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JackShephard MD

JackShephard MD

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  1. Medical Student
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med.firecracker.me

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

Cheers.
 
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PIacebo said:
So general consensus is get it now?
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Just think of it this way: the price isn't going to go down, if anything it will continue to rise. Although they frequently offer discounts, I've never seen them larger than the current one. So if you've tried it and you like it, now is a good time to get it. But if you haven't, don't let a good discount persuade you into buying a year subscription when you may not end up liking it.
 
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ChEMD said:
Just think of it this way: the price isn't going to go down, if anything it will continue to rise. Although they frequently offer discounts, I've never seen them larger than the current one. So if you've tried it and you like it, now is a good time to get it. But if you haven't, don't let a good discount persuade you into buying a year subscription when you may not end up liking it.
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Okay thank you!

DOC209 said:
have you used it before?
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Yes, I have.
 
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^just got an email saying the offer ends tonight. You might want to email/contact their reps
 
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Sign up for the free month, log in, and from the dashboard you'll see "save 40%" up top. Sale ends 11:59pm tonight eastern time.
 
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I wish I knew whether it was as effective for Step II. I wish I had started FC early first year, but I'm unsure of whether it'll be the same in that it won't be difficult to stay on top of everything if you start early during third year. Now that I see the price, I don't think I'm willing to take that risk for $250. They should have an extra discount for poor continuing users -_-
 
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Bancrofti said:
I wish I knew whether it was as effective for Step II. I wish I had started FC early first year, but I'm unsure of whether it'll be the same in that it won't be difficult to stay on top of everything if you start early during third year. Now that I see the price, I don't think I'm willing to take that risk for $250. They should have an extra discount for poor continuing users -_-
Click to expand...

I'm actually using it for Step 2 now. I can keep you and anyone else curious updated every now and then. Right now, here are my general comments:
-Honestly, what they have now is pretty crappy. The biggest thing I'd say is that the topics mostly seem like they grabbed Step 1 topics and mashed it in with Step 2 review books with minimal synthesis of a new unique product. I'm also "never see again"ing like crazy compared to Step 1, partly due to poor repeating Q's but mostly due to low-yield or "duh" info. There are also old problems like using acronyms in the repeating Q's so you don't know what they're referring to and repeating Q's on low-yield stuff.
-A good thing about the current product is that you can feel pretty secure that the information you need to know is there. It's more of a problem of wading through the significant amount of unimportant stuff than not having any good stuff there.
-Why I would still recommend it if you really liked it for Step 1: They've been actively going through and making huge strides in updates. These new topics are worth the money. They live up to the Step 1 standard in my opinion so far. They have a weekly blog post where they post the topics they've updated. Their goal is to completely revamp the Step 2 content by the end of July (ehhh seems unlikely). You could actually buy the product now and simply let the blog posts lead the way in the topics you flag -- it's enough work to keep you busy per week.

For those on the fence about Firecracker or who bought it and didn't like it in Step 2, I don't think anything's going to change your mind about their Step 2 product. My advice at this time would be to hold off.

For those interested in jumping in and who didn't use it for Step 1: Consider following their blog and doing only those topics as they update the content.
 
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midweststudent1 said:
When do most people begin using firecracker? First year?
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I wish I would have started at the beginning of first year. As I'm going back and flagging old topics, I'm having to relearn a lot of things I have forgotten. If I would have started earlier, I never would have forgotten the material and thus would be spending a lot less time flagging old topics.
 
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kirbymiester said:
I'm actually using it for Step 2 now. I can keep you and anyone else curious updated every now and then. Right now, here are my general comments:
-Honestly, what they have now is pretty crappy. The biggest thing I'd say is that the topics mostly seem like they grabbed Step 1 topics and mashed it in with Step 2 review books with minimal synthesis of a new unique product. I'm also "never see again"ing like crazy compared to Step 1, partly due to poor repeating Q's but mostly due to low-yield or "duh" info. There are also old problems like using acronyms in the repeating Q's so you don't know what they're referring to and repeating Q's on low-yield stuff.
-A good thing about the current product is that you can feel pretty secure that the information you need to know is there. It's more of a problem of wading through the significant amount of unimportant stuff than not having any good stuff there.
-Why I would still recommend it if you really liked it for Step 1: They've been actively going through and making huge strides in updates. These new topics are worth the money. They live up to the Step 1 standard in my opinion so far. They have a weekly blog post where they post the topics they've updated. Their goal is to completely revamp the Step 2 content by the end of July (ehhh seems unlikely). You could actually buy the product now and simply let the blog posts lead the way in the topics you flag -- it's enough work to keep you busy per week.

