not trusting the algorithm to tell you when it's time to see the card. But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. AnKing scored 260+ with a 6 month cap, and someone else from reddit just scored 270 with no cap. The other thing is that with a cap, your daily workload goes up significantly, depending on how low the cap is.

2. Start as early as possible

This allows you to spread out your workload over a long period of time. Even if Zanki doesn't align with your school's curriculum at first, don't worry, it'll match up nicely once you get to systems.

3. Don't drop the ball on your reviews

Don't need to say much here. Your workload will increase sharply if you don't keep up.

4. The more accurate you are, the less reviews you'll have to do

This is inherent to the algorithm. Using your BnB, your sketchy, your Pathoma, and practice qs really help.

 

[deleted1005514]

how do you unlock add more cards if you havent covered the material yet? do you just learn the material of the remaining cards you have to do/mature?

Lightyear is a beautiful deck because it is tagged with Boards and Beyond videos. So if you watch a BnB video that corresponds with what you’re covering in class, then you go and unlock those cards...takes about 5 seconds thanks to LY’s tagging. I hate anki but I like LY’s organization because my school does physiology 1st year and pathology 2nd year. BnB also has physiology and pathology separated, so I only get the cards I need.

 

[bioboy23]

Yes, I talk about how I dealt with this in this thread. Also, one thing people don't really talk about is how to minimize your daily Anki workload. This is crucial if your school's a big fat meanie because you still have to study their crap in order to pass, for maintaining school/life balance, and for giving you more time to hit practice qs and other resources.

1. Optimize your Anki settings (no capped max interval)

I use Conanna's settings. They are specific for maximizing long term retention (beyond 6 months). Him and AnKing differ in their approach to this. Yes, your retention (% correct) will naturally suffer because you have no cap on your max interval. But if you do put a cap on, you're artificially inflating your retention because you're not trusting the algorithm to tell you when it's time to see the card. But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. AnKing scored 260+ with a 6 month cap, and someone else just scored 270 with no cap. The other thing is that with a cap, your daily workload goes up significantly, depending on how low it is.

2. Start as early as possible

This allows you to spread out your workload over a long period of time. Even if Zanki doesn't align with your school's curriculum at first, don't worry, it'll match up nicely once you get to systems.

3. Don't drop the ball on your reviews

Don't need to say much here. Your workload will increase sharply if you don't keep up.

4. The more accurate you are, the less reviews you'll have to do

This is inherent in the algorithm. Using your BnB, your sketchy, your Pathoma, and practice qs really help.

You are the best !

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

how do you unlock add more cards if you havent covered the material yet? do you just learn the material of the remaining cards you have to do/mature?

A lot of people do that but I don’t. I just leave them all unsuspended and do it on random.

 

[slowthai]

A lot of people do that but I don’t. I just leave them all unsuspended and do it on random.

Exactly, like what's the point of waiting for your school to cover it when you're going to end up doing those cards anyway? Just delaying yourself for no reason, lol

 

[slowthai]

Lightyear is a beautiful deck because it is tagged with Boards and Beyond videos. So if you watch a BnB video that corresponds with what you’re covering in class, then you go and unlock those cards...takes about 5 seconds thanks to LY’s tagging. I hate anki but I like LY’s organization because my school does physiology 1st year and pathology 2nd year. BnB also has physiology and pathology separated, so I only get the cards I need.

Just wanted to say that AnKing V7 is fully tagged by BnB video too, so you can have the same exact workflow if you want. The cards are separated by path and phys as well.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Exactly, like what's the point of waiting for your school to cover it when you're going to end up doing those cards anyway? Just delaying yourself for no reason, lol

Yeah I did it for our MSK module because we had a quiz every Monday so it made sense to try to stick to what we had done, but that’s the only module I’ve done that for.

 

[bioboy23]

Exactly, like what's the point of waiting for your school to cover it when you're going to end up doing those cards anyway? Just delaying yourself for no reason, lol

I haven’t done it yet, but I just feel like I might hate seeing random cards before learning it. But might just have to get used to it!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I haven’t done it yet, but I just feel like I might hate seeing random cards before learning it. But might just have to get used to it!

It’s weird at first but you get used to it. I also like it now because I’ll learn something in lightyear and the like a day or two later get the context from BnB and be like ooooooh that makes sense. It’s a cool ah ha moment haha.

 

[slowthai]

I haven’t done it yet, but I just feel like I might hate seeing random cards before learning it. But might just have to get used to it!

It’s weird at first but you get used to it. I also like it now because I’ll learn something in lightyear and the like a day or two later get the context from BnB and be like ooooooh that makes sense. It’s a cool ah ha moment haha.

