Is AnKing too much with p/f step 1?

[premedtriguy]

I just wanted to get some opinions, I am an incoming M1 student at a research-heavy program and am currently exploring all of the popular pre-made anki decks in preparation for beginning medical school. From what I have read online, AnKing is pretty much the most comprehensive deck available, but after reading many forums where people talk about how terrible the anki grind is, even with the smaller Zanki deck, I am hesitant to use such a detailed deck and commit the enormous time and effort to maturing 30,000 cards just to get a P on step 1. My school is also a true p/f, so there really is no incentive to go above and beyond in my preclinical studying anymore as far as I can tell. I have heard that step 2 knowledge builds on step 1, and that is the logic many people are using to justify still subjecting themselves to the AnKing grind, but wouldn't it be more efficient to just learn the step 1 material enough to do decently in your classes, then focus on dedicated step 2 study material? I am hoping to do general surgery in a specific area so that my significant other can pursue her PhD while I am in residency, so I was originally planning on grinding hard for step 1 to maximize my chances of matching there, but now I am really uncertain where to focus my effort. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

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[Wolvvs]

I'm a current M1, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I've found that Anking helps if you use it alongside boards and beyond, like unsuspend cards for a specific B&B video after watching that video. Doing that cuts out about 10K cards but there's still 23K. I think it's manageable if you do a low number (50-60) every day starting from the beginning of M1. I also suspend cards that seem particularly low-yield. It's worked for me so far but may not be the best method for everyone and does depend on what your school wants you to know for your classes--my school sticks reasonably closely to boards material but I know that's not universal.

 

[sipping_cipro]

yes. I would say ~50% of the cards in it are bordering on useless info, completely irrelevant to clinical medicine. In m1, I would bulk when someone said I don't need to know that PIP2 causes Ca release or that small cell carcinoma stains positive for chromogranin A. It might have had its place with a scored step 1, but its straight garbage now and for step 2. Just do a smaller deck like light light year and you'll be great.

 

[Schwifty]

I’m an M2 about to take boards. If they were pass fail for me I still would have done AnKing, not all the cards but everything for pathoma and sketchy at least. If you start early it should only take you 1-2 hours a day max, I spent about an hour a day on it first year then really ramped up second year doing about 3-4 by hours a day during my last block, but you really won’t need to do that much. For reference I was passing practice exams before we even got to our last block and I can say it was 100% because I did AnKing so much, so I could have taken my boards months ago now if it wasn’t scored and could have just chilled/done research for a couple months before rotations

 

[premedtriguy]

Thank you all for the responses! It's great to hear that I probably don't need to devote every waking moment to the AnKing deck, but that leaves me wondering what else I could be doing to improve my competitiveness? Could it be possible to integrate step 2 material into my preclinical studying, or should I not waste my time with step 2 material so early and focus on research and extracurriculars?

 

[Lucca]

also an m2 finishing up dedicated.

agree anking is overkill

also agree w @Schwifty that everyone should do Pathoma and Sketchy because they are actually rly good resources for learning things that are either important or a good foundation for learning other things later on so pick your favorite anki deck to memorize that content with. AnKing's tags work nicely for that but its not the only deck with them.

as for what you can do, there is only one EC that translates meaningfully to residency apps is research, so if you can find a research mentor or have a mechanism at your school to plan and fund a research year you should find mentors and think about whether or not you want to do that.

other than that figure out what you want to do, explore, learn from your classes, etc.

 

[Ganon]

My ideal for M1 and M2 with p/f step 1 would be this:

Crowdsource decks for all the in-house exams/content. Use small premade decks for pathoma/sketchy/whatever floridly high-yield sources you want to use for actual learning+ securing the P. Use the time freed up by the above to crank research, have more fun, and just generally be the med student admins have always thought you had the time to be.

 

[Schwifty]

Thank you all for the responses! It's great to hear that I probably don't need to devote every waking moment to the AnKing deck, but that leaves me wondering what else I could be doing to improve my competitiveness? Could it be possible to integrate step 2 material into my preclinical studying, or should I not waste my time with step 2 material so early and focus on research and extracurriculars?

