MD & DO Firecracker AFTER Completing Zanki

[matchmeifyoucan]

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Let's say an M1 completes Zanki before the start of M2. Now, as an M2, they start Firecracker while keeping up with Zanki reviews. How feasible would it be to complete Firecracker with a Zanki background within 7 months? How long would that M2 have to dedicate to studying with Firecracker everyday? Let's say this M2 has no mandatory lectures and is in a systems-based curriculum. Thanks!

 

[slowthai]

Honestly, that's complete overkill. I would start hitting banks.

 

[Gilakend]

Disclaimer: I have a 1 year preclinical so my plan may be different.

I'll finish Zanki by the start of M2 and I have 0 intentions of doing another flash card-based program. I just started working my way through Rx and will hopefully have it finished by the end of M1. I'll probably use Amboss next year. Once I started doing questions I realized how good of a base flashcards are, but also how wholly incomplete the experience is without practice questions. I'm currently being murdered by USMLE Rx.

 

[bobjonesbob]

Let's say an M1 completes Zanki before the start of M2. Now, as an M2, they start Firecracker while keeping up with Zanki reviews. How feasible would it be to complete Firecracker with a Zanki background within 7 months? How long would that M2 have to dedicate to studying with Firecracker everyday? Let's say this M2 has no mandatory lectures and is in a systems-based curriculum. Thanks!

Don’t do that. It would be a very inefficient use of your time. The only thing I would suggest is if you’re still pretty far from step 1 I would set your anki max interval around ~100 days and your relapse interval percent at 50%. Hammer qbanks, sketchy, and pathoma. If you’ve done all that go do research or find a hobby.


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[Ho0v-man]

I don’t see how you monsters can finish Zanki before M2 even starts. I finished it right before dedicated and was losing my freaking mind trying to do it. Like, I’m not even the same species as y’all.

I can’t imagine adding flash cards over essentially the same material would yield nearly the gains of just keeping up w reviews and pounding qbanks. If you’ve really finished Zanki you even have the advantage of knowing which questions in Kaplan/Rx are stupid and worth ignoring.

 

[Isoval]

I don’t see how you monsters can finish Zanki before M2 even starts. I finished it right before dedicated and was losing my freaking mind trying to do it. Like, I’m not even the same species as y’all.

I can’t imagine adding flash cards over essentially the same material would yield nearly the gains of just keeping up w reviews and pounding qbanks. If you’ve really finished Zanki you even have the advantage of knowing which questions in Kaplan/Rx are stupid and worth ignoring.

I just started Zanki and Lightyear and I'm an M2 lol

At 50 cards each per day, I should finish both or be very close prior to dedicated.

 

[slowthai]

I just started Zanki and Lightyear and I'm an M2 lol

At 50 cards each per day, I should finish both or be very close prior to dedicated.

Wait, why are you doing both?

 

[Ho0v-man]

I just started Zanki and Lightyear and I'm an M2 lol

At 50 cards each per day, I should finish both or be very close prior to dedicated.

Yeah but new cards every single day was unsustainable for me. I needed days without new cards just to get reviews down before doing a new system full of news.

 

[Isoval]

Wait, why are you doing both?

Zanki has Pathoma.

 

[redsox93]

You don’t just “finish anki” you still gotta keep up with reviews. Isn’t that the point of spaced repetition?

 

[redsox93]

I just started Zanki and Lightyear and I'm an M2 lol

At 50 cards each per day, I should finish both or be very close prior to dedicated.

There’s no way that’s true. Zanki alone is 17,000 right? Assuming you’re halfway through second year that math doesn’t add up

 

[Isoval]

My count showed Zanki at 11k. I also meant simultaneously, so not Lightyear and then Zanki, but 50 of each every day.

Forgot to hit quote! @redsox93

 

[slowthai]

My count showed Zanki at 11k. I also meant simultaneously, so not Lightyear and then Zanki, but 50 of each every day.

Forgot to hit quote! @redsox93

But the latest iteration of Zanki has almost 30K cards. That's why I was confused, like you're doubling up on decks?? If you were mixing and matching from both decks, I'd get it, because some people like to do that. But otherwise...

 

[scoopdaboop]

But the latest iteration of Zanki has almost 30K cards. That's why I was confused, like you're doubling up on decks?? If you were mixing and matching from both decks, I'd get it, because some people like to do that. But otherwise...

Zanki is different than the AnKing deck, which has basically everything.

 

[slowthai]

Zanki is different than the AnKing deck, which has basically everything.

