Firecracker

[JackShephard MD]

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med.firecracker.me

New medical education website rooted in an adaptive learning platform. Looks impressive, check it out.

Cheers.

 

[IH8ColdWeath3r]

I don't understand how you have over 100 topics flagged already... school just started!

We are starting with anatomy and while I doubted its suitability for this, FC has proven its usefulness as a supplement... and I'm sure it will become increasingly valuable past anatomy.

What is it?
-It's like long-term Anki cards for retaining high-yield information

What isn't it?
-A replacement for studying for classes
-A primary source of information

To that last point, I have certainly learned a few new things from FC but they required outside reading (aka wikipedia). There are a few questions I roll my eyes at when I see them because they're totally out of scope for me and I don't enjoy memorizing esoteric terms out of context. I've also found that if I let myself, I will take too much time on them. I try to look at them as something quick to cycle through and move on with life.

I agree with you. Also, if you ever get to one of the random questions that you no longer want to see, you can actually click the arrow next to the "save" button when ranking the recall of the question, and then click "adjust schedule" and that will allow you to select "never see again".

 

[medmedman]

I know the earlier the better, but is starting FC now too late as an M2? I feel it's still relatively early in my M2 year?

 

[benzonase]

Started using summer after MS1 (school started paying for it for all students) to go over most of 1st year curriculum. pretty good to relearn stuff while I was commuting to work/back on public transit.

My only complaint is the excessive number of questions. I can easily do 100-120/hr but once you start flagging enough topics it becomes 300-400/day. At that point the 2.5hrs it takes me to get through my questions is better spent studying for classes and exams (we do 3 week blocks). Or I start unflagging topics, which makes firecracker pointless.

Anyone else with similar frustrations? Strategies?

 

[surely]

Started using summer after MS1 (school started paying for it for all students) to go over most of 1st year curriculum. pretty good to relearn stuff while I was commuting to work/back on public transit.

My only complaint is the excessive number of questions. I can easily do 100-120/hr but once you start flagging enough topics it becomes 300-400/day. At that point the 2.5hrs it takes me to get through my questions is better spent studying for classes and exams (we do 3 week blocks). Or I start unflagging topics, which makes firecracker pointless.

Anyone else with similar frustrations? Strategies?

You can mark particular questions "never see again," so you don't lose out on an entire topic. Alternately, be more forgiving in how you rate your answers, so you see each card less frequently and thus have fewer reviews to do.

 

[TheBob]

Started using summer after MS1 (school started paying for it for all students) to go over most of 1st year curriculum. pretty good to relearn stuff while I was commuting to work/back on public transit.

My only complaint is the excessive number of questions. I can easily do 100-120/hr but once you start flagging enough topics it becomes 300-400/day. At that point the 2.5hrs it takes me to get through my questions is better spent studying for classes and exams (we do 3 week blocks). Or I start unflagging topics, which makes firecracker pointless.

Anyone else with similar frustrations? Strategies?

Yeah does anyone have any other feedback on that? I mean eventually you'll want to have most of the topics flagged so wont we all have that problem?

 

[Mattinthehat250]

Anyone here noticing that the firecracker cards include more info. than you are learning in class? Any recommended sources to really hammer down that extra material? Also, the path cards seem to have way more than pathoma, yet I've been told that most people use only pathoma to study. Should I not bother banking path in firecracker and use exclusively pathoma?

 

[DrEnderW]

Anyone here noticing that the firecracker cards include more info. than you are learning in class? Any recommended sources to really hammer down that extra material? Also, the path cards seem to have way more than pathoma, yet I've been told that most people use only pathoma to study. Should I not bother banking path in firecracker and use exclusively pathoma?

Hmm I don't know, I haven't had that experience at all.

Pathoma is a high yield review tool and definitely all you need to know for pathology. Firecracker definitely doesn't have as much as I see in class or in Goljan Rapid Review. I think it's a nice medium ground. I'd highly recommend Goljan RR to look up stuff you have questions on.

 

[okokok]

I can't keep up with fc, I have way too much studying to do for class (I'm an m1 and my school has exams almost every two weeks). Going to save it for breaks I think, especially the summer between m1 and m2.

