Is Anki sustainable?

[TheaterOfTheme]

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Hey all,

So I recently discovered the magic of Anki. Basically, image occlusion is the greatest thing ever. Its the only way for me to get the little minute details that the profs love to throw in for like 5-7 questions. However, my question is basically whether or not Anki is sustainable. Its simple but time consuming, and I know the silly minute things that it helps in remembering are in no ways high yield (or even low yield) for boards. How do you second years approach this? Basically, with Anki I believe I have the ability to honor most classes-but is it worth it? Would I better off finding a less time consuming method in order to create space for future board studying?

 

[FrkyBgStok]

The way to optimize Anki is to use it how you see it beneficial and then do it. I use Anki more now as a second year resident than in medical school but I use it differently. In Med school, I would make decks that had material I needed help with. I wouldn’t put the stuff that was easy for me. This cut down on cards. And then I would delete the deck when done with it. Now as a resident, I took about 6-7 months converting a board study book for my specialty and I do 5 cards a day for a year. Then I made another deck from board prep questions and I do another 5-10 cards a day for a year. I have a total of 6-7 decks with some shorter and no new cards so I do about 20 new cards daily and 60-80 reviews. And I do them throughout the day.

In Med school, if you have long term board study stuff, just do less cards per day over a longer period.

So yes, I think Anki is sustainable.

 

[getfat]

Depends on the school and your efficiency of making the cards.
I used Anki throughout undergrad. Was very good at keyboard shortcuts.

In medical school it was a the biggest time sink and I did not do as well on my first test.

Stopped using Anki and focused only on the material and my grade jumped 12 percentage points.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Best thing to do for second year would be the Bro's deck starting the summer after M1 and then just do enough to pass your classes.

 

[68PGunner]

Hey all,

So I recently discovered the magic of Anki. Basically, image occlusion is the greatest thing ever. Its the only way for me to get the little minute details that the profs love to throw in for like 5-7 questions. However, my question is basically whether or not Anki is sustainable. Its simple but time consuming, and I know the silly minute things that it helps in remembering are in no ways high yield (or even low yield) for boards. How do you second years approach this? Basically, with Anki I believe I have the ability to honor most classes-but is it worth it? Would I better off finding a less time consuming method in order to create space for future board studying?

Download Zanki deck -- a better version of Bros deck. If you keep up with your review on that deck, I can't promise you that you will be honoring your classes. However, you will certainly destroy all of your NBME exams along with a great percentage on USMLERx and Kaplan. I think Zanki is another guy who scores 270+ on his USMLE Step 1 in the past year.

Comfortably passing your classes is a guaranteed thing even if you ignore 70-80% of all your lectures.

 

[Jojos]

use it in an intelligent manner and keep going with ANKI! ask only the high yield. I focus on making cards that relate the presentation with the pathophysiology. Don't make cards for the things you already know!

 

[shadowlightfox]

Download Zanki deck -- a better version of Bros deck. If you keep up with your review on that deck, I can't promise you that you will be honoring your classes. However, you will certainly destroy all of your NBME exams along with a great percentage on USMLERx and Kaplan. I think Zanki is another guy who scores 270+ on his USMLE Step 1 in the past year.

Comfortably passing your classes is a guaranteed thing even if you ignore 70-80% of all your lectures.

I half agree with this. Zanki has WAY too many cards to start and finish from the onset of your second year. If you're a second year student and your school teaches path and pharm second year rather than being completely systems based, I say do half Bros and half zanki. Bros for first year material and zanki for second year material. That way you cut down the number of cards yet still keep up to date with what what they want you to know for the boards.

If you're a first year student, start Zanki NOW because that way you'll have a shot at finishing the cards by the time dedicated comes along, assuming you're doing reasonable number of new cards/day.

 

[Major]

How do we find the most updated Zanki deck? Is it on reddit?

 

[TheaterOfTheme]

Download Zanki deck -- a better version of Bros deck. If you keep up with your review on that deck, I can't promise you that you will be honoring your classes. However, you will certainly destroy all of your NBME exams along with a great percentage on USMLERx and Kaplan. I think Zanki is another guy who scores 270+ on his USMLE Step 1 in the past year.

Comfortably passing your classes is a guaranteed thing even if you ignore 70-80% of all your lectures.

I half agree with this. Zanki has WAY too many cards to start and finish from the onset of your second year. If you're a second year student and your school teaches path and pharm second year rather than being completely systems based, I say do half Bros and half zanki. Bros for first year material and zanki for second year material. That way you cut down the number of cards yet still keep up to date with what what they want you to know for the boards.

If you're a first year student, start Zanki NOW because that way you'll have a shot at finishing the cards by the time dedicated comes along, assuming you're doing reasonable number of new cards/day.

Im a first year. Do you all recommend making cards for classes too? Or just using the decks to study the relev ant material? And ditto to wondering where to find the correct version of Zanki.

 

[TheaterOfTheme]

So I just downloaded the phsyio/path and the updated pharm zanki decks. Not sure how to approach using these to study for classes. Currently in biochemistry/cell bio.

 

[JamesPotterMS-3]

I half agree with this. Zanki has WAY too many cards to start and finish from the onset of your second year. If you're a second year student and your school teaches path and pharm second year rather than being completely systems based, I say do half Bros and half zanki. Bros for first year material and zanki for second year material. That way you cut down the number of cards yet still keep up to date with what what they want you to know for the boards.

