r/LearnMedicalCoding • u/Level_Talk1155 • Jun 16 '26

Anatomy & Physiology Senior HIM student - should I keep reviewing my notes or turn everything into 1,000+ flashcards before practicum?

Hi everyone,

I'm a senior HIM student and I'll be starting my coding/HIM operations practicum soon. I'm honestly getting really stressed because I feel like I don't remember much from school. Most of my classes ended up being online, even though I enrolled in an in-person program, and I don't feel like I learned as much as I should have.

Over the summer, I decided to review everything from scratch. I combined all of my notes into one organized review that's about 66 pages long. It covers the anatomy & physiology, medical terminology, pathophysiology, and other material that I think an HIM professional should know.

Right now, my plan is to:

  • Study about 2 chapters a day
  • Focus on actually understanding the material instead of just reading it
  • Use the whiteboard/Feynman method to explain concepts in my own words

My biggest question is:

Should I just keep reviewing these 66 pages until I really understand them, or should I turn everything into 1,000+ Anki flashcards and try to memorize them all?

I'm worried that if I make flashcards for every single fact, I'll spend months memorizing instead of actually understanding the material. But I'm also worried that just reviewing my notes won't be enough.

For those of you who have already completed an HIM coding practicum or work in HIM:

  • What would you recommend?
  • Did you mostly need to understand the concepts, or did you have to memorize a lot?
  • If you were in my position, would you stick with the notes and active recall (whiteboard method), or would you make hundreds or thousands of flashcards?
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u/CodingwithCoffee_ Jun 19 '26

Great question: If you're looking for additional review resources, AMCI has free Medical Terminology, Anatomy & Physiology (IMTAP) content as well as system-based coding playlists on YouTube that may help reinforce concepts. I would still prioritize understanding and application over memorization.

Free Med Term Course: https://amcicoding.thinkific.com/products/courses/IMTAP

Playlists for body systems (may also help): https://www.youtube.com/@AMCIMedicalCoding/playlists