Anki

17 Sep, 2026

Given virtually every medical school advice column and scientific research on memory suggests using Anki, I think it is safe to say Anki needs to be a part of a good medical school learning system. The issue I want to address in this article is in its precise implementation.

RECOGNITION
Formatting and context cues of a card become the primary trigger rather than the actual memory. This issue becomes most apparent when, after completing an Anki session and trying think about what you just learned, you realize you can't recall facts you just successfully reviewed/learned.

1. I sometimes use Anki's association habit to my advantage. Instead of a complete question, I may just make a simple association card (HGPRT Deficiency -> {{c1::Lesch Nyhan Syndrome}}). This becomes particularly helpful when there is nearly 2 months of material on an upcoming exam and not all of the information is present at the forefront of the mind.

VOLUME
Managing volume of information has been the most challenging problem I (and probably most students) have faced in medical school. I have neither the time to make or the time to complete flashcards for all of the information in medical school.

Constraint #1: You must make your own flashcards in medical school. Lectures are shit and largely a waste of time, but skipping straight to pre-made flashcards becomes a waste of time also. You spend forever trying to piece together the cards that you either never complete the cards or spend too much time learning the cards that there is no room for practice problems.

1. Anatomy Go through the lecture to see what topics and diseases are covered. Maybe even put the lecture into claude and ask it to generate a list of concepts/terms covered and the depth to which they are covered. Then go about understanding the information in whatever way works for you. Do not convert every single labeled structure in an image into an anki flashcard. Figure out what the point of the image first. Here's a brief breakdown of what has historically worked for me:

• Memorize list of muscle groups and turn convert into Anki.
• Draw Vessels as circuits first -> memorize -> then overlay on anatomical regions as needed with text flashcards (not drawings/images bc it will take too long to draw)
• Draw nerves like a circuit in yellow, then attach the muscles that they innervate in black. Use GoodNotes Tape to memorize and convert into Anki.

2. Scientific Foundations of Medicine

• Make flashcards of all diseases. In extra tab, include all your notes on a disease. Flashcards of diseases should aim to CHARACTERIZE a disease. This can include few word associations or caricatures of symptoms, but recognize that you will often be given a full clinical picture and have to distinguish diseases from each other. Traditional way is insufficient for this as you only recognize the individual card and don't have a complete picture of the Ddx.

A SINGLE DECK. A SINGLE PATH FORWARD.
Organize cards by tag. Not by deck.

• Don't want to study? --> You did not learn it correctly. You cannot ignore the subsequent friction. It will return.
• Prevents ignoring past reviews. [Suspending after 2-3w of review may be a possible strategy but needs further experimentation.]

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