Firecracker

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Do any of you guys go to schools with very frequent exams? I really want to keep up with FC, but we have 2, sometimes 3, exams per week. February has been the worst month so far (I'm an M1). 5 classes plus random, scattered patient-centered/emotional type small groups. So I find it difficult to do FC, study for exams, and stay caught up with lectures (they're recorded at my school, so it can be easy to fall behind when you're studying for exams). Just wondering how others on this kind of schedule manage doing FC.
 
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okokok said:
Do any of you guys go to schools with very frequent exams? I really want to keep up with FC, but we have 2, sometimes 3, exams per week. February has been the worst month so far (I'm an M1). 5 classes plus random, scattered patient-centered/emotional type small groups. So I find it difficult to do FC, study for exams, and stay caught up with lectures (they're recorded at my school, so it can be easy to fall behind when you're studying for exams). Just wondering how others on this kind of schedule manage doing FC.
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So my schedule isn't quite as bad, but during M1 I had pretty much a weekly exam and every other week or so would have 2 exams or an exam and practical of some sort. It's not quite as bad M2, but still more than most.

What I suggest you do is carve out specific FC time. For example, I do 6:30am-8am every morning now and spend the rest of the day with school material and other resources. In first year, I would do about 60-100 questions while sitting in class/during breaks/lunch.

With that testing schedule, it's inevitable to fall behind if your goal is a high class rank. It sucks. Try the morning 1hr and see what you think.
 
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Blatant error? Or am I ******ed?

"The alveolar gas equation is: PAO2 = FiO2 – (PaCO2/R)"

Isn't FiO2 partial pressure?
 
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surely said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraction_of_inspired_oxygen#PaO2.2FFiO2_ratio

What you've quoted doesn't look like an error to me. Does the above link explain what you're missing?
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Yeah, it explains that it's a typo I think. PaO2/FiO2 should be around 500. Say PaO2 is 95. If PaO2/FiO2 is going to be anywhere near 500 FiO2 must be a fraction (like 0.21, which is the partial pressure of O2 in air).


From FA
8PWPg9z.png
 
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So with the new card counter, what is it suggested that it be set at?
The whole "80 cards" thing sometimes doesn't even cover all the questions with 3-5 flags, let alone a spaced repetition review.

Does 200 MS1 and 300 MS2 sound about right?
 
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seminoma said:
Blatant error? Or am I ******ed?

"The alveolar gas equation is: PAO2 = FiO2 – (PaCO2/R)"

Isn't FiO2 partial pressure?
Click to expand...
Yeah, the equation is wrong. It should say PiO2, which is equal to FiO2 (Patm - PH2O). I downvoted the card, since they said that's the quickest way to get their attention for errors.
 
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ScrubsMD said:
So with the new card counter, what is it suggested that it be set at?
The whole "80 cards" thing sometimes doesn't even cover all the questions with 3-5 flags, let alone a spaced repetition review.

Does 200 MS1 and 300 MS2 sound about right?
Click to expand...

How many cards you get per day used to depend on how you scored them and how spread out your flagging was. I never had more than 150 per day if I kept up.
 
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ScrubsMD said:
So with the new card counter, what is it suggested that it be set at?
The whole "80 cards" thing sometimes doesn't even cover all the questions with 3-5 flags, let alone a spaced repetition review.

Does 200 MS1 and 300 MS2 sound about right?
Click to expand...
I usually do my topics questions first and then just do 80 additional questions in the beta app. But it is all up to preference really.
 
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seminoma said:
Anyone else using desktop beta version getting lag? There's a pause everytime I submit my score now.
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Chatted with them last night about this. Seems in correcting the problem with lost progress it's slowed it down but they're working to fix that. Yesterday's upgrade to 3.5 appears to have fixed the problem I was having with losing question progress and repeating questions every day that I'd ranked a 5 the day before. Almost seems like it's slowed because they've forced a sync/push with every answer submission. I like the progress they're making though, and adding the link to see related content/notes is great.
 
