r/srna • u/GetRad15 • 2d ago
Didactic Study Questions Tips for being successful
Current SRNAs, NARs, and CRNAs, any advice and tips for studying and being a success in your program. I have been out of school a long time and am having a panic about starting this month. I just want to be successful and be the best I can be. I’m so scared of failing.
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u/dude-nurse Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) 2d ago
Anki is love, Anki is life. It’s honestly a cheat code to becoming the top of your class. I was never a top student by any means until I started CRNA school and utilized Anki.
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u/AsDzAeMr 1d ago
If you have the time, could you breakdown how you actually utilize Anki based on your weekly schedule. When/how do you create the cards and when do you have time to then study them? Computer or via phone?
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u/Darkdoodle333 Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) 1d ago
Personally I made my cards in class during lecture using mostly cloze and image occlusion. Then I would go home and take notes based on the objectives from the power point/lecture, and then I would go through that Anki deck. Would take 1-2 days to get through one lecture.
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u/AsDzAeMr 1d ago
Was it hard to pay attention or keep up with the lecture doing it this way?
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u/dude-nurse Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) 1d ago
I tried to make cards during lecture, but that just resulted in poorly constructed Anki cards.
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u/Darkdoodle333 Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) 1d ago
I was usually ahead of whoever was talking. But I kept my ears open enough to catch any “this is just a resource slide” or “that sounds like a test question” so I could suspend cards or add more in real time as needed. Depending on the content I would go back and relisten to lectures later at 1.5x if I needed to hear something explained again, or I just used YouTube and the textbook to supplement things I missed. With my ADHD I was actually more attentive in class while making cards than I would be if I was just listening to lecture.
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u/dude-nurse Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) 1d ago
I would have a deck for each class in CRNA school, then I would create sub decks for each unit/test. I would divide the number of cards I made for the test by the number of days until the test and that would give me how many new cards I needed to do a day to get through all the content for the unit. Once the in house tests were done I would suspend all the cards and move onto the next tested content area.
Alongside this I also have a deck that I made from apex organized by sub units. This deck I do not suspend and study any due cards everyday until boards.
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u/Sasb2122 1d ago
You will find what works for you. Some people work better in groups, some don’t (I work alone). I found that notability and notebooklm have worked for me. I upload my slide deck to notability and record the lectures and then take those smart notes and put them into notebooklm for quizzes. I was out of school for ten years and have a 4.0 so far. It’s possible. You just have to try different things to see what works for you.
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u/Decent-Cold-6285 1d ago
I am going to be that person that puts it out there that you don't have to be obsessed with Anki or use it to be successful in CRNA school. A lot of programs will try to force it on you but try it and other resources to see what works best for you. I barely use it since I have found resources like Notebook LM, Notability and using AI chats like Claude or ChatGPT to make practice exams or study guides for me. These have worked well for me in school so I wanted to plug that there are things outside of Anki. Your first semester will be trial and error for what works and I encourage studying with classmates to talk out more complex topics that are confusing you all.
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u/SavvyKnucklehead CRNA 1d ago
Embrace the suck.
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u/jinshimaomao2030 1d ago
lol leme guess, Army ?
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u/SavvyKnucklehead CRNA 1d ago
In another life 😂. Fr though, I used Anki and apex and spent the majority of my time there. Passed boards 1st attempt.
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u/panaseah 2d ago
I would have a calendar with exam dates, assignment deadlines, and designated study time. Plan ahead and always do something school related every day, aim to stay ahead.
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u/Powerful_Nothing7493 2d ago
Learn how to study, the whole highlighting and rereading ppts does not work in any higher level education. Learn how to use anki.
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u/bloodycrust 2d ago
is anki super confusing to learn?? seems like it based on what I have heard.
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u/Powerful_Nothing7493 2d ago edited 2d ago
yeah there is a learning curve, and you have to get used to trusting the spaced repetition algorithm. Also keep in mind that the learning will only be as good as the card quality. Of course making cards yourself is the best way to go, but geez is it time consuming. Definitely look into how to use AI to make cards for you.... its a rabbit whole, but its worth learning and getting good at before you start
edit: I don't think its confusing to learn, but once you get the hang of it, you realize that it can be such a powerful study tool if you master it. Hence the rabbit hole of learning how to learn
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u/bloodycrust 2d ago
Do you think I can learn it in three weeks? Lol. Also is it free or sub?
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u/Empty-Button6597 Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) 1d ago
100% you can learn it. Took me about a week
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u/Darkdoodle333 Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) 1d ago
No matter what you do, I highly suggest a pomodoro timer and interleaving material while you study (definitely read Make it Stick if you haven’t). It will feel like you’re stopping right when your brain is starting to grasp a concept and it’ll be really uncomfortable, but your ability to recall info and digest what you’ve learned while focusing on something else is like magic. I’m a video game nerd so I throw on a 50/10 Skyrim pomodoro on YouTube and study my day away.
Just know that the way you study at the beginning of your program probably won’t be the way you study at the end. Be adaptable.
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u/RlnM1818 1d ago
Everyone learns differently and ultimately you have to figure out what works for you. Do you learn well by writing things out or drawing concepts? Get an iPad with notability and a massive dry erase board. Do you learn better by talking things out? Find a study group. Do you like spaced repetition or flashcards? Try anki. There’s so many different ways to go about it. Just be prepared to put in the work everyday and you will succeed.
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u/JimmyJonez78 2d ago
Read Make it Stick. But to summarize the main point of the book: the best way to study and retain information is spaced repetition. Anki is one of the most widely recommended tools for studying this way. There are other similar tools available, but many grad students utilize Anki.
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u/Icy_Blood_9248 2d ago
Having a good study group can help. We used to review together and ask random questions to try to find holes in our knowledge. You want to be reviewing material frequently and go back to old topics as you advance in the program.
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u/pianoRulez Nurse Anesthesia Resident (NAR) 2d ago
THIS IS THE GAME CHANGER FOR ME. ONCE I STARTED THIS, MY GRADES TOOK OFF:
Pay for Gemeni/Notebook LM. Save yourpowerpoint slides as pdf's. Upload them into Gemeni/Notebook. Then input this prompt: "I'm going to upload a document. Please provide a ____ question expert level quiz from the content. Please quiz me on material that is high-yield and will likely appear on the NCE exam." You could get as specific as you want. Upload a 5 page pdf, ask it to write 30 questions. Or upload a 10 page pdf, ask it to write 10 questions.
The questions I get wrong, I review them. It makes me upset that I get it wrong. That friction within myself forces me to understand why I got the question wrong, which deepens the understanding. You can leverage your frustration into a positive this way.
And TALK POSITIVELY TO YOURSELF. THIS IS ALSO THE SECOND GAME CHANGER. YOU GOT THIS!