Anki is a flashcard program built around spaced repetition, and "AnKing" decks are shared card sets made for the USMLE. This page explains what Anki is and how students use it; confirm deck contents and versions with their creators.
What Anki is
- Anki describes itself as "a flashcard program that helps you spend more time on challenging material, and less on what you already know."
- It is a community project. The computer version is free on major platforms. AnkiDroid for Android is free, and AnkiMobile for iOS is the official iPhone and iPad app (listed at $24.99 on the App Store when we checked), with sales supporting Anki's development.
- The iOS app describes using the same SM2 and FSRS scheduling algorithms as the computer version.
AnKing and other shared decks
The AnKing deck is a large, shared Anki deck made by a community of medical students for the USMLE. Many students download a deck like this instead of making every card themselves. Check the creators' site for which resources the cards are tied to and how updates work.
Using Anki well
- Review daily. Spaced repetition only works if reviews do not pile up.
- Make fewer, better cards. A huge deck can become a burden; many students suspend cards for topics they have not studied yet.
- Add from questions. Add misses from a QBank such as UWorld so the cards match what you got wrong.
- Do not skip practice. Flashcards test recall; the exam tests application. See mnemonics and buzzwords.
See study resources compared for how Anki fits next to videos and question banks, and the USMLE Step 1 guide for what Step 1 covers.