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Shamim's Guide - Intro To ANKI
Shamim's Guide - Intro To ANKI
Article Contents
1. Downloading Anki and Add-ons
2. Setting up Anki
4. Important Tips
6. Further Reading
All updated sections are marked with § (Updated Jan 24, 2019).
I’ve been using Anki since day one of medical school with great success. It has allowed me to have
a life outside of studying by freeing up time for leisure, basketball, gymming, hanging out,
tutoring, research, school club events, and more on top of all the material we have to study for
classes. I never crammed for a single exam in medical school using this method. I constantly get
asked about how to use Anki. Most people start using Anki and give it up shortly afterwards
because of the steep learning curve in trying to figure out the software and mobile apps. For that
reason, I am going to lay out how to use Anki for the first two years of medical school. I won’t go
into why Anki works and how great it is, there are hundreds of articles on the internet detailing
that (check the bottom of this article). For now, you should to do as I say and trust the process,
but those of you who are curious I recommend reading the official Anki manual. These will be a
series of posts about how to use Anki in different areas of studying such as for boards and for
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class. I tried to keep this tutorial as concise as possible without compromising anything. Stick
with it and I promise you huge payoffs. If you have any questions, just reach out to me.
Once you’ve installed Anki, you should download a few add-ons to optimize your experience.
Downloading Decks
After installing all of the above, restart Anki and all the addons should fire up. Now that you
have the scaffolding, it’s time to download decks and start using them. One of the best decks out
there is the Zanki deck created by an anonymous medical student and edited/updated constantly
by the Reddit community. This deck has detailed cards from all of First Aid plus Pathoma, BRS
Physio, Sketchy Medical, and Kaplan Lecture Notes. There are other popular decks so pick one
you like. My system will work with any deck as long as the cards are organized by tags. If you
wish to use a deck which is not organized by hierarchical tags, you have to tag the cards yourself
or download an auto tagger add-on. These decks can be found in the sidebar of the Medical
School Anki Subreddit. I do not take credit for creating any of these decks and all copyrighted
information/images belong to their respectful owners.
Setting Up Anki
Now that you have all that you need in your hands, it’s time to
set up the cards. Your main screen of Anki should look like this
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Click the gear icon next to the main decks to open up [Options]. The [Options group:] should be
[Default]. You can create multiple option groups for different decks but I like to keep it simple by
only having two (I’ll explain why in just a bit). For the [Default] options group, change the
settings as shown below:
As you are still on the Options menu, click the gear icon and [Add] an options group called “50N
50R Ordered”. Now for this options group, change the settings as shown below:
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Anki allows you to have a different options group for each deck
but you really need just two, the default and the one you
customized. Initially, all decks should be set to Default. To
change the options in bulk, click the gear icon next to the main
decks, click the gear again in the options group ⟶ click [Set
for all subdecks]. The decks titled “Combined Current” and
“Combined Review” should have an Options-group setting of “50N 50R Ordered”.
The “Combined Current” deck will include any cards that you are studying for your current
module.
The “Combined Review” deck will include everything that you’ve already covered minus the
current module stuff.
You are almost ready to start studying. First, go to the Browser and click [Whole Collection].
Highlight all of the cards and click [Suspend]. Suspended cards will be highlighted in yellow.
As you approach a system, open up the browser ⟶ go to the relevant subdeck by clicking on the
tags next to the browser ⟶ un-suspend any card that is relevant to you from that sub-deck.
Optionally, move those cards to the 'Combined Current' deck if you are studying them for a
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current module. Having the “Combined Current” deck allows you to prioritize cards for your
current module if you ever fall behind on reviewing old stuff). Once an exam is over, move all the
cards from “Combined Current” back to “Combined Review”, and repeat this process for the next
exam. Using this system, you should be chiseling away at the "Combined Review" deck day by day
until all cards are eventually 'Mature' and are solidly ingrained in your mind.
