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.

 

[pampiniformplex]

Why are your question loads so high? Did you start recently or are you just being very strict with how you rate questions?

I started in September. Im not sure how to be less strict- heres what I do:

5- know it like the back of my hand
4- know it well, cant hurt to see again in the next month
3- can recall the answer most of the time
2- dont know it yet
1- dont know it and need to see it again tomorrow because it is a high yield card

I am adding 10-12 topics a day which comes out to 100-130 new cards/day. Those cards I usually rate 1-2 the first time I see them, then 2 the next day etc.

Have I been doing this wrong? lol

Would definitely appreciate advice on how to get the load down & hopefully still finish. I find 300/day doable, but 600 is really hard on my brain & eats up most of my time...

 

[bucks900]

I'm a few topics away from being a 100% finished. My advice would be to not kill yourself with the questions trying to get 100% complete. I think cramming firecracker leads to diminishing returns in the short term. Just think if you spent 6-8 hours a day going through first aid or doing questions from a question bank. If I were you, I would slow it down, get to a reasonable number of cards per day and then add a few topics a day if you so choose in addition to doing questions from Qbank, Rx or Uworld.

 

[redblue]

I'm a few topics away from being a 100% finished. My advice would be to not kill yourself with the questions trying to get 100% complete. I think cramming firecracker leads to diminishing returns in the short term. Just think if you spent 6-8 hours a day going through first aid or doing questions from a question bank. If I were you, I would slow it down, get to a reasonable number of cards per day and then add a few topics a day if you so choose in addition to doing questions from Qbank, Rx or Uworld.

would you mind sharing how many cards/day you're doing and how many you banked throughout M1 and M2? trying to get a sense of what I should be aiming for. Thank you!

 

[Polymyxin]

I need some advice on whether to finish firecracker or not.

I am currently 712 topics (out of 1109) in with 70% performance. Firecracker has been great for lots of detail-heavy things (drugs, bugs, some high yield associations), but my goal is to finish the remaining 400 firecracker topics by April 1st. I know it is a lot, but I think I can do it (I add 10-15 topics/day right now). My question is- Im currently getting 5-600 cards per day, which takes me 6-8 hours to go through depending on the day & feels like it is becoming more of a burden.

Should I:

1) drop firecracker & focus on questions only (Ive done ~1500, plan to have done ~8000 by my test in mid June)
2) finish firecracker & suck it up because it's working (which admittedly, despite the soul-sucking nature of all these daily 600 cards, it is working..)
3) cut back to lite mode
4) start focusing on bugs, drugs, & biochem (or any other brute-force memorization topics), start flagging the rest '5 never see again' & use pathoma for path
5) profit?

But really, I am at a crossroad and could use the advice.

Thanks.

I had a similar question. I wasn't as far along....30%. I also started FC in september. I was doing about 400 Qs daily (for couple months), spending about 3-4 hrs a day. I can' imagine what 600 cards/day is like. In the end I decided to switch to lite mode. I'm happy with this decision. Lite mode is good in some areas, very superficial in others. It has freed up a lot of my time and now I've significantly increased practice questions (USMLE Rx Qmax for now). I think doing practice question banks is more important. FC is great, but its teaching you to a crazy high level of mastery. You don't need such mastery to get the questions right.

 

[ulikedaggers]

I had a similar question. I wasn't as far along....30%. I also started FC in september. I was doing about 400 Qs daily (for couple months), spending about 3-4 hrs a day. I can' imagine what 600 cards/day is like. In the end I decided to switch to lite mode. I'm happy with this decision. Lite mode is good in some areas, very superficial in others. It has freed up a lot of my time and now I've significantly increased practice questions (USMLE Rx Qmax for now). I think doing practice question banks is more important. FC is great, but its teaching you to a crazy high level of mastery. You don't need such mastery to get the questions right.

This is a good point. FC is definitely overkill for a lot of topics, but as Conrad Fischer says, "we're not here to pass, we're here to kick ass."