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abolt18 said:
Chatted with them last night about this. Seems in correcting the problem with lost progress it's slowed it down but they're working to fix that. Yesterday's upgrade to 3.5 appears to have fixed the problem I was having with losing question progress and repeating questions every day that I'd ranked a 5 the day before. Almost seems like it's slowed because they've forced a sync/push with every answer submission. I like the progress they're making though, and adding the link to see related content/notes is great.
Click to expand...

Yes, absolutely love that link!
 
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Greetings fellow Firecrackers~
Looking for some advice here. I'm an M1 student at an institution that uses old-fashioned grading (ie I'm graded against my peers). I've used Anki before to great effect, and am really loving FC. However, my school revels in testing us on the super super random details from our coursepacks (the infamous "one-liners"), and although FC is fairly detail oriented, it does not cover material in as much depth as our classes. How have you been integrating FC into your coursework? Do you use FC to study for your class exams, or just flag everything at the end?

Maybe I want my cake and a side of icecream too. Can I effectively integrate FC into course studying to improve grades, or should I expect to be taking a grades hit by using FC (2 hrs, 120 questions average, usually 30 new q's per day). Thanks for the advice/ help!!
 
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FA5297 said:
Greetings fellow Firecrackers~
Looking for some advice here. I'm an M1 student at an institution that uses old-fashioned grading (ie I'm graded against my peers). I've used Anki before to great effect, and am really loving FC. However, my school revels in testing us on the super super random details from our coursepacks (the infamous "one-liners"), and although FC is fairly detail oriented, it does not cover material in as much depth as our classes. How have you been integrating FC into your coursework? Do you use FC to study for your class exams, or just flag everything at the end?

Maybe I want my cake and a side of icecream too. Can I effectively integrate FC into course studying to improve grades, or should I expect to be taking a grades hit by using FC (2 hrs, 120 questions average, usually 30 new q's per day). Thanks for the advice/ help!!
Click to expand...

FC is best for reviewing old material. I flag things as we learn them in class, but I never rely on FC to help me on class exams. FC is kind of like an investment for the future. You sacrifice some time now so that you don't have to spend as much time reviewing later. 2 hours for 120 questions is excessive. It takes me less than 1 hour to do 100 review questions.
 
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FA5297 said:
Greetings fellow Firecrackers~
Looking for some advice here. I'm an M1 student at an institution that uses old-fashioned grading (ie I'm graded against my peers). I've used Anki before to great effect, and am really loving FC. However, my school revels in testing us on the super super random details from our coursepacks (the infamous "one-liners"), and although FC is fairly detail oriented, it does not cover material in as much depth as our classes. How have you been integrating FC into your coursework? Do you use FC to study for your class exams, or just flag everything at the end?

Maybe I want my cake and a side of icecream too. Can I effectively integrate FC into course studying to improve grades, or should I expect to be taking a grades hit by using FC (2 hrs, 120 questions average, usually 30 new q's per day). Thanks for the advice/ help!!
Click to expand...

I would add any relevant class bullets to a topic notes if what I learned in class either conflicted with the FC info or if the FC topic didn't cover what I considered to be highly likely to be tested in class. This way whenever I got questioned on that topic, I'd see my notes to the side and be reminded of what I had to remember for class. I didn't do it too often though. I think there normally comes a point when you have to decide whether you'll accept ok-decent grades knowing you could have honored your course in favor of completing FC or focusing on class first and then spending whatever time you have left on FC. It's definitely feasible to do both early on, but it can be draining and pretty tough once you've flagged a decent amount of FC topics if you go to a school that has extremely detail oriented exams like that.
 
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Ok, a little off topic here, I just want to know if anyone else does this? On days when I am feeling lazy or unfocused I purposely seek out easy topics to cover with the fewest questions to meet my daily quota that I have to meet to reach my goals (5 topics per day) by STEP/COMLEX 1. I call it "trolling for easys."
 
