The Bottom Line
- Interleaving only works if the items are meaningfully confusable.
- Build ‘near-neighbour’ sets (3–6 conditions) and mix questions across them.
- The goal is discrimination: the one feature that flips the answer.
Most ‘interleaving’ is fake
If you mix unrelated topics (e.g., AF, psoriasis, hyponatraemia) you’re creating noise—not the discrimination pressure interleaving is meant to generate.
Interleaving is powerful, but underused because it feels harder and makes you look ‘worse’ short-term. For exam performance, that discomfort is often the point: you’re training selection under uncertainty.
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Step 1: Build a near-neighbour set
Pick 3–6 conditions that commonly get confused (e.g., cellulitis vs DVT vs gout; ulcerative colitis vs Crohn’s; PE vs pneumonia vs HF).
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Step 2: Create a discriminator list
For each pair, write the single best discriminator (not a textbook description).
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Step 3: Mix questions deliberately
Do 12–20 questions drawn from the whole set. Don’t separate by topic; force the decision.
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Step 4: Review by discriminator, not explanation
After the block, update your discriminator list with what actually fooled you.
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Step 5: Retest the set
Re-run a smaller mixed block 72 hours later. This is where the durable learning appears.
High-quality interleaving
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Practice
Test your knowledge
Apply this concept immediately with a high-yield question block from the iatroX Q-Bank.
SourceWhy learners underuse interleaving (and how to counter it)
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