Premium
An Investigation of Anki Flashcards as a Study Tool Among First Year Medical Students Learning Anatomy
Author(s) -
Rana Tanvi,
Laoteppitaks Chaiya,
Zhang Guiyun,
Troutman Gregory,
Chandra Shruti
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.09736
Subject(s) - medical education , gross anatomy , medicine , anatomy , psychology , medical physics , computer science
Purpose Anatomy is a challenging course in medical school, in part because of the vast number of facts that must be memorized. Current literature suggests the value of spaced repetition in the learning of factual information, and online tools such as Anki flashcards have been developed to facilitate it. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of curriculum‐specific Anki flashcards as a study tool for first year medical students learning anatomy. Methods A set of Anki flashcards was created for the anatomy thread of Block 1 (back, pectoral, shoulder, vertebral regions) and Block 3A (cardiac & pulmonary regions) of the JeffMD curriculum at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Upon completion of an initial survey, study volunteers were provided with the curriculum‐specific flashcards. Following the anatomy exam in each block, another survey was administered to gather data regarding participants’ usage and opinions of the flashcards. Results and Conclusions 148 students completed the initial survey and were provided with the flashcards. Of the 78 students that used the curriculum‐specific flashcards and completed the post‐exam survey in Block 1, 20.5% found them extremely helpful, 29.5% very helpful, 33.3% moderately helpful, 15.4% slightly helpful, and 1.3% not at all helpful. Furthermore, 60.3% believed that the flashcards helped reduce anxiety related to the anatomy, while 18.0% did not believe that they reduced anxiety. Of the 60 students that used the curriculum‐specific flashcards and completed the post‐exam survey in Block 3A, 41.7% found them extremely helpful, 36.7% very helpful, 11.7% moderately helpful, and 10.0% slightly helpful. Moreover, 76.7% believed that the flashcards helped reduce anxiety related to the anatomy, while 15.0% did not believe that they reduced anxiety. These results suggest that spaced repetition of anatomy facts through curriculum‐specific Anki flashcards may have a positive impact on affective learning outcomes among first year medical students. Support or Funding Information Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University