Short answer: Meddex flashcards are grouped into topic decks. You flip a card, then mark it known or needs review. A spaced-repetition scheduler brings missed cards back within minutes and known cards back after growing gaps. Each day you see due cards first, then a small number of new ones.
Decks by topic
Cards are organised into short decks by topic. At the time of writing, topics include antidotes, normal values, emergency essentials, infection control, mnemonics, ethics, and child and maternal health. Each card tests one fact, so a review takes seconds. The deck list and the cards themselves will grow, so check the flashcards page for the current set.
What a session looks like
You see the front of a card: a question or cue. You try to answer in your head, or aloud. Then you flip it and compare. There are two buttons: known and needs review. We keep it to two on purpose. Grading yourself on a numbered scale takes thought on every card, and thought on every card is how daily reviews become a chore.
Be strict. Mark a card as known only when you recalled it correctly without hesitation. If you half-remembered it, or only recognised the answer when you saw it, mark it needs review.
How the next review is decided
Behind the buttons is a simple SM-2 style scheduler. Each card has an ease value and an interval.
- A card you mark needs review comes back in about ten minutes, and its ease drops a little, so it will return sooner in future.
- A card you mark known comes back after one day the first time, three days the second time, and after that the gap is multiplied by the card’s ease.
- Easy cards drift out to long gaps. Hard cards stay close.
The daily queue
Each day the queue starts with cards that are due, oldest first. After the due cards, it adds a limited number of new cards, so the queue does not balloon. The cap on new cards protects you from the common mistake of adding too much in week one. If you want advice on the amount, see how many flashcards per day.
These details describe how the scheduler works at the time of writing. We may refine them as the product develops, and the flashcards page is the place for current information.
A routine that works
A routine that suits many busy clinicians takes 15 to 25 minutes.
- Open the flashcards once a day, ideally at the same time.
- Clear the due cards first.
- Add new cards only if the due queue was short.
- After a block of practice questions, make a note of facts you missed and review the matching deck.
- Once a week, look at cards you keep marking needs review. Do you understand the idea behind them? If not, read the explanation before trying the card again.
How flashcards fit with the rest of Meddex
Flashcards build recall, but the exams ask you to apply knowledge to a scenario. Use them alongside the question bank and timed test series. The performance analytics show which domains are weak, which tells you which decks to prioritise.
Revision in the last hours
Phones are not allowed inside the test centre, so the final review has to happen before you hand yours in. Meddex has a phone-only mode called Final Hour for the last hours before the exam, with session lengths of 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes, which pulls together the cards you still miss. The guide to last-hour revision explains what to include and what to leave out.
A worked review day
Say you open the flashcards on a Wednesday evening and there are 24 cards due and a limit of 15 new ones. You work through the due cards first. Twenty are correct and four are marked needs review. Those four come back in about ten minutes, so you look at them again before you finish. Two are right this time, and two are still wrong and stay in the short loop.
You then add a few new cards from a deck on infection control. You mark each honestly. The cards you got right will return tomorrow. The ones you missed will return within minutes. Your session takes 18 minutes. Tomorrow, you will see around the same number of due cards, and by the end of the week the daily count will settle as older cards move out to longer gaps.
Reading your results
Look at the pattern over weeks rather than at one day. A deck where most reviews are correct after the third pass is working. A deck where the same few cards keep returning needs attention: rewrite your understanding of the idea, then tackle the card again. If a card still will not stick after several tries, try writing your own version in plain words and keeping it in your notes.
Getting more from the decks
Pair each deck with questions in the same area. After a block of questions on fluids, for example, review the normal values and fluid cards that day, so facts are tied to the cases you have just seen. Use the cards as a quick warm-up before a longer study session, because retrieving a few facts first tends to focus attention. And keep the habit modest: a short daily session you actually do beats a long plan you drop.
Mistakes to avoid when you start
Do not mark a card known because it looks familiar. Try to say the answer before you flip. Do not binge-add cards on a quiet weekend and then run out of time on a busy Monday. Do not ignore the cards you keep missing: after the third miss, open the topic in the question bank or your notes and read about it properly. And do not compare your queue with anyone else’s. Your schedule belongs to your own memory.
Why decks are short
Decks are deliberately short and topic-based. A deck with eighty cards on one subject can be finished and revisited in a few days, which gives a sense of progress and makes it easy to match the cards to the questions you are doing that week. Very large decks tend to feel endless, and it is harder to tell which part is weak. If you want to focus your review, choose the deck that matches your current topic and clear it before you move on.
As you add more topics, the daily queue will draw from all of the decks you have started. That mixing is useful, because the exam mixes topics too.
Being honest with the buttons
The scheduler can only be as good as your self-assessment. If you press known on cards you half remembered, the system will space them too widely and you will meet them again after you have forgotten them. If you press needs review on everything out of anxiety, your queue will swell with cards you know. A good rule: known means you could have said the answer, in your own words, before you turned the card. Anything else is needs review.
What flashcards will not do
No tool replaces understanding. If you cannot explain why a card’s answer is right, the card is a memory of words only. Take the question to the explanations and use cards for the facts that remain.
Meddex is an independent preparation platform. It is not affiliated with the Dubai Health Authority, Prometric, UAE University or the NIHS, and it cannot promise a result.
Frequently asked questions
This article is general educational guidance, not official advice. Exam rules, fees and timelines are set by the Dubai Health Authority and the test provider and can change, so always confirm the latest details on their official channels.
Last updated .