If you’re a pre-med or medical student, you’ve likely heard of Anki.
Chances are that you fall into one of two camps - you either love it, or you’ve tried
it and decided that it wasn’t for you.
If you fall into the latter, I’m willing to bet that you’re not creating good flashcards.
These are the best principles to make Anki easy and effective.
Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
If you haven’t already, be sure to watch the part one video on how to improve your
memory.
This is the part two video in a three part series.
Spaced repetition software, like Anki, is one of the most powerful learning tools available
for medical students.
But as a tool, there are those who use it well, and those who misuse it.
When I first started using Anki as a medical student, some of my cards were good, but most
were garbage.
It wasn’t until the end of medical school and while I was in plastic surgery residency
that I began using it most effectively.
These are the best practices in creating effective flashcards.
First, keep your decks simple. Don’t have a sub-deck for each week in a
class.
This fragmentation simply complicates the task of reviewing the necessary information.
My general recommendation is to create a single deck for large exam.
In medical school, I had a single deck for Step 1 that included everything from my first
two years.
My Step 2CK deck included everything from my third year.
Within each deck, I tagged cards by organ system, like cardiology or pulmonology, and
also by other useful pieces of information, such as whether they included a mnemonic or
other memory device.
Structuring your deck in this manner serves two main purposes.
First, you’ll waste less time organizing and structuring your deck.
Sometimes simple is better.
Second, and more importantly, you’ll be in the habit of reviewing the entire deck,
which is very good for your larger exams, whether that’s the MCAT or USMLE Step 1
or COMLEX.
With a fragmented deck, this just doesn’t happen.
Remember, for spaced repetition software like Anki to work properly, you must regularly
review information.
Many students are concerned that they’ll be wasting precious time reviewing older information
at the expense of newer information.
But therein lies the beauty of spaced repetition.
By the time you’ve moved onto the next class, the intervals for your previous subject are
much longer, meaning it takes far less time to maintain the already-consolidated information.
And when the big exam comes around, you still remember most everything.
Number two, First Understand, Then Memorize. A surprising number of students succumb to
the mistake of trying to memorize something that they don’t comprehend.
There is little utility in memorizing a string of information if you are not able to adequately
conceptualize and place it within a mental scaffolding.
If you don’t first understand the information, you’re much less likely to remember and
recall it.
Equally important, you’re also less likely to adequately apply the information come test
day.
Remember, performing well on a test isn’t just a matter of knowing the information,
but also understanding its context and how to apply it.
You will drastically reduce the time it takes to learn and memorize if you’re able to
slot each individual piece into a coherent structure.
Memorizing loosely related facts is of little utility.
Number three, Lay the Foundations First. This tip is based on the Pareto Principle,
also known as the 80/20 rule, which states that 80% of the effects come from the 20%
of causes.
Applied to Anki flashcards, this means being efficient with how you study – focus on
the highest yield information such that on test day, you’ve optimized your chances
of scoring well.
Often times, students get caught up in smaller details which are low-yield.
Remember that a mental scaffolding and foundation of basics is essential.
Simple models, after all, are easier to comprehend and quickly review.
From there, you can fill in the details as you progress.
Number four, Follow the Minimum Information Principle. The Minimum Information Principle reminds
us that simple is easy, and that simple cards are easier to review and schedule.
Consider this.
If a single card has two sub-items, you need to keep repeating the card to keep the more
difficult item in your memory.
However, if you split this single card into two separate cards, each can be repeated at
their own pace, ultimately saving you time in the long term.
This is arguably the biggest offense of most students when they first begin using Anki.
Most students make very complex cards that could be broken down into a dozen or more
sub-items.
I was guilty of doing this for much of medical school.
Some may argue that since the number of cards increases, it’s ultimately less beneficial.
You must keep in mind that the total number of repetitions will decrease over time.
By sticking with a complex card with multiple sub-items, you’re more likely to (1) forget
the more difficult sub-item repeatedly, (2) repeat the card in excessively short intervals,
or (3) remember only a part of the complex card.
Number five, Cloze Deletions Are Your Best Friend. I used Anki for several months before learning
about Cloze deletions.
Once I did, they quickly became my favorite type of card.
Cloze deletions are essentially fill-in-the-blank questions.
You can make the blank as short or long as you want.
I go over the shortcuts, formatting, and details on how to use Cloze deletions in a previous
video.
If you’re finding it difficult to stick with the minimum information principle, then
Cloze deletions are a great tool to break your bad habits.
They’re also incredibly efficient to create, as you can copy text from your powerpoint
or notes and create Cloze cards in just seconds.
Number six, Use Images, Photos, & Figures. Your memory is much more efficient at retaining
visual than textual information.
It makes sense – we’ve evolved over millions of years and only had written language for
a small percentage of our existence.
Images are particularly beneficial for certain subjects, like anatomy or chemistry.
That being said, I’d argue that even for more text-based subjects, images are still
warranted.
When creating your Anki cards, try to find an image for most of your cards.
It doesn’t always have to be exactly related to the card, either.
If the topic of the card makes you think of something unrelated, find an image of it.
While this may take upfront time and investment, over the long term it greatly reduces your
learning time.
Be generous with inserting images into Anki.
Go on Google images, search for something relevant, and quickly copy/paste it or screenshot
into Anki.
Knowing your shortcuts will save you loads of time here.
If you have a diagram you want to test yourself on, like the Kreb’s cycle, you can block
certain segments of the image and create cards that way.
The best way to do this is the Image Occlusion Enhanced plugin for Anki.
I go over how to install and use it in a previous video. Link in the description below.
Creating Anki cards and optimizing your learning in medical school is no easy task.
It took me years of experimentation and tweaking to finally get consistent and excellent results
that allowed me to match into a hyper competitive surgical subspecialty.
If you aren’t getting the results you want in university or medical school, our tutors
at MedSchoolInsiders.com can help.
Whether it’s the MCAT, USMLE Step 1, or any other pre-med or medical school test,
we can help.
Our tutors scored in the top percentiles and can help you do the same.
If you regularly watch our YouTube videos, chances are you know how heavily we emphasize
the importance of systems in generating desirable results.
Our tutoring is no different.
We’ve painstakingly taken months crafting the systems in place to provide the best quality
tutoring.
We take a holistic approach, examining your test taking strategies, study methods, road blocks and sticking points,
and customize a tailored plan to optimize your performance on test day.
Visit MedSchoolInsiders.com to learn more.
This is the end of Part 2.
In the third and final part, we’ll finish up with additional best practices for your
Anki card creation.
If you found these tips useful, then you definitely don’t want to miss the last part.
Anki is a beast of a program, so let me know down below if you have any other questions
and I’ll do my best to answer them.
New videos every Saturday morning, and I'm going to spend the first hour after the video uploads answering your questions, so make
sure you're subscribed and you have the notification bell enabled.
Much love to you all, and I will see you guys in part three.