Research, do as much as you can without letting it interfere with board / class studying. At a true p/f school with p/f step you can get a lot of research in if you find a good mentor

 

[MedScat]

As someone who got a 504 on their MCAT and sucked at the ACT and SAT, using Anking was the only thing that took me from being a horrible test take to above average. I didn't use Anki during M1/M2 but I did start using the Anking deck during my 4 week dedicated period for step 1. My practice tests went from a 215-->230s. I got a 233 on the real deal step 1. Now, this is a very average score but I really feel if I had been doing Anking for all of M2, I would've done better. Fast forward to step 2, I used the step 2 anking deck throughout M3 and now here I am with a 256 on step 2, all thanks to Anking. I also got 5 honors and 2 HP in clerkships greatly because of Anking as well.

The way I used it is similar to what people mentioned above. I would walk a video and unsuspend the cards for that video. For M3, I would do Uworld question and search by tags the topic the question was about and do all the cards on that topic as I was reviewing it. For M3 I did about 50-70 new cards day (the most was during my IM rotation since theres so much to learn in IM) but the max reviews I had for the day was around 220 cards which was very doable during my rotations and would be doable during an M1/M2 study day as well. Although it may be tempting to do more cards on a day you have free time, don't because your future self will be mad at you. 30k cards is a lot and its fine if you dont get through all of them if you use it the way myself and others are saying. Search topics and do the cards for the videos and however many you get through is fine.

Good luck to you!

 

[wondervisions]

I just wanted to get some opinions, I am an incoming M1 student at a research-heavy program and am currently exploring all of the popular pre-made anki decks in preparation for beginning medical school. From what I have read online, AnKing is pretty much the most comprehensive deck available, but after reading many forums where people talk about how terrible the anki grind is, even with the smaller Zanki deck, I am hesitant to use such a detailed deck and commit the enormous time and effort to maturing 30,000 cards just to get a P on step 1. My school is also a true p/f, so there really is no incentive to go above and beyond in my preclinical studying anymore as far as I can tell. I have heard that step 2 knowledge builds on step 1, and that is the logic many people are using to justify still subjecting themselves to the AnKing grind, but wouldn't it be more efficient to just learn the step 1 material enough to do decently in your classes, then focus on dedicated step 2 study material? I am hoping to do general surgery in a specific area so that my significant other can pursue her PhD while I am in residency, so I was originally planning on grinding hard for step 1 to maximize my chances of matching there, but now I am really uncertain where to focus my effort. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I would do anki for micro and pharm and maybe some biochem- a couple thousand cards at most. The whole 30k deck would be a huge waste of time.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I found that the best happy medium was to do anking but not keep up with the reviews after each block. So I did only each system during that block and then suspended them all after the block was over. I almost never had to do more than 500 cards in a day, and I would spend a total of 1-1.5 hours a day on anki. That’s a drop in the bucket.

 

[Redpancreas]

I just wanted to get some opinions, I am an incoming M1 student at a research-heavy program and am currently exploring all of the popular pre-made anki decks in preparation for beginning medical school. From what I have read online, AnKing is pretty much the most comprehensive deck available, but after reading many forums where people talk about how terrible the anki grind is, even with the smaller Zanki deck, I am hesitant to use such a detailed deck and commit the enormous time and effort to maturing 30,000 cards just to get a P on step 1. My school is also a true p/f, so there really is no incentive to go above and beyond in my preclinical studying anymore as far as I can tell. I have heard that step 2 knowledge builds on step 1, and that is the logic many people are using to justify still subjecting themselves to the AnKing grind, but wouldn't it be more efficient to just learn the step 1 material enough to do decently in your classes, then focus on dedicated step 2 study material? I am hoping to do general surgery in a specific area so that my significant other can pursue her PhD while I am in residency, so I was originally planning on grinding hard for step 1 to maximize my chances of matching there, but now I am really uncertain where to focus my effort. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Agree with bolded.