For those on the fence about Firecracker or who bought it and didn't like it in Step 2, I don't think anything's going to change your mind about their Step 2 product. My advice at this time would be to hold off.

For those interested in jumping in and who didn't use it for Step 1: Consider following their blog and doing only those topics as they update the content.
Click to expand...

Did you familiarize yourself with other Step II prep tools beforehand? With the errors and such did you feel as if Firecracker still provided the best way to stay on top of things in any easy manner? I anticipate having issues with it, but I want to make sure that for the most part it's sound. If it's mostly potential at this point then I might pass, even though I have been getting their emails every week, which look promising.

I wish I had time to just research the best approach to Step II prep, which I know nothing about at the moment. Trying to stay focused on Step I at the moment and I know if I try to look into it it will end up taking me the rest of the night to figure out how I want to prepare during third year.
 
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ChEMD said:
I wish I would have started at the beginning of first year. As I'm going back and flagging old topics, I'm having to relearn a lot of things I have forgotten. If I would have started earlier, I never would have forgotten the material and thus would be spending a lot less time flagging old topics.
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How does firecracker compare to anki flash cards? Could/should a person use both? --perhaps anki for learning lecture materials, and using fire cracker for high yield/step 1 studying?
 
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midweststudent1 said:
How does firecracker compare to anki flash cards? Could/should a person use both? --perhaps anki for learning lecture materials, and using fire cracker for high yield/step 1 studying?
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with FC the flash cards are already made for you… you just review and answer the questions. With Anki you have to make the cards yourself. Ive read on here that some people do use both. Some people like flashcards with more to the point answers. Im thinking of making a deck with Pathoma facts myself.
 
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For sake of time… which sections would you guys suggest are absolutely must in FC and which do you guys think are overkill and we can just go FA/Uworld?
 
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Bancrofti said:
Did you familiarize yourself with other Step II prep tools beforehand? With the errors and such did you feel as if Firecracker still provided the best way to stay on top of things in any easy manner? I anticipate having issues with it, but I want to make sure that for the most part it's sound. If it's mostly potential at this point then I might pass, even though I have been getting their emails every week, which look promising.

I wish I had time to just research the best approach to Step II prep, which I know nothing about at the moment. Trying to stay focused on Step I at the moment and I know if I try to look into it it will end up taking me the rest of the night to figure out how I want to prepare during third year.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm only a little over a month into my 3rd year so I'm definitely no expert, but FC seems to be the same good framework. It's probably going to shine by making me not forget the stuff in some of these earlier rotations (especially since I have all my IM early in the year), but not necessarily as a focused resource for a shelf as much. What I'll probably end up doing is flag FC as best I can during each rotation, but focus on other recommended resources for shelves. I'll also probably stop FC during dedicated Step 2 studying like I did for Step 1.

I've read a lot of stuff about which resources to use, and let me be the first to tell you how disappointed you'll be in the lack of organized/universally agreed upon study methods there are compared to Step 1. It's honestly frustrating. Wait until after Step 1 to look into Step 2 prep for sure, because it was a time sink for me. Feel free to message me when boards are over to get started looking into resources.
 
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Is there any advantage in using FC versus making an Anki deck out of FA? Is it purely a factor of time/convenience?
 
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Jabbed said:
Is there any advantage in using FC versus making an Anki deck out of FA? Is it purely a factor of time/convenience?
Click to expand...

It's pretty much just the time factor in my opinion (although FC does seem to provide more detail in some topics..you can decide if that's a good or bad thing). You can get a year subscription for around $240 on sale, which, if you value your time at around $20 an hour, comes out to 12 hours. It would take you much longer than 12 hours to make an Anki deck out of FA.
 
