Author: Ashani Pandita
Editors: Sneha Polam and Samantha Licciardi
Updated: February 4, 2024
Arriving at medical school and figuring out how to study effectively is daunting in and of itself –and it can get more overwhelming when everyone seems to be using a flashcard app that you can’t quite figure out. Maybe you’ve tried Anki but rote memorization isn’t for you, or maybe you prefer other types of memory aids. Even though Anki seems to be the most popular option out there, there are dozens of other ways to succeed in medical school. Below are a few options tailored to different learning styles:
This post is unaffiliated with, and not sponsored by, any of the listed resources (i.e USMLE, Osmosis, UWorld, Sketchy, Truelearn, Amboss, Picmonic, Boards and Beyond, Pathoma, Anki, Quizlet, etc.)
If you enjoy active learning:
2. Make a concept map on a whiteboard. Write or draw out all the main ideas and vocabulary terms from a specific lecture, draw the connections between them, and describe how each idea relates to others. By synthesizing patterns and making these connections, you will understand how each concept integrates with others.
3. Practice questions, practice questions, practice questions! At the end of the day, the most realistic preparation for exams will be to find and use questions that resemble your test. Resources such as USMLE Scholar Rx, Osmosis, UWorld, Sketchy, Truelearn, Amboss, and more are helpful for questions that incorporate clinical scenarios and basic concepts alike. Group discounts are often available if you coordinate with other members of your class to buy the subscriptions together.
4. Make your own fill-in-the-blank or multiple choice questions. If you know how a certain faculty member “likes” to ask questions on an exam, try and emulate their questions based on the lecture! After watching a lecture, make 5 of your own questions that you think could be testable material, and come back to answer them when you are studying for your exam. By putting yourself in the mind of your examiner, you will see the content from that lens and have a better idea of what might show up on your test.
5. Act like you’re teaching the topic to someone else. Or actually teach the topic to someone else! By being able to explain a concept in simple terminology to someone who is not a medical student, you will understand the core ideas of that concept and remember it well.
If you enjoy collaborative learning:
1. Get a few classmates together! Everyone wants to do well in medical school and people will be more open to collaborating than you may think. One example of a group study method is to learn the content independently, then bring a few practice questions each so the group can reason through the questions together.
2. Hold each other accountable! Set a goal for your studying and know what your friends’ goals are – check in every so often to keep each other on track!
If you are a visual learner:
1. Resources such as Osmosis, Pathoma, Dirty Medicine, Ninja Nerd, and Boards and Beyond provide videos that explain the basics and applications of medical school topics. Of these resources, Dirty Medicine is free to everyone via YouTube.
2. Resources such as Sketchy, Pixorize and Picmonic are visual memory aids that help you to remember facts by associating them with visual symbols and/or a story to correlate with the information.
3. First Aid is a large, comprehensive book full of key information to know for USMLE Step 1. It contains many mnemonics and diagrams that will likely correlate with your curriculum as well.
If you are an auditory learner:
If you like flashcards, but just don’t like Anki:
1. Make your own Quizlet cards for each lecture and use their platform to quiz yourself! Quizlet can be much more user-friendly for some students, and they offer “test” features based on your cards as well.
2. Resources such as Osmosis and USMLE Scholar Rx offer spaced repetition flashcard features as well – similar to Anki, but directly correlated with a certain topic or lesson: so it may be easier to organize and digest the information.
All in all, combining several different methods of learning and repetition into your preferred style of learning – and getting as many high-quality passes of the material you can in before your exams – will go a long way towards your academic success as a medical student. Pace yourself, try different things, and be open to adapting your routine if something doesn’t work as well as you’d like!