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.

 

[dyspareunia]

This is on page 143 in FA14, but not in FC (surprisingly). It says "Treatment [for gardnerella bacterial vaginosis]: metronidazole or (to treat anaerobic bacteria) clindamycin."

What are they getting at when they refer to clinda as "to treat anaerobic bacteria"? Metronidazole is for anaerobes too last time I checked.

 

[notbobtrustme]

hey guys---how important is embryology? is it worth flagging all those cards? It seems like anatomy to me at first glance (lots of unnecessary minutia) but I don't want to be presumptuous

it's junk. there might be 3 embryo questions total on your exam.

FA is enough.

 

[Bancrofti]

Dedicated period about to start. I think I'm going to continue using FC. I hope I don't regret it in the end. :/

 

[001100010010011]

Dedicated period about to start. I think I'm going to continue using FC. I hope I don't regret it in the end. :/

What's your daily card count at? I use it every morning to get the juices flowing.

Edit:

I've also used it daily during my dedicated prep. It has been great--forcing me to cover topics/concepts I would probably neglect by just going over FA.

 

[dyspareunia]

FC has been falling out of my schedule.. Gotta get back into it.

 

[Bancrofti]

What's your daily card count at? I use it every morning to get the juices flowing.

Edit:

I've also used it daily during my dedicated prep. It has been great--forcing me to cover topics/concepts I would probably neglect by just going over FA.

In the next 3 weeks my lowest scheduled card amount at the moment is 69, highest is 216, average of around 140. That being said, an extra 40-50 questions can be added due to catchup questions I have left over from finals. Additionally, I have a little less than 200 topics left to flag, mostly Anatomy, Biochem, systems Neuro & Rheumatology being the only areas I have less than 80% flagged or unfinished.

Besides from liking to get every ounce of value from the money I spend, I'm trying to suppress the urge to not spend time flagging the rest of the topics. Considering myself to an average to above average student, there is no way I would have done as well as I did on my first NBME and the school CBSE without FC, so hopefully finishing will also help for the big day.

My plan at the moment is to do the same as you, run through the questions in the morning. For the flagging of questions, I'll do them throughout the day as I review those areas again. Really wish I had finished flagging as it would have made this way easier, but hopefully it won't be bad. Exam isn't until July 11th, so I could have had a fairly easy schedule if I only had to spend an 1-2 hours per day with FC as opposed to 3-4.

 

[Lafakads]

In the next 3 weeks my lowest scheduled card amount at the moment is 69, highest is 216, average of around 140. That being said, an extra 40-50 questions can be added due to catchup questions I have left over from finals. Additionally, I have a little less than 200 topics left to flag, mostly Anatomy, Biochem, systems Neuro & Rheumatology being the only areas I have less than 80% flagged or unfinished.

Besides from liking to get every ounce of value from the money I spend, I'm trying to suppress the urge to not spend time flagging the rest of the topics. Considering myself to an average to above average student, there is no way I would have done as well as I did on my first NBME and the school CBSE without FC, so hopefully finishing will also help for the big day.

My plan at the moment is to do the same as you, run through the questions in the morning. For the flagging of questions, I'll do them throughout the day as I review those areas again. Really wish I had finished flagging as it would have made this way easier, but hopefully it won't be bad. Exam isn't until July 11th, so I could have had a fairly easy schedule if I only had to spend an 1-2 hours per day with FC as opposed to 3-4.

Whats your % mastery?

 

[001100010010011]

Alright, so now that you're in dedicated you probably don't want to flag new cards unless you really need to go over the topic several times. Just ration how you select new cards. But if you've got that much dedicated time then you can probably flag cards and get through everything else you need to do, but I'm sure you understand that a big chunk of your day will go to FC and that's just not advisable.

Otherwise, your daily card count seems manageable. Quickly cycle through them as quickly as you can when you wake up, you're tired of doing questions, or before bed and it'll be painless to incorporate them into your day.

 

[001100010010011]

Whats your % mastery?

% mastery is irrelevant. I don't use it as a metric since it's so subjective.