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TheFuture_22 said:
Ok, a little off topic here, I just want to know if anyone else does this? On days when I am feeling lazy or unfocused I purposely seek out easy topics to cover with the fewest questions to meet my daily quota that I have to meet to reach my goals (5 topics per day) by STEP/COMLEX 1. I call it "trolling for easys."
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Definitely do this too lol.
 
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Anyone have any tips on how to quickly access topic review pages? I noticed the only way i've been able to access them is after doing/getting a question wrong
 
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Hemorrage said:
Anyone have any tips on how to quickly access topic review pages? I noticed the only way i've been able to access them is after doing/getting a question wrong
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You can access the review material on the mobile app and the regular website. On the mobile app you can access the content by just clicking on 'questions' -> 'USMLE Step 1' -> then either 'organ systems' or 'basic sciences' and just click on the sections you're interested in reviewing from there.

On the normal website it is relatively the same you just click on the topic and the different sections will expand showing you the specific topic you want to review and after that you click on your topic of choice.
 
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So, I have been using the beta for a while and it's working decently. However, there are a few issues that really lower the general experience.
  • If you close down the session on the app, you will inevitably be forced to redo a bunch of the questions you have already answered that day before new questions start appearing. This is time consuming and annoying.
  • Another issue I've experienced is the clumping of questions from the same topic. Similar questions testing the same concept are regularly appearing consecutive to each other. This really defeats the purpose of spaced repetition.
  • Oh, and the increasing amount of multiple choice questions. They quite frankly suck. I would love to be able to opt out.
Anybody else experiencing the same issues?
 
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AnalisCanalis said:
So, I have been using the beta for a while and it's working decently. However, there are a few issues that really lower the general experience.
  • If you close down the session on the app, you will inevitably be forced to redo a bunch of the questions you have already answered that day before new questions start appearing. This is time consuming and annoying.
  • Another issue I've experienced is the clumping of questions from the same topic. Similar questions testing the same concept are regularly appearing consecutive to each other. This is really defeats the purpose of spaced repetition.
  • Oh, and the increasing amount of multiple choice questions. They quite frankly suck. I would love to be able to opt out.
Anybody else experiencing the same issues?
Click to expand...


Yes, I am experiencing all of those problems. I can assure you, they are more than aware of the problem and it's being worked on, although clearly not fixed.

The multiple choice questions are from Gunner Training, which predates FC. I don't like them either and an opt in/out feature may or may not be coming soon. I wouldn't count on that as the there are other issues to fix 1st.
 
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AnalisCanalis said:
So, I have been using the beta for a while and it's working decently. However, there are a few issues that really lower the general experience.
  • If you close down the session on the app, you will inevitably be forced to redo a bunch of the questions you have already answered that day before new questions start appearing. This is time consuming and annoying.
  • Another issue I've experienced is the clumping of questions from the same topic. Similar questions testing the same concept are regularly appearing consecutive to each other. This is really defeats the purpose of spaced repetition.
  • Oh, and the increasing amount of multiple choice questions. They quite frankly suck. I would love to be able to opt out.
Anybody else experiencing the same issues?
Click to expand...
With you on all of the above.
 
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Currently have 100% flagged, 91% mastery. I take my test in about 4 months. I am just a bit overwhelmed with how many questions I get per day (about 400). I wish there were a way to pause things (e.g. right now I am on a week vacation from school).
 
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Brainchild777 said:
Currently have 100% flagged, 91% mastery. I take my test in about 4 months. I am just a bit overwhelmed with how many questions I get per day (about 400). I wish there were a way to pause things (e.g. right now I am on a week vacation from school).
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Wow. That's incredible. How are you fitting in time for question banks also??
 
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midweststudent1 said:
Wow. That's incredible. How are you fitting in time for question banks also??
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If you're using the Beta/app keep in mind that there's 20%+ more question on the new versions compared to the old site. I'm ~95% on the website and about 70% on the app/beta.

The older version is exceedingly more obtainable.
 
