Rewind to your childhood and imagine stepping into Disney World for the first time. You’ve seen every movie and are inseparable from the characters. Alice never misses a tea party, Winnie the Pooh frolics with you through fields, and Ariel is always down for a day at the beach.
Now fast forward 20 years and turn that immeasurable love and excitement into your medical school education. You step into a world where medicine comes to life…welcome to Picmonic.
Unlike a Disney story, Picmonic and I didn’t have love at first sight. The first day my friend showed me the cards, I wasn’t interested. I had spent my entire academic life silently taking notes from lectures and reading textbooks until I memorized the material. My system had been successful, why would I change?
But that night, as I laid in bed, I couldn’t get the Picmonic images out of my head. I vividly saw the men-in-tights (meningitis) kidnapping the crippled cock (Crytococcus) and trading him for a 50 cent CD (HIV CD4 count). It was then I realized that Picmonic is more than a collection of cards about medicine; it is a whole new world.
Picmonic has changed my life. Having the ability to memorize the information quickly and efficiently has given me more time to spend outside of my studies. During my last free summer, there was nothing I wanted more than total immersion into Picmonic land. I flew out to Arizona to meet the team and get my hands dirty.
Wondering what it’s like to go from being a Picmonic fan to an insider on the team? Stay tuned for posts about what life is like as a Picmaniac!
- – Shehran Islam, M.D.
