Firecracker

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I agree, so far I have been impressed with the program and how it helps me retain information (I have been using it for about 9 weeks now). I just thought I would bring up the topic since I have seen some criticism of the program on SDN lately, and I wanted to get some feedback on what people thought that have taken Step/Level 1. The program does require quite a bit of dedication if you think about it (if you use it for about a year before boards we are talking about 700 hours or more). I am leaning towards the side of going all in with Firecracker and trusting that it will give me a great knowledge base for when I start my dedicated study period, but I just wanted to make sure it is worth the significant investment of my time first.
 
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FutureDO22 said:
One person said that Firecracker sort of tricked you into thinking you understood a concept because you could quote certain features of it, but that Firecracker was making them miss the big picture.
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I've heard people say this too lately. That's like saying you shouldn't use First Aid because you'll miss the big picture.

It's not meant to be an all encompassing tool that teaches you in-depth pathophysiology... that's what your medical school is for. That's what the $200k tuition is for, not the $200 for an online review program. I don't know why people think if you're using FC is predisposes you to not learning from a textbook or from your school. It makes zero sense. I can understand if people don't want the time commitment or don't want to review that way, but it has nothing to do with missing the big picture. For example, it's for remembering that you have to add cysteine a buffered charcoal yeast agar to grow Legionella 9 months after you heard it in class once and doesn't replace learning the breadth of microbio in school.
 
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wadewilson90 said:
I had been "gaming" the ratings to try and see things more frequently or push things out, but with the new app they just released I'm changing my approach. Since you can start a quiz anytime by rating (i.e. do a quiz of only questions I rated a 2) I'm doing it a little more naturally.

I. LOVE. THE NEW APP. I do wish there was a button to just do review questions though.
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You just made my day! Many improvements are on the way but I'm really happy that the app better fits the way you'd like to study.
 
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Elevencents said:
Oh that is awesome. I have been doing the exact same thing with the rating and pushing things out. Come on iOS!
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The Apple review process takes a lot longer that Android but you should have a new app soon! In the meantime you can go here to use the new app http://m.firecracker.me/

The styling gets a little wonky if your browser is too wide but it should hold you over till we have a new approved iOS version.
 
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firecrackerJason said:
The Apple review process takes a lot longer that Android but you should have a new app soon! In the meantime you can go here to use the new app http://m.firecracker.me/

The styling gets a little wonky if your browser is too wide but it should hold you over till we have a new approved iOS version.
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Can you comment on the new FC app automatically grading things? It acts like I clicked a score, but my fingers weren't even on the screen. I'm using an Android device.

Also, how do we do only the questions for today on the new app? Whenever I "do questions" it just does random questions even from things I haven't even flagged yet.
 
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firecrackerJason said:
You just made my day! Many improvements are on the way but I'm really happy that the app better fits the way you'd like to study.
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seminoma said:
Can you comment on the new FC app automatically grading things? It acts like I clicked a score, but my fingers weren't even on the screen. I'm using an Android device.

Also, how do we do only the questions for today on the new app? Whenever I "do questions" it just does random questions even from things I haven't even flagged yet.
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Yeah as of right now the Android app has become unusable. I like the appearance and interface but it gives me questions from content that I have not flagged. For the time being I have to go through the mobile site using my android phone's browser.
 
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seminoma said:
Can you comment on the new FC app automatically grading things? It acts like I clicked a score, but my fingers weren't even on the screen. I'm using an Android device.

Also, how do we do only the questions for today on the new app? Whenever I "do questions" it just does random questions even from things I haven't even flagged yet.
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We released a version 2 days ago that should fix the issue. Phones running Android 4.2.2 and 4.3 were firing both a touch and click event when you tapped the 'see answer' button so a recall was automatically selected. Please comment here if you still have issues after updating.

For now you'll have to navigate to the area of the content tree you wish to study before doing questions. You also have the option to do all questions of a certain recall score. Soon the 'do questions' button will serve up prioritized questions based on your goals. Stay tuned!
 
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firecrackerJason said:
We released a version 2 days ago that should fix the issue. Phones running Android 4.2.2 and 4.3 were firing both a touch and click event when you tapped the 'see answer' button so a recall was automatically selected. Please comment here if you still have issues after updating.

