First Aid chapter deck
First Aid Pharmacology — The Hardest Chapter to Retain, Solved
Pharmacology is the chapter with the most facts per page and the fastest forgetting curve. Ellie turns the drug tables into review-ready decks.
The First Aid pharmacology chapter is roughly 100 pages of drug tables. Each drug has a name, mechanism, indication, side effects, contraindications, and pregnancy category — five to seven facts per drug, and hundreds of drugs. Reading it once accomplishes almost nothing; the retention curve on drug facts is brutal.
Step 1 pharmacology questions are pattern-based: patient presents with X, on drug Y, develops Z (name Z as a side effect of Y). To answer them under time pressure, you need drug-fact recall to be automatic. The only way there is spaced repetition on the drug tables. Ellie turns each table into atomic cards in one paste.
This chapter is also where Anking is genuinely comprehensive — the drug tag is one of Anking's strongest. If you're on Anking already, this Ellie deck is a supplement for the drugs Anking underweights (newer 2024/2025 approvals, obscure classes like antimycobacterials). If you're not on Anking, this deck plus daily review is enough.
Card format for drug tables
Every drug needs at least 3 cards: mechanism, main clinical use, most-tested side effect. Structural format:
- Front: {Drug} — mechanism? Back: specific molecular target and pathway
- Front: {Drug} — main clinical use? Back: 1–2 indications
- Front: {Drug} — most-tested side effect? Back: the buzzword adverse effect + monitoring
- For drug classes: one card per class summary + individual cards per unique drug
- For toxidromes: syndrome → causative drug class (cholinergic → organophosphate; anticholinergic → atropine class)
The highest-yield drug classes to card first
Not every drug is equally tested. Prioritize in this order:
- Antibiotics (mechanisms + resistance patterns + toxicities)
- Antihypertensives (ACE-i, ARBs, β-blockers, CCBs, diuretics)
- Antiarrhythmics (Vaughan Williams class I–IV + digoxin)
- Diabetes drugs (all classes, especially newer GLP-1 and SGLT2)
- Anticoagulants (warfarin, DOACs, heparin, LMWH, reversal agents)
- Chemotherapy (mechanism families + tumor lysis)
- Antipsychotics (typical vs atypical + specific EPS/metabolic profiles)
- Antidepressants (SSRI/SNRI/TCA/MAOI + serotonin syndrome)
- Anesthetics and paralytics
The 'buzzword side effect' pattern
Many Step 1 pharm questions test the buzzword side effect — the fact that's uniquely associated with that drug. Isoniazid → B6 deficiency + peripheral neuropathy. Amiodarone → pulmonary fibrosis + thyroid dysfunction + gray skin. Cisplatin → nephrotoxicity + ototoxicity. Card every buzzword separately.
How to review pharmacology decks
Pharmacology cards need more repetition than most subjects because drug names blur together. Review 30 minutes daily during pharm rotation, then 15 minutes daily during other rotations. During dedicated, do a full pharm sprint (3–4 hours over one weekend) to knock rust off.
Frequently asked questions
Is pharmacology heavily tested at pass/fail Step 1?
Yes. Pharmacology is 10–15% of items across all Step 1 forms. The pass/fail change didn't reduce content weight — it changed how you use the score. You still need to hit the pass threshold.
Should I use SketchyPharm instead?
SketchyPharm is a visual mnemonic system that works exceptionally well for pharmacology. Best workflow: watch Sketchy videos, then generate an Ellie deck for the Sketchy scenes plus First Aid drug tables. Sketchy encodes; Ellie retains.
How does this compare to Pharmacology Made Ridiculously Simple?
PMRS is a book, not a card system. It's an excellent read-through for concept building, but you still need spaced-repetition review afterward. Read PMRS → generate Ellie deck from First Aid pharm chapter → review.
What about the antimicrobials sub-chapter?
Antimicrobials get their own dedicated section in First Aid microbiology, cross-referenced from pharmacology. Generate that as a separate deck — the resistance patterns and mechanism-of-action patterns are dense enough to warrant it.
How many cards does the pharm chapter generate?
600–900 atomic cards depending on granularity. That sounds like a lot; it isn't — you'll review each card 5–8 times over 12 weeks and each review takes 3–5 seconds.
Does Ellie handle image-based drug structures?
Yes — image occlusion works for drug chemistry diagrams. Realistically, Step 1 doesn't test chemical structures deeply, so image occlusion is optional for pharmacology.
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