 

[mcloaf]

I can't keep up with fc, I have way too much studying to do for class (I'm an m1 and my school has exams almost every two weeks). Going to save it for breaks I think, especially the summer between m1 and m2.

You will be busier as an M2. There is no value in doing FC if you don't stick to the daily schedule and do your review questions. If you're just going to do it when you get a free minute on breaks then save yourself the money and buy some review books or something. IMO the best thing you will do for yourself is decide once and for all whether or not it's a program that works for you and then stick with your decision. I'm not writing this to be a downer, but if you don't plan to use it as it's meant to be used you could probably save yourself time, money, and aggravation by focusing your efforts elsewhere.

 

[ChEMD]

I can't keep up with fc, I have way too much studying to do for class (I'm an m1 and my school has exams almost every two weeks). Going to save it for breaks I think, especially the summer between m1 and m2.

Firecracker is designed to be used along side your classes. Using it only over breaks defeats the purpose, because once you stop you'll eventually forget everything (exactly what FC is trying to prevent). FC isn't for everyone, you have to be willing to dedicate a significant amount of time to it every day. But realize that it can also help you on you on your exams, even if the material doesn't always 100% overlap. I wish I would have used it from the beginning along with my classes, I probably would remember a lot more from some of the early ones. Instead, I now have to stress about when I'm going to relearn that old material, stuff that I spent so much time learning, but have forgotten since I haven't thought about it in months.

 

[seminoma]

You will be busier as an M2. There is no value in doing FC if you don't stick to the daily schedule and do your review questions. If you're just going to do it when you get a free minute on breaks then save yourself the money and buy some review books or something. IMO the best thing you will do for yourself is decide once and for all whether or not it's a program that works for you and then stick with your decision. I'm not writing this to be a downer, but if you don't plan to use it as it's meant to be used you could probably save yourself time, money, and aggravation by focusing your efforts elsewhere.

Yup, or just make a new email everytime you want to use it.

Anyone here noticing that the firecracker cards include more info. than you are learning in class? Any recommended sources to really hammer down that extra material? Also, the path cards seem to have way more than pathoma, yet I've been told that most people use only pathoma to study. Should I not bother banking path in firecracker and use exclusively pathoma?

I noticed this during M1 (because some stuff on the card isn't covered until M2), but not really anymore. These days (M2) if there is info on an FC card that isn't covered in class it's because the teacher is a clinician that doesn't want to talk about basic science.

 

[Dr Dazzle]

Wanted to know if the best way is to read every FC card before attempting questions for a topic? I flagged topics being covered in class, but when I got questions without reading the FC entry I was surprised at how few of the questions I could even begin to answer. Seems that the questions are very much based on the cards they have, so you have to read those while covering the same material in class.

 

[DrEnderW]

Wanted to know if the best way is to read every FC card before attempting questions for a topic? I flagged topics being covered in class, but when I got questions without reading the FC entry I was surprised at how few of the questions I could even begin to answer. Seems that the questions are very much based on the cards they have, so you have to read those while covering the same material in class.

A lot of that is because some cards integrate things you haven't learned yet from other subjects. It's up to you if you want to try and commit that to memory or skip that portion of the answer for now. For example, there will be drugs you haven't covered that exacerbate a condition. That will all start coming together 2nd year.

My method is to cover material in class notes or text book, read the FC card, flag, answer the questions, and then move to the next topic. That counts as essentially 3 passes through the material.

 

[Dr Dazzle]

A lot of that is because some cards integrate things you haven't learned yet from other subjects. It's up to you if you want to try and commit that to memory or skip that portion of the answer for now. For example, there will be drugs you haven't covered that exacerbate a condition. That will all start coming together 2nd year.

My method is to cover material in class notes or text book, read the FC card, flag, answer the questions, and then move to the next topic. That counts as essentially 3 passes through the material.

Are you able to keep up with daily questions? If I were to read the FC card for every topic I flag, I don't think I could keep up. Yet, it seems thats the way to effectively use FC.

