Using Zanki in MS1 year (traditional curriculum)?

[trident_gum]

Hello everyone, I am an incoming OSM-1 student this year and I was wondering if anybody started Zanki in their MS1 years, and if so, how did they incorporate it into their curriculum if your school follows a more traditional curriculum instead of systems-based? Can I adjust the tags on the Zanki cards just for biochem, and etc or did people wait the curriculum started covering systems?

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[Schwifty]

Yes, I use the AnKing deck, its zanki combined with a few other decks and its biggest advantage is how many tags it has. You just go through and unsuspend relevant cards to you, and keep up with them, like don't suspend them after you finish a class. He also has a YouTube channel showing the best ways to use the deck

 

[JSReed]

Personally I wouldn't start using it for the traditional M1 curriculum. Don't see it as conceptual enough for physio, not detailed enough for biochem or histo, and generally doesn't play super well for M1 curricula. Arguably the exceptions to that are immuno and micro (with sketchy)-- both of which I'd recommend. But for the most part, I don't think its particularly synchronous. Especially with Step being P/F now, just focus on doing well in your classes for the first year.

 

[Tgfu34]

Hello everyone, I am an incoming OSM-1 student this year and I was wondering if anybody started Zanki in their MS1 years, and if so, how did they incorporate it into their curriculum if your school follows a more traditional curriculum instead of systems-based? Can I adjust the tags on the Zanki cards just for biochem, and etc or did people wait the curriculum started covering systems?

I used Zanki for my first year and we have a traditional curriculum. I personally found it hard to incorporate the facts from Zanki cards into a bigger picture, so I used it memorize facts for the classes I used it for (Biochem, Phys, Neuroscience, Immunology) and then used my lectures to piece together the cards. I didn't end up suspending any cards in those disciplines because I figured I might as well learn it now, but I didn't do any path, pharm or micro cards. Some students did suspend the cards that weren't relevant to class material and did fine, so it's really personal preference.

 

[trident_gum]

I used Zanki for my first year and we have a traditional curriculum. I personally found it hard to incorporate the facts from Zanki cards into a bigger picture, so I used it memorize facts for the classes I used it for (Biochem, Phys, Neuroscience, Immunology) and then used my lectures to piece together the cards. I didn't end up suspending any cards in those disciplines because I figured I might as well learn it now, but I didn't do any path, pharm or micro cards. Some students did suspend the cards that weren't relevant to class material and did fine, so it's really personal preference.

So you didn't suspend all the cards and unsuspended only the relevant cards as you went through the lectures?

 

[trident_gum]

Personally I wouldn't start using it for the traditional M1 curriculum. Don't see it as conceptual enough for physio, not detailed enough for biochem or histo, and generally doesn't play super well for M1 curricula. Arguably the exceptions to that are immuno and micro (with sketchy)-- both of which I'd recommend. But for the most part, I don't think its particularly synchronous. Especially with Step being P/F now, just focus on doing well in your classes for the first year.

You mentioned using sketch micro and immuno to help supplement your learning. Did you use any other resources like B&B or Amboss? Or are those more geared towards board prep? B&B seems to have some content on biochemistry and I wasn't sure how useful those were as a M1.

 

[JSReed]

B&B: Only when lectures really didnt make sense. I'm not the biggest proponent of B&B bc its a fairly time-intensive resource, basically just another lecture. But I found it helpful for immuno as a supplement.
Amboss: Didn't start until we started systems, but I struggle to see how its useful during M1. Q banks are pretty heavy on pathology, which you won't really get until M2 (traditional curriculum).
I also tried using FA during M1, but not insanely helpful. Id say stay away from zanki during M1, bc its so much path that you'll end up blindly memorizing rather than remembering. The only one that I'd say is useful is sketchy.

But also...step 1 is p/f now so board prep shouldn't be a huge focus.

 

[trident_gum]

B&B: Only when lectures really didnt make sense. I'm not the biggest proponent of B&B bc its a fairly time-intensive resource, basically just another lecture. But I found it helpful for immuno as a supplement.
Amboss: Didn't start until we started systems, but I struggle to see how its useful during M1. Q banks are pretty heavy on pathology, which you won't really get until M2 (traditional curriculum).
I also tried using FA during M1, but not insanely helpful. Id say stay away from zanki during M1, bc its so much path that you'll end up blindly memorizing rather than remembering. The only one that I'd say is useful is sketchy.

But also...step 1 is p/f now so board prep shouldn't be a huge focus.

Thanks for your input on the different resources. I understand that step 1 is P/F now so there is less pressure for the incoming M1s, but I still want to establish a strong foundation since it will translate over to step 2 scores, which will hold a greater importance now.

 

[JSReed]

Thanks for your input on the different resources. I understand that step 1 is P/F now so there is less pressure for the incoming M1s, but I still want to establish a strong foundation since it will translate over to step 2 scores, which will hold a greater importance now.

Personally, ive found that less is more. Everyone focuses on the idea that "more is better". So everyone's looking for BUFAPS+amboss+Rx+kaplan. And honestly its just overkill to thing you'll make it through all that, retain it, do decently in school, and stay semi-sane. Learning it well the first time is 90x better than having to relearn it through step materials. And given that step materials don't really address most of the topics in M1 year, I'd say you'd be better off without them (for the most part).

I have a few friends who started anking first day of M1. I don't think its helped them tremendously (at best, 2-3% on any given school exam). Anki is great for reinforcing facts, but the only way to do well on step is to do more questions. And the only way to understand questions is to have covered the material. And the only way to adequately cover the material is to learn it in a lecture setting that facilitates understanding rather than rote memorization. Hope that makes sense.

IMO step shouldn't really be something youre thinking about until march/april of M1. Even more so with future classes. If you're really looking for something else to supplement, I'd strongly recommend costanzo for physio.

 

[Tgfu34]

So you didn't suspend all the cards and unsuspended only the relevant cards as you went through the lectures?

No I didn’t do that. I just set a card limit per day and if I passed the content that We learned in class, it was just easier to understand when it showed up in lectures. Some classmates didn’t like that though, so they did exactly what you explained and it worked fine for them!