The USMLE Step 1 trainer that schedules every question to hit right before you'd forget it, so knowledge actually sticks until exam day.
Everything you need to master Step 1
In 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus showed that we lose most of what we learn within days, unless we review it at the right moments. Each well-timed review flattens the curve, and the knowledge holds longer.
Ebb Deck turns that finding into your study schedule: every question resurfaces just before you'd forget it.
Every feature is pointed at a single goal: getting the right knowledge into your head and keeping it there until exam day.
An SM-2 scheduler reviews each question right before you'd forget it, and pushes the ones you know far into the future.
Board-style clinical questions across all 11 systems, each with a detailed explanation for every answer choice.
Per-system mastery tracks where you're shaky and builds targeted drills from your three weakest areas.
Set your test date once and every study day is pointed at it, with a live countdown and a streak that rewards showing up.
Your progress lives on your device. No account required, works on the subway, nothing tracked.
Ebb Deck was created using the research of Hermann Ebbinghaus on the forgetting curve: his landmark discovery that we lose most of what we learn within days unless it's reviewed at the right intervals.
We built Ebb Deck specifically to help users beat the forgetting curve, turning more than a century of memory science into a study schedule that resurfaces each question at the precise moment it's about to slip away.
And we focused it where that science matters most: USMLE preparation. Every feature, from the spaced-repetition engine to the weak-spot drills to the exam countdown, is purpose-built to help you walk into Step 1 with knowledge that's still there when you need it.
Straight answers to what medical students actually ask, and how Ebb Deck fits in.
The most evidence-backed approach combines active recall (testing yourself with practice questions instead of re-reading) with spaced repetition (reviewing material at increasing intervals so it moves into long-term memory). In practice that means doing board-style questions every day, reviewing the ones you got wrong or felt unsure about, and spacing those reviews out over time rather than cramming. Ebb Deck is built around exactly this: it schedules each of its 1,000+ questions to resurface right before you'd forget it, so your revision time goes to what's actually fading.
Yes. Spaced repetition is one of the most robust findings in memory research, dating back to Hermann Ebbinghaus and the forgetting curve in 1885. Because Step 1 covers an enormous volume of material across many weeks, reviewing on a schedule, rather than all at once, is what keeps facts retrievable on exam day. Ebb Deck applies an SM-2 spaced-repetition algorithm to every question so high-confidence items move far into the future and shaky ones come back soon and often.
Most students aim for somewhere between 40 and 120 questions a day depending on how far out their exam is, alongside reviewing every explanation thoroughly. Consistency matters more than volume: a steady daily habit beats occasional marathon sessions. Ebb Deck lets you build a custom set of any size, caps daily reviews so the workload stays sustainable, and tracks a streak to keep you showing up.
Forgetting is normal. Ebbinghaus showed we lose most of what we learn within days unless we review it. The fix is to review at the right moments, just as the memory is about to fade, and to test yourself rather than passively re-read. Ebb Deck automates that timing: it tracks what you've answered, predicts when each fact is at risk of slipping, and brings it back at that moment so the knowledge holds until exam day.
Many students build a foundation during their pre-clinical coursework and then run a dedicated study period of roughly four to eight weeks before the exam. Starting question practice early, even a handful a day, gives spaced repetition time to work, which is far more effective than cramming at the end. Ebb Deck includes an exam-date countdown so every study day stays pointed at your test date.
Ebb Deck is built specifically around the science of forgetting. Instead of just serving questions, it schedules each one using spaced repetition so you revise at the precise moment a fact is about to slip away. It tracks per-system mastery to target your weakest areas, runs entirely offline and private with no account required, and keeps an exam countdown front and centre, all focused on a single goal: helping you beat the forgetting curve and walk into Step 1 with knowledge that's still there.
Start your Step 1 prep today: free, private, and built on the science of memory.