 

[Thesimplelifeofamyloid]

I just wanted to get some opinions, I am an incoming M1 student at a research-heavy program and am currently exploring all of the popular pre-made anki decks in preparation for beginning medical school. From what I have read online, AnKing is pretty much the most comprehensive deck available, but after reading many forums where people talk about how terrible the anki grind is, even with the smaller Zanki deck, I am hesitant to use such a detailed deck and commit the enormous time and effort to maturing 30,000 cards just to get a P on step 1. My school is also a true p/f, so there really is no incentive to go above and beyond in my preclinical studying anymore as far as I can tell. I have heard that step 2 knowledge builds on step 1, and that is the logic many people are using to justify still subjecting themselves to the AnKing grind, but wouldn't it be more efficient to just learn the step 1 material enough to do decently in your classes, then focus on dedicated step 2 study material? I am hoping to do general surgery in a specific area so that my significant other can pursue her PhD while I am in residency, so I was originally planning on grinding hard for step 1 to maximize my chances of matching there, but now I am really uncertain where to focus my effort. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

The only sticking point is that there's no good options for a combined anki deck that helps you pass step 1 but also helps you excel on step 2. Dorian deck is a good step 2 option, but assumes you already have a good step 1 foundation. AnKING is crap all around. Best option until we get better decks is to using Zanki, but delete and suspend cards liberally, then move to step 2 material.

 

[efle]

I cannot fathom doing 30,000 flashcard deck to get a Pass on Step 1. Don't do that and tell others doing that, it's unnecessary. People study for Step 2 using Step 2 materials (namely Uworld for CK).

 

[Lawpy]

I cannot fathom doing 30,000 flashcard deck to get a Pass on Step 1. Don't do that and tell others doing that, it's unnecessary. People study for Step 2 using Step 2 materials (namely Uworld for CK).

Yeah i really think Anking is overkill for a pass/fail Step 1. I'm also delusional enough to genuinely believe that class lectures are more than enough to pass Step 1 (and yes i really believe class lectures are good enough to do well but SDN will think i'm crazy)

 

[Lucca]

Yeah i really think Anking is overkill for a pass/fail Step 1. I'm also delusional enough to genuinely believe that class lectures are more than enough to pass Step 1 (and yes i really believe class lectures are good enough to do well but SDN will think i'm crazy)

depends on the curriculum in question. There are schools who made the switch to focus their main material on boards and force students to do Step-style questions throughout preclin a long time ago. Others who are openly defiant of any such change. time will tell which was the wiser approach in a post p/f era. The question schools should be asking themselves now is "does our preclin curriculum prepare students for wards?"

 

[Wolvvs]

I cannot fathom doing 30,000 flashcard deck to get a Pass on Step 1. Don't do that and tell others doing that, it's unnecessary. People study for Step 2 using Step 2 materials (namely Uworld for CK).

I learn best using flashcards, and while I could make my own using class material, AnKing is already made and covers essentially what I need to know. I also really like the way the cards line up with Boards and Beyond. I don't think it takes too much time if you start early and don't do too many per day.

 

[bGMx]

Been comfortably passing with AnKing as an M1 and have my hand in numerous research projects. It's efficient albeit soul sucking at times

 

[Nugester]

Started it during M1 and doing it out of habit/to kill time during the summer before M2. Is it overkill? Maybe. Still doing research and chilling/traveling so nothing wrong drilling random facts if you have the time and it isn't stressful.

 

[deleted1064759]

I'm also an incoming MS1 and my plan is to do Zanki (for step 1 and 2) + BnB + UFAPS. I like having fewer but more comprehensive resources than multiple different ones and being overwhelmed. It's also nice that Zanki incorporates UFAPS all into one neat package.

I am not entirely sure how my daily routine would look, but it would definitely include 1-2 hours for anki, class lectures, and BnB. Probably save UWorld until a few months before dedicated. Anki shouldn't take more than a couple of hours per day for 40 news.

 

[altblue]

Started it during M1 and doing it out of habit/to kill time during the summer before M2. Is it overkill? Maybe. Still doing research and chilling/traveling so nothing wrong drilling random facts if you have the time and it isn't stressful.

