Study techniques that actually work — what the research says

Past papers are the #1 thing for exam performance. Not because they test what comes up (though they often do) but because they force active recall AND they calibrate your knowledge — you learn what you actually don't know vs what you think you know.

Anki for medicine changed my exam performance completely. The initial time investment to make good cards pays off within weeks.

You read right — the evidence on study techniques is pretty clear and most students use the worst methods. Here's the hierarchy from the research (Dunlosky et al. 2013 is the landmark paper):

**High effectiveness:**
1. **Practice testing / active recall** — close your notes, try to recall everything you know about a topic from memory. Flashcards (especially spaced with Anki) are the classic implementation. This is the single most evidence-backed technique.
2. **Distributed practice** — spread study over multiple sessions rather than cramming. The "spacing effect" is one of the most replicated findings in cognitive psychology.

**Moderate effectiveness:**
3. **Elaborative interrogation** — ask "why is this true?" for every fact you're learning, then try to answer it
4. **Self-explanation** — explain the material to yourself as if teaching someone
5. **Interleaving** — mix up different topics/types of problems in a session rather than blocking (do 10 maths problems, then switch to chemistry, then history)

**Low effectiveness (what most students do):**
- Highlighting
- Re-reading
- Summarizing
- Keyword mnemonics (somewhat useful for vocabulary, not for understanding)

With 6 weeks: set up Anki for key definitions, do past papers under timed conditions (practice testing), and study a little every day rather than long weekend sessions.