Exactly. You have to think of it like this: Anki (knowledge) is like the pieces of a puzzle. Your other resources (BnB, Pathoma, etc) give you the context to able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

 

[bioboy23]

It’s weird at first but you get used to it. I also like it now because I’ll learn something in lightyear and the like a day or two later get the context from BnB and be like ooooooh that makes sense. It’s a cool ah ha moment haha.

Exactly. You have to think of it like this: Anki (knowledge) is like the pieces of a puzzle. Your other resources (BnB, Pathoma, etc) give you the context to able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Thank you, guys! I appreciate your advice

 

[Gilakend]

Do you recommend focusing on lectures for the first few weeks to just get a feel for the school's curriculum and then incorporating additional material afterwards?

Yep, I think it's important to just get a feel for how a school works, how your quizzes are set up, how the questions are asked, etc. At some schools it will be harder than at others to get good scores without using class material.

 

[kkl2018]

It’s weird at first but you get used to it. I also like it now because I’ll learn something in lightyear and the like a day or two later get the context from BnB and be like ooooooh that makes sense. It’s a cool ah ha moment haha.

Exactly, like what's the point of waiting for your school to cover it when you're going to end up doing those cards anyway? Just delaying yourself for no reason, lol

So you keep everything unsuspended and just learn them on random? even if you may not learn those card materials for a few months?

or do you do cards related to your lectures/classes first, and then fill in with random cards.

and for the random cards, do you just google or wikipedia what they mean?

thanks for this. i'm familiar with anki but not the different ways to use anki/sync it with class material

 

[slowthai]

So you keep everything unsuspended and just learn them on random? even if you may not learn those card materials for a few months?

or do you do cards related to your lectures/classes first, and then fill in with random cards.

and for the random cards, do you just google or wikipedia what they mean?

thanks for this. i'm familiar with anki but not the different ways to use anki/sync it with class material

Well, it's not necessarily random per se (for me at least). Yes, I keep everything in that specific deck I'm doing unsuspended (let's say cardiovascular physiology, for example). I have a set daily new card limit (50) and the program shows me those cards and I just do them. And depending on the pace that you're going at (and the pace of your curriculum), you can go way ahead of your class, if you want. There is plenty of context in the cards themselves (in the extra section) and in BnB.

There is a specific order to the cards that Zanki thoughtfully laid out, so it's not really random. But the goal is to run through that deck on pace with or faster than your curriculum, so there's no point in searching for specific cards that your school is covering on any given day because that's inefficient and you're going to cover them anyway.

For BnB, I would count up the number of vids and figure out the number I needed to watch before the end of the block. It was very manageable.

If you find that the extra section of the cards/BnB is not enough for a complete understanding of a topic, google/Wikipedia can be very helpful.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

So you keep everything unsuspended and just learn them on random? even if you may not learn those card materials for a few months?

or do you do cards related to your lectures/classes first, and then fill in with random cards.

and for the random cards, do you just google or wikipedia what they mean?

thanks for this. i'm familiar with anki but not the different ways to use anki/sync it with class material

I do it completely on random. I don’t suspend anything. I do the cards completely separate from videos/qbank. For me the cards are just filling in little factoids of info that I can pull if I need them. The videos prime my learning and then the real learning comes from doing questions.

I have the amboss add-on so when I use anki on my computer, it underlines any word that is in the amboss database and if I hover my mouse over it, it will give me a summary and definition.

 

[kkl2018]

Well, it's not necessarily random per se (for me at least). Yes, I keep everything in that specific deck I'm doing unsuspended (let's say cardiovascular physiology, for example). I have a set daily new card limit (50) and the program shows me those cards and I just do them. And depending on the pace that you're going at (and the pace of your curriculum), you can go way ahead of your class, if you want. There is plenty of context in the cards themselves (in the extra section) and in BnB.

There is a specific order to the cards that Zanki thoughtfully laid out, so it's not really random. But the goal is to run through that deck on pace with or faster than your curriculum, so there's no point in searching for specific cards that your school is covering on any given day because that's inefficient and you're going to cover them anyway.

For BnB, I would count up the number of vids and figure out the number I needed to watch before the end of the block. It was very manageable.

If you find that the extra section of the cards/BnB is not enough for a complete understanding of a topic, google/Wikipedia can be very helpful.

I see thank you for this thoughtful write up!

To clarify...

For each unit/block, you unsuspend the cards in that unit and then do your allloted cards per day (i.e. 50)
If you are ahead which you hope to be you just go onto the next block.

