2025 – PAGE 10 – PBR MEMORY AIDS – USING MNEMONICS AND PEGS
MNEMONICS: Mnemonics are memory aids that assist in helping you recall something. They are used throughout this study guide to help you study in a more focused and EFFICIENT manner. Not all of them will work for you, but many will. At the time of the exam, you WILL use many of the mnemonics in this book to help you answer questions. If you’re lucky, you might even get a smile on your face as you think about me acting like a bit of a fool in some of the videos from the PBR Online Video Course (www.pediatricsboardreview.com/videos).
PEGS: Memory “pegs” are typically used to help you remember a list of items. By having 20 pre-memorized pegs that represent the numbers 1–20, you can easily “peg” items to those numbers. For example, in the PEG system outlined in this guide, a CAT symbolizes the number 9 (since cats are said to have “nine lives”).
So, if you are trying to memorize a grocery list of 10 items and one of those items is a gallon of milk, then the 9th item could be tied to an image, or a story, about a cat. It could be as simple as visualizing a funky looking BLACK CAT that has white legs drinking from an orange bowl of MILK. The white legs and orange bowl are simply thrown in to add color and imagination. Other strategies would include the use of disproportional size, the use of action, or the use of sound. The crazier the image, or story, the better!
Please note that some of the pegs in this guide will be used in the high-yield mnemonics in this book. Please look through them a few times to see if you can get the hang of it. If you can, then you might even be able to start creating some of your OWN fun and interesting mnemonics. If you cannot, it’s okay. Move on since there are only a handful of mnemonics that use one of the pegs listed here. Plus, if I do use a peg, I usually try to remind you of the peg association in the book.
Do you have ideas on how to make the pegs or mnemonics in this book more useful?
Please consider sharing your thoughts in the private, members’ only area of the PBR Community You can also submit them directly to us for consideration through our errors and clarifications portal:
www.pediatricsboardreview.com/ERROR
TWENTY PEGS
| # | USE THIS PEG | DESCRIPTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS OF PEGS |
| 1 | TREE TRUNK | Imagine the number 1 looking like a huge, brown tree trunk with limbs full of green foliage sitting at the top of a lush, green hilltop. |
| 2 | LIGHT SWITCH | A light switch has 2 positions (ON & OFF). Use a switch OR a bulb for “2”. |
| 3 | STOOL | Imagine a dark, cherry wood stool with 3 legs. |
| 4 | CAR | Cars have FOUR doors and FOUR wheels. |
| 5 | GLOVE or HAND | A glove has 5 fingers. Consider making Michael Jackson’s shiny glove your peg for the number FIVE. |
| 6 | GUN | Another name for a gun is a 6-shooter (since guns used to only hold 6 bullets). GUNS also kill people and put them “6 feet under” the ground. |
| 7 | DICE or CARDS | Lucky number 7! Think Vegas, think craps, think gambling with dice or cards! |
| 8 | ICE SKATE | Ice skaters are known for performing a move called the figure 8. Eight also rhymes with skate. |
| 9 | CAT | Ever heard of the phrase, “Cats have nine lives”? |
| 10 | BOWLING BALL or BOWLING PINS | The goal of bowling is to knock down 10 pins. |
| 11 | AMERICAN FOOTBALL or GOAL POST | In American football, a field goal occurs when a football is kicked through two, white, vertical uprights (the goal post). A goal post looks like the number 11. |
| 12 | EGGS | Eggs usually come in a carton that contains a dozen (12) eggs. |
| 13 | HOCKEY MASK | Unlucky number 13 and the unlucky day/movie Friday the 13th. The main character in the movie Friday the 13th is Jason, a hockey-mask-wearing killer. |
| 14 | ROSE or CHOCOLATE HEART | February 14th is Valentine’s Day! So, think of a long-stemmed, red ROSE or perhaps a big CHOCOLATE HEART. |
| 15 | PAYCHECK | You get to give the IRS a huge chunk of your PAYCHECK every single year on TAX-DAY! APRIL 15th. Welcome to healthcare. 🙂 |
| 16 | DRIVER’S LICENSE | Age at which you get a driver’s license. Other pegs to consider include CANDLES, CANDY, or a BIRTHDAY CAKE for “Sweet SIXTEEN.” |
| 17 | MAGAZINE | There is a teen magazine called “SEVENTEEN.” |
| 18 | VOTING BOOTH | Age when you become a legal adult in the U.S. and are allowed to VOTE. |
| 19 | KNIGHTING | Imagine a “KNIGHTING” ceremony (sounds like 19) or a KNIGHT. |
| 20 | CIGARETTES | A pack of CIGARETTES has 20 cigarettes in it. |
There are TONS of mnemonics throughout PBR. Many will seem brilliant. Others may not work for you at all. If that happens, please CREATE YOUR OWN. It’s initially intimidating but gets much easier with time.
Click here to read PBR’s article on mnemonics: www.pbrlinks.com/MNEMONICS