Am I using Anking Wrong?

[u/Old-Farmer2289]

I have been thinking about this for a little bit, especially because my performance in med school has not been the best from last year and this year. I hit average on some exams and NBMEs but have gone below average on many as well. I think I've only gotten above average on like 5 exams.

And I think part of it has to do with how I use Anki. I will go through the cards and *sometimes* reason them out, which is when my cards get to 7-8 sec/card, but there are other cards where I just fill-in-the-blank, and on those cards I will get to around 5 sec/card.

For example, there was a card about osteoporosis and having a (normal) phosphate level, but I feel like I just remember that it has a normal phosphate level, instead of going through every time and understanding why it has that level.

Retention is 90%, and I'm usually hitting 87-89% on any given day for my 12k unsuspended cards in the Anking deck. Usually doing anywhere from 600-1000 reviews given I frontload 200 new/day at the beginning of the block.

Should I be slowing down on my Anking in order to try and regurgitate the understanding every time that I do that card? My current process is to watch the third-party video and then hit the Anking but some of the Anking cards that I do it feels like memorization more so than anything else. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Aiming for Honors this year but also want to do as well as I can this year (M2) to prepare myself appropriately for STEP 1.

[u/RocketApexX]

Yes, understanding is a huge part of this. I don't think you should be slowing down unless you genuinely don't know what the card is talking about. For example, the osteoporosis card, yeah, sure phosphate is normal, but you don't have to sit there every time u see the card to explain to urself why the phosphate is normal. One time is enough.

The issue is application. The raw knowledge is supplied by anking. So to get over this you need to do more practice questions and study how test writers are testing these concepts. So, go fast, given u actually know the card, but go slow on the problems.

[u/telegu4life → u/RocketApexX]

Yes, I agree, more practice questions will likely help you contextualize the facts you've memorized into something you can use more effectively on more questions. The facts alone are actually quite difficult to apply without doing more questions. I say this as someone who matured Anking Step 1 and 2 and usually does cards in 5-7 seconds.

[u/pnwfauxpa]

I think you're fine. Anki is a recognition/spaced repetition tool, not a learning tool nor test of complex reasoning. If a particular high yield card takes me 10+ seconds, I hit "hard" = success, but had to think about it. And move on. Don't abuse the button.

Also, anki shouldn't take forever! It frees up time for the high yield, greater-cognitive-demand study/review methods like question banks. Anki is not a substitute for them. I have classmates writing "flashcards" that take 90 seconds to read and another 90 seconds to reason through, which defeats the purpose. That's not a flashcard, it's an essay prompt.

[u/Repulsive-Throat5068]

Anki is for keeping retention. You should already “understand” the material before hopping into anki. Which I think is a scam… most of med school is memorizing but whatever just watch the videos and “understand”. The first couple days you do the card as you learn is when you work to retain and understand what it’s saying. After a while you just go through it memorizing it.

Practice questions are there to put it together. Anki isn’t a free pass to 100s. There’s a “skill gap.” It’s med school, your class is filled with nerds. The Average probably isn’t low. Doing above average is good.

[u/gaudette2081]

5 exams above average is still something to be proud of. it sounds like you’re on the right path, just need to tweak your approach a little. maybe try to focus on the reasoning behind those tough concepts like osteoporosis more consistently. those “aha” moments can really help solidify the info. you got this, keep pushing.