Wait till you add more organ systems. Trust me, your opinion will change when you're juggling cardio or MSK or whatever your school's "bad class" is with hundreds and hundreds of old cards lol, many of which are challenging because you've already thoroughly matured the easy ones

I gave up the reviews three months before step and no regrets. Got enough of a foundation from the cards I did and had more time to thoroughly learn from uworld

 

[efle]

Started it during M1 and doing it out of habit/to kill time during the summer before M2. Is it overkill? Maybe. Still doing research and chilling/traveling so nothing wrong drilling random facts if you have the time and it isn't stressful.

and here the NBME was, thinking med students could fill their time with Netflix instead of studying for boards

y'all are grossly overestimating the flashcard knowledge you need for a 195 step score, and also overestimating how useful the extra study hours will be for Step 2. Everyone is going to look back and shake their head that this was ever common in preclinicals

 

[altblue]

and here the NBME was, thinking med students could fill their time with Netflix instead of studying for boards

y'all are grossly overestimating the flashcard knowledge you need for a 195 step score, and also overestimating how useful the extra study hours will be for Step 2. Everyone is going to look back and shake their head that this was ever common in preclinicals

What do you mean by extra study hours... are rising M2s studying for step 2 this summer?

 

[Nugester]

and here the NBME was, thinking med students could fill their time with Netflix instead of studying for boards

y'all are grossly overestimating the flashcard knowledge you need for a 195 step score, and also overestimating how useful the extra study hours will be for Step 2. Everyone is going to look back and shake their head that this was ever common in preclinicals

I still have time to climb, hit the gym, watch sports, anime, movies, and shows during the summer. Why does everyone think that doing some flash cards will take the whole day during the summer? With a partner in gen surg residency, I have plenty of time to keep busy/have fun /be productive.

 

[Welshman]

About 1/3 of the Anking deck is the same for step 2. The rest of it really isn’t important to keep up with. You’d probably be best off doing the original Zanki deck cards; ie the ones from pathoma costanzo sketchy etc. and just keeping up with those if you really wanted to. Then doing all the step2 cards

edit: that would cut the step 1 deck down to probably 17k cards total.

 

[Nugester]

Wait till you add more organ systems. Trust me, your opinion will change when you're juggling cardio or MSK or whatever your school's "bad class" is with hundreds and hundreds of old cards lol, many of which are challenging because you've already thoroughly matured the easy ones

I gave up the reviews three months before step and no regrets. Got enough of a foundation from the cards I did and had more time to thoroughly learn from uworld

😃😃😃

 

[efle]

I still have time to climb, hit the gym, watch sports, anime, movies, and shows during the summer. Why does everyone think that doing some flash cards will take the whole day during the summer? With a partner in gen surg residency, I have plenty of time to keep busy/have fun /be productive.

surely you aren't so out of things to do that you're flashcarding First Aid into your long term retention for fun

 

[Nugester]

surely you aren't so out of things to do that you're flashcarding First Aid into your long term retention for fun

I wish I had the time for that.

 

[Trippin Tryptophan]

I've researched some anki decks for Step 2, however not sure if they are any good. Does anyone know any good decks? Or do most people use first aid when studying for CK?

 

[Chelsea FC]

I've researched some anki decks for Step 2, however not sure if they are any good. Does anyone know any good decks? Or do most people use first aid when studying for CK?

arent u a MS0?? Why are you worrying about Step 2 ?

 

[Nugester]

arent u a MS0?? Why are you worrying about Step 2 ?

If they aren't studying now, then they are already behind!

 

[Trippin Tryptophan]

arent u a MS0?? Why are you worrying about Step 2 ?

Yes MS0, not worrying, just wondering if there are resources. The above conversations putting weight on step 2 made me look into which resources everyone is using to study for this exam. Just curious is all.

 

[efle]

Right now there is no UFAPS equivalent for CK. It just wasn't an important enough test for all those resources to be developed and word to spread about how best to prep. If it was me, I'd just be doing a ton of Uworld Step 2 throughout MS3. It's how you study for shelves, and then it's also how you review for CK, which is just a giant mega-shelf.

Part of the appeal of a scored Step 1 was that it allowed anxious preclinical students to feel like they were doing something that would help them by constantly studying for boards. Now they're being told all they have to do is hit 5th percentile or better for a Pass? Surely there must be something to work at daily???

