Introduction to Anki

● So, what is Anki and why should I use it?

○ Anki is a flashcard system that we found helpful during our post-bacc year
○ Most people use this system in professional school to learn large amounts of
information in a consistent and effective way
○ Concept of spaced repetition
■ Anki works by using spaced repetition algorithms which help you prevent
natural forgetting and can help you to intentionally commit information into
long-term memory
● Definition of spaced-repetition: is a method where the subject is
asked to remember a certain fact with the time intervals increasing
each time the fact is presented or said.
■ Its most effective when you make your own notecards and do your
notecards consistently (preferably every day) because the program
spaces your reviews for you
○ Ways to use it for certain classes
■ Terms
■ Equations
■ Draw out mechanism for ochem
■ Learning the amino acids
■ Memorizing everything
● How to download
○ https://apps.ankiweb.net/
○ Make sure you download the correct one for your type of computer
○ Be cautious if your Anki prompts you to update. Make sure the update will run on
your specific computer
● How to use add-ons and suggestions (https://ankiweb.net/shared/addons/)
○ There are many add-ons available. Find what might work best for you! Here are a
few that we found particularly useful.
■ Frozen Fields (https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/516643804)
● Allows you to freeze a certain field in your Anki to easily add the
same content to multiple cards
■ Heatmap
(https://github.com/glutanimate/review-heatmap/releases/download/v1.0.0
-beta.1/review-heatmap-v1.0.0-beta.1-anki21.ankiaddon)
● Visual representation of your study days and quantities studied
■ Timer (https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1046608507)
● Prompts you to move on to new cards if you cannot answer within
a set period of time
■ Image occlusion (https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1374772155)
● Allows you to place blocks over images
● Especially useful for anatomy
● How to use Anki
○ Adding new decks
■ Press “Create Deck” at the bottom of your screen
■ You can drag and drop decks into larger categories in order to study
several things at once. This allows you to organize your Anki page and
study strategies in many ways
○ Adding new cards
■ Click “Add” at the top of your screen. Look at the top right of the pop-up
window to ensure that you are placing these cards into the appropriate
deck
■ Click the box next to “Type” to choose between various card options
■ Basic
● Allows you to make a simple note card with a “front” and “back”
● This type of card will only show you the “front” side of the card
first, with the “back” side as the answer
■ Basic (and reversed card)
● Allows you to make a simple note card with front and back,
however for each card you add, it will add two: one with each
option as the front and each option as the back
● Especially helpful with vocabulary
■ Cloze
● This allows you to hide one or more words within your card,
creating a “fill in the blank” type card
● Create a hidden word by highlighting the word you want to cloze
and pressing the “[...]” symbol.
● There are several keyboard shortcuts that can be used in order to
make this, as well as other portions of your Anki studying, more
efficient
■ Image occlusion
● Ensure that you have downloaded the add-on
● Copy and paste an image into a new card, right click, and press
“occlude image”
● Alternatively, you can press the small photo symbol on the upper
right hand side of your new card screen
● Place boxes over whatever you want to be tested on
● Choose either “Hide All, Guess One” or “Hide one, Guess One”
● You will see how many cards you added in the lower left hand
portion of your screen
○ Extra field
■ It can be useful to have an extra field to paste pictures, powerpoint slides,
or additional information that you want to see when along with the
answers to your cards
■ To add an extra field, click “Add”, press “Fields”, click “Add” in order to
name and and add as many extra fields as you would like
● How to download decks
○ https://ankiweb.net/decks/
○ Scroll down
○ Click on “Get shared decks”
○ Suggestions specific for post baccs
■ Amino acids
● https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/274734459
■ Miledown for MCAT
● https://drive.google.com/file/d/1neyVXp_prnmVManHHCB6lZOOL
6xEykPE/view
● Remember to “sync” your work to the web Anki frequently!
● Additional resource: Youtuber Prerak Juthani
○ A medical student with many videos that explain Anki, useful add-ons, and study
tips!
○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saVJN5-_JDM&list=PLoRUsKSPCHAYv6On
DZQnb_TjGn6WGIpud