For now you'll have to navigate to the area of the content tree you wish to study before doing questions. You also have the option to do all questions of a certain recall score. Soon the 'do questions' button will serve up prioritized questions based on your goals. Stay tuned!
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Nice, I really appreciate how on top of things you guys have been. There's a new problem though. That "touchstartclicktouchstart..." on the top of my screen continues on indefinitely and messes up the formatting of everything. Android 4.3.

ulEpaQU.png
 
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It looks like there are more questions for each concept in the mobile app (android) than online...how can we gain access to and feedback on these questions on our online platform?
 
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seminoma said:
Nice, I really appreciate how on top of things you guys have been. There's a new problem though. That "touchstartclicktouchstart..." on the top of my screen continues on indefinitely and messes up the formatting of everything. Android 4.3.

ulEpaQU.png
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That's a feature!

Really it's the debugger I was using to find the original bug in old Android versions, my version of a retained surgical instrument. Good thing I didn't become a surgeon 🙂

Will fix!
 
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surely said:
About 10,000 is right, though. I once flagged everything to check for myself (in a throw-away account, naturally). Can't remember if I included Step 2 in that, but I don't think that I did.
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I'm not sure if these numbers are dated, but this is from the firecracker forum.

"The Medical/USMLE program includes about 2,000 topics with over 31,000 recall questions and 2,000 multiple choice and USMLE-style questions."

https://firecrackerinc.uservoice.co...les/19213-how-many-questions-do-you-guys-have
 
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I'm relatively new to it since Im still in MS-1, but I spend about an hour a day. I have about 130ish topics flagged and I average about 110 cards/day. Once I have more content Im sure itll be more like 2 hours
 
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Firecracker said:
3 C's – Convulsions, Coma, Cardiotoxicity (due to inhibition of fast Na+ channels → slowed cardiac conduction → prolonged QRS)
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This is from the card on TCAs.
Haven't hard cardio yet, but I thought the SA/AV nodal action potentials didn't have the "fast sodium channel" step (compared to the myocyte action potentials). Should the FC card say "slow Na+ channels" instead?
 
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seminoma said:
This is from the card on TCAs.
Haven't hard cardio yet, but I thought the SA/AV nodal action potentials didn't have the "fast sodium channel" step (compared to the myocyte action potentials). Should the FC card say "slow Na+ channels" instead?
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Conduction is referring to the velocity at which the wave of depolarization moves through the ventricles, which will be slower if you inhibit Na channels, leading to the wide QRS. What you're referring to is impulse generation, which is controlled by Ca channels in the SA and AV nodes.
 
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lobo.solo said:
how much time do you guys spend everyday on firecracker?
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Usual pace is 100q review questions in a little under an hour. Most days I have 80-100 review questions. The number of new topics varies with daily workload, but typically I spend an additional 30-45 minutes adding new cards.
 
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Brainchild777 said:
MD22412... there are about 10,000 concepts in firecracker.
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So that means there one fact or a list of information for that one concept?
To put an analogy, if firecracker were an anki deck, would that translate to 10,000 cards?

How many cards can be done if you commit a full day, considering the person hypothetically finished the medical school curriculum?

I'm trying to gauge if it's worthwhile to start up firecracker and maintain it up to my step 1 (I'm an M2). Ie, would I ever be able to finish it vs someone that has been doing it since MS1?

Thanks
 
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MD22412 said:
So that means there one fact or a list of information for that one concept?
To put an analogy, if firecracker were an anki deck, would that translate to 10,000 cards?

How many cards can be done if you commit a full day, considering the person hypothetically finished the medical school curriculum?

I'm trying to gauge if it's worthwhile to start up firecracker and maintain it up to my step 1 (I'm an M2). Ie, would I ever be able to finish it vs someone that has been doing it since MS1?

Thanks
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This is really dependent on how much you know already. For instance, if you do 500 cards tomorrow, but mark 350 of them as 1's because you dont remember, youll see all those 350 cards the next day. Theoretically you could do 1,000 cards in 10 hours, but tomorrow just to keep up you might have to do 750 of those again, meaning even if you spent 7.5 hours, youd get nowhere. So its really hard to say how fast youll catch up because its very individualized.
 
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Ophthoseidon said:
This is really dependent on how much you know already. For instance, if you do 500 cards tomorrow, but mark 350 of them as 1's because you dont remember, youll see all those 350 cards the next day. Theoretically you could do 1,000 cards in 10 hours, but tomorrow just to keep up you might have to do 750 of those again, meaning even if you spent 7.5 hours, youd get nowhere. So its really hard to say how fast youll catch up because its very individualized.
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So if you did 1,000 cards a day you'd be able to finish in 10 days is what you're saying? Assuming you already know everything of course.
 