 

[mcloaf]

Are you able to keep up with daily questions? If I were to read the FC card for every topic I flag, I don't think I could keep up. Yet, it seems thats the way to effectively use FC.

How many topics are you adding a day that you don't have time to read the cards?

 

[Dr Dazzle]

How many topics are you adding a day that you don't have time to read the cards?

That's a good point. I guess it's more of I'm struggling to keep up with daily questions along with new topics presented in class everyday, and am trying to avoid anything extra in the steps involved.

 

[mcloaf]

That's a good point. I guess it's more of I'm struggling to keep up with daily questions along with new topics presented in class everyday, and am trying to avoid anything extra in the steps involved.

I'd be interested to know your q's/day and how long that's taking you to do if you don't mind sharing. IMO a lot of people get killed treating FC q's like qbanks rather than simply flashcards.

 

[DrEnderW]

Are you able to keep up with daily questions? If I were to read the FC card for every topic I flag, I don't think I could keep up. Yet, it seems thats the way to effectively use FC.

Most days I can. I do an average of 175 a day. Some days slightly less and some days more. I have no problem rescheduling questions if I have to study for an exam or have some personal time off. I do at least 75 questions every day I am required to be on campus during lectures. That leaves about 1hr outside of class time for FC to do 100ish questions - not bad. There's absolutely no way I can keep daily adding new content. If there's a day I'm just studying at home I may bank 25 topics that day when I have time. There's no way I could keep up a 1:1 lecture to flagged topic ratio on a daily basis and do the review questions.

IMO a lot of people get killed treating FC q's like qbanks rather than simply flashcards.

This is very common and I hear this a lot from students at my schedule. You should be treating FC like flashcards and many cards should be under 10s. Once you're use to the program, 100+ questions an hour if you're focused is completely reasonable.

 

[Ophthoseidon]

Thank god somebody mentioned legendary mode in this thread. I didn't even know it existed. Here I was trying to memorize the extra 4 paragraphs of information after a question... Only problem is instead of 80 questions I was supposed to do today, now I have 800 🙁

 

[midweststudent1]

Thank god somebody mentioned legendary mode in this thread. I didn't even know it existed. Here I was trying to memorize the extra 4 paragraphs of information after a question... Only problem is instead of 80 questions I was supposed to do today, now I have 800 🙁

There's an option to spread those questions out over up to 30 days...i would suggest doing that until you get caught up lol

 

[Dr Dazzle]

There's an option to spread those questions out over up to 30 days...i would suggest doing that until you get caught up lol

Curious to know how rescheduling works. Or how you guys use it. Sounds useful for days before exams.

 

[GopherMD]

Curious to know how rescheduling works. Or how you guys use it. Sounds useful for days before exams.

Under the "do today's questions", click on the more options button. Once you click that, there is a "spread out questions" option.

 

[Elevencents]

Anyway to use the "never show again" option with the app or is that only through the site?

 

[DrEnderW]

Anyway to use the "never show again" option with the app or is that only through the site?

If you're using iOS, only the site. The android app update is out. Watch for the iOS update to come out anytime now that will include a complete overhaul of the app.

 

[CyberMaxx]

Thank god somebody mentioned legendary mode in this thread. I didn't even know it existed. Here I was trying to memorize the extra 4 paragraphs of information after a question... Only problem is instead of 80 questions I was supposed to do today, now I have 800 🙁

lol the exact same thing just happened to me. I was always trying to decide how much info I had to remember after the green paragraph of a question and didn't realize there was a legendary mode.

 

[Dr Dazzle]

What's the consensus on flagging anatomy/embryo? Is it worth it?

 

[TheFuture_22]

What's the consensus on flagging anatomy/embryo? Is it worth it?

I was wondering this same thing. Plus, does that apply to just the first year anatomy or also the anatomy topics within each system?

 

[DrEnderW]

What's the consensus on flagging anatomy/embryo? Is it worth it?

Here's a list of some high yield anatomy topics the FC team put together if you don't want to flag it all:

http://blog.firecracker.me/2014/08/05/the-best-anatomy-flashcard-study-plan/

No opinion on embryo, haven't flagged that bs yet. Unsure if I will.

