Master pharmacology with effective study tips, Sketchy + Anki strategies, and real student advice to stay engaged, retain info, and ace exams.
Hi, I’m Allie - a fourth-year medical student applying EM! I have finally made it through the objectively most difficult part of medical school - the first three years (2 years of didactics and 2 rounds of boards).
Suffice to say, I have the experience to say that making it through pharmacology is easily the most difficult feat of all. The drug names are all random collections of letters (imatinib?), and the mechanisms feel similarly made up (binds the ATP-binding site of the BCR-ABL fusion protein?). Pharmacology is difficult in multiple aspects: there’s so much straight up memorization of drug names, indications, mechanisms, side effects, drug interactions, etc., AND then you have to be able to apply them in clinical scenarios.
I’m hoping this article can be used as a guide for anyone in a similar situation—med students, PA students, NP students—who could benefit from some tips on tackling the feat of pharmacology. I’ll be going over study strategies for implementing Sketchy Pharm into your study routine (both alone and with other resources like Anki) and FAQs.
As I mentioned, pharmacology is a super difficult topic to tackle for exams AND clinical relevance. The sheer volume of drugs alone is enough to send any student into a spiral— and now add the multiple things you must know about each drug.
During the late nights of studying, I constantly found myself wondering—is this relevant? Do I actually have to know this for my clinical practice one day?
For better or worse, the answer is: absolutely. As I have ventured into clinical rotations, I’ve been amazed at how applicable pharmacology didactics are. They serve as a building block for a fountain of new knowledge you will accumulate (and truly can only accumulate) on in-person clinicals and real-life patient scenarios. By saying this, I am not trying to scare you, but rather stress the importance of a good study plan and staying on top of studying the drugs.
Everyone is different and finds their own methods of utilizing Sketchy and what works for them. The most effective way I have found for tackling pharmacology is Sketchy mixed with Anki.
Specifically, I watch the videos and then make my own personal Anki on them. Usually, on the front side of the card, I will say something like: “Digoxin- mechanism, indication, side effects,” and then on the back side, I will include a screenshot of the completed Sketchy video and write the high-yield parts of the video and their associated mnemonic.
I have found this is a good way to see the visual mnemonics again without having to watch the entire video a second or third time. As much as I wish I could rewatch all the videos multiple times, there is not enough time in a day to do that and stay on top of other studying. Sometimes I will rewatch a video if I feel like I need an overall refresher, but generally, watching it once with Anki review is sufficient for me.
For those who don’t want to take the time to make their own decks, there are a plethora of premade decks out there that you can download and review. The reason I didn’t use these was because I felt they were focused on memorizing the Sketchy drawings rather than the drugs, but I know people who utilize the premade decks and love them. It boils down to what you want to include on your cards (the premade ones often have screenshots of specific portions of the videos rather than the video as a whole) and the time you are willing to put into creating your own cards.
Sometimes it takes some trial and error to figure out what works best for you. Alternatively, there is so much room for creativity in utilizing other resources for supplementing Sketchy videos. You could annotate in the First Aid textbook, add to your own class notes, or create your own review document altogether. A method I often found myself doing was doing focused question sets on Uworld or Combank after watching or studying the drugs. It was a great way to see exactly how the questions are asked and what information is the most important. The options are truly endless.
It is important to build a study routine that aligns with your curriculum and exam dates. At the beginning of each exam block, I perused the video topics and noted which ones aligned with the study material for that exam. You can watch the videos either before or after you have the lecture; I have found both methods to be effective, so it’s dealer’s choice.
After knowing which videos to watch, you can either schedule them in to align with certain lectures or spread them evenly throughout. One benefit to them being spaced throughout is that it almost acts more as spaced repetition vs. having the same content (in the form of lecture and Sketchy videos) back-to-back.
I liked watching the videos either to start my study day (squeeze one or two in before lecture in the morning) or to end the day as an “easier” study method to wind down the night. Some people use it to break up the day, but either way, it’s nice to have so many options.
One thing I will strongly recommend is scheduling shorter, focused blocks instead of longer cram sessions. I found that if I watched Sketchy for too long without breaking up the material, the mnemonics started to blur together, and I began mixing up topics. I started keeping the Sketchy study sessions to just a handful of videos at a time and this really helped keep the content clear and separate for me. It was less overwhelming this way and much easier to stay consistent with watching the videos.
Sketchy is the best resource for breaking down complex topics into manageable pieces. It helps keep you engaged on long, boring topics with super effective memory hooks and visual mnemonics. Not only can you watch the videos, but there are nifty tools such as the Symbol Explorer and Quiz Questions that add variety and ease to study sessions. Instead of rewatching an entire video, it is easy to quickly scroll through the Symbol Explorer and find a specific symbol or part of the video you want to revisit. Or you can utilize the symbols to quickly and actively quiz yourself on the material you just saw to ensure you are not just passively watching videos. The Quiz Questions are nice to utilize after videos because they are short and make sure you have a decent understanding of important points in the video before moving on.
Another interesting feature Sketchy has is Cases where you can practice your diagnosis skills. You communicate with AI attendings and AI patients in realistic case scenarios. You talk back and forth as if you are taking a patient history and communicating your findings to the attending. It is complete with lab values, EKGs, and treatment plans. There are a wide variety of cases to choose from, and they really make you think critically. I would highly recommend utilizing this feature if you have the time! It is especially great for topics you aren’t as confident in to understand how they may actually present in a patient and which aspects of the topic are most important to focus on.
Let’s be honest—video fatigue is real. Jumping from topic to topic for short videos can be tiring and the long videos can be so daunting to even start, BUT there are so many ways to manage this.