 

[Lafakads]

% mastery is irrelevant. I don't use it as a metric since it's so subjective.

I was just curious and wanted to see how it matches up with his card count at 80% banked.

60% mastery vs 95% mastery would show up with a different amount of cards per day.

 

[001100010010011]

Ah, gotcha. I still haven't cracked this algorithm. Sometimes, FC does things that make no sense to me.

 

[Bancrofti]

Whats your % mastery?

86.2%

Alright, so now that you're in dedicated you probably don't want to flag new cards unless you really need to go over the topic several times. Just ration how you select new cards. But if you've got that much dedicated time then you can probably flag cards and get through everything else you need to do, but I'm sure you understand that a big chunk of your day will go to FC and that's just not advisable.

Otherwise, your daily card count seems manageable. Quickly cycle through them as quickly as you can when you wake up, you're tired of doing questions, or before bed and it'll be painless to incorporate them into your day.

I agree. The reason I wanted to flag them though is that in the two practice exams I've taken, the only problem areas were areas that I hadn't finishing flagging (pretty much only Biochem and Neuro). Granted, I'm currently in the process of reading FA biochem for the first time, and I had not read the FA Neuro section prior to either of those, but if I had flagged those topics before I'm sure they wouldn't have been as much of a problem area.

Further, I want to get every random question right if possible. I remember I had a question about sensation to the anterolateral forearm. I try to randomly flag Anatomy cards occasionally and I had literally just flagged a few of the brachial plexus cards the day before. Had I not, I would have gotten it wrong and would have just assumed that it had something to do with the median nerve.
Regardless though you're right. If I feel like it's hindering my ability to get through my reading and question blocks, then I'll cut the flagging out.

 

[dyspareunia]

What do you guys think about flagging topics that are covered in kaplan, but are in FC Step 2CK cards? For example,Vibrio parahaemolyticus
https://med.firecracker.me/topics/6708.

Everything in the card is covered in Kaplan step 1 lectures (and was taught in my school class).

 

[Trisphorin]

Just out of curiosity, many of you guys are using the legendary mode instead of the normal mode?

 

[ChEMD]

Just out of curiosity, many of you guys are using the legendary mode instead of the normal mode?

I am. The legendary mode is the same as the "old normal" mode, while the "new normal" mode is the same thing as the old "lite" mode. I'm not sure why they changed the names; I suppose it makes people feel better when it's called normal instead of lite.

 

[Trisphorin]

i switched to legendary mode and my question for next day went from 54 to 450

 

[mcloaf]

Just out of curiosity, many of you guys are using the legendary mode instead of the normal mode?

I don't think anyone I know uses the new "normal" mode.

 

[addy]

I was using the "legendary" mode but as of 2 seconds ago switched to "normal"--has anyone done this? did you find that you were gaining significantly less from the program by doing so??

 

[Brain Bucket]

I was using the "legendary" mode but as of 2 seconds ago switched to "normal"--has anyone done this? did you find that you were gaining significantly less from the program by doing so??

They just renamed comprehensive and light modes. Gimmicky and stupid, but made me smile nonetheless.

What do you guys think about flagging topics that are covered in kaplan, but are in FC Step 2CK cards? For example,Vibrio parahaemolyticus
https://med.firecracker.me/topics/6708.

Everything in the card is covered in Kaplan step 1 lectures (and was taught in my school class).

I did that, but then I'm weird.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[addy]

They just renamed comprehensive and light modes. Gimmicky and stupid, but made me smile nonetheless.

I know, what I meant was that i went from comprehensive to light mode---is the impact on retention/usefulness that great between the two modes?

 

[ChEMD]

I know, what I meant was that i went from comprehensive to light mode---is the impact on retention/usefulness that great between the two modes?

It won't ask you any more questions from the grey "more" boxes in any of the topics. So you need to decide if you're just using to remember the broad concepts, or if you're using it as more of a replacement for FA to remember the specifics.

 

[Brain Bucket]

I know, what I meant was that i went from comprehensive to light mode---is the impact on retention/usefulness that great between the two modes?