 

[pampiniformplex]

I had a similar question. I wasn't as far along....30%. I also started FC in september. I was doing about 400 Qs daily (for couple months), spending about 3-4 hrs a day. I can' imagine what 600 cards/day is like. In the end I decided to switch to lite mode. I'm happy with this decision. Lite mode is good in some areas, very superficial in others. It has freed up a lot of my time and now I've significantly increased practice questions (USMLE Rx Qmax for now). I think doing practice question banks is more important. FC is great, but its teaching you to a crazy high level of mastery. You don't need such mastery to get the questions right.

I think part of my problem is that I rarely will mark cards a 5, and i only mark "never see again" when it is something really stupid like What is the genotype of a male or something...

I am planning on being more aggressive with my "never see again" but not quitting firecracker entirely, especially because i find it useful for memorizing drug toxicities, microbio, genes , chromosomes etc...

Thoughts?

 

[ulikedaggers]

I think part of my problem is that I rarely will mark cards a 5, and i only mark "never see again" when it is something really stupid like What is the genotype of a male or something...

I am planning on being more aggressive with my "never see again" but not quitting firecracker entirely, especially because i find it useful for memorizing drug toxicities, microbio, genes , chromosomes etc...

Thoughts?

My favorite one is "what is the final electron acceptor in the ETC?".

 

[pampiniformplex]

I also feel that Im at the point that I need to prioritize questions and pathoma above all else. MAybe I will go through the path sections in frecracker and only keep the cards that are useful for memorizing key associations or stuff like that. I find a lot of the worst cards are **** like "name 17 symptoms for amphetamine toxicity"- really? how abotu I just memorize that it has lots of sympathetic/stimulatory effects...?

 

[pampiniformplex]

My favorite one is "what is the final electron acceptor in the ETC?".

I just got that one & marked it never see again... dont kno why i waited this long, ive known that **** since high school....

 

[Bancrofti]

I think part of my problem is that I rarely will mark cards a 5, and i only mark "never see again" when it is something really stupid like What is the genotype of a male or something...

I am planning on being more aggressive with my "never see again" but not quitting firecracker entirely, especially because i find it useful for memorizing drug toxicities, microbio, genes , chromosomes etc...

Thoughts?

I am a tiny bit more liberal during the term and now leading up to the step with how I rank questions to avoid that situation. Like you, having done FC for some time now, 200-300 questions per day isn't bad, but doing 400+ while trying to bank more topics on topics on top of that seems a bit crazy.

Personally, I want to keep my load around the 200-300 range so I can do qbanks, while also getting through first aid and learning pharm properly. A big part of your issue is probably how you rank your cards. For me it goes

5 - know everything about that and recited it practically verbatim before showing answer
4 - know it well or would have definitely gotten the question correct on an MCQ (at the beginning of FC when I was young and naive and I flagged a card for which one of the topics makes you memorize a disjointed list of 10 different things... I would actually remember it. Now, if I know I can put 2 and 2 together in a question or understand the mechanism of the pathology I don't waste brain space just remembering a list)
3 - iffy on it. Don't know it well, but maybe have a general grip. I also use 3s for topics that come up in cards I flag that are things I know I will cover later in my prep period. I.e. I'm in pharm now, but flagged some respiratory cards last term that included treatments. Until now, every time a question such as the mechanism for Montelukast, Zafirlukast, etc. came up, I would just read it really quick, hit 3 and move on, knowing I was actually going to learn it later. Now that I covered it in lecture/pharm, those things are simple due to exposure, and I didn't really waste time remembering things for the sake of remembering without understanding first.
2 - Completely forgot, but should have known.
1 - Never used this


I haven't employed the never see again option. Some questions seem flawed and some things are so simple (i.e. last electron acceptor in ETC). However, apparently fixes ARE made and I know there are times in small groups or on questions that I have complete brain farts where something won't come off the tongue that I used to know like the back of my hand. In my mind, when you see something like what is the final electron acceptor in ETC, I wouldn't even care to leave it in, because when I see that it takes literally less than 1 second for me to hit 5 then move on. The time getting spent is on reading details I had forgot and deciding how I should rank it.... and then daydreaming of getting my score back and it saying 300 😎

 

[Polymyxin]

After having done about a 1000 questions in USMLE Rx Qmax question bank, I approach my FC rating differently. Before doing QMax, I'd rate how well I remembered. Now, I rate the FC question based on how likely I'd be able to recongize such a topic in a multiple-choice question. I'm rating A LOT more 4's and 5's now.