If you're a first year student, start Zanki NOW because that way you'll have a shot at finishing the cards by the time dedicated comes along, assuming you're doing reasonable number of new cards/day.

agreed. Zanki is too too big.

 

[darknecrosforte]

Im a first year. Do you all recommend making cards for classes too? Or just using the decks to study the relev ant material? And ditto to wondering where to find the correct version of Zanki.

You can't pass class at my school without making lecture cards. Too many PhDs teaching. You need to find 5-15 students who can split the lecture workload with you. There is a balance between attention to detail (spelling/format), expedience, high-yield, etc. that you are looking for when constructing your group. If your class makes a public Anki group and you have voluntary lecture submissions, over a few exams, the good card writers will gravitate to each other and probably form an exclusive group where you won't have randoms making crap decks that clutter your FB page. There is a sweet spot of 10-30 cards per hour (try to aim lower).

My group calculates the # of days before the final, divides by 2, and divides the Zanki deck card total by that. We don't do pharm unless we want to (usually is frivolous at this point). Usually it's 70-150 cards/day. It does suck, but filling the gaps in our curriculum is useful in the long run.

There is also some human element in making exclusive groups that complicates things. People will get stressed and not meet deadlines. Quality may slip. Ideally, you find people who can take criticism and may have a dark sense of humor (makes misery more bearable). You'll be better off if you build a strong Anki culture so that people don't jump ship just because of one bad test. Good luck.

 

[68PGunner]

So I just downloaded the phsyio/path and the updated pharm zanki decks. Not sure how to approach using these to study for classes. Currently in biochemistry/cell bio.

Listen to your seniors and follow the objectives for that class. But, if I can go back, I would start on that Zanki Biochemistry deck after you're done with your final exam for that class. The basic science decks are straight up messy. It gets more organized once you move into the organ system in your 2nd semester.

 

[shadowlightfox]

Im a first year. Do you all recommend making cards for classes too? Or just using the decks to study the relev ant material? And ditto to wondering where to find the correct version of Zanki.

Yes I would recommend doing that, too. And you can get rid of those cards once that block is over and only stick to zanki at that point.

 

[SandP]

The way to optimize Anki is to use it how you see it beneficial and then do it. I use Anki more now as a second year resident than in medical school but I use it differently. In Med school, I would make decks that had material I needed help with. I wouldn’t put the stuff that was easy for me. This cut down on cards. And then I would delete the deck when done with it. Now as a resident, I took about 6-7 months converting a board study book for my specialty and I do 5 cards a day for a year. Then I made another deck from board prep questions and I do another 5-10 cards a day for a year. I have a total of 6-7 decks with some shorter and no new cards so I do about 20 new cards daily and 60-80 reviews. And I do them throughout the day.

In Med school, if you have long term board study stuff, just do less cards per day over a longer period.

So yes, I think Anki is sustainable.

Hi! Thanks for your input-- is it possible to do Anki during rotations (in the hospital) third year? I am hoping to keep my deck going but am wondering if doing cards during downtime on my ipad could look bad..

 

[MakeLifeHappen13]

Anki is sustainable as long as you are dedicated to it. Most people try Anki for about a week, find that it takes too much effort/time to make the cards and quit to find a different study method. Anki is a skill you develop, your cards will suck at first but the more time you spend with it, the better and more efficient your cards will be and the pay off is huge. I average about 40-60 cards per lecture hour and 1200-1500 per block, which I try to review at least 3-4 times before the test. Obviously this is very time consuming so Anki is my exclusive study resource, because I have little time for anything else, however, this has been working for me so far.

As somebody suggested, splitting the cards between a couple of friends could save you some time, but you're at the mercy of their skill in creating quality Anki cards. I personally learn a lot by simply making the cards and figuring out the best way test myself. This is what I consider my first pass through the material.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Hi! Thanks for your input-- is it possible to do Anki during rotations (in the hospital) third year? I am hoping to keep my deck going but am wondering if doing cards during downtime on my ipad could look bad..

Yeah definitely. Depending on how you do it. On my residency rotations, I️ try to do cards throughout the day with downtime and everything I️ don’t finish, I️ Do before I️ go to bed. I️ have the iPhone app and there is an android app.

 

[SandP]

Yeah definitely. Depending on how you do it. On my residency rotations, I️ try to do cards throughout the day with downtime and everything I️ don’t finish, I️ Do before I️ go to bed. I️ have the iPhone app and there is an android app.

Thanks- but just to clarify, this also applies to medical students? i.e. we won't look bad studying thru anki during downtime?

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Not if you do it appropriately. Downtime is obviously not in a patients room. But if the attending says go see he patient I️ will be there in 10 minutes, and then they take 40, you have downtime

 

[shadowlightfox]

Look at it this way: I literally used anki to teach myself an entirely new language. If anki can help me achieve that, you can definitely use anki for nearly anything med school related.

 

[68PGunner]

Thanks- but just to clarify, this also applies to medical students? i.e. we won't look bad studying thru anki during downtime?

Invest in a 12 inch Ipad Pro so that you don't look like a lazy d-bag playing w/ your phone.

 

[TheaterOfTheme]

Invest in a 12 inch Ipad Pro so that you don't look like a lazy d-bag playing w/ your phone.

haha that is so true! Anyone holding phone and staring at it immediately gets categorized a certain way for me. Ironically, if used correctly, they are amazing tools of productivity. but the memes yo

 

[TheaterOfTheme]

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