I tried it awhile back and then it seemed like the selection was quite random. I don't know if they've improved since.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[dyspareunia]

Is "first-catch urine" the same thing as a "clean-catch"?

 

[notbobtrustme]

Is "first-catch urine" the same thing as a "clean-catch"?

maybe, but no question will ever ask you to differentiate between the two.

 

[dyspareunia]

maybe, but no question will ever ask you to differentiate between the two.

Ok thanks. I just saw it on FC (chlamydia diagnosis methods) and a quick google search didn't yield anything particularly useful. In regard to chlamydia diagnosis it doesn't seem necessary to have a clean catch urine, but what do I know.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Ok thanks. I just saw it on FC (chlamydia diagnosis methods) and a quick google search didn't yield anything particularly useful. In regard to chlamydia diagnosis it doesn't seem necessary to have a clean catch urine, but what do I know.

haha, no problem. actually the whole point of chlyamdial urethritis is that it's a culture negative urethritis. remember that chylamdia is an obligate intracellular organism. urine is mostly acellular and blood agar is definitely acellular, so culturing chlyamida just don't work

 

[Bancrofti]

Is "first-catch urine" the same thing as a "clean-catch"?

I've actually been wondering if things like collecting a sample mid-stream is a detail we need to focus on? Even though I know it has important clinical relevance, I've kind of been skipping over that detail hoping that it's superfluous for Step I. It was something that was addressed in one of my courses though, so I may just try to remember it anyway closer to exam time.

 

[dyspareunia]

haha, no problem. actually the whole point of chlyamdial urethritis is that it's a culture negative urethritis. remember that chylamdia is an obligate intracellular organism. urine is mostly acellular and blood agar is definitely acellular, so culturing chlyamida just don't work

You do nucleic acid testing on urine too.

I've actually been wondering if things like collecting a sample mid-stream is a detail we need to focus on? Even though I know it has important clinical relevance, I've kind of been skipping over that detail hoping that it's superfluous for Step I. It was something that was addressed in one of my courses though, so I may just try to remember it anyway closer to exam time.

Not sure tbh. I think it's a safe bet that any sort of bacterial culture needs to be a sterile collection to avoid contamination by normal flora.

 

[notbobtrustme]

You do nucleic acid testing on urine too.

yea but at that point, they might as well tell you the answer, lol.

Not sure tbh. I think it's a safe bet that any sort of bacterial culture needs to be a sterile collection to avoid contamination by normal flora.

well, remember, the criteron is >10^5 CFUs in the urine. you can't catch a sterile sample if you have it exposed to the air, since random microscopic dust particles will have bacteria on it. therefore, the cutoff is 10^5 CFUs/ml in urine to be diagnostic of a UTI.[/quote][/QUOTE]

 

[dyspareunia]

yea but at that point, they might as well tell you the answer, lol.

Yeah, kaplan says that all the time and I don't quite understand why. Lots of things can be tested via nucleic acid testing, though not using urine.

well, remember, the criteron is >10^5 CFUs in the urine. you can't catch a sterile sample if you have it exposed to the air, since random microscopic dust particles will have bacteria on it. therefore, the cutoff is 10^5 CFUs/ml in urine to be diagnostic of a UTI.

Good point.

 

[mcloaf]

yea but at that point, they might as well tell you the answer, lol.

well, remember, the criteron is >10^5 CFUs in the urine. you can't catch a sterile sample if you have it exposed to the air, since random microscopic dust particles will have bacteria on it. therefore, the cutoff is 10^5 CFUs/ml in urine to be diagnostic of a UTI.

You can go down to 10^2 in symptomatic, sexually active young women IIRC.

 

[AggieDDS]

Any idea where they post subscription promotions? I want to start a sub but want to wait until some promotion is available. Thanks

 

[DOC209]

they seem to still have their latest promotion. 4 months $99, 12 months $260…etc less then 200 promotions left

 

[AggieDDS]

Where do you see the promotions? I only see the 1 Year - $399 pricing on their website/nothing on their facebook?