 

[DrEnderW]

I was wondering this same thing. Plus, does that apply to just the first year anatomy or also the anatomy topics within each system?

Check out the above link I posted.

People generally are referring to the main anatomy section that you cover 1st year. The organ systems anatomy is pretty high yield and often very clinically relevant. For example, youre SOL if you don't know the cardiac vasculature when you're doing cardio. In derm, you have to know the epidermal layers and histology, etc.

 

[Dr Dazzle]

Check out the above link I posted.

People generally are referring to the main anatomy section that you cover 1st year. The organ systems anatomy is pretty high yield and often very clinically relevant. For example, youre SOL if you don't know the cardiac vasculature when you're doing cardio. In derm, you have to know the epidermal layers and histology, etc.

Perhaps FA can be used to determine what really is HY. FC seems to add a lot of details at times, and anatomy is one area where this occurs.

 

[cbrons]

I'm about a month into my first year, and I'm almost two weeks into Firecracker. So far the details align pretty closely with my classes, but a couple of second years and my classmates have called me crazy and stupid for trying to use Firecracker as an M1. Why is there such a stigma about using resources as a first year?

I saw another user post that their school provides Firecracker. Personally I think schools should give Firecracker to students starting with day 1. It just seems like a much more intelligent way to study..

Your classmates/m2s dont understand FC then. FC is best to start as early as possible in 1st year


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile

 

[seminoma]

Anyone using the new app yet? It always grades questions automatically.. I hit "show answer" and it moves to the next question before I can finish reading the answer.

 

[vashka]

Is firecracker worth starting now? I'm already in my second year. I'm weighing the option between taking advantage of the 50% off deal right now or making my own cards out of FA along with each system we cover in class

 

[Robotman]

Is firecracker worth starting now? I'm already in my second year. I'm weighing the option between taking advantage of the 50% off deal right now or making my own cards out of FA along with each system we cover in class

Yes, I started MS2 6 months before my step 1; Even if I just use it for MS2 material such as path, pathophys, pharm, micro its still useful as all crap. To be honest, what was really covered in MS1 isn't so hard to review. Think about it, Histology, Biochem, Anatomy, Neuro, Immuno, Physio, Behavioral. The only difficult, voluminous subjects would be anatomy, neuro, biochem. You revisit, physio/immuno/biochem a bunch in pathophys and path. If you have ICM classes like mine, they love to test behavioral. So really MS1 is a joke when it comes to reviewing compared to keeping up with MS2 which is the majority of Step 1.

If you want to give it a go, send me a PM with your email and I'll send you a referral link which will give you 1 month on top of your free month you get for trial if you buy. Give it a try, its helped me tremendously going through it while doing my MS2 coursework.

 

[seminoma]

Yes, I started MS2 6 months before my step 1; Even if I just use it for MS2 material such as path, pathophys, pharm, micro its still useful as all crap. To be honest, what was really covered in MS1 isn't so hard to review. Think about it, Histology, Biochem, Anatomy, Neuro, Immuno, Physio, Behavioral. The only difficult, voluminous subjects would be anatomy, neuro, biochem. You revisit, physio/immuno/biochem a bunch in pathophys and path. If you have ICM classes like mine, they love to test behavioral. So really MS1 is a joke when it comes to reviewing compared to keeping up with MS2 which is the majority of Step 1.

If you want to give it a go, send me a PM with your email and I'll send you a referral link which will give you 1 month on top of your free month you get for trial if you buy. Give it a try, its helped me tremendously going through it while doing my MS2 coursework.

Interesting take. I've had a harder time reviewing MS1 stuff than keeping us with MS2 stuff.

 

[zegrated]

So I am wondering what you guys paid for Firecracker because there is a 50% off sale that's going to end today. However 50% off is still $450 for 2 years which is crazy expensive! Just not sure if its worth it. I would probably pull the trigger if it was closer to $200 or $250 for 2 years. After tomorrow it goes to $940 for 2 years! Are there specials that come up often? Thanks.