There really isn't guys. Nothing you can study in preclinical will give you any significant edge. You beat this test with your studying during rotations/for shelf exams. Don't let study guilt beat you up. Enjoy having way more free time.

 

[Nugester]

Right now there is no UFAPS equivalent for CK. It just wasn't an important enough test for all those resources to be developed and word to spread about how best to prep. If it was me, I'd just be doing a ton of Uworld Step 2 throughout MS3. It's how you study for shelves, and then it's also how you review for CK, which is just a giant mega-shelf.

Part of the appeal of a scored Step 1 was that it allowed anxious preclinical students to feel like they were doing something that would help them by constantly studying for boards. Now they're being told all they have to do is hit 5th percentile or better for a Pass? Surely there must be something to work at daily???

There really isn't guys. Nothing you can study in preclinical will give you any significant edge. You beat this test with your studying during rotations/for shelf exams. Don't let study guilt beat you up. Enjoy having way more free time.

Curious, so it will be a true P/F? No other information like quartile will be reported (like some schools that say their grading system is P/F, but still record quartiles/internal rankings etc during preclinicals).

 

[drstranger]

Curious, so it will be a true P/F? No other information like quartile will be reported (like some schools that say their grading system is P/F, but still record quartiles/internal rankings etc during preclinicals).

yes true pass/fail nothing will be reported according to NBME

 

[deleted1064759]

Right now there is no UFAPS equivalent for CK. It just wasn't an important enough test for all those resources to be developed and word to spread about how best to prep. If it was me, I'd just be doing a ton of Uworld Step 2 throughout MS3. It's how you study for shelves, and then it's also how you review for CK, which is just a giant mega-shelf.

Part of the appeal of a scored Step 1 was that it allowed anxious preclinical students to feel like they were doing something that would help them by constantly studying for boards. Now they're being told all they have to do is hit 5th percentile or better for a Pass? Surely there must be something to work at daily???

There really isn't guys. Nothing you can study in preclinical will give you any significant edge. You beat this test with your studying during rotations/for shelf exams. Don't let study guilt beat you up. Enjoy having way more free time.

You think a bunch of hyper-competitive gunners would even blink at giving up the slightest advantage on step 2?

Some high school freshman somewhere is planning to fully mature zanki and make a pass through UWorld before M1 as we speak.

 

[Ho0v-man]

I’m the biggest anki fanboy ever. But I’ll be the first to admit in y’all’s shoes I’d only keep up with micro and pharm. You can literally get over a 240 on step 1 today knowing this cold and watching pathoma. I’ve known multiple people hit that goal never learning any biochem or memorizing any of the physiology formulas. The crazy random stuff that gets harped on in FA barely even shows up. Passing is NOT hard.

 

[deleted1064759]

I’m the biggest anki fanboy ever. But I’ll be the first to admit in y’all’s shoes I’d only keep up with micro and pharm. You can literally get over a 240 on step 1 today knowing this cold and watching pathoma. I’ve known multiple people hit that goal never learning any biochem or memorizing any of the physiology formulas. The crazy random stuff that gets harped on in FA barely even shows up. Passing is NOT hard.

I don't think anyone here is worried about passing. We're more uncertain about the overlap and foundation necessary for Step 2.

 

[Trippin Tryptophan]

You think a bunch of hyper-competitive gunners would even blink at giving up the slightest advantage on step 2?

Some high school freshman somewhere is planning to fully mature zanki and make a pass through UWorld before M1 as we speak.

Lets be a little more realistic, we know nowadays they're starting at least in middle school if not elementary.

 

[pBar]

I'm finishing up my M1 year at a P/F, 1-year preclinical institution, and honestly haven't even touched Anking (or any supplemental material). I've just been working off of in-house decks and resources and have been passing by very high margins all year. Mind you ever institution and the quality of instruction (as well as personal learning styles are different), but I would thinking going through the 30k deck for STEP P/F is overkill and you would be far better off using that time and dedicating it to something more productive or tangible during your M1/2 years.

