Asynchronous Assignment + Checklist

READ THIS FIRST: How to Use the Asynchronous Assignment

• First, make sure you have completed this assignment
• Second, use this explainer to know what you should document every day
• Third, watch the explainer below to learn how to go through an Asynchronous Assignment
• Create your Asynchronous document here
• Share it via your Discord thread, and make it so anyone with the link can edit

If you are working with Dr. Palmerton or another tutor 1-on-1:

Please book your appointments weekly for the first 4-5 weeks. After this initial period, we will decide whether to continue weekly sessions or spread them out based on your progress and needs.

Before each session, make sure to complete your Asynchronous Assignment.

If you are working with Dr. Palmerton in Small Groups:

• Join the Discord Group
• Complete Asynchronous Assignments: To make the most of your coaching time, complete a fresh Asynchronous Assignment for at least two questions before every session.
• Important: Ensure all sections are filled out (e.g., screenshots of Anki stats, UWorld test pages). Incomplete submissions may cut into coaching time.

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→  → → PLEASE FOLLOW THIS EXAMPLE HERE ← ← ←

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Have You Done the START HERE Lessons?

NOTE: you MUST have mastered ALL the START HERE Anki lessons to do this assignment. If you have not done the Accelerator, do so first, then return to this assignment.

Checklist:

With this exercise, there are four things you should be thinking about generally. Are you:

1. Identifying the concept / SAQ they are testing?
2. Making APPROPRIATE cards?
3. Following Anki best practices?
4. Identifying and mastering broad topics when appropriate?

I will explain these briefly, then discuss the assignment.

1. Are you identifying the concept / SAQ they are testing?

An easy way to miss a question is to not understand its purpose. We spend a lot of time on this with the Course. If you’d like more, I recommend looking at / doing the SAQ assignment, which is the basis for this current assignment as well.

2. Are you making APPROPRIATE cards?

This is critical. Two of the biggest problems I see is students making:

• The wrong KIND of card for why they missed a question
• Cards where they shouldn’t be

When you get a question wrong, you need to ask yourself WHY you missed it. If you missed it because:

• You don’t understand a concept → make a concept card
• You didn’t recognize what was going on and/or missed the diagnosis → make a PC card
• You read something wrong / some other problem → you probably shouldn’t make a card

Reflect on why you missed the question and make sure you are making appropriate cards.

3. Are your cards following Anki best practices?

This is another big one. Remember that for Concept cards, the format should be:

(Concept) – use ________ to explain (something clinically relevant) <br><br>

For example:

Left vs. right heart failure – use the order that blood flows through the cardiopulmonary circuit to explain how you could distinguish the two

Another very common mistake is on PC cards, asking questions like, “What is the best next step in management?” Remember, the more questions you ask, the more likely you’ll get it wrong and have to repeat the entire thing, making you more miserable and your cards less useful.

4. Are you identifying and mastering broad topics?

Sometimes you realize when doing a question that you don’t know much/anything about the broader topic. Let’s say you get a question wrong about streptococcal meningitis. In the process, you realize you’ve been avoiding learning about CSF findings in meningitis. Do you:

1. Make a concept card on strep meningitis (1-2 cards), or
2. Make a series of cards so you can (finally) understand the CSF findings for meningitis (4-10+ cards, depending on the topics)?

Generally, you should be mastering one broad topic per day. Yes, initially you will “cover” less. Also, since these are the things we struggle with, we avoid them often. However, just imagine what you could do if you were to master one broad topic every day for a week? A month? Longer? The results compound very quickly.

Be sure to include the cards from mastering one broader topic in your document.

How to Make a Google Doc:

Make a Google Doc and share the link with me via the Discord thread.

Be sure to give me edit access so BOTH of us can type into the document. Read about how to do this here.

Please share the document with me, and allow me to edit it

Please share the document with me, and allow me to edit it