First, you can batch your lessons. The topics are broken up nicely into subsections. For example, one day you can focus on the Parasympathetic videos in the Autonomic Drug Section. Or your goal can be to get through all the Autonomic Drug videos in 1 week.
If there is a particularly long and complicated video topic, maybe that is the only video you watch that day. Another option is to watch a video or two, switch gears and do review cards or mini quizzes, and then go back to watching Sketchy.
Breaking up the material into manageable chunks is the least terrifying way to approach the amount of material to cover and helps to keep you on task and on a good schedule.
One time during my second year, I had a few super long Sketchy videos to watch, so I hooked up my computer to an HDMI cable and watched it on the tv from my couch with a cup of coffee. It was a fun switch in my routine and actually helped me get through them pretty easily.
It’s important, though, not to panic if you fall behind. It happens to every single student from time to time. It is important to reset your approach when this happens, whether that means watching the videos on 2x speed, watching them fewer times, doing fewer repetitions, etc.; a quick pass of the material is better than nothing.
I tried to watch them once, maybe twice. I found that I did not have enough time in a day to rewatch every single video, as much as I would have liked to. That being said, there are certain videos I rewatched for a refresher if I felt they were especially detailed or high yield, such as the First-Generation Antipsychotic and Second-Generation Antipsychotic videos. After watching them once or twice, I definitely reviewed my notes or ANKI decks multiple times as it was a more time-efficient and quite effective way to reinforce the Sketchy material.
This boils down to personal preference. I made my own Anki decks - I felt that actually making them was a review of the material in itself, and I liked customizing them to what worked best for me. On the front of the card, I put the drug name and what I wanted to know about it. For example, “Digoxin: Mechanism, indication, side effects.” On the back of the card, I put a screenshot of the entire digoxin Sketchy video and explained the mnemonics utilizing the symbol tool. For example, “The deflated heart balloon = used to treat systolic heart failure.” Some people prefer downloading premade decks, such as Anking, to save time. Personally, I felt like the premade decks focused on memorizing the drawings vs the drug itself, which is why I chose to make my own. Everyone is different and it may take some trial and error to figure out which method works better for you.
The key to remembering the vast quantity of information for boards is repetition. It is impossible to master any topic your first time through it. The more you revisit a topic, the more comfortable you will feel with it and the more minor details will be able to stick better. My best resource for repetition was Anki decks of the pharmacology. On top of repetition, application via practice questions is an invaluable resource and excellent use of time. It helps you apply what you are learning and see exactly how these drugs will be tested.
Absolutely. It can be so easy to get caught up on a specific detail or topic that isn’t sticking with you for whatever reason. Resist the temptation to delve deep into the rabbit hole of resources on a specific detail about a broad topic. It is often just a time suck that truly may not even benefit you in the end. Instead, focus on covering more ground and getting a broader understanding of the drugs on your first pass through the material. Each time you go through it, you can learn more and more of the details, and they will seem way less daunting and be easier to comprehend. I always skipped the drug interactions on my first pass. It was just too much for me. After I had a good understanding of the drug and what it's used for, THEN I would try to learn the interactions. And honestly, sometimes I would STILL skip the interactions. It is impossible to know every detail about every topic, and it is way more effective to move on when it’s becoming too much of a time suck.
When short on time, I try to focus on the more high-yield, bang-for-your-buck topics. Whether its certain high-yield drugs themselves (see the next FAQ) or certain portions of the drugs (I recommend mechanisms and side effects if nothing else), it is okay to be strategic with your time.
The absolute MUST-watch, nonnegotiable videos are First-Generation Antipsychotics, Second Generation Antipsychotics, and Benzodiazepines & Flumazenil. I have seen questions on these countless times on exams, boards, and clinical practice. I still picture the mnemonics in my head when I encounter such scenarios. Other high-yields include psychiatry pharmacology as a whole (MAO Inhibitors, Tricyclic Antidepressants, Buspirone, etc.), antineoplastics (specifically Platins, Cytotoxic Antibiotics, Mitotic Inhibitors, and Topoisomerase Inhibitors), and autonomic system (Muscarinic Antagonists, Sympathomimetics, etc.).
The biggest advice I have for successfully studying pharmacology is to emphasize understanding the content instead of blindly memorizing mnemonics. Mnemonics are SO helpful, but only when utilized in such a way to supplement your learning, not be the main method of learning. If you want to ensure you are effectively using Sketchy as a study tool, you can use test questions from question banks or the Sketchy mini quizzes to identify weak spots. It is a great way to get a feel for what types of questions they may ask about certain drugs.
Another little pearl I want to share is that it’s extremely helpful if you are able to make clinical connections between the drugs you are learning and the experiences you have had with patient encounters. This isn’t always immediately possible, of course, but something to keep in mind once you are on clinical rotations and can actively connect the drugs to patients you have seen. If you’re not on rotations yet, try one of the patient cases in Sketchy!
The last piece of advice I have is to allow yourself to take breaks. Pharmacology is one of the hardest topics we have to study - give yourself some grace! It is so difficult. Breaks are okay. If something isn’t clicking, take a step away and revisit the topic. Or if you are so absolutely exhausted, take the break and study once you are rejuvenated. It will only benefit you more in the end. Trying to study when I am too tired is never effective and it usually either takes twice as long as it should or I just straight up don’t remember the material. The most difficult part of building my study schedule when I started medical school was forcing myself to be more flexible and being okay with my schedule changing last minute. Sometimes it is unavoidable.
All in all, Sketchy is a great way to cover high-yield, difficult-to-master topics and there are endless methods that can be utilized to make your Sketchy studying successful.
You got this!
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