At the end of a module/class, keep in mind the suspended cards that you never went through for
that module because either your curriculum did not cover them or you just didn't feel like
studying them. These cards are still considered high yield according to First Aid and Pathoma so
I recommend un-suspending them at some point and going through them just like your regular
cards. As for cards that you made for class during a current module, it is up to you if you want to
continue studying them or suspend them indefinitely (never delete them). I like to continue
studying them since the interval keeps getting longer and longer and it takes very little time to
review.
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you finish the deck before your exam. You will do the same for the ‘Class’ deck with cards that
you made from your lecture material. Since you will not have the class cards pre-made, estimate
how many you will make for each lecture, add up the total, and divide by the number of days to
see how many new lecture cards you should do per day. Ideally, you won’t have to calculate this
because you should be completing all newly made lecture cards the day they are made. (Ex. If for
the current deck I have 550 cards and I want to complete them in 14 days. 550/14 = about 40 new
cards per day)
You study session should follow this sequence: ⟶ ‘Class’ ⟶ ‘Combined Current’ ⟶ ‘Combined
Review’. Once you finish studying a deck you will see a ‘Congratulations’ screen stating that you
have finished your reviews for the day ("Today's review limit has been reached, but there are still
cards waiting to be reviewed. For optimum memory, consider increasing the daily limit in the
options"). Because the options for these decks are set to 50 New and 50 Review cards, you may
still have cards remaining. Always remember the number of new cards you have to complete for
each deck per day. On the ‘Congratulations’ screen, click [Custom Study] and the first two
option will show you how many total New and Review cards you have remaining in the deck.
Select ‘Increase today’s new card limit’ and add cards on top of the 50 so you can reach your daily
requirement. Do the same for reviews. Ideally, you want to complete ALL due review cards for
each day. The 50N 50R setting allows you to have control over how many reviews you are doing
so to not get overwhelmed on busy days. If you do happen to fall back on reviews, just increase
the number the next day to make up (missed reviews always carry over to the next day).
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To implement this, open up the settings for a deck and enter the number 10 under ‘Steps’. This
setting means that if you answer a card correctly, it will ‘graduate’ to the next interval
immediately, and if you answer it incorrectly, you will see it again within 10 minutes. This
method in a way turns your deck into a giant quiz: simply press ‘good’ if you know the answer or
press ‘again’ if you don’t. I recommend this setting for people who are stressed for time or those
who are starting late.
Important Tips
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• Anki is a commitment, for the best results you must study your cards EVERY SINGLE
DAY, no excuses!
• When studying, you should always hit [Good] when seeing a new card for the first time.
When that card comes again, hit [Good] if you remember it or [Again] if you don’t. Same
goes for reviews and old cards. Never hit [Easy] unless you know the card cold and can
recite it in your sleep.
• Don’t seek to be a perfectionist, just make the damn cards however you can and do them!
• Download Anki on your phone and study while you commute, wait on lines, exercise, etc…
Common Questions
[Preferences] Explained
Show new cards after reviews: This setting is preferred because reviews are critically more
important than new cards for the spaced repetition algorithm to work. Always prioritize reviews
over new cards. Having the custom option of "50N 50R Ordered" allows you to be in control just
in case you need to prioritize new cards on a particular day maybe because you are behind or
whatever. On a day like this, do the 50 reviews which will take no more than 15 minutes and then
just complete new cards until you are caught up.
[Options] Explained
Steps: 3 15: This means that when you answer ‘Good’ on a card, it will be shown again within 15
minutes. When shown again and you hit ‘Again’ which means you forgot the card, it will be
shown to you within 3 minutes once again. This continues until the card “Graduates” to the next
interval. This setting alone ensures Anki’s failsafe method for memorizing. It does not allow you
to move on from a fact until you know it.
Maximum interval: The maximum number of days a card can go without you seeing it.
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*Refer to the official Anki manual for all the intricate details. The settings I’ve explained are mostly
default with a few exceptions. These settings are backed up by a ton of research by people like Piotr
Wozniak and other geniuses so don’t tinker with them too much.*
Further Reading
If you found an error in this article or just want to say hi, message me.