 

[notbobtrustme]

After having done about a 1000 questions in USMLE Rx Qmax question bank, I approach my FC rating differently. Before doing QMax, I'd rate how well I remembered. Now, I rate the FC question based on how likely I'd be able to recongize such a topic in a multiple-choice question. I'm rating A LOT more 4's and 5's now.

yea, this is key. Recalling every fact is going to be ridiculous for FC, especially for those infamous "What are the 10 signs of amphetamine toxicity?". If you can recognize what's going on, then that's more than enough.

 

[bucks900]

Now, I rate the FC question based on how likely I'd be able to recongize such a topic in a multiple-choice question.

Like @notbobtrustme emphasized, I think this is really important to keep in mind. It isn't essential to know every single detail on every single card. This is why I think its a mistake to make completing firecracker your number one priority in the second semester of MS2. Obviously it has helped me out quite a bit but as questions tend to build I find myself retaining less and less of the new material I recently flagged. Also there are many concepts and clinical presentations that are in first aid that aren't stressed or even in Firecracker. You will see this is the case when you start doing question banks.

 

[pampiniformplex]

Like @notbobtrustme emphasized, I think this is really important to keep in mind. It isn't essential to know every single detail on every single card. This is why I think its a mistake to make completing firecracker your number one priority in the second semester of MS2. Obviously it has helped me out quite a bit but as questions tend to build I find myself retaining less and less of the new material I recently flagged. Also there are many concepts and clinical presentations that are in first aid that aren't stressed or even in Firecracker. You will see this is the case when you start doing question banks.

I really appreciate the advice, everyone. Im going to stick with FC but be more aggressive in my grading. I want to start spending more time on Qs instead of FC, but will continue to use FC especially for drugs, bugs, etc. I went through 600 cards today in ~4 hours with a 3.5 performance when normally I would be at 600 cards in 8 hours at ~2.8 performance.

I'll see what happens over the next 2 weeks and report back.

 

[ulikedaggers]

Like @notbobtrustme emphasized, I think this is really important to keep in mind. It isn't essential to know every single detail on every single card. This is why I think its a mistake to make completing firecracker your number one priority in the second semester of MS2. Obviously it has helped me out quite a bit but as questions tend to build I find myself retaining less and less of the new material I recently flagged. Also there are many concepts and clinical presentations that are in first aid that aren't stressed or even in Firecracker. You will see this is the case when you start doing question banks.

I've only gone through 17% of FC, but so far everything in the corresponding FA section has been in FC. Has anyone else noticed that there are many things in FA that aren't in FC?

 

[DrEnderW]

My favorite one is "what is the final electron acceptor in the ETC?".

I just answered this questioned for the first time 10 minutes ago. Died laughing when I read your post haha.

 

[Blue Spoon]

I've only gone through 17% of FC, but so far everything in the corresponding FA section has been in FC. Has anyone else noticed that there are many things in FA that aren't in FC?

I haven't noticed anything that is in FA that isn't in FC. That said there is a great deal of information that is presented better in FA than FC. FA has a lot of charts and graphics that are very intuitive and help with understanding the information. (At least I they helped me with the information).

 

[Apoplexy__]

I've only gone through 17% of FC, but so far everything in the corresponding FA section has been in FC. Has anyone else noticed that there are many things in FA that aren't in FC?

I'd go more along the lines of what Blue Spoon said. FA often presents it better and more cohesively, but then again Firecracker often gives a bit of back-explanation for things I wouldn't otherwise remember easily in FA. I don't really notice disparities between the two, but I wasn't really expecting Firecracker to supplant FA or vice versa.

 

[Bancrofti]

How long are you guys going to take for your dedicated study period?

Initially my plan was to do 6 weeks, but the exam time/date I wanted isn't available anymore and the next best option is another 8 days later. I don't know if I should look at it as a possible blessing in disguise and just use a 7 week dedicated period or if I should suck it up and take it at 8 am a week earlier.

 

[ulikedaggers]

How long are you guys going to take for your dedicated study period?