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Jabbed,
If you want to go the Anki route you could also try searching for an FA deck… i remember seeing one but never went through it.
 
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DOC209 said:
Jabbed,
If you want to go the Anki route you could also try searching for an FA deck… i remember seeing one but never went through it.
Click to expand...
I found one for the 2012 edition of FA, but I recall not liking the style of questions. I was planning on converting FA 2014 into an Anki deck while going through course work, but I just wanted to see if there was any added benefit with firecracker.

Thank you for the replies.
 
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Jabbed said:
I found one for the 2012 edition of FA, but I recall not liking the style of questions. I was planning on converting FA 2014 into an Anki deck while going through course work, but I just wanted to see if there was any added benefit with firecracker.

Thank you for the replies.
Click to expand...

Kudos.
 
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kirbymiester said:
I'm actually using it for Step 2 now. I can keep you and anyone else curious updated every now and then. Right now, here are my general comments:
-Honestly, what they have now is pretty crappy. The biggest thing I'd say is that the topics mostly seem like they grabbed Step 1 topics and mashed it in with Step 2 review books with minimal synthesis of a new unique product. I'm also "never see again"ing like crazy compared to Step 1, partly due to poor repeating Q's but mostly due to low-yield or "duh" info. There are also old problems like using acronyms in the repeating Q's so you don't know what they're referring to and repeating Q's on low-yield stuff.
-A good thing about the current product is that you can feel pretty secure that the information you need to know is there. It's more of a problem of wading through the significant amount of unimportant stuff than not having any good stuff there.
-Why I would still recommend it if you really liked it for Step 1: They've been actively going through and making huge strides in updates. These new topics are worth the money. They live up to the Step 1 standard in my opinion so far. They have a weekly blog post where they post the topics they've updated. Their goal is to completely revamp the Step 2 content by the end of July (ehhh seems unlikely). You could actually buy the product now and simply let the blog posts lead the way in the topics you flag -- it's enough work to keep you busy per week.

For those on the fence about Firecracker or who bought it and didn't like it in Step 2, I don't think anything's going to change your mind about their Step 2 product. My advice at this time would be to hold off.

For those interested in jumping in and who didn't use it for Step 1: Consider following their blog and doing only those topics as they update the content.
Click to expand...

This is a fair assessment. I know someone who works as an editor at FC and they told me that in July they are making a big push to re-do/update/improve their Step 2 content.
 
Last edited:
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Just started using Firecracker, poking around to get myself familiar before M1 year starts and bank the cell bio/genetics info I learned in undergrad. I submitted feedback on one of their questions that had a grammatical error earlier today, and to my utter surprise, they emailed me to say they'd taken action on my advice and made a correction to the question this afternoon. On a holiday. I'm impressed.
 
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surely said:
Just started using Firecracker, poking around to get myself familiar before M1 year starts and bank the cell bio/genetics info I learned in undergrad. I submitted feedback on one of their questions that had a grammatical error earlier today, and to my utter surprise, they emailed me to say they'd taken action on my advice and made a correction to the question this afternoon. On a holiday. I'm impressed.
Click to expand...

I am doing the same thing. Gives me a chance to get comfortable with the system and establish a routine, before things get to hectic. I downloaded their android app so I can do flagged questions while I am sitting bored somewhere. I have found I use it more than I thought I would.

O Grady said:
Can any other users of FC comment on how they liked it? I'm about to start M1 and interested, but have only heard a handful of opinions on it.
Click to expand...

I can't speak to how it will help my performance yet, but I do plan to use it concurrently with my classes and flag as I go. The thought of trying to flag all the first year topics after it ends just seems horrifying to me. I have even seen some people start using it during second year. I would be overwhelmed, so slow and steady for me.
 
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After taking Step 1, I don't think that firecracker was all that useful for me. I think the extra study time could be better spent delving more deeply into the basics of physio, patho, pathophys, and pharm.
 
