# How to Use My Anki Decks the Right Way

> How to run the Foundation Anki and NBME Booster decks for Step 1 — card counts, daily targets, and when to use each.

URL: https://usmlevault.com/blog/anki-decks.html
Canonical: https://usmlevault.com/blog/anki-decks.html

## Summary

A usage guide for the two Step 1 Anki decks built by USMLE Vault: the Foundation Anki deck, a page-by-page aggregation of First Aid, and the NBME Booster, built from retired NBME forms. Foundation Anki has ~2,400 cards with the First Aid page number on every card; at 400 cards a day a full First Aid pass takes 5–6 days. The NBME Booster distills fourteen retired forms, NBME 20 through 33, into 4,174 one-line recall cards sorted into system decks, and is meant to be run system by system rather than form by form. A Pick & Mix feature filters across every deck by system, series, tag or NBME form to drill only flagged and missed cards.

## Key facts

- Foundation Anki deck: ~2,400 cards covering First Aid page by page, with the First Aid page number on every card, organized system by system in First Aid order
- At ~400 cards a day the Foundation deck completes a full First Aid pass in 5–6 days; First Aid is described as a 700-page book
- NBME Booster: fourteen retired forms, NBME 20 through NBME 33, distilled into 4,174 one-line recall cards sorted into system decks
- Method when stuck: run the NBME deck from NBME 20 through 30 system by system, finish every system, then attempt NBME 31 — reported score growth of at least 5–10%
- Foundation Anki is triggered when a system's UWorld score won't move past 65%: watch the Mehlman playlist for that system, then run Foundation Anki for that system (about 2 days)
- Reported results: students entering at 45% hitting 69–75% on NBMEs within 6 weeks using the two decks; plateau at 65% on NBME 28 & 29 jumped 5–10% on the next form
- NBME Booster timing: the final one to two weeks, before moving to the newer forms
- Pick & Mix filters across all decks by system, series, tag or NBME form; cards still count toward normal spaced repetition

## Covers

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## Source

USMLE Vault — https://usmlevault.com
Author: Dr. Marish Asudani

Updated: 2026-08-26