 

[Lawpy]

Premade anki decks are completely overkill and likely unnecessary for P/F Step 1 and i'm willing to fight against them.

 

[Lawpy]

I don't think anyone here is worried about passing. We're more uncertain about the overlap and foundation necessary for Step 2.

OME/UWorld/clinical years are likely the goto strategy for Step 2.

I also really believe doing well in preclinical classes is the key to having a good foundation for Step 2, not premade anki decks.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

and here the NBME was, thinking med students could fill their time with Netflix instead of studying for boards

y'all are grossly overestimating the flashcard knowledge you need for a 195 step score, and also overestimating how useful the extra study hours will be for Step 2. Everyone is going to look back and shake their head that this was ever common in preclinicals

Bro, how long do you think it takes to do anking? It took me 90 mins a day on average. In some blocks, it was less than an hour. How is that in any way burdensome? You are overestimating the time required to do these cards. There’s a reason people say it’s an extremely efficient way to learn.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

OME/UWorld/clinical years are likely the goto strategy for Step 2.

I also really believe doing well in preclinical classes is the key to having a good foundation for Step 2, not premade anki decks.

False. Dorian for M3 has been critical along with uworld. OME is okay. I’ve basically just used the M3 deck and uworld all year so far and have done great on every shelf.

 

[Lawpy]

Bro, how long do you think it takes to do anking? It took me 90 mins a day on average. In some blocks, it was less than an hour. How is that in any way burdensome? You are overestimating the time required to do these cards. There’s a reason people say it’s an extremely efficient way to learn.

Idk, you're efficient and smart which is why it's less burdensome for you. A lot of med students waste 10 hours/day doing Anking and that's where the burden lies. Maybe they are using Anki wrong but i think it's really just overkill for most people

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Idk, you're efficient and smart which is why it's less burdensome for you. A lot of med students waste 10 hours/day doing Anking and that's where the burden lies. Maybe they are using Anki wrong but i think it's really just overkill for most people

Yeah they’re doing it wrong. I’ve seen how some of the people spending 5,6+ hours do anki. They take literal minutes on a single card. You shouldn’t spend more than 10-15 seconds on a card. If you don’t know it in 10-15 seconds, you don’t know it well enough and should hit again. That’ll get you through the cards in 60-90 mins and you’ll see the cards you really need to see enough times to nail it.

 

[Lawpy]

Yeah they’re doing it wrong. I’ve seen how some of the people spending 5,6+ hours do anki. They take literal minutes on a single card. You shouldn’t spend more than 10-15 seconds on a card. If you don’t know it in 10-15 seconds, you don’t know it well enough and should hit again. That’ll get you through the cards in 60-90 mins and you’ll see the cards you really need to see enough times to nail it.

Agreed, this is the right way to use Anki.

 

[Nugester]

Yeah they’re doing it wrong. I’ve seen how some of the people spending 5,6+ hours do anki. They take literal minutes on a single card. You shouldn’t spend more than 10-15 seconds on a card. If you don’t know it in 10-15 seconds, you don’t know it well enough and should hit again. That’ll get you through the cards in 60-90 mins and you’ll see the cards you really need to see enough times to nail it.

This. I was waiting for you to chime in lol.

 

[mwsapphire]

and here the NBME was, thinking med students could fill their time with Netflix instead of studying for boards

y'all are grossly overestimating the flashcard knowledge you need for a 195 step score, and also overestimating how useful the extra study hours will be for Step 2. Everyone is going to look back and shake their head that this was ever common in preclinicals

I mean, anking is still a good resource to supplements for in house exams and in-house pre clinical.

 

[bGMx]

Yeah they’re doing it wrong. I’ve seen how some of the people spending 5,6+ hours do anki. They take literal minutes on a single card. You shouldn’t spend more than 10-15 seconds on a card. If you don’t know it in 10-15 seconds, you don’t know it well enough and should hit again. That’ll get you through the cards in 60-90 mins and you’ll see the cards you really need to see enough times to nail it.

The problem with this is I start memorizing the card as it looks and know what word belongs there.... I'll be first to say that has happened to me on more than one occasion.