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https://medshamim.com/med/anki-step-one 9/22
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So after you finish the first run-through of your class cards, do you then add them to the
combined current deck until the exam? Or do they always stay in the class cards deck?
Thanks!
Hey Shamim! So I want to do the Zanki step 2 CK deck. I've changed my settings to yours
except that I do not have the combined current and combined review deck. I just do a
subdeck in Zanki. Would the settings and preferences that you've recommend be all right?
Also I've changed the max interval to 15 days like Zanki himself did. PL help! Thanks so
much for this guide. Really appreciate it.
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This guide has been really helpful, thank you! I'm looking forward to your future posts
especially your workflow for studying, and how to create high yield cards from lecture.
Thanks so much, this helped heaps!!! Can't wait for your other guides, especially the one
on creating cards on lecture material, because that's what I struggle with the most. It
always takes so long!
Thank you :) Check out the new posts on how to make cards.
This is incredible - I just had one quick question. After moving the cards from the Zanki
deck into "combined current" or "combined review", does that mean at the end of this
process my Zanki decks will be totally empty? I like having their hierarchical structure but
I guess this means I'll just have to depend on the tags?
Hey Austin, please read the updates, it should clarify most of your concerns.
Austin - I had the same question - Shamim does explain it in this article but this
video goes into more detail https://youtu.be/KPy16t1d_eQ - I hope this helps you!
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Shamim, thank you for your generosity and taking the time to share your work with
us! So helpful! You are on my list of people to thank on this journey of medicine.
This is so helpful, thank you so much for this post! I'm a heavy Anki user but I love seeing
how other people use it, what settings and deck preferences they have etc. Can't wait to see
your upcoming posts! :D
This is incredible. I can't thank you enough. It's stuff like this that makes me so grateful to
be a medical student with peers that are such good humans. Take care.
Glad to call you a friend and a future colleague. Thank you so much :)
the option group for the Class deck is "50N 50R" or "default"?
Also, after i'm done with a module/exam, do I move cards from Class deck to Combined
Review or do they stay in Class deck?
And does this studying method involve using anki ONLY? And not referring back to the
lecture slides/books/etc before the exam? if yes, does this mean that i'll never study the
low-yield information since the cards cover only what is high-yield?
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Hello,
Would you be willing to teach a group of students the basics of using Anki?
does the image say 315 or 3 15 ? first options default setting new cards steps in minutes...?
Choosing a profession relating to health or medical career is a rewarding job but, also a
tough one. It is important to know where you are passionate and pursue that dream of
yours! Thank you for sharing this helpful information.
Thanks in advance
Sara
Hi! So did you have the Zanki deck (or whichever pre-made deck you used) separate from
your Combined Review and Combined Current decks, or did you move cards from the
Zanki deck into your CC and CR ones? If the latter, did moving the cards disrupt the tag
structure of the original deck? I'm trying to figure out if will be moving all the Zanki cards
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to my CR deck by the time dedicated comes around or if I should preserve the Zanki deck
structure as it is right now. Thank you!
Hi Shamim (and other Anki users). In your opinion and experience, is it advisable to
suspend cards which you think you already know very well (the first time you come across
them) and don't wish to repeat or take to maturation? Thanks!
So if I am using Anki, Lightyear, Pathoma cards, and want to suspend all, and then
unsuspend them according to the subject being covered at that time in my module, how
do I categorize them? Do I start with all of them in class, move them to combined current
during the module before an exam, and then move them to combined review after an
exam?
I’m a bit confused on how you utilize the 3 decks (class, combined current and combined
review) when using a pre-built deck like Zanki. Do you just migrate the cards? What’s the
best way to make sure you are getting a full view of the material?
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thanks!
Hi! I reached half way through and i'm having a lot of trouble seeing the screenshots
clearly. they are all really blurry and i cant make out the numbers set in the options. is it
just me or do other people have this problem as well?
just to clarify, this is only for the pictures when you click on the gear icon to set up
the default and create another option group
Shamim, Thank you so much for your help on putting this guide together and for the
tutorial. I was wondering if you could let me know which deck was the base used to create
the deck that you created. Was this the pepper deck and zanki?
