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]

Im at about 25% too. I'm going to start trying to flag 6-7 topics per day now that MS2 is starting soon. Either for my classes or previously studied topics.

Lets do this!

Yessir! I've decided to stop reading the answers so thoroughly everytime I answer a question (especially if it's a 4-5). My goal is to flag 3 MS2 topics everyday and at least 2 MS1 topics everyday. Since I started using FC last year I've been in this weird place where I know I don't want to use it as a learning tool, but I also want to make sure I am using it as a learning tool.. This year it's going to be all about recall. Hopefully that will help me go through it faster and give me more time for Qbanks.

 

[Frazier]

So disappointed. Had high hopes coming into the summer to go back and bank all of MS1's material...then summer happened. 😉

Looking at around 10 days left to summer. Time for compensation. Berserk mode activated.

 

[DrEnderW]

Glad to see we're all on the same page here...

 

[Dr Dazzle]

What's the maximum possible to flag after M1? I know it varies based on school, but any general ballpark of M1 topics in FC?

 

[Frazier]

What's the maximum possible to flag after M1? I know it varies based on school, but any general ballpark of M1 topics in FC?

It depends on your school curriculum... for example my school includes neuro+psych organ systems in MS1.

Basic science: 522 topics
Organ systems: 597 topics

They fluctuate with time/updates.

 

[DrEnderW]

What's the maximum possible to flag after M1? I know it varies based on school, but any general ballpark of M1 topics in FC?

After M1 I had all of the basic sciences section covered, aside from antimicrobials and immune deficiencies. In the organ systems section, we covered all the physio and anatomy subcategories.

It's roughly 50% but I only made it to 35-40%.

 

[abruzz75]

Thanks for all the replies.

I'm at about 20% flagged going into MS2. I haven't flagged any anatomy topics yet, based on what some have said about it not being particularly high yield. For others who have followed this strategy, do you think flagging those high yield topics posted on Firecracker's blog is a good way to go or should I just suck it up and plan on flagging all the anatomy topics over the next year?

 

[DrEnderW]

Thanks for all the replies.

I'm at about 20% flagged going into MS2. I haven't flagged any anatomy topics yet, based on what some have said about it not being particularly high yield. For others who have followed this strategy, do you think flagging those high yield topics posted on Firecracker's blog is a good way to go or should I just suck it up and plan on flagging all the anatomy topics over the next year?

I think you could go either way on anatomy. I'm interested in surgery and having some of the small details fresh was absolutely invaluable while in the OR and during case presentations I got heavily pimped on. For that reason alone it is worth it for me but I may end up de-flagging once I have more content banked.

I think the HY topics listed are good. A lot of people with really respectable USMLE/COMLEX scores and experiences made the list. You really could just flag all anatomy and go through the questions and rate them all 4s or 5s without reading to get them banked but only see them every month or two. It's a ton of material, however. I have 100% of anatomy flagged and its about 40 questions out of 200 I get per day. I could definitely do with less.

The general consensus is anatomy and embryo can be the first to go if you need to tone down.

 

[sinombre]

So disappointed. Had high hopes coming into the summer to go back and bank all of MS1's material...then summer happened. 😉

Looking at around 10 days left to summer. Time for compensation. Berserk mode activated.

I'm in the same position. Honestly though, I think the mental break was well worth it. Started classes yesterday and hit the ground running.

 

[Lafakads]

I'm kinda getting into the groove of FC now. I find it sort of like a game trying to increase the amount of topics flagged.

I'm also going through some MS1 material at the pace of the 1st years. Going to try and flag some relevant anatomy.

 

[GopherMD]

Has anyone else who uses the mobile app noticed that the correct answer for multiple choice questions is always choice "A"?

 

[abolt18]

Has anyone else who uses the mobile app noticed that the correct answer for multiple choice questions is always choice "A"?

I had not noticed that but upon reflecting back, I think you're right! If so that'll bug me now.

 

[DrEnderW]

Has anyone else who uses the mobile app noticed that the correct answer for multiple choice questions is always choice "A"?

Haha I haven't noticed that.

There's going to be a major update to the app coming out soon - the one out now is the bear bones beta version released because the demand was so high.

 

[abolt18]

Haha I haven't noticed that.

There's going to be a major update to the app coming out soon - the one out now is the bear bones beta version released because the demand was so high.

Agreed and I can't wait!

 

[seminoma]

Does anyone know of any special sales (school specific, etc) they are having right now? I only want to buy enough time to get me through the end of the school year.. All they have right now is 12 months (I need 7 or 8).

Has anyone else who uses the mobile app noticed that the correct answer for multiple choice questions is always choice "A"?

Hasn't been for me.

 

[Frazier]

Does anyone know of any special sales (school specific, etc) they are having right now? I only want to buy enough time to get me through the end of the school year.. All they have right now is 12 months (I need 7 or 8).

Hasn't been for me.

