Radiology isn’t a core subject needed to ace either USMLE Step 1 or the COMLEX. But some med schools do require you to take it!
The best way to get introduced to it fast? Anki decks of course!
I’ve put together this comprehensive guide on the best premade Anki decks out there that can help you do well in any radiology-based exam.
Note: I’ve also listed Anki plugins (you can download these for free via search in the app), file sizes, and the years of upload too. Making it easier for you to find exactly what you need.
The Best Radiology Anki Decks
The 4 decks we’ll be looking at are:
- Ranki (Radiology Anki) [best for residents]
- Ankigravity’s Herring’s Learning Radiology Deck (best for med school)
- OriginalHoopsta’s Radiology Anki Deck (best for radiology electives)
- Ryanthorsays’ 22-Must-Know Radiology Dx Deck (best for rapid review)
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Ranki (Radiology Anki)
| Deck Type: | Radiology Basics |
| Cards: | 3000 |
| Card Format: | Cloze, Basic |
| Year of Upload: | 2021 |
| Required Plugins: | Hierarchical Tags 2 |
| Download Size: | 387 Mb |
| Download Link: | Ranki (Radiology Anki) |
This deck, put together by u/gossypiboma, is a Radiology Core deck group effort used by residents going through radiology board exams.
At 3000 cards and about 6000 images, this deck is huge!
The main sources for this deck are Crack the Core, Core Radiology, and Core Review series.
Here’s more on its utility from deck creator u/gossypiboma themselves…
The deck should be enough to pass the ABR core exam. For FRCR/RCPSC exams you would need a “Top 3 differentials” deck for the oral component.
Probably overkill for med school electives but awesome to know about for future study!
Ankigravity’s Herring’s Learning Radiology Deck
| Deck Type: | Radiology Basics |
| Cards: | 1224 |
| Card Format: | Cloze, Basic |
| Year of Upload: | 2020 |
| Required Plugins: | Hierarchical Tags 2 |
| Download Size: | 279 Mb |
| Download Link: | Ankigravity Herring’s Radiology Deck |
Ankigravity’s radiology deck is based on the excellent William Herring’s Learning Radiology book (recommended below).
This is the exact deck I used on my radiology rotation (along with another – more on this in a minute). Without it I would have struggled massively!
Using it alongside the chapters in the book, it’s the perfect resource to help reinforce the key points from X-ray imaging, CT’s, ultrasounds and MRI’s. The deck is tagged to fit your reading perfectly.
Here’s what a typical card looks like. Most are in the cloze (fill-in-the-gap) style format, helping for speed…
Originally built for u/Ankigravity’s 2 week radiology selective, they claim it prepared them “extremely well” for their standardized exam.
Here’s an example of the front and back of another card…
What I liked most about this deck is the way it walks you through (just as the book does) all the abnormalities to start. Doing that, it’s much easier to later reach appropriate diagnosis and correctly identify the answers to questions.
This deck is best suited for students who need a super fast introduction to the subject and want to use Herring as a primary resource.
Note that it’s missing content for chapters 1-2 and 21-23.
It’s definitely overkill for Step 1, just as the deck creator says.
OriginalHoopsta’s Radiology Anki Deck
| Deck Type: | Radiology Basics |
| Cards: | 1887 |
| Card Format: | Cloze, Basic |
| Year of Upload: | 2020 |
| Required Plugins: | Hierarchical Tags 2 |
| Download Size: | 770 Mb |
| Download Link: | OriginalHoopsta’s Radiology Anki Deck |
The other deck I used to score well in my radiology rotation was this one, OriginalHoopsta’s Radiology deck.
Combined with Ankigravity’s deck above, this makes for a massively comprehensive introduction to the most high-yield concepts in radiology.
Here’s an example flashcard…
Instead of being based on one book though, OriginalHoopsta’s deck is based on various (but all brilliant) radiology resources:
- Teach Me Chest
- Felson’s Principles of Roentgenology
- Chest XRAY for Medical Students
- Radiopedia
- RadiologyMasterClass
- StartRadiology
- Wikipedia
- WikiEM
According to deck creator, OriginalHoopsta, this deck goes “into a lot more detail than shelf or board exams. but hits on things your attending would love for you to know.”
It’s best used for clerkships, after USMLE Step 1, as it goes into more detail than you need. The same for COMLEX (it’s unnecessary).
Here’s an example of its ultrasound content….
This deck was updated in 2020 [V3] to include around 250+ new cards on x-ray, MRI, and radiation doses. There was also an overhaul on the tagging. Make sure to download the free plugin Hierarchical Tags to make the best use of it.