 

[Robotman]

So I am wondering what you guys paid for Firecracker because there is a 50% off sale that's going to end today. However 50% off is still $450 for 2 years which is crazy expensive! Just not sure if its worth it. I would probably pull the trigger if it was closer to $200 or $250 for 2 years. After tomorrow it goes to $940 for 2 years! Are there specials that come up often? Thanks.

The price of their program has been increasing dramatically due to their revamping of the website, the addition of USMLE style MCQs and extra content like USMLE and constant updates. The price will only increase and you will not see prices of 200 and 250, to give you an idea, last time you could get 250 for 2 years was about 2 years ago.

For me, Firecracker has been the greatest thing ever for medical school and I'm always fresh on things that others have failed to remember, this you will experience more in MS2.

The sales have usually been 15-30% off, I don't think I've ever seen a 50% off before and they only have these big sales around August when people start/come back to school.

If you decide to go for Firecracker, send me a PM with first name and email and I will send you friend invite, you will get 1 month free trial + 1 month free when you buy and I will get 1 month on my sub.

 

[TheFuture_22]

I was just wondering what everyone that uses Firecracker thought about my ranking system. I have been easier on myself ranking questions since switching to legendary mode in order to make the question load more manageable. This is about how I rank them: 1 - doesn't even look familiar, 2 - looks familiar but that's about it, 3 - knew at least a portion of the answer but may have gotten wrong on a multiple choice test, 4 - would have gotten it right on a multiple choice test, 5 - knew it without needing multiple choice. Is this reasonable or am I going too easy on myself? Thanks!

 

[midweststudent1]

I was just wondering what everyone that uses Firecracker thought about my ranking system. I have been easier on myself ranking questions since switching to legendary mode in order to make the question load more manageable. This is about how I rank them: 1 - doesn't even look familiar, 2 - looks familiar but that's about it, 3 - knew at least a portion of the answer but may have gotten wrong on a multiple choice test, 4 - would have gotten it right on a multiple choice test, 5 - knew it without needing multiple choice. Is this reasonable or am I going too easy on myself? Thanks!

Similar to how I do it also. Once you have a lot of topcs flagged, it's difficult to be more picky with yourself. Also, I take days to read through the answers and fill in the supplemental info ...that helps a lot

 

[zegrated]

Ouch, $450 down the drain. Hopefully I'll look back in 2 years and say it was worth it. I tend to delete things from my brain quickly after tests so I do think this will be a solid investment.

 

[TheFuture_22]

Ouch, $450 down the drain. Hopefully I'll look back in 2 years and say it was worth it. I tend to delete things from my brain quickly after tests so I do think this will be a solid investment.

It's funny, but the fact that the program is costly I think is part of what makes it work (at least for me). If this program was free, I probably would have quit it after a month or two (when topics start to make your question load much larger). However, since I have a lot of skin in the game I almost have to keep up with the program in order to make the investment worth it.

 

[wadewilson90]

I was just wondering what everyone that uses Firecracker thought about my ranking system. I have been easier on myself ranking questions since switching to legendary mode in order to make the question load more manageable. This is about how I rank them: 1 - doesn't even look familiar, 2 - looks familiar but that's about it, 3 - knew at least a portion of the answer but may have gotten wrong on a multiple choice test, 4 - would have gotten it right on a multiple choice test, 5 - knew it without needing multiple choice. Is this reasonable or am I going too easy on myself? Thanks!

I had been "gaming" the ratings to try and see things more frequently or push things out, but with the new app they just released I'm changing my approach. Since you can start a quiz anytime by rating (i.e. do a quiz of only questions I rated a 2) I'm doing it a little more naturally.

I. LOVE. THE NEW APP. I do wish there was a button to just do review questions though.

 

[Elevencents]

I had been "gaming" the ratings to try and see things more frequently or push things out, but with the new app they just released I'm changing my approach. Since you can start a quiz anytime by rating (i.e. do a quiz of only questions I rated a 2) I'm doing it a little more naturally.

I. LOVE. THE NEW APP. I do wish there was a button to just do review questions though.

Oh that is awesome. I have been doing the exact same thing with the rating and pushing things out. Come on iOS!