For BnB you divide the number of videos per block and watch that many per day.

So eventually for each block, you will cover the material, whether in class or from BnB or from just learning from the cards themselves. So it doesnt make sense to search for the zanki cards that correspond to what you went over in lecture that day. That doesnt seem efficient because I imagine youd learn cards you went over in class faster but im guessing that the pace you go at is so fast (hopefully) on zanki that it doesnt matter what you go over in class for zanki? and you cant wait for class?

Regarding the ordering of Zanki, how does that come into play?If youre using your block schedule to dictate which units you unsuspend?

Thank you SO much for this i have been freaking out over what materials to use because there are so many. I plan to still use zanki even if step is PF. And BnB from day one.Was just BnB and zanki with class lectures enough? I see sketchy and other resources talked about a lot.

I do it completely on random. I don’t suspend anything. I do the cards completely separate from videos/qbank. For me the cards are just filling in little factoids of info that I can pull if I need them. The videos prime my learning and then the real learning comes from doing questions.

I have the amboss add-on so when I use anki on my computer, it underlines any word that is in the amboss database and if I hover my mouse over it, it will give me a summary and definition.

So you dont even go by the block youre on in lectures? In the end it makes sense I guess because theres just so much material you have to get used to learning it all, cant wait.

Amboss looks like a database of definitions/concepts. So that helps you understand any terms that might be pertinent? Do you use any other add ons? man anki is amazing

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

So you dont even go by the block youre on in lectures? In the end it makes sense I guess because theres just so much material you have to get used to learning it all, cant wait.

Amboss looks like a database of definitions/concepts. So that helps you understand any terms that might be pertinent? Do you use any other add ons? man anki is amazing

No no no, I only do cards from the system I’m on. So like during GI I did the GI cards on random. During neuro/psych I did the neuro and the psych cards on random.

Amboss is a database but it also has an awesome qbank. I use this weird display add on that lets me see how many cards in each deck that I haven’t seen yet.

 

[slowthai]

For each unit/block, you unsuspend the cards in that unit and then do your allloted cards per day (i.e. 50)
If you are ahead which you hope to be you just go onto the next block.

Correct.

For BnB you divide the number of videos per block and watch that many per day.

Correct.

So eventually for each block, you will cover the material, whether in class or from BnB or from just learning from the cards themselves. So it doesnt make sense to search for the zanki cards that correspond to what you went over in lecture that day. That doesnt seem efficient because I imagine youd learn cards you went over in class faster but im guessing that the pace you go at is so fast (hopefully) on zanki that it doesnt matter what you go over in class for zanki? and you cant wait for class?

Yes, but my foundation is Zanki. Everything else builds on top of that. BnB provides more context. Lecture is a supplement at best and a total waste of time at worst. It's usually more of a waste of time for me, unfortunately. This is because lectures are not board relevant at my school. They focus on nitty gritty low yield stuff that doesn't matter whatsoever.

You have to understand that I'm not learning the stuff in class, I'm learning the stuff on my own first and using class as an additional pass of the material in a way. What ends up taking less time is really class stuff, not the boards material. And you don't even have to go faster than your curriculum if you don't want to; it's not relevant to using the method I've laid out. I'm doing it mainly because I wanted to hit qbanks earlier and you need to have strong exposure to a lot of topics to be able to have some confidence in answering questions. I got this by running through Zanki at an aggressive pace. My study method is step focused; so yes, it doesn't matter what they cover in class because I'm going to do at least a pass over it in order to make sure that I pass school exams.

There is a finite amount of time in the day, and there is a massive overload of information that you're required to know for step. I am putting the lion's share of my energy towards that, because there is a very high potential return on that investment; a high step score. Focusing on school stuff first would be counterproductive towards that goal, especially as my curriculum is not boards relevant and they suck at teaching.

Regarding the ordering of Zanki, how does that come into play?If youre using your block schedule to dictate which units you unsuspend?

You just look at the fact that the schedule says you're on respiratory, for example. You go to the respiratory deck and unsuspend all of the cards. Boom, you're done.

Thank you SO much for this i have been freaking out over what materials to use because there are so many. I plan to still use zanki even if step is PF. And BnB from day one.Was just BnB and zanki with class lectures enough? I see sketchy and other resources talked about a lot.

No problem. A lot of people run some variation of Zanki + BnB/Pathoma/sketchy + UWorld +/- other qbanks for step. Sketchy has been really good for basically permanently remembering micro/pharm.

Do you use any other add ons? man anki is amazing

Anki definitely is amazing. There are a ton of helpful add ons out there. I'd recommend watching The Anking's recommended add ons playlist.