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DrEnderW said:
If you're using the Beta/app keep in mind that there's 20%+ more question on the new versions compared to the old site. I'm ~95% on the website and about 70% on the app/beta.

The older version is exceedingly more obtainable.
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Good point. I refuse to do the new beta. I can't stand the inconsistencies. If I can come close to 85-90% on the original version, I'll be very pleased
 
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DrEnderW said:
Yup, I think I'm switching back after this weekend.
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I do enjoy the new database with more information, but I just cannot cope with not being able to utilize the beta version the way it is intended to be utilized and that is why I switched back last week. Too late in the game to look back now
 
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As others have reported, I seem to be getting several repeat questions each day on the new beta (which don't increase my total count for the day). Is anyone else still having this issue?
 
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Highly recommend all iOS users update their app (came out on Tuesday). I've experienced zero repeat questions or loss of content with synching. It's been great so far. You can also change your daily question goal now.
 
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DrEnderW said:
Highly recommend all iOS users update their app (came out on Tuesday). I've experienced zero repeat questions or loss of content with synching. It's been great so far. You can also change your daily question goal now.
Click to expand...

Same here, I was going to wait to make sure but I have used it today and yesterday with no repeats as well.
 
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andrewsmack05 said:
Same here, I was going to wait to make sure but I have used it today and yesterday with no repeats as well.
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Same here! Works great! I actually like the new system because doing 80 questions is much more manageable during second year than being a slave to the calendar system. Especially when trying to do FA and qbanks as well.
 
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Hey guys, just a few questions. I'm starting firecracker now (midway through 1st year second semester). Should I just start adding in topics that I'm currently working on (and if time permits, add older topics)?

Also, how do you guys personally rate cards. For example, on a card that wasn't multiple choice, it asked me what is the main regulated enzyme of glycolysis to which i knew instantly. However, once I clicked show answer it had a whole paragraph with everything about the enzyme, most of it I knew (but didn't think about when seeing the flashcard), and some of it had some pretty nitpicky details. I'm not really sure how to grade the card in this situation. Do you guys make sure you have every single detail memorized for a card to give it a 4-5, or just the "main" answer to the card. I feel like the former would make it very difficult as time progresses and card numbers stack up.
 
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Is there any reason to flag cards on the desktop beta? Doing the quiz adds questions to the lineup, but the "flag" option is still available so I'm wondering what the difference is.
 
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nabilesmail said:
Hey guys, just a few questions. I'm starting firecracker now (midway through 1st year second semester). Should I just start adding in topics that I'm currently working on (and if time permits, add older topics)?

Also, how do you guys personally rate cards. For example, on a card that wasn't multiple choice, it asked me what is the main regulated enzyme of glycolysis to which i knew instantly. However, once I clicked show answer it had a whole paragraph with everything about the enzyme, most of it I knew (but didn't think about when seeing the flashcard), and some of it had some pretty nitpicky details. I'm not really sure how to grade the card in this situation. Do you guys make sure you have every single detail memorized for a card to give it a 4-5, or just the "main" answer to the card. I feel like the former would make it very difficult as time progresses and card numbers stack up.
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Yes it's easiest to try to add things as you learn them in school and then try to catch up with past material when you get a chance and it isn't too overwhelming.

I can only speak for myself, but with the amount of stuff in FC it can be a little excessive to know everything on every single card cold, especially as you start to flag more. Personally I'll give something a 4 if I am comfortable enough with it that I wouldn't have any trouble picking the answer from a list of choices. 5 if I actually know it cold.
 
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mcloaf said:
Yes it's easiest to try to add things as you learn them in school and then try to catch up with past material when you get a chance and it isn't too overwhelming.

I can only speak for myself, but with the amount of stuff in FC it can be a little excessive to know everything on every single card cold, especially as you start to flag more. Personally I'll give something a 4 if I am comfortable enough with it that I wouldn't have any trouble picking the answer from a list of choices. 5 if I actually know it cold.
Click to expand...
Yep, this is basically how I rate things as well.
 
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