Can you explain when/why to use the 50N 50R setting? I'm not sure I understand the
difference between that and the default.
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Please help me!! I downloaded a deck from the link and realized it's the add on. I just
installed anki, I'm not sure I downloaded the right link,should I start all over again? there's
no decks called combined and current combined?!
Thank you so much! I'm first year and have been struggling to find the best way to study
via Anki. This seems like an amazing help! I was wondering how you would recommend
studying lecture material throughout the week, when to create the cards and how you'd
review them. Any help would be great :) thank you again!
Hi, I'm not from medical school but I'd like to understand the difference between the deck
Class and Combined Current. I thought that Combined Current will be the current classes
you're taking in, but then the deck Class is for what? Can you explain it a little further for
me? (I'm going to use this approach for law school).
how do you find the relevant cards to study for each topic? for example anatomy? do you
just go to "browse" and then go into "whole Collection" and in there type in a keyword, like
"Biochemistry" and unsuspend it? when i search in the "whole collection" for biochemistry,
nothing comes up, so i'm confused! any help greatly appreciated :)
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One question though, how can I properly use the combined current deck since I may have
not covered the material yet on some of the cards that show up? Or am I supposed to
review the new material from the cards as I go even if I have not yet seen them in class?
Hello-
Thank you so much for the great review! Just wondering if I'm doing something wrong
because when I click on psychiatry, for example, no cards come up yet it's shown as a tag.
Is there a different way of finding all the cards for my psychiatry/GI/CV systems? Thanks
again!
Many thanks for your work. However, as a long term Anki-user I find also many useful
informations here. But please one question: Can you please copy the front template /
styling / back template as a content and explain these useful function? I'd never worked
with these options and I've no idea how this works. Thanks a lot!
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Shamin, thank you for putting this guide together. I've been wanting to get into Anki for
the longest time, but have always been putting it off because of the steep learning curve.
Thank you so much! I had no idea on how to use Anki so I've just been winging it and I
see I haven't been using it correctly at all... You're awesome!
what is the class deck for if all current material for an exam is in the combined current?
'Combined Current' and 'Combined Review' will have only premade cards. The
Class deck will have cards that you made. I personally don't like to mix them in the
same deck.
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okay, so if you do not mix premade and self made cards then what to do with
the self made class cards after the exam? delete, suspend, what?
I was wondering the same thing--what do you do with the "class" cards
after you've finished that block?
Hey, you can read the update that I just made. Basically you can suspend them or
continue to study them, it's all up to the amount of time you have and the work
you're willing to do.
For Clarification:
Class Deck = Material I covered in Lecture/Lab etc and want to make immediate cards for
Combined Current = Previous material that I've studied and want to keep fresh
Combined Review = Class Deck + Combined Current + Anything else that may not have
been covered
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Class deck will always have cards that you made from lecture material. The
'Combined Review' is your other main deck. The 'Combined Current' deck will have
only current-module cards which you will move to 'Combined Review' after you're
done with those cards.
So do you make entirely new decks for you lecture material? or do you simply
make cards for topics you can't find in the premade decks? Is there a fast and
easy way to ensure I'm not doing too much unnecessary overlapping? I don't
want to spend a ton of time making new cards if most the cards I need have
already been made
THANK YOU so much for this! This was so clear and useful. I love Anki but I don't know
how to use all the features yet and it's overwhelming trying to find everything online so
having one place to go to that's clear like what you just wrote is so helpful. And having the
link to download the decks! I've browsed through the Reddit thread that has all the Anki
info but so overwhelming. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!
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Continue Reading…
Shamim's Guide to Medical School How to Hyperspeed Through Anki 5 Must-Have Anki Addons for
Using Anki (USMLE Step 1 and Reviews Using a Timer Medical Students (Anki 2.0 and
Class) 2.1)
6 Steps to Make High Yield Anki How to Design Beautiful Anki How to Use Anki Mobile for
Cards for Medical School Cards Medical School
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https://medshamim.com/med/anki-step-one 22/22