 

[Elevencents]

If you're using FC as a second year, or have in the past, do you drop it during your dedicated board study period and work with FA or stick with FC? This is alongside pathoma and uworld of course.

 

[DrEnderW]

If you're using FC as a second year, or have in the past, do you drop it during your dedicated board study period and work with FA or stick with FC? This is alongside pathoma and uworld of course.

I haven't taken Step 1 yet, but my plan is to drop it about a month out to hit UWorld another pass, FA, and pathoma. I will probably reference some FC cards or do select sections I am weak on. I may try and keep up with micro/immuno.

I would also love to hear what some successful 3rd years have done.

 

[WhizoMD]

I haven't taken Step 1 yet, but my plan is to drop it about a month out to hit UWorld another pass, FA, and pathoma. I will probably reference some FC cards or do select sections I am weak on. I may try and keep up with micro/immuno.

I would also love to hear what some successful 3rd years have done.

That sounds like a good plan.

I dropped it about 6 weeks out and focused on UW and NBMEs, it was very hard to do because I'd gotten so use to the structure of FC. But, at that point your'e fishing through hundreds of questions you know cold in order to find a few you need to work on; it's no longer efficient.

 

[DrEnderW]

That sounds like a good plan.

I dropped it about 6 weeks out and focused on UW and NBMEs, it was very hard to do because I'd gotten so use to the structure of FC. But, at that point your'e fishing through hundreds of questions you know cold in order to find a few you need to work on; it's no longer efficient.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[TheFuture_22]

That sounds like a good plan.

I dropped it about 6 weeks out and focused on UW and NBMEs, it was very hard to do because I'd gotten so use to the structure of FC. But, at that point your'e fishing through hundreds of questions you know cold in order to find a few you need to work on; it's no longer efficient.

I have seen a couple of people on SDN lately say that they wish they hadn't stuck with Firecracker throughout their first two years of medical school because they felt that they spend too much time with it with little reward. One person said that Firecracker sort of tricked you into thinking you understood a concept because you could quote certain features of it, but that Firecracker was making them miss the big picture. I was wondering what your thoughts were on it as a long term retention tool, and if you think it is worth sticking with until 4-6 weeks before the boards. In other words did you feel like it gave you a great base to build off of as you entered dedicated board prep time.

 

[ChEMD]

I have seen a couple of people on SDN lately say that they wish they hadn't stuck with Firecracker throughout their first two years of medical school because they felt that they spend too much time with it with little reward. One person said that Firecracker sort of tricked you into thinking you understood a concept because you could quote certain features of it, but that Firecracker was making them miss the big picture. I was wondering what your thoughts were on it as a long term retention tool, and if you think it is worth sticking with until 4-6 weeks before the boards. In other words did you feel like it gave you a great base to build off of as you entered dedicated board prep time.

Trick you into you thinking you understand it..lol. I didn't realize that program controls how you actually think about each topic. Obviously if you just memorize the words or phrase each card is looking for, you won't get much out of it. It's up to the user to make sure they are relating the card back to the actual topic and ensure they still get the big picture.

Personally, I was getting really frustrated that I would essentially forget most of the details that I spend so hard learning a month after we were tested on them. Since I've started using FC, I've been able to retain a lot more information, even stuff that I originally learned over a year ago. To me, that's worth the hour (or maybe 2) per day that I spend using the program.

 

[Lafakads]

I have seen a couple of people on SDN lately say that they wish they hadn't stuck with Firecracker throughout their first two years of medical school because they felt that they spend too much time with it with little reward. One person said that Firecracker sort of tricked you into thinking you understood a concept because you could quote certain features of it, but that Firecracker was making them miss the big picture. I was wondering what your thoughts were on it as a long term retention tool, and if you think it is worth sticking with until 4-6 weeks before the boards. In other words did you feel like it gave you a great base to build off of as you entered dedicated board prep time.

I think it depends on the type of person. I tend to understand big concepts fine (I come from an engineering background), but I suck remembering little details. FC keeps those little details fresh in my head to let me answer questions.