Illustrated Pharmacology Memory Cards: PharMnemonics Cards – February 16, 2007

I really liked some of the mnemonics and thats why Im rating this as a 4/5. However, the information is disorganized on the cards sometimes and the mnemonics are not helpful often, using a stretch to make them fit the mnemonic. The visuals are really nice for remembering what they represent, but I guess Im spoiled by the mnemonics of Picmonic visual aids and I would choose my Picmonic subscription over these cards in conjunction with a more traditional flashcard set (like the case-based Lange Pharm Flashcards, which are awesome and full of high yield info presented in a clear, if not very memorable way). I will remember some of the mnemonics from these cards, but most of them were not so memorable. Bottom Line: Sorta useful, and helpful pictures with quite a few gems of mnemonics but check out Picmonic's website first for more visually appealing mnemonics if you are a visual learner.

I bought these cards for my pharmacology course in medical school. I thought they were actually quite helpful. I'm now almost finished with my third year, and I still recall some of the nit-picky details on some of the drugs based on the weird pictorial mnemonics on the cards. In fact, some of those images really help with being able to recognize which drugs can be grouped together based on mechanism, which was especially true with the psychiatric drugs, I noticed.The only thing that stinks about these cards is that not every single drug is represented by its own mnemonic, but most of the important ones are well-represented. Furthermore, these cards don't contain every single detail that your particular instructors may deem important, so be prepared to cross-out some information and to add a few notes of your own to the cards.These cards will NOT make studying for pharm incredibly easy, but it's probably easier than many other flashcards out there. Trust me, it's much, much better than flashcards that only use text (which I also had and ended-up never using).Good luck!

I purchased these cards using my own judgment based on the samples provided and my personal learning style. I get sleepy easily (i.e. fall asleep in class and while reading dense textbooks), have a poor memory, and short attention span.I made my purchase despite the dubious ratings on Amazon. I realized that anybody (including competitors) can rate on Amazon without previously purchasing the product (this is unlike the system at ebay and is a serious flaw in the system). My research showed that all the negative ratings fell within too close of a time range. Also, every single one of those raters only had one single rating to their name. This meant to be that either (a) they had only ever purchased one item off of Amazon - this set of cards or (b) the account was created for the sole purpose of bashing this set of cards.I have been using this set of cards now for a long time and absolutely love them! They are humorous, comprehensive (more so than my powerpoint lectures provided in class), memorable, and as another reviewer wrote - Dr. Shen is a pure Genius!These cards are so enjoyable to flip through and digest the info that I find myself studying while sitting on the couch, in the car, or when I'm sleepy in class. They also put a new spin on the information to make you better understand the topic, using charts, graphs, categorical lists, diagrams, etc.There is a section called Dr. Brights Hints which has made MANY confusing distinctions stick! For example, PhosphodiEsterase Inhibitors (PDE-5 inhibitors) are used for Erectile Dysfunction. How do you know this? Just flip PDE-5 backwards and you get 5-EDP (5-Erectile Dysfunction Patients).In all honesty, my review doesn't do this product justice, but I have to run off to study now, so JUST GET THEM, you won't regret it!Good Luck,P.s. I'm purchasing Immunomnemonics today to review for Step I. Pharmnemonics illustrated to me how top notch his products are.

These Cards were designed for the US Medical Student as a supplemental reference during their Pharmacology course and/or for USLME Step 1 review. While many of the cards are certainly memorable, there are some drawbacks:Pros:- Pictures are very memorable, with a consistent "theme" for drug classes- Covers most, if not all, drugs encountered on Step 1- Many of Mnemonics are easy to remember, and make senseCons:- Often times, I found that there was way too much information on a card. I can't speak about other med schools, but mine doesn't advise us to spend too much time trying to learn the pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of every drug out there.- Most of the Mnemonics are too tedious and confusing to learn. Often times, it's just a random mnemonic that takes more effort to memorize than just memorizing the material itself.Like any other flash card set out there, you will inevitably encounter some good cards and some bad cards in the set. It's no different in this case; overall, I feel these cards enhanced my ability to perform on the USMLE, I just had to decide which cards were worth my time and which ones were too tedious.