 

[DOC209]

ahh it might only still be available to current users. It shows up on top of my daily calendar

 

[Cowboy12]

Anyone have a reasonable schedule or any advice on how to go about reviewing and flagging all first year topics over 2 months? Trying to switch to FC and would like to get through all first year material so I can just flag topics as I go next year without getting a ridiculous amount of questions per day. Any advice or input would be appreciated

 

[Brain Bucket]

Learn the cards well the first time you read them.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[dyspareunia]

Any suggestions on how to handle FC over the summer? The only thing I haven't flagged yet (that I've covered in school) is anatomy and I don't think anatomy is worth flagging...

 

[redblue]

Any suggestions on how to handle FC over the summer? The only thing I haven't flagged yet (that I've covered in school) is anatomy and I don't think anatomy is worth flagging...

then don't flag it... and just keep up with whatever cards you have banked

 

[dyspareunia]

then don't flag it... and just keep up with whatever cards you have banked

Ok, so don't bother trying to get ahead in pharm or anything like that?

 

[Lafakads]

Ok, so don't bother trying to get ahead in pharm or anything like that?

If you read on the firecracker blog the guy that got a 270 said he went ahead and flagged all of FC (including 2nd year material over the summer). I have no clue how he did that but impressive.

 

[Dr Dazzle]

Any suggestions on how to handle FC over the summer? The only thing I haven't flagged yet (that I've covered in school) is anatomy and I don't think anatomy is worth flagging...

What percentage do you have flagged after M1?

 

[Brain Bucket]

I'd argue get as much pharm and path as possible banked over the summer. It's quite possible to get both done and have a life.

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[notbobtrustme]

If you read on the firecracker blog the guy that got a 270 said he went ahead and flagged all of FC (including 2nd year material over the summer). I have no clue how he did that but impressive.

He probably would have scored that well no matter what he did.

All these things are just tools. There is no magic trick to getting a 250+; it's just grind, grind, grind, grind. There are different ways to do it but in the end, when you peel back the bull****, it's all very similar.

 

[ChEMD]

I feel like it wouldn't be a good idea to flag topics that you haven't already covered in class because that would mean you are actually using FC as a learning tool instead of a review tool, which is a bad idea IMO.

 

[dyspareunia]

If you read on the firecracker blog the guy that got a 270 said he went ahead and flagged all of FC (including 2nd year material over the summer). I have no clue how he did that but impressive.

Ha well there's no way I'm doing that.

What percentage do you have flagged after M1?

About 40% flagged right now.

 

[Lafakads]

Ha well there's no way I'm doing that.



About 40% flagged right now.

Nice. I really need to flag more lol. I'm way below that since I've been slacking on flagging.

 

[nickelbackfan]

Hi I am going to be an Ms1 in August and am strongly considering using FC because I think it fits my learning style. I majored in engineering in UG and found that I was successful due to doing a ton of practice problems. My question is how would you recommend me integrating FC early on in medical school? I fear that I wouldn't have enough time to master the material before attempting the questions while keeping pace with classes.
Thanks!

 

[ChEMD]

Hi I am going to be an Ms1 in August and am strongly considering using FC because I think it fits my learning style. I majored in engineering in UG and found that I was successful due to doing a ton of practice problems. My question is how would you recommend me integrating FC early on in medical school? I fear that I wouldn't have enough time to master the material before attempting the questions while keeping pace with classes.
Thanks!

The questions in FC aren't really practice problems, and medical school is very different than engineering in that the problems that they ask you to solve on a med school test pale in comparison to a test in an engineering subject. FC is really just a way to help you remember things long term; I don't think it should be used at all to learn new information. Just flag the topics as you cover them in your class, but use your class materials as your primary learning source. Use the FC questions to keep you thinking about the material, even after the class is over.

 

[nickelbackfan]

The questions in FC aren't really practice problems, and medical school is very different than engineering in that the problems that they ask you to solve on a med school test pale in comparison to a test in an engineering subject. FC is really just a way to help you remember things long term; I don't think it should be used at all to learn new information. Just flag the topics as you cover them in your class, but use your class materials as your primary learning source. Use the FC questions to keep you thinking about the material, even after the class is over.

Ok thanks.