Firecracker for clerkships?

[*brobro*]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I'm trying to plan out my approach to 3rd year and I would appreciate some input from those who have used firecracker consistentley throughout 3rd year, both in terms of how it affected shelf performance and step 2. I've looked into it myself via these forums and upperclassmen and it seems like firecracker has improved in quality and is effective for those who have been using it (mind you, the 2 guys I talked to are also high step 1 scorers and rockstar students so they would probably kill it with whatever resources they used). One guy said that he solely uses firecracker as his main shelf study resource.

Would you suggest using firecracker for third year? Is it sufficient for shelf exams?

Thanks so much!

EDIT: just noticed that I basically created a duplicate topic with the exam same title...anyways, you can scold me for that or just give feedback if you have it 🙂

 

[seminoma]

@kirbymiester

Curious as well. Still have some leftover time on my sub.

 

[Apoplexy__]

I'm trying to plan out my approach to 3rd year and I would appreciate some input from those who have used firecracker consistentley throughout 3rd year, both in terms of how it affected shelf performance and step 2. I've looked into it myself via these forums and upperclassmen and it seems like firecracker has improved in quality and is effective for those who have been using it (mind you, the 2 guys I talked to are also high step 1 scorers and rockstar students so they would probably kill it with whatever resources they used). One guy said that he solely uses firecracker as his main shelf study resource.

Would you suggest using firecracker for third year? Is it sufficient for shelf exams?

Thanks so much!

EDIT: just noticed that I basically created a duplicate topic with the exam same title...anyways, you can scold me for that or just give feedback if you have it 🙂

@kirbymiester

Curious as well. Still have some leftover time on my sub.

You guys probably both already read the thread I made on FC for Step 2, but yeah, here are the points to consider:
-The content has improved significantly since last year. It was basically overhauled.
-I can't judge the quality of it as a whole since I didn't use it, but I know some sections are top-notch and others aren't.
-There are already too many recommended resources for shelfs/Step 2 to go through, and adding a resource with limited reviews/experiences from students to your study plans is somewhat of a risk.
-If it were me and I had time left in my sub after Step 1, I would at least check it out.

 

[operaman]

I tried to use it a couple years ago, but ended up basically dropping it and never kept up with reviews. Personally, I didn't have time to keep up with all the reviews and felt like I wasn't covering enough ground. I thought it was nice to flag all the cards and just blitz through by topic sometimes simply to hit a lot of stuff fast, but that's about the extent of how I used it.

I found that PreTest and Lange Q&A had really good apps that i put on my phone and just banged through both for each rotation along with UWorld as I was able. That was basically the extent of my shelf prep aside from mandatory didactic stuff. It was more than enough for me, but everyone is different.

One of the most important things to learn in 3rd year is how to read question stems with a clinical focus rather than a basic science focus like you used for step 1. What this means is that you will focus on slightly different things in the vignettes than you're accustomed to, and the only way to get good at it is by doing a lot of questions. My basic approach was this (in case anyone finds it helpful):

1) Read last sentence of vignette - the actual question part
2) 2-second skim of answers just to know what I'm dealing with: lab tests, imaging, pulm diseases, blood pressure meds, etc.
3) Read vignette with an eye for answering the following two questions for almost every question:
----a) What is my working diagnosis?
----b) What is my assessment of this patient? (stable, unstable, etc.)
4) Make sure the above 2 questions are answered as much as possible before selecting an answer choice since the answers will strongly impact what you do
5) For diagnosis questions, your answer to the above is the answer, though they may use different wording (urge continence vs detrussor hyperactivity)
6) For next step/test questions, it's either a test to clarify 3(a), or something to deal with 3(b). Look for the thing you wish they included in the vignette.
7) Once you've selected a next step/test, ask yourself this question:
----a) what will I do AFTER I get my answer?
8) If you would do the same thing regardless of the result, pick another test (especially if the thing you would do is another test)

Obviously all that happens very fast, but that's basically how I approached shelf/CK questions. Frankly, I didn't think FC helped me much with that; time is probably better spent on doing as many test-like questions as possible. I loved FC for M1/M2, and my strong knowledge base from those years definitely made the rest of med school a breeze.

 

[olecranon4]

I think overall the biggest issue with FC for step 2, unlike for step 1, is that it is super heavy on lists of things. I attached a pic as an example, but there are plenty more topics like this. These are really not memorizable, easily forgettable, and aren't very helpful for shelves or anything.

 

[seminoma]

I think overall the biggest issue with FC for step 2, unlike for step 1, is that it is super heavy on lists of things. I attached a pic as an example, but there are plenty more topics like this. These are really not memorizable, easily forgettable, and aren't very helpful for shelves or anything.

Tbh you should already know all that from step 1. It's presented that way as a reminder and a way to realize "oh I didn't know that, let me go read up on it".

Imo those lists are more consistent with how we should be thinking at this stage of the game. How do you expect to come up with a ddx if you can't formulate lists from memory?

 

[olecranon4]

Tbh you should already know all that from step 1. It's presented that way as a reminder and a way to realize "oh I didn't know that, let me go read up on it".

Imo those lists are more consistent with how we should be thinking at this stage of the game. How do you expect to come up with a ddx if you can't formulate lists from memory?

You plan on memorizing your way through ddx? Good luck bud