I don't know how much it is advertised, they are having a "50% off" sale currently.

https://med.firecracker.me/purchase/f214

For 7-8 months, either need to go monthly or accept the fact that you will be done 4 months early (still being the cheaper option)

 

[DrEnderW]

Does anyone know of any special sales (school specific, etc) they are having right now? I only want to buy enough time to get me through the end of the school year.. All they have right now is 12 months (I need 7 or 8).

Hasn't been for me.

The deals mid-late august are going to be the best you're likely going to get. That's when most med schools will be back in action and it looks like general discounts advertised with the free 1 month will be equivalent to what you'd get if a rep came. 40-50% percent off is what you're looking at.

Fill out a 30 second survey and you get an additional free month.

 

[cbrons]

I personally flagged m1 stuff in m2 but i "never see again"'ed pretty much everything in anatomy and embryo except the 100% short and concise cards with clinical relevance


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile

 

[seminoma]

Damn. In the past they did 4 month sales ($75-80). Guess I'll just bite the bullet.

 

[okokok]

I think I'm going to buy a Firecracker subscription (even though I might be jumping the gun, because my M1 classes just started, but I want to take advantage of the current sale). Does anyone who is a current member want to invite me so that they get an extra free month when I sign up? If so, PM me and I'll send you my email address to invite. Because I'm nice.

 

[abolt18]

Honestly I think that's a great idea. Wish I had done exactly that and just added material as we went. Good for you. Plus you can just buy a year and start sharing it with people and getting yourself free months added to the year

 

[okokok]

Someone just PM'ed me that they're going to invite me. If anyone reading this wants to sign up in the future, let me know and I can invite you. (You don't need an invite to sign up, it just benefits the inviter with an extra free month. Karma n all.)

 

[cbrons]

Honestly I think that's a great idea. Wish I had done exactly that and just added material as we went. Good for you. Plus you can just buy a year and start sharing it with people and getting yourself free months added to the year

Honestly I feel like FC has just a little too much minutiae in certain subjects to be perfect for Step I studying (without deleting some of the cards by selecting "never see again"), while having too little info in certain subjects for actual M1 exams (at least at my school).

 

[seminoma]

Honestly I feel like FC has just a little too much minutiae in certain subjects to be perfect for Step I studying (without deleting some of the cards by selecting "never see again"), while having too little info in certain subjects for actual M1 exams (at least at my school).

Can't say much about step 1, but it worked fine for MS1. More info than FA.

 

[ChEMD]

I would personally hate it if FC had enough information to prepare me for my school exams. That's why it's a board review source - it leaves out some of the unimportant details that professors like to test over, but will rarely be seen on a board exam.

 

[mcloaf]

Yeah new questions definitely appear as they are added for the Step 1 content.

Unfortunately I discovered last night that my above quote is absolutely wrong. I had assumed that since I was getting new questions in the mix all of the new content was incorporated. Nope. I reflagged all of my content last night and got roughly 550 questions from doing so. Interestingly, I'd say roughly half of this was questions that I had previously answered but were somehow lost when an editor changed the topic around. I guess some, but not all, new questions are not successfully incorporated into the study schedule, and when topics are edited/deleted/moved around some questions get lost and will not reappear unless you reflag the topic. I'll be sending a crabby email to FC tech support sometime today about this and would encourage all of you to do the same, as well as reflagging your topics when you get a chance.

 

[seminoma]

Unfortunately I discovered last night that my above quote is absolutely wrong. I had assumed that since I was getting new questions in the mix all of the new content was incorporated. Nope. I reflagged all of my content last night and got roughly 550 questions from doing so. Interestingly, I'd say roughly half of this was questions that I had previously answered but were somehow lost when an editor changed the topic around. I guess some, but not all, new questions are not successfully incorporated into the study schedule, and when topics are edited/deleted/moved around some questions get lost and will not reappear unless you reflag the topic. I'll be sending a crabby email to FC tech support sometime today about this and would encourage all of you to do the same, as well as reflagging your topics when you get a chance.

I've had some new questions added, but also noticed new information on cards when reviewing them after answering an "old" question.. So I guess there's a mix right now.

 

[ChEMD]

Unfortunately I discovered last night that my above quote is absolutely wrong. I had assumed that since I was getting new questions in the mix all of the new content was incorporated. Nope. I reflagged all of my content last night and got roughly 550 questions from doing so. Interestingly, I'd say roughly half of this was questions that I had previously answered but were somehow lost when an editor changed the topic around. I guess some, but not all, new questions are not successfully incorporated into the study schedule, and when topics are edited/deleted/moved around some questions get lost and will not reappear unless you reflag the topic. I'll be sending a crabby email to FC tech support sometime today about this and would encourage all of you to do the same, as well as reflagging your topics when you get a chance.

Thanks for posting this, I just reflagged some topics and also got extra study questions added...definitely disappointing.

 

[abolt18]

When you unflag and reflag topics, does it make you review unchanged questions that you've made a 5 or chosen to never see again?