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madchemist89 said:
After taking Step 1, I don't think that firecracker was all that useful for me. I think the extra study time could be better spent delving more deeply into the basics of physio, patho, pathophys, and pharm.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. Do you feel like this was unique to your learning style, or would you not recommend it altogether? I ask because I tend to be one who purges information rather severely if I don't keep seeing it.
 
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O Grady said:
Thanks for the feedback. Do you feel like this was unique to your learning style, or would you not recommend it altogether? I ask because I tend to be one who purges information rather severely if I don't keep seeing it.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, the most important thing is to get a good foundation of the general concepts and mechanisms before you flag the topic on firecracker. If you do this, every time you see a question, you will think about the mechanism and why the answer is what it is, and not just repeating some random recall question verbatim. FC isn't some magic tool, how you use it really determines how much you'll get out of it.
 
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I definitely need tons of repetition, but the thing about FC is that once you stop the repetition, much of the memorized knowledge is lost. I always understood what was on the card, but step 1 doesn't test factual knowledge. It tests application of concept. FC will certainly help for NBMEs and question banks because it reflects the information contained in these sources. However, while it covers much of the basics of the real deal, I would be able to get 3/4 of the way to a correct answer only to see that slightly more depth and breadth would have been helpful.
 
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madchemist89 said:
I definitely need tons of repetition, but the thing about FC is that once you stop the repetition, much of the memorized knowledge is lost. I always understood what was on the card, but step 1 doesn't test factual knowledge. It tests application of concept. FC will certainly help for NBMEs and question banks because it reflects the information contained in these sources. However, while it covers much of the basics of the real deal, I would be able to get 3/4 of the way to a correct answer only to see that slightly more depth and breadth would have been helpful.
Click to expand...
Ok, I see what you're saying. I'm hoping that if I do end up doing FC, I retain that info long enough to apply it to practice questions, so come time to really start hitting it hard, I'm actually reviewing and doing practice questions instead of wasting time relearning the material.
 
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FC is a perfect tool to keep things fresh… should never be used alone. For the purpose of keeping things fresh and basically hammering FA i think its the best option out there. The earlier you start the better IMO… you keep your daily question load low and can focus on school work. Later on you can focus on questions/nbmes, gauge weaknesses and focus on certain topics. FC can really solidify a good foundation to build upon. It only becomes a burden when you start to late and are trying to bank like crazy bc then it becomes a time sink.
 
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kirbymiester said:
What do you guys think about making a Step 2 Firecracker thread? There's wisdom about FC for Step 2 in this thread but I think any new person to the thread wouldn't want to bother looking through all the pages.
Click to expand...
Sounds great. I noticed you're an editor for them now. Congratulations! Please keep us updated with your experiences in the topics you found good vs lacking.
 
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Any advice/feedback on how FC influenced some of your scores. Id be greatly appreciated. Any tip.
 
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I agree with DOC209, I would like to know if FC was helpful in increasing scores. I have invested a bit of time in it so hopefully it pays off.

In addition, I would like to hear from someone who has near 100% of the concepts flagged. I am sitting at 5379 concepts from 690 flags. I obviously have 430 flags left, but I was wondering about how many concepts I have left.

Summary of the post: About how many concepts are there in firecracker for Step 1?
 
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Brainchild777 said:
I agree with DOC209, I would like to know if FC was helpful in increasing scores. I have invested a bit of time in it so hopefully it pays off.

In addition, I would like to hear from someone who has near 100% of the concepts flagged. I am sitting at 5379 concepts from 690 flags. I obviously have 430 flags left, but I was wondering about how many concepts I have left.

Summary of the post: About how many concepts are there in firecracker for Step 1?
Click to expand...

If you take a look at the 2014 experiences thread there are a few people who have done well already and noted that they used Firecracker, including Kirbymiester who posts in this thread.

I don't think the concepts number is really all that important. Just focus on the topics flagged. I quit with ~1000 topics flagged, so I finished around 90% of it. I take my exam tomorrow though, so you can expect my write up in about 3 and a half weeks. In short, I believe it helped me immensely. There are others who think it's a huge waste of time. You just have to know what fits your style best.
 
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