Last checked: October 2026
For cadaver practicals, use the Complete UMich Cadaver deck: 2,992 image occlusion cards built on the University of Michigan's BlueLink dissection atlas (Will Peach's deck review). For lecture exams, MedSchoolCoach's MS1 Anatomy deck is free and has over 4,000 cards. For Step 1, where gross anatomy and embryology are 10 to 20% of questions (USMLE), use the anatomy cards in the AnKing Step Deck.
Whichever deck you pick, don't study all of it at once. Suspend the whole deck when you import it, then unsuspend the cards for each lecture or dissection as you reach it. For how many cards students actually carry, see our medical student Anki statistics.
The right deck depends on whether you are studying for a cadaver practical, a lecture exam or Step 1. You can find more options in our guide on where to find pre-made decks. If your course pairs anatomy with development, the Anki deck for embryology guide covers the germ layer and derivative mapping that anatomy builds on.
| Deck Name | Primary Focus | Card Type | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| AnKing (Step Deck) | Board Exams (Step 1) | Cloze | Whole Step deck; filter by anatomy tags |
| Complete UMich Cadaver (the "Michigan deck") | Practical / Cadaver Lab | Image Occlusion | 2,992 cards |
| MS1 Anatomy Deck | Lecture Exams | Mixed | 4,000+ cards, free |
The AnKing Step Deck is the most-used deck for Step 1, and its anatomy cards are tagged by resource and system, so you can pull out just the anatomy. Gross anatomy and embryology are 10 to 20% of Step 1 questions, so the deck covers the clinically tested anatomy rather than every structure in the lab. It is less about "where is this nerve" and more about "what happens if this nerve is cut." For a deeper look, see our guide on Anki decks for USMLE Step 1. You can access these through AnkiHub, which allows for collaborative updates so the cards stay current.
The Complete UMich Cadaver deck has 2,992 image occlusion cards made from the dissection photos in the University of Michigan's BlueLink anatomy atlas. Each card hides a label on a real dissection photo, which is close to the "pin test" format of most practicals. It was uploaded in 2020, so your school's structure list will not match it exactly: unsuspend only the structures on your list. We cover the Comprehensive Cadaver deck in its own guide. The same image occlusion technique carries over directly to microscopic anatomy, and the Anki deck for histology guide covers how to apply it to slide recognition.
For students who find the Michigan deck too bloated, the MS1 Anatomy Anki Deck is a free alternative from MedSchoolCoach, written by Jeanie Gribben, MD, and Javi Ochoa. It has over 4,000 cards aimed at lecture exams and practicals rather than Step 1.
Set Anki up so new cards only arrive when you have covered the topic in class. If you are new to the software, we recommend reading how to use Anki cards for med school first.
Tie your new cards to your lecture calendar. This is the same logic used in the complete anatomy study guide.
Never let Anki decide which new cards you see. Instead, use the browser to find cards by tag. For example, if your lecture on Monday is about the Brachial Plexus, search for the tag "Brachial Plexus" and unsuspend only those cards. That way you test yourself on each structure soon after you first learn it, which is the idea behind active recall for anatomy.
A "leech" is a card you have forgotten 8 times. Anki then tags it and suspends it (Anki manual). In anatomy, leeches usually happen because the card is poorly written or the image is confusing. When a card becomes a leech, do not just keep hitting "Again." Stop and ask why you are missing it. Often, the solution is to find a different image or rewrite the card to be more specific. If you keep forcing a bad card, you are wasting time that could be spent on new material.
Organize your cards by body region (e.g., Upper Limb, Thorax, Head and Neck). This allows you to do "cram sessions" for specific practicals. If you have a lab exam on the lower limb on Friday, you can create a filtered deck containing only those tags to drill the most difficult structures right before the test.
Anatomy decks are large, so these settings keep the daily review count down. These values apply to Anki's default SM-2 scheduler. If you have turned on FSRS (built into Anki since version 23.10), interval modifier and ease are ignored, so set desired retention instead.
Different parts of the body require different memory strategies. You cannot study the brain the same way you study the femur.
These regions are dominated by muscles, nerves, and vessels. The focus here should be on "spatial relationships." Use Image Occlusion to learn which nerve runs alongside which artery. For example, knowing the relationship between the radial nerve and the humerus is more important than just knowing the nerve's name.
These areas are about organs and blood supply. Here, you should mix Image Occlusion for the organ's location with Cloze deletions for the blood supply (e.g., "The liver is supplied by the [Celiac Trunk]").
Neuro is the most abstract part of anatomy. You are often studying pathways rather than physical objects. For neuro, move away from Image Occlusion and toward "concept cards." Instead of a picture of the spinal cord, create a card that asks, "If a lesion occurs at the lateral corticospinal tract, what is the result?" This shifts the focus from identification to clinical application.
Match the card type to the question.
Use IO for "Where is it?" questions. If you can point to it on a cadaver, it belongs in an IO card. For example, use IO for the path of the Vagus nerve through the neck. You want to see the nerve in relation to the carotid artery and the internal jugular vein.
Use Cloze for "What does it do?" or "How does it work?" questions. For example, instead of an image of the Vagus nerve, use a Cloze card: "The Vagus nerve provides [parasympathetic] innervation to the heart and digestive tract."
Related guides: Anki decks for physiology and Anki decks for neuroanatomy. Or see Anki decks for med school for every subject we cover.
Pre-made decks contain cards you will never be tested on and miss details your professor stressed. StudyCards AI turns your own lecture PDFs and notes into flashcards that you can export to Anki. Use it alongside a pre-made deck to cover what the deck misses, as in the high-yield method.
Prefer to draft your own cards with ChatGPT? These ChatGPT flashcard prompts keep each card to one fact and output a CSV that Anki can import.
Try StudyCards AI FreeThe best approach is a hybrid. Use a pre-made deck like AnKing or Michigan for the bulk of the material, but create your own cards for professor-specific "pearls" or difficult concepts you keep missing.
Avoid a fixed number. Instead, unsuspend cards based on your lecture schedule. If you have a heavy lecture day, you might do 50 new cards. On a light day, you might do 10. The goal is to keep your reviews manageable while staying in sync with your course.
Combine the Michigan deck with actual time in the lab. Use the Anki cards to prime your brain, then go to the cadaver lab and physically touch the structures. This bridges the gap between a 2D image and a 3D body.
Usually because cards have dropped to a low ease after many Again or Hard presses, so they come back too often. FSRS has no ease factor, so turning it on avoids this. On the old SM-2 scheduler, rewrite or delete the cards you keep missing.
Yes, but the card style should change. While anatomy relies on Image Occlusion, physiology relies on Cloze deletions and conceptual "Why" cards to explain mechanisms and pathways. To plan your week, see how many hours to study for anatomy and physiology.
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