 

[mcloaf]

When you unflag and reflag topics, does it make you review unchanged questions that you've made a 5 or chosen to never see again?

I would assume not, but I can't say for sure since I haven't tested it out.

 

[Lafakads]

Thanks for posting this, I just reflagged some topics and also got extra study questions added...definitely disappointing.

Damn this really rustles my jimmies. Hopefully the FC rep on this forum reads this and fixes it quickly

 

[WhovianDO]

FC is 50% off right now. If you want to get it, please think about PMing me for a referral. We will both get a free month!

 

[abolt18]

I would assume not, but I can't say for sure since I haven't tested it out.

Well I tried it and it just added a small handful of questions so I think it doesn't affect your schedule for already answered questions.

 

[ChEMD]

Well I tried it and it just added a small handful of questions so I think it doesn't affect your schedule for already answered questions.

Agreed. Unflagging and reflagging many topics didn't result in any added questions, it only happened with a handful of topics.

 

[abolt18]

My bad: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZmmeIDGhNY

Ok it's definitely always A in the app...

 

[WhovianDO]

If only Step 1 had the same problem...

I know, right!

I know it's too early for me to worry about this, but I just don't know how I'll ever get through all of this material. I only have 40% mastery of 105 topics after about 1 month. Biochem is haunting me!

 

[seminoma]

How do people feel about the Basic Sciences » Pharmacology » Physiology » Extracellular Receptor and Functions card? It's the one with all the autonomic receptors (alpha, beta, dopamine, etc) and a list of their functions.

 

[lobo.solo]

How do people use FC?
Do you read the content you flag? Or do you just do questions from the topics you flagged? Can people explain their routine with FC? Thanks.

 

[Robotman]

How do people use FC?
Do you read the content you flag? Or do you just do questions from the topics you flagged? Can people explain their routine with FC? Thanks.

I'm in MS2, what I do is read my notes for class x2, then I go to FC and find the topics i just covered for that lecture, I then read each one of those items (+more part) then I flag the item. After I'm done flagging + reading all the items for that lecture, I do the questions.

You have to read the items because how they formulate the question is how its arranged in their material.

 

[Robotman]

Just found the legendary button. 60 questions were just added. Time to get crackin

 

[DrEnderW]

Just found the legendary button. 60 questions were just added. Time to get crackin

Legendary is the default way to use FC.

I use the same system as you more or less. I always read through the topic, flag, answer the question, and then proceed to the next. The only time I wouldn't read the content before flagging would be if it was a day after a test or something and certain I'd be answering mostly 4s.

 

[Robotman]

Legendary is the default way to use FC.

I use the same system as you more or less. I always read through the topic, flag, answer the question, and then proceed to the next. The only time I wouldn't read the content before flagging would be if it was a day after a test or something and certain I'd be answering mostly 4s.

I think I changed it back when it was called Lite mode because Pathology and ICM were killing my time and totally forgot about that option.

 

[abolt18]

Just found the legendary button. 60 questions were just added. Time to get crackin

Haha I had completed all of GI (some 550 questions), and when I switched to legendary, it gave me 300 more questions!

 

[okokok]

I just started M1 and planned on using FC but I can't imagine adding anything extra to my studying. I feel like I'm behind as it is.

 

[abolt18]

I just started M1 and planned on using FC but I can't imagine adding anything extra to my studying. I feel like I'm behind as it is.

If you add the material as you learn it (for example, say you had a lecture today on the brachial plexus, flag that today or tomorrow and just try to keep up.) that way your 'extra studying' is just studying for class.

 

[okokok]

If you add the material as you learn it (for example, say you had a lecture today on the brachial plexus, flag that today or tomorrow and just try to keep up.) that way your 'extra studying' is just studying for class.

Yeah, I can see how that would work. I haven't bought FC yet so I didn't realize you could flag such specific topics.

I need more time in the day.

 

[Frazier]

Well, after having had my subscription since the beginning of MS1, I just did a week straight of using FC properly* for the first time ever (MS2 on cardio block).

Really kicking myself for not doing this during MS1.

*** "Properly" used as in "Cover EKG's in lecture today. Today do EKG topic on Firecracker and do questions."

 

[Dr Dazzle]

Well, after having had my subscription since the beginning of MS1, I just did a week straight of using FC properly* for the first time ever (MS2 on cardio block).

Really kicking myself for not doing this during MS1.

*** "Properly" used as in "Cover EKG's in lecture today. Today do EKG topic on Firecracker and do questions."

Problem is that class goes into specific minutiae or a specific way to approach a concept that is important to know in order to do well on the class test. And by spending time on FC you are technically taking time away from learning stuff in a manner that will be tested in class. It's a trade off where you hope that your effort will pay off on boards even if you sacrifice grades somewhat I guess.

 

[fastlane]

Sold - thanks guys.

 

[wadewilson90]

Wait, schools buy Firecracker for students? Is that for first years too ?