Local disease – resection +/- chemotherapy Generally, though, you can think of cancer treatment as: I’m not an oncologist, and my view of oncologic treatment is simplistic. Is it true? Most likely! However, I’d argue it’s missing the general principle underlying it – a principle that would allow you to predict the treatment of many/most tumors, given a small amount of information. Here we are to memorize that treatment of osteosarcoma is en bloc resection and chemotherapy. Here is an example from the Zanki Anki page: This same issue of memorization > mastery shows up with Zanki and many other premade decks. Zanki and Many Premade Decks Tend to Focus on Memorization/Rote Learning When I used to memorize things as details, this sort of false intuition/anchoring happened all the time – and I also see it happen with those who rely on rote learning. And perhaps I don’t even consider a more likely condition like pulmonary embolism because my knowledge is so superficial. Then, if I see a patient on oral contraceptives with sudden pleuritic chest pain and dyspnea – no fever/cough – maybe I think pneumonia because I anchor on the pleuritic chest pain buzzword. Let’s say I memorize that pneumonia gives me a cough, dyspnea, fever, and pleuritic chest pain. But unfortunately, where rote learning falls short is when the context/wording changes. Whenever I memorize something, I hope that what I will see on my future test – or clinical practice – will be close enough to what I crammed that I can get the question/scenario correct. However, is it limiting and inefficient? Yes. The Downsides of Memorization: Fragile Ability to Get Questions Correct

In other words, while Anki/spaced repetition has natural advantages for Retention, there are few/any natural advantages for application/learning.

Flashcards don’t necessarily help you with applying it.

Flashcards may not be great to learn from (they don’t solve Depth on their own), and.

However, anyone who has used Anki has also likely realized that: Premade decks like Zanki go a step further and help with Breadth – they tell us exactly where we should focus, which is valuable to students deluged with information. Anyone who has used Anki for any period realizes it can help tremendously with recall. Spaced repetition and flashcards generally help a lot with 3) Retention. Zanki and Premade Decks Help with Breadth and Retention Struggle with Depth/Learning and Transfer Transfer means I can learn information in one context and use it in another. We need to master enough things – and remember them – to have a chance to do well on any exams/clinical practice.Īpplication – or transfer – is ultimately the problem all education seeks to solve. The first three – Breadth, Depth, and Retention – are self-explanatory.

Application: use it in test/clinical settings.

Studying for the USMLEs – and for medicine generally – must solve four problems: USMLE Studying: Breadth, Depth, Retention, and Application

The #1 thing to address before you can get the most out of Zanki, and.Who likely will benefit the most from Zanki,.The pros and cons of Zanki and other premade med school Anki decks,.

What all USMLE (and med school) studying needs to address,.These premade flashcards with Zanki promise to make studying faster by showing you what you should learn and providing the means to retain it.īut are there any downsides to Zanki or other memorization-heavy Anki decks? If so, what are they? Many have used premade decks like Zanki, Brosencephalon, SLy FAux, lolnotacop, or other versions floating around the interwebs. Nearly every med student in the US has heard of, used, and/or knows someone who uses Anki.

Yousmle step 2 anki review