Initially my plan was to do 6 weeks, but the exam time/date I wanted isn't available anymore and the next best option is another 8 days later. I don't know if I should look at it as a possible blessing in disguise and just use a 7 week dedicated period or if I should suck it up and take it at 8 am a week earlier.

That sounds like a terrible situation to be in. 🙁

 

[001100010010011]

How long are you guys going to take for your dedicated study period?

Initially my plan was to do 6 weeks, but the exam time/date I wanted isn't available anymore and the next best option is another 8 days later. I don't know if I should look at it as a possible blessing in disguise and just use a 7 week dedicated period or if I should suck it up and take it at 8 am a week earlier.

My worry is that I am going to peak and then get diminishing returns or go down.

 

[Bancrofti]

That sounds like a terrible situation to be in. 🙁

It isn't the end of the world. To clarify, I'm not sitting the exam until the summer. It's just a little annoying since I've had the idea in my head of taking it a specific day, but Prometric had other thoughts.

My worry is that I am going to peak and then get diminishing returns or go down.

I've seen people say that. I wonder what really causes that and if it's even possible. It would seem that technically the more time you have the better. Another week could get me another half pass through Uworld or countless other things. And that's one more week of FC I can have before dropping it 😀

 

[ulikedaggers]

It isn't the end of the world. To clarify, I'm not sitting the exam until the summer. It's just a little annoying since I've had the idea in my head of taking it a specific day, but Prometric had other thoughts.


I've seen people say that. I wonder what really causes that and if it's even possible. It would seem that technically the more time you have the better. Another week could get me another half pass through Uworld or countless other things. And that's one more week of FC I can have before dropping it 😀

In that case I would go with 5 weeks. I've also heard that 7 weeks is pushing it!

 

[Bancrofti]

I don't think I'm bright enough to squeeze it into 5 weeks. I haven't even started UWorld yet, and I will definitely be getting through that at least twice before I sit the exam.


On another note, I guess they had debuted a message board type feature when you're flagging topics, but then got rid of it. I just saw comments at the bottom of a few topics I flagged. Thumbs up for that one. Now if only they did the same for questions, it would be nice to know why some people rate questions as they do.

 

[Dr Dazzle]

Hi all,

I'm an M1 and just started my 1 month trial. Seems promising. But is it really possible to do that many cards and review questions over time in the med school curriculum? I'm trying to get insight from M2s who've used it since late M1.

Since I'm 4 systems behind. What's the best way to get caught up with FC? Maybe over summer? Or perhaps keep up during second year? But I also assume it's way more stressing to do qbanks and keep up with FC then.

Thanks!

 

[ulikedaggers]

Hi all,

I'm an M1 and just started my 1 month trial. Seems promising. But is it really possible to do that many cards and review questions over time in the med school curriculum? I'm trying to get insight from M2s who've used it since late M1.

Since I'm 4 systems behind. What's the best way to get caught up with FC? Maybe over summer? Or perhaps keep up during second year? But I also assume it's way more stressing to do qbanks and keep up with FC then.

Thanks!

You might have time to bank old stuff during MS1. I started during Christmas vacation and I've gone back and banked a decent amount of first semester stuff. Just an MS1 like you.

 

[Brain Bucket]

Hi all,

I'm an M1 and just started my 1 month trial. Seems promising. But is it really possible to do that many cards and review questions over time in the med school curriculum? I'm trying to get insight from M2s who've used it since late M1.

Since I'm 4 systems behind. What's the best way to get caught up with FC? Maybe over summer? Or perhaps keep up during second year? But I also assume it's way more stressing to do qbanks and keep up with FC then.

Thanks!

Don't leave it for your vacations. Hopefully you'll have better things to do at that time. The point of FC is SPACED repetition, not a cram session, so keep up with your classes and add a few cards everyday from those 4 systems.

I mostly started in MS2 and am pretty far along, so it's definitely possible. You just gotta see if it works for you as it's not for everyone. Do the one month seriously, and you'll know if it suits you.

 

[Brain Bucket]

duplicate

 

[cbrons]

I didn't like FC. Have they changed anything about it in the past 6 months?

 

[bucks900]

Content wise, some very minor changes. Nothing major.