When I say Zanki, I assume everyone knows that I'm referring to AnKing. Well, at least the people that are using Zanki now should. Like it's the best version of the deck, how can you not be on it, lol.

 

[4thtimeretaker]

I just started Zanki and Lightyear and I'm an M2 lol

At 50 cards each per day, I should finish both or be very close prior to dedicated.

When do you take step? How many hours do you dedicate alone to Anki? I've been delaying starting because for some reason I always forget to do my cards. I also push then off when we have exams (which is 2x) a week. So I'm always falling behind on them. Im still a first year though but I want to figure out how to effectively go about it.

 

[Isoval]

My authorizations papers are still on the way, but I plan to register for Step 1 around the 15th of June.

I don't really have a set time that I use for Anki. I clear all my cards and call it a day. If it takes me forty minutes, that long. If it take me three hours, that long.

 

[deweystrontium]

I aggressively do Zanki+lolnotacop (roughly 30k cards) and have only completed 25% of the deck. I'm still an M1, but this is a more feasible benchmark if one hopes to mature most of Zanki by dedicated. I do roughly 700-800 reviews a day and add at least 100 new cards to the deck daily (on some days I add more, if they're related to a whole unit we cover in class). It's a lot harder to do Zanki when lectures are mandatory.

 

[matchmeifyoucan]

Yeah, I know it's not recommended and that there is probably better use of that time, but I was just wondering how feasible it is to finish Firecracker within 7 months after having "seen" all new Zanki cards. Does anyone have an idea? Or can someone point me in the direction of where I can find this information?

EDIT: Also, I want to add that I appreciate all the responses. 🙂

 

[slowthai]

Yeah, I know it's not recommended and that there is probably better use of that time, but I was just wondering how feasible it is to finish Firecracker within 7 months after having "seen" all new Zanki cards. Does anyone have an idea? Or can someone point me in the direction of where I can find this information?

EDIT: Also, I want to add that I appreciate all the responses. 🙂

@sab3156 might know. He was on FC before.

 

[sab3156]

@sab3156 might know. He was on FC before.

This dude is literally insane for even thinking about this.

Let's say an M1 completes Zanki before the start of M2. Now, as an M2, they start Firecracker while keeping up with Zanki reviews. How feasible would it be to complete Firecracker with a Zanki background within 7 months? How long would that M2 have to dedicate to studying with Firecracker everyday? Let's say this M2 has no mandatory lectures and is in a systems-based curriculum. Thanks!

As I just said above, you're insane, man. You need to relax. You either pick Firecracker or Zanki - not both. Doing both is not efficient, logical, or good for your health. You will be a very sad and depressed soul for an entire two years of your short time here on this God forsaken planet. Spread yourself out some more.

And there is no way you're "finishing" Zanki as an M1 in a traditional curriculum. Good luck with that. And even if you do mindlessly go through Zanki without having any context about what you're hitting "Good" on, your knowledge is going to be trash. And at that point all you've done is wasted all your time clicking "Good" or "Easy" on cards you actually have zero knowledge about.

I recommend not doing FC unless you're using it to read material - don't do the cards, because they're just bad (unless you like those types of cards, the ones that ask a question and the answer is a paragraph long). The content of FC is the greatest thing of all time, though.

 

[Cath Up]

, they start Firecracker while keeping up with Zanki reviews. How feasible would it be to complete Firecracker with a Zanki background within 7 months? How long would that M2 have to ded

There’s no way that’s true. Zanki alone is 17,000 right? Assuming you’re halfway through second year that math doesn’t add up

My count showed Zanki at 11k. I also meant simultaneously, so not Lightyear and then Zanki, but 50 of each every day.

Forgot to hit quote! @redsox93

I have an older Zanki deck from summer of 2018 that is 26,000 cards. Haven't kept up with all the new iterations as it makes sense to stick to a goal and complete it for me personally.

The AnKing deck should be referred to as the AnKing deck IMO.

 

[matchmeifyoucan]

@sab3156 Do you even know why I'm asking?

 

[matchmeifyoucan]

If you are against the idea, you are more than free to let me know. You probably already know that the way you convey your message will likely affect how it's received (or if it's received at all). And if you don't care about how it's received, well I don't know what to say except you're wasting your time (on me), unless the message is not actually meant for me. But it's the internet. People will do what they want on here. It was my mistake for wording the question the way I did. How about this:

How feasible is it to finish FC within 7 months? Never mind AnKing. Hopefully, this question is more palatable.

