Memory Palace Database - Memory Techniques and Memory Palaces for Students

Practice how you play: how to improve learning through transfer appropriate processing at retrieval

Retrieving memories isn’t like checking out DVDs at Blockbuster (RIP). Each time you remember something you’re constructing a memory representation and relearning that information. Here’s why that means our learning strategies have to evolve with our career goals, from running Qbanks to studying with Human Dx.

How to Apply Anki to Complex Diagrams: Breaking Down Differential Diagnoses

No matter your field or stage of learning, you'll likely need to learn complex algorithms. When you can't afford to miss things, "just understanding" isn't enough. Here's how Alex memorizes a differential diagnosis schema from the podcast Clinical Problem Solvers.

Pitch with Confidence: 3 strategies for remembering what you want to say

Though not strictly academic, the ability to say your spiel with confidence is beneficial to most of us. Alex and I try to make a point to never memorize lists we can write down (or Alexa can write for us), but there are just some things you want to be able to say fluently, whether for work or personal improvement.

Residency Interviewing: 3 Evidence-Based Learning Strategies Than Can Help

It's almost impossible to believe it’s been over a year since Cathy and I started the seemingly never-ending process of residency interviewing. Here are three evidence-based learning strategies I applied which made the interviewing ordeal a smidge more tolerable.

Studying In New Spaces

As residents, we now rarely have uninterrupted chunks of personal time to focus on learning, much less utilize the pomodoro method. Trying to recapture hidden time throughout the day means studying while waiting for coffee or waiting to pick up the car from the body shop. This new reality got Cathy thinking about the hidden benefits of studying away from her desk—and one classic research study that has always stuck with her.

How to Use Memory Palaces to Learn Wound Repair

We recently got a question about using memory palaces to memorize the stages of wound healing and the key players at each stage. If you need to have this material on lock, then a palace is ideally suited for this topic. Each stage can be encoded using grouped loci (for example, each stage gets its own room, with several loci in each), which helps maintain the feel of chronicity between rooms.

The Resident Educator: Asking Effective Questions

One of my favorite parts about being a resident is the chance to interact with medical students. Teaching is such a fantastic way to learn, and it can be a lot of fun, but even the best teachers can be less helpful than they think they are.

Memorizing Drug Trials and Clinical Studies

In medicine, it’s often not enough just to know the facts! We also need the scientific studies that back them up. The AFFIRM trial, ALLHAT trial, SPRINT trial, COURAGE trial... Here are some of Alex’s mnemonic tips for keeping the mountain of study names straight.

Cramming: Misaligned Testing Incentives

Studies show that cramming may sometimes be more effective on immediate, non-cumulative tests. These kinds of rapid-fire exams are fairly common across the country. If cramming gets us the scores we want on these exams, what incentives do we have to space out our learning?

Our goal is to find better ways of creating durable knowledge. As professional learners, we care about the nuances that make students powerful learners. This website is our way of exploring habits for efficient learning and the scientific evidence that backs them up. We tackle various learning projects—from medicine to language-learning—sharing our successes and failures. We believe learning how to learn is a lifelong journey of growth and joy, which is why we're a nonprofit dedicated to creating free, accessible content.

Evidence

Strategies of effective learning. Retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, elaboration, memory palaces, and more.

Memory techniques and memory palaces for students: How to use memory palaces to learn anatomy | a non-profit from medical students Cathy Chen and 3x world memory champion Alex Mullen

Behaviors

Habits that translate learning principles into outcomes. Spaced repetition software, practice tests, pomodoros, and more.

Memory techniques and memory palaces for students: How to use memory palaces to learn pharmacology and drugs | a non-profit from medical students Cathy Chen and 3x world memory champion Alex Mullen

Experiences

Our successes, failures, and reflections applying evidence-based practices to our own learning challenges.

Featured

Learning anatomy: a strategy for memorizing muscles

What's the best way to memorize the muscles of the arm? Cathy discusses her two-step approach to developing adaptive expertise in anatomy, which will play a big role in our future careers—scroll to the bottom to find out where we're headed next year!

Hit the Ground Running: A Quick Guide to Mastering the Memory Palace Before School Starts

We’ve received a few messages recently from people who are starting a professional school this year. While we love the memory palace technique, there can be a significant barrier to use, especially if you're about to enter a high-stakes learning environment. Here's an easy one-month ramp up to mastering the palace technique before you start a new learning adventure.

The Body Palace: Memorizing the Review of Systems

A key tool in the physician’s arsenal is the review of systems, or ROS—a run-through of pertinent symptoms while taking a patient history. To the novice clinical student, it can feel overwhelming. Medical students often first learn the ROS as Alex did—as a giant, inscrutable list of symptoms. Here’s how he uses a memory technique to tackle it painlessly.

It's in the Genes: How to Memorize Tricky Number/Letter Associations

Our newest question comes from a reader who’s a medical student in Italy: “I use a lot the memory palace for my studies but I was wondering if you can help me to memorise in an easy way the genes, because they are made with letters and numbers for example: BRCA1, FGFR1, HLA, Cn3D.... something like this! I hope this can be helpful for all the other medical students.”

HIIT Study Session: Maximize Your Time

We’re big fans of high-intensity interval training or HIIT. Effortful retrieval is actually a well-studied learning technique that can help you "HIIT" your studying.

Memory Tips for Medical Students (Live Seminar) [Video]

A short seminar we recently gave to the first year class at our medical school. It covers some science-backed tips we think every learner should know.

How to Memorize the Entire Facial Nerve Using a Memory Palace [Video]

In this 20-minute video, Alex walks through how to memorize the entire facial nerve (cranial nerve VII) using a memory palace. The facial nerve is a key player in neuroanatomy and pops up during gross anatomy in medical school.

3 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Memory Palaces (and Not Only Standalone Images)

Standalone mnemonics are also a relatively simpler yet still effective way for, say, an absolute beginner to pick up new foreign language vocab. When it comes to carefully learning structured material, however, I’ve found there to be three main arguments in favor of palaces.