 

[BoneMD]

Hey everyone, I had a recent experience with FC and wanted to see if this has happened to anyone else. I was emailed by a representative who asked me for the contact info for my student government so that they could showcase FC at a noon time lecture and that in exchange they'd give me "plenty of free months." Seeing as I'm a broke medical student I jumped at the idea for free months and of course... Free food. Anyway I told them I would get it for them and they quickly thanked me and I then sent then the info the next day. Haven't heard from them since even after multiple follow up emails. I feel completely scammed, I would not have expected that from FC but I guess everything comes down to money in the end. Can't wait to call them out if they do ever show up at my school...

 

[Apoplexy__]

Hey everyone, I had a recent experience with FC and wanted to see if this has happened to anyone else. I was emailed by a representative who asked me for the contact info for my student government so that they could showcase FC at a noon time lecture and that in exchange they'd give me "plenty of free months." Seeing as I'm a broke medical student I jumped at the idea for free months and of course... Free food. Anyway I told them I would get it for them and they quickly thanked me and I then sent then the info the next day. Haven't heard from them since even after multiple follow up emails. I feel completely scammed, I would not have expected that from FC but I guess everything comes down to money in the end. Can't wait to call them out if they do ever show up at my school...

Same here, and with another person at my school. I think the lack of response isn't malicious though, maybe put the "student ambassadors" program on freeze for a bit and forgot to reply to those relevant e-mails. They still e-mailed me back quickly when I told them it wouldn't work out, it was only later in the conversation that they randomly stopped replying.

 

[ulikedaggers]

Same here, and with another person at my school. I think the lack of response isn't malicious though, maybe put the "student ambassadors" program on freeze for a bit and forgot to reply to those relevant e-mails. They still e-mailed me back quickly when I told them it wouldn't work out, it was only later in the conversation that they randomly stopped replying.

I wish they would email me.. lol.

 

[Apoplexy__]

I wish they would email me.. lol.

It's because I left a positive review on their site haha. I'm not special or anything. Maybe if you leave a review (even now) they'll contact you.

 

[mcloaf]

Hey everyone, I had a recent experience with FC and wanted to see if this has happened to anyone else. I was emailed by a representative who asked me for the contact info for my student government so that they could showcase FC at a noon time lecture and that in exchange they'd give me "plenty of free months." Seeing as I'm a broke medical student I jumped at the idea for free months and of course... Free food. Anyway I told them I would get it for them and they quickly thanked me and I then sent then the info the next day. Haven't heard from them since even after multiple follow up emails. I feel completely scammed, I would not have expected that from FC but I guess everything comes down to money in the end. Can't wait to call them out if they do ever show up at my school...

I'm not sure I'd call that scamming you, but that is pretty annoying. 🙁

 

[BoneMD]

I'm not sure I'd call that scamming you, but that is pretty annoying. 🙁

Yeah maybe "scam" isn't the best word but contacting a customer and offering something in exchange for information to help their company, and then not following up on said offer is just poor customer/business etiquette imo. They were quick to thank me when I said I'd help and as soon as they got my email...poof they were gone. I feel like a date that didn't get called back haha.

 

[jayhvvip]

What are people's thoughts on highest yield material in FC? I think microbiology, drugs in general, pathology, and biochemistry. I'm shifting from focusing on class material to these topics for my mid-June test date


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[Dr Dazzle]

For those who have covered FA with FC, how much does the material overlap? Is FC basically a FA in flash card format? Shouldn't the goal be to straight up memorize FA first?

 

[bucks900]

FC covers quite a bit of FA. There are a lot of things in FC that are not in FA and vice versa. If you complete FC in its entirety you will have a very very good grasp of what is covered in FA.

 

[notbobtrustme]

What are people's thoughts on highest yield material in FC? I think microbiology, drugs in general, pathology, and biochemistry. I'm shifting from focusing on class material to these topics for my mid-June test date


Sent from my iPad using SDN Mobile

anything but anatomy/embyro. too much detail for too little gain.

 

[Apoplexy__]

What are people's thoughts on highest yield material in FC? I think microbiology, drugs in general, pathology, and biochemistry. I'm shifting from focusing on class material to these topics for my mid-June test date

Like notbobtrustme inferred, it's easier to say what's NOT high yield than to pick the ones that are highest-yield. I guess I'd say the highest yield may be Micro and Pharm. But that's really a subjective statement.