My guess is that it's not going to be answered at this point considering the tone and preconceived notions already set. I'll keep doing my research, though. Good night.

EDIT: This post is for @sab3156 , by the way.

EDIT 2: Also, I get that no one owes me an answer, in case anyone believes that I think I'm entitled to one. I'm just a bit irritated. I don't mean to be rude, but I do mean to be firm.

 

[sab3156]

If you are against the idea, you are more than free to let me know. You probably already know that the way you convey your message will likely affect how it's received (or if it's received at all). And if you don't care about how it's received, well I don't know what to say except you're wasting your time (on me), unless the message is not actually meant for me. But it's the internet. People will do what they want on here. It was my mistake for wording the question the way I did. How about this:

How feasible is it to finish FC within 7 months? Never mind AnKing. Hopefully, this question is more palatable.

My guess is that it's not going to be answered at this point considering the tone and preconceived notions already set. I'll keep doing my research, though. Good night.

EDIT: This post is for @sab3156 , by the way.

EDIT 2: Also, I get that no one owes me an answer, in case anyone believes that I think I'm entitled to one. I'm just a bit irritated. I don't mean to be rude, but I do mean to be firm.

It is feasible.

 

[Medic741]

I did FC and was really glad I did, had a lot of content that I had mastered that classmates hadn't seen before. It also got me used to a platform that's been really great for clerkships in M3

 

[sab3156]

I did FC and was really glad I did, had a lot of content that I had mastered that classmates hadn't seen before. It also got me used to a platform that's been really great for clerkships in M3

How are you liking FC for shelf exams?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I did FC and was really glad I did, had a lot of content that I had mastered that classmates hadn't seen before. It also got me used to a platform that's been really great for clerkships in M3

What do you like about FC specifically for clerkship?

 

[Medic741]

How are you liking FC for shelf exams?

I love it. There really aren’t any consistently good anki decks that my friends have been able to find, and I like that the Firecracker clerkship decks are consistently good.

When I like about the Firecracker clerkships is having a comprehensive resource available as a study guide/ premade flashcards.

@Matthew9Thirtyfive the most helpful thing for me has been The large clerkship specific question banks that fire cracker called “cases“. A lot of them have very lengthy stems that require lab value interpretation, which has prepared me well for the weirdly worded long stem questions found on shelf exams that also contain a lot of lab value interpretation from what I’ve seen.

Starting a few days before the exam I will start going through my red and yellow cards and start doing cases as well. Consistently scoring quite well on shelf exams from this.

Hope this helps!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I love it. There really aren’t any consistently good anki decks that my friends have been able to find, and I like that the Firecracker clerkship decks are consistently good.

When I like about the Firecracker clerkships is having a comprehensive resource available as a study guide/ premade flashcards.

@Matthew9Thirtyfive the most helpful thing for me has been The large clerkship specific question banks that fire cracker called “cases“. A lot of them have very lengthy stems that require lab value interpretation, which has prepared me well for the weirdly worded long stem questions found on shelf exams that also contain a lot of lab value interpretation from what I’ve seen.

Starting a few days before the exam I will start going through my red and yellow cards and start doing cases as well. Consistently scoring quite well on shelf exams from this.

Hope this helps!

So you do cards throughout the rotation and then redo your incorrects and do all the questions right before the shelf?

 

[Medic741]

So you do cards throughout the rotation and then redo your incorrects and do all the questions right before the shelf?

Yup! I mark my current rotation as 'current' and do my today's to-dos in the AM. If I want to study more then I'll read through some review pages and then do the cards by topic. Then before exam I'll do red/yellows until I hit a wall.

 

[Medic741]

So you do cards throughout the rotation and then redo your incorrects and do all the questions right before the shelf?

Honestly really paid off to have this bank of yellow/red cards to run through in week before STEP to emphasize the weird discrete knowledge I still hadn't mastered.

 

[slowthai]

I aggressively do Zanki+lolnotacop (roughly 30k cards) and have only completed 25% of the deck. I'm still an M1, but this is a more feasible benchmark if one hopes to mature most of Zanki by dedicated. I do roughly 700-800 reviews a day and add at least 100 new cards to the deck daily (on some days I add more, if they're related to a whole unit we cover in class). It's a lot harder to do Zanki when lectures are mandatory.

What's your rationale for maturing most of Zanki by dedicated?

Full disclosure, I'm also doing it aggressively, but only because I want to head into qbanks with a strong base. That way I'll be able to run through them much faster and I'll be able to plug in any gaps that much more easily.

