Disclaimer! As always, I value my relationship with you all! For complete transparency, this post is sponsored by Sketchy Medical. Know that I would never share any resources that I haven’t used or love myself 🙂 And many of you know how much I love Sketchy!
It’s true what they say. Medical school is like “drinking from a firehose.” I have always struggled with memorizing material, especially when it came to subjects like anatomy, microbiology, and pharmacology.
I mean it when I say that I could not have passed my microbiology and pharmacology blocks and Step 1 without Sketchy. It is truly a gem of a resource. Many of you have probably heard of Sketchy or are even already using it. But now that I’m a 4th year, I wanted to share some insights.
Who should use Sketchy?
- All medical students whether you attend an allopathic or osteopathic medical school!
- Undergraduate students studying microbiology
- Pharmacy students who may find memory palaces helpful for memorizing drugs and side effects
What is Sketchy?
- Sketchy is an animated video resource that students use to memorize material like microbiology and pharmacology.
- It employs a memorization technique called “memory palaces”. A memory palace is an imagined place, or “palace” with different objects that represent specific concepts. Sketchy creates these memory palaces using animated drawings or “sketches”. You know how you can never remember the exact street name, but you know where a place is because of what’s around it? Memory palaces play on this concept. A concrete example is a memory palace that features an imagine mansion with a bunch of bananas in it that are supposed to remind you of potassium.
- For medical students, there is a pre-clinical and clinical deck. More specifically, “Sketchy Medical” covers all your Step 1 and Step 2 needs.
When should I start using it?
- Ideally, first year of medical school when you have your microbiology, pharmacology, or pathology courses.
- Sketchy recently released a Step 2/Clinical series, which you can use in your clinical years of medical school (3rd and 4th years)
Where can I access it?
Why should I use Sketchy?
- Sketchy WORKS. The memory palace works.
- Sketchy doesn’t stop being useful after Step 1. IT STICKS!
- For example, I sound way smarter than I am on rounds because I can remember rare associations, like the JC virus in renal transplant patients.
- As a fourth year, I still know the side effects of drugs, like how HCTZ can cause hyperglycemia and hyperuricemia. Not because I’m some genius, but because I remember the sketch!!
- It makes memorizing much more bearable. I’d even say a whole lot easier. I know that there was no way I could’ve passed my microbiology and pharm blocks without Sketchy.
- One regret I have is not using Sketchy for Step 2. I didn’t reach my goal score as I did for Step 1 (I still did okay but still). I recently got access to it and recommend it if you find that some diseases are just impossible to remember. For example, pericarditis has always been a tough topic for me but the Sketch helped me remember all the etiologies and associations.
How should I use Sketchy?
- Review Cards
- Your subscription will also include a “review card” at the bottom of each video, which is a sketch of the entire video with labels reminding you of what each symbol represents when you hover over it.
- It’s a great way to consolidate and review what you just watched.
- Purchase workbook
- Highly recommend getting a printout of all the Sketches for you to take notes on and remind you of the Sketches.
- Having a hard printout of the Sketches can serve as an exam review right before a test.
- Anki
- I used the Anking Step decks to reinforce!
What’s New with Sketchy?
Sketchy has combined their material for Step 1 and Step 2 in a single subscription! They’re offering 20% off on all their subscription plans for Black Friday and I highly recommend snagging yours before it ends!
“MED20BF” for 20% off Sketchy Medical
“MCAT20BF” for 20% off Sketchy MCAT
Hi! Thanks so much for the information. Is there an order you would recommend watching SKetchy in to prep for first year?