Anecdotally, I found it extremely helpful to have focused on the really rote, logic-less memorization stuff. Stuff that normally you'd look at for an hour, then forget in a couple days. Here are a couple topics that I probably did the repeating Q's like 12 times for, that put me way ahead of my peers when FA/UWorld studying came around:
-Psych Pharm (antipsychotics, antidepressants, etc....the strange indications like olanzapine for OCD and the strange side effects like corneal deposits for chlorpromazine)
-Lysosomal storage diseases (I can't tell you how many times I got these wrong reviewing them in FC...and I still struggle with them)
-Culture media in Micro (VPN for Neisseria, tellurite for diphtheria, etc.)
-Interferons and cytokines

 

[dyspareunia]

Like notbobtrustme inferred, it's easier to say what's NOT high yield than to pick the ones that are highest-yield. I guess I'd say the highest yield may be Micro and Pharm. But that's really a subjective statement.

Anecdotally, I found it extremely helpful to have focused on the really rote, logic-less memorization stuff. Stuff that normally you'd look at for an hour, then forget in a couple days. Here are a couple topics that I probably did the repeating Q's like 12 times for, that put me way ahead of my peers when FA/UWorld studying came around:
-Psych Pharm (antipsychotics, antidepressants, etc....the strange indications like olanzapine for OCD and the strange side effects like corneal deposits for chlorpromazine)
-Lysosomal storage diseases (I can't tell you how many times I got these wrong reviewing them in FC...and I still struggle with them)
-Culture media in Micro (VPN for Neisseria, tellurite for diphtheria, etc.)
-Interferons and cytokines

What do you mean by "the repeating questions"? I've just been flagging and doing the questions FC tells me to do everyday.. Is there a better way?

 

[dyspareunia]

FC covers quite a bit of FA. There are a lot of things in FC that are not in FA and vice versa. If you complete FC in its entirety you will have a very very good grasp of what is covered in FA.

Haven't seen anything in FA that isn't also in FC.

 

[Apoplexy__]

What do you mean by "the repeating questions"? I've just been flagging and doing the questions FC tells me to do everyday.. Is there a better way?

Oh, no that's exactly what I mean. The questions FC tells you to do everyday are the ones I was referring to as repeating questions. I would flag a tough topic like 2-3 months back and then still be getting a couple wrong after seeing them every week since.

 

[Bancrofti]

-Lysosomal storage diseases (I can't tell you how many times I got these wrong reviewing them in FC...and I still struggle with them)

Ha, I've been trying to make an effort to flag a few biochem cards each week on top of the other stuff. I literally always look at the lysosomal storage diseases topic and say F that. I remember brute force packing that info into my head for my biochem exam first year. I forgot it the next day. All I remember is something about tissue paper. Maybe I'll suck it up and do it today.

 

[addy]

anything but anatomy/embyro. too much detail for too little gain.

I'm glad you said this because I'm not banking any anatomy cards for this reason! IS this common?

 

[001100010010011]

Ha, I've been trying to make an effort to flag a few biochem cards each week on top of the other stuff. I literally always look at the lysosomal storage diseases topic and say F that. I remember brute force packing that info into my head for my biochem exam first year. I forgot it the next day. All I remember is something about tissue paper. Maybe I'll suck it up and do it today.

Picmonic has a solid lysosomal storage disease collection. It's worth it's weight in gold.

 

[dyspareunia]

Picmonic has a solid lysosomal storage disease collection. It's worth it's weight in gold.

I don't understand how the picmonic subscription works. Do you pay a flat rate and then also have to pay for specific cards?

 

[Brain Bucket]

I don't understand how the picmonic subscription works. Do you pay a flat rate and then also have to pay for specific cards?

Flat, but obviously make sure that you pick the set for Medicine.

 

[001100010010011]

I don't understand how the picmonic subscription works. Do you pay a flat rate and then also have to pay for specific cards?

I got it when they had a special sale so I don't know if they offer discounts right now. It's a flat subscription rate.