 

[deweystrontium]

What's your rationale for maturing most of Zanki by dedicated?

Full disclosure, I'm also doing it aggressively, but only because I want to head into qbanks with a strong base. That way I'll be able to run through them much faster and I'll be able to plug in any gaps that much more easily.

I have the same reasons. I haven't started any QBanks, and even Kaplan USMLE Questions of the Day are difficult unless you've had at least one pass through everything. I figure the content in Zanki is a good core knowledge base to have and to be able to recall at any moment.

Furthermore, I do plan on using Firecracker for more broad topic review or clarification in an area I'm weak in, but for the most part I find that Anki + in-house readings/lectures + B&B + Pathoma is enough to get the job done for now. I occasionally use First-Aid, but since most of the high-yield facts and diagrams are in Zanki, I just annotate and add notes to my Zanki cards.

QBanks are a whole different beast compared to pure recall, so the last thing I would want is to waste time memorizing info that I could have already solidified come dedicated.

 

[Medic741]

What's your rationale for maturing most of Zanki by dedicated?

Full disclosure, I'm also doing it aggressively, but only because I want to head into qbanks with a strong base. That way I'll be able to run through them much faster and I'll be able to plug in any gaps that much more easily.

You'll be glad you did this - makes it so when you're spending time with Qbanks more productive in learning test taking techniques & able to benefit more from 'thinking' questions rather than driving home discrete knowledge you should already know.

 

[slowthai]

I have the same reasons. I haven't started any QBanks, and even Kaplan USMLE Questions of the Day are difficult unless you've had at least one pass through everything. I figure the content in Zanki is a good core knowledge base to have and to be able to recall at any moment.

Furthermore, I do plan on using Firecracker for more broad topic review or clarification in an area I'm weak in, but for the most part I find that Anki + in-house readings/lectures + B&B + Pathoma is enough to get the job done for now. I occasionally use First-Aid, but since most of the high-yield facts and diagrams are in Zanki, I just annotate and add notes to my Zanki cards.

QBanks are a whole different beast compared to pure recall, so the last thing I would want is to waste time memorizing info that I could have already solidified come dedicated.

Agreed. Interesting approach with using FC that way. Personally using Google/Wikipedia/textbooks/journals for the same purpose.

Yeah, I heavily annotate the extra section as well. Absolutely agree on your last point.

 

[4thtimeretaker]

You'll be glad you did this - makes it so when you're spending time with Qbanks more productive in learning test taking techniques & able to benefit more from 'thinking' questions rather than driving home discrete knowledge you should already know.

Ideally when should one mature Zanki by and then hop straight into QBs? I'm a 1st year and want to start but we're currently in our Neuro block and the deck is pretty intimidating starting off with.

 

[CaptainZeki]

I just started Zanki and Lightyear and I'm an M2 lol

At 50 cards each per day, I should finish both or be very close prior to dedicated.

Incoming MS1 here asking newbie questions so forgive me but what is Lightyear? I know what Zanki is.
Also what is Firecracker?

 

[Dox4lyfe]

Incoming MS1 here asking newbie questions so forgive me but what is Lightyear? I know what Zanki is.
Also what is Firecracker?

I'll let someone else describe FC. Lightyear is an anki deck made for Boards and Beyond (a step prep resource). Peep medical school anki on reddit for more info.

 

[delamj]

Ideally when should one mature Zanki by and then hop straight into QBs? I'm a 1st year and want to start but we're currently in our Neuro block and the deck is pretty intimidating starting off with.

Once you’ve matured a topic you can attempt questions within that topic, which is what I did throughout 1st year and a bit of second year since I knew I would need more practice. I matured Zanki and completed my 1st qbank a little after my second year started so I had plenty of time for another qbank, ~3 months before dedicated iirc.

The neuro deck in Zanki is a bit overkill for Step 1; the Physeo neuro section is less comprehensive than Zanki but covered every neuro scenario I encountered in UWorld, NBMEs, and on the real deal, from what I remember. Granted I still matured the whole thing since it interested me, but I don’t think it’s necessary.


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Edit: to clarify I meant three months not three qbanks.

 

[ExcitatorySynapse]

I did FC and was really glad I did, had a lot of content that I had mastered that classmates hadn't seen before. It also got me used to a platform that's been really great for clerkships in M3

@Medic741 Hi, I was wondering if you could describe how you used FC for step? I own a sub and so far I just marked topics that we did (normal physio) and I guess I do the dailies + cases, and then I can review individual topics w/ questions. Thank you so much