It promises to teach:
- How to systemically read and present an x-ray/CT
- How to discuss a general MRI and ultrasound
- OSCE style basics for UK med schools
Ryanthorsays’ 22-Must-Know Radiology Dx Deck
| Deck Type: | Radiology Basics |
| Cards: | 31 |
| Card Format: | Cloze, Basic |
| Year of Upload: | 2020 |
| Required Plugins: | N/A |
| Download Size: | 3.8 Mb |
| Download Link: | Ryanthorsays’ Radiology Deck |
Ryanthorsays’ deck is super minimal but very powerful.
It’s well worth zipping through this deck first just to get a taste of radiology and the types of things you get asked!
Here’s a typical sample card…
The main references for this deck include:
- LearningRadiology
- Radiopaedia
Personally, I think micro decks like this are a great idea for people considering using Anki to learn radiology. Download this deck (super fast – it’s only 3.8 Mb) and give it a try.
If you like the process consider graduating to one of the bigger boys listed above.
Additional Information On Radiology Anki Decks
Another Anki deck worth a shoutout for radiology, albeit not being specialized for it, is Zanki (Anking) version.
There are a couple hundred or so cards here, mainly based on First Aid for USMLE’s images, that are relevant to understanding radiographical images of the body.
There are also Amboss radiology explanations being added to this in future updates. More info here.
I definitely recommend checking that out if you have the time.
One more thing worth mentioning is that there is currently a call for a crowdsourced core radiology Anki deck over at r/medicalschoolanki.
Currently, people are working with u/honeynutcheeriolies, a PGY-2 radiology clinician, to bring that to life. Here’s the slack thread that’s organizing it all.
AnkiWeb Radiology
In addition to these options, AnkiWeb also has several radiology premade radiology Anki decks available.
Some of these are also worth checking out!
After checking these out though, I do feel the decks recommended above cover all these concepts and more.
Recommended Radiology Flashcard Resource
If you like flashcards you can actually touch and feel (as opposed to the digital options above), this is perfect for you.
Lange’s Radiography Review Flashcards are the #1 Best Seller in the Radiological and Ultrasound Technology category and are great for students of all disciplines.
With a 294 flashcard total deck size, they’re primarily designed for the ARRT examination.
But they’re super useful for med school too – if a little on the large size!
Recommended Radiology Textbook Resource
My favorite radiology book is Learning Radiology: Recognizing the Basics by William Herring.
I used this for my 4th-year clinical rotation (yes, it’s a thing in European med school curriculums) and found it really helped.
It’s super simple in terms of its explanations and everything is broken down into excellent images and tables. Buy the book and you’ll also get access to exclusive practice questions and more interactive material.
It doesn’t have a 4.7/5 on Amazon for nothing!
Related: Interested in radiology as a career? Check out our article; 5 Best Radiology Residency Programs
Related Radiology Flashcard Questions
Top Tips For Using Anki Radiology Flashcard Decks
- Using these decks as a resource only: you cannot depend on them for A grades (you’ll need to go over all your school’s lecture and seminar content to do that).
- If you like these decks; contribute: the recommendations above are often updated by other students, helping to give back to the community.
- Make sure you have a comprehensive reference guide to double-check facts and concepts. The sources given above, from which some of these decks borrow, are excellent for that.
- Keep up with your reviews: how are you supposed to memorize these concepts if you don’t let the Anki spaced repetition algorith go to work?
- Practice questions/quizzes: use the free quizzeson sites like Radiopedia, RadiologyMasterClass and Teach Me Chest etc. to reinforce your learning
Why Use An Anki Radiology Deck?
- Free
- Premade decks save you time
- Supercharges your memorization and effectively aids recall
Where To Find More Anki Radiology Decks
The absolute best place to find more excellent decks like these is the r/medicalschoolanki community.
Related Anki Questions
If you’re not familiar with Anki, I recommend checking out The Anking YouTube channel.
This offers many useful tutorials and tips for Anki users. It’s primarily designed for med students but the content is just as good for students in other fields.
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Here’s a good primer (as well as a good intro on what they offer) below…
How Do I Add Plugins To Anki?
You can plugins, such as the hierarchical tags and image occlusion ones mentioned in some of the decks above, by going to tools > add-ons > get add-ons…
Alternatively, press ctrl + shift + A on your keyboard.
From there, go to “browse add-ons” and copy the code of the plugin you want into the field here.
For hierarchical tags, it’s 594329229. Image occlusion is 1374772155.
It’s that easy.
Why Do I Have To Go To Reddit To Download?
Reddit is where these decks are uploaded and shared. The original users deserve accreditation and the opportunity to be thanked for their hard work.
The files for these decks are hosted in these threads created by the deck’s creator.
If you enjoyed this post, you might find the following articles useful:
- How Many Med Students Use Anki? (What Students Get Wrong About Anki)
- 3 Best Microbiology Anki Decks: Learn Microbiology Fast (2021)
Image Credit: @Harlie Raethel at Unsplash
Born and raised in the UK, Will went into medicine late (31) after a career in journalism. He’s into football (soccer), learned Spanish after 5 years in Spain, and has had his work published all over the web. Read more.