Spaced repetition for medical school
You forget most of a lecture within days unless you come back to it. Spaced repetition means reviewing each topic just before you would forget it, at growing intervals. Each review takes less time than the last and the memory lasts longer.
- Add your lectures
- Answer the first quiz
- Do the daily reviews that come due
- Set an exam date to pace the reviews
| Review | When (after the lecture) | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Same day or next day | Answer every question on the lecture |
| 2nd | About 3 days later | Answer again; note the ones you missed |
| 3rd | About 1 week later | Missed questions plus a sample of the rest |
| 4th | About 2 to 3 weeks later | Mixed review with other lectures from the same block |
| Then | Every month or so until the exam | Short mixed sessions, weighted to weak topics |
Why spacing works
Memory fades on a curve: steeply at first, then more slowly. Reviewing a fact when it is starting to fade, rather than when it is fresh, makes the next forgetting curve flatter. This is why the same hours spread over weeks beat a single long cramming session.
The schedule above is a starting point. The best intervals depend on the question: ones you miss should come back sooner, ones you know well can wait longer.
Pacing it to your exam date
- Work backwards from the exam: the last reviews should land in the final week or two
- If the exam is close, shorten the intervals rather than skipping reviews
- Mix lectures from the same block in later reviews; exams do not tell you which lecture a question is from
- Keep daily sessions short and regular; twenty minutes every day beats three hours once a week
Why it is hard to do by hand
Tracking dozens of lectures, each on its own schedule, quickly becomes a full-time job. Most students give up and fall back to rereading before exams. This bookkeeping is exactly what software is good at.
Doing it automatically with recalled.fyi
recalled.fyi schedules every question from your lectures for you. Questions you miss come back sooner, ones you know come back later, and if you set an exam date the reviews are paced to it. Each day you get a short list of what is due, on the web or as quizzes in Telegram, with a reminder email if you have not studied.
Try it on your own lecture. Upload a PDF or slides and get a summary, a quiz and Cue in minutes. Free plan, no card needed.
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What is spaced repetition?
A way of scheduling reviews: each time you remember something correctly, you wait longer before seeing it again. Things you forget come back sooner.
How many reviews do I need per day?
It depends on how many lectures you are studying. Keeping up daily keeps the number small; skipping days makes it pile up. Short, regular sessions work best.
Do I need to make flashcards for spaced repetition?
No. Any question works. recalled.fyi creates the questions from your lectures and schedules them, so you can skip writing cards entirely.
Can I use spaced repetition close to an exam?
Yes. Use shorter intervals and focus on weak topics. Spacing still beats cramming even over a week or two.