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MD22412 said:
So if you did 1,000 cards a day you'd be able to finish in 10 days is what you're saying? Assuming you already know everything of course.
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IF you know everything is the key lol. And then youd mark everything a 5. aka youd see them all again in about 10 days the first time you did it.
 
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Elevencents said:
When using the app I swear it used to show pics/diagrams but for a while now it has not. Is it just me? I'm using iOS.
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I don't believe iOS has ever had that feature, as that app is the Beta version, the exact same as it was before it was made public.

The new version was suppose to be coming out by now but I guess the process on Apple's end takes awhile.
 
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DrEnderW said:
I don't believe iOS has ever had that feature, as that app is the Beta version, the exact same as it was before it was made public.

The new version was suppose to be coming out by now but I guess the process on Apple's end takes awhile.
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Ah ok thanks pal. Must be confusing it with when I used the site version.
 
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quickfeet said:
Hey any of you guys using the Step I firecracker... can you do me a favor and let me know which sections of the Gastrointestinal and Heme/Onc sections need to be re-written? I am in charge of those sections, so I am trying to get user feedback on where they can be improved. I was thinking the anemias sections were in pretty bad shape, but I can't really spend time re-writing any topics unless I have evidence that users think those areas need re-writes.
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Shouldn't you be rewriting things based on the literature, not on what SDN thinks needs to be rewritten? I hope the other editors are putting in actual time to make FC a legit resource.
 
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quickfeet said:
Anki is 1,000x better than Fire Cracker. Firecracker is a joke for how much it costs and for what? Basically a copy of FA? Also, there are errors in FC as well as problems with how cards are written. The key is more cards, but lighter info so its easier to get through. Also FC if you miss a card you dont see it for 24 hrs. Anki is relentless in that you have to satisfy that you had one round of successful recall before you say byebye. seems like it would take longer that way, but in reality it is probably better in the long-run so you don't build up cards by 1-rating long and poorly worded cards in FC.

Of course the downside of Anki is making the cards can be a huge timesink. Yes its true you can learn while you do it, but the fact is, when you have severe OCD like me I tend to spend too much time formatting and arranging... heh

Also the Mobile Anki app is such win I can't even begin to put it into words....
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quickfeet said:
Hey any of you guys using the Step I firecracker... can you do me a favor and let me know which sections of the Gastrointestinal and Heme/Onc sections need to be re-written? I am in charge of those sections, so I am trying to get user feedback on where they can be improved. I was thinking the anemias sections were in pretty bad shape, but I can't really spend time re-writing any topics unless I have evidence that users think those areas need re-writes.
Click to expand...

😵
 
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quickfeet said:
Hey any of you guys using the Step I firecracker... can you do me a favor and let me know which sections of the Gastrointestinal and Heme/Onc sections need to be re-written? I am in charge of those sections, so I am trying to get user feedback on where they can be improved. I was thinking the anemias sections were in pretty bad shape, but I can't really spend time re-writing any topics unless I have evidence that users think those areas need re-writes.
Click to expand...

5055032357_69d1d1be72.jpg
 
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quickfeet said:
Sorry I wasn't clear. What I meant is that there are a few topics on FC that are poorly written. I.e. they have incorrect information, an excess of low yield factoids, or poorly written questions. I was asking if you thought there were any topics in particular that fit this category in the Hematology/Oncology or Gastrointestinal section of the Step I product (because these are the sections that FC pays me edit). I'm simply asking for any feedback.

Topics are not generally allowed to be re-written unless there are registered complaints from users about them. For my part, I see a few of these topics in my own sections (Heme/Onc and GI) that were authored by other employees in the time prior to when I received my editorship. I would very much like to re-write the topics in question, but my superiors will not allow me to waste company time fixing something that no users have openly complained about.
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. In your post history, your have ripped firecracker before and sang the praises of it's competitor anki. I don't know what you're trying to accomplish here, but uou should have realized that your history is able to be seen by others
 
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quickfeet said:
Sorry I wasn't clear. What I meant is that there are a few topics on FC that are poorly written. I.e. they have incorrect information, an excess of low yield factoids, or poorly written questions. I was asking if you thought there were any topics in particular that fit this category in the Hematology/Oncology or Gastrointestinal section of the Step I product (because these are the sections that FC pays me edit). I'm simply asking for any feedback.

Topics are not generally allowed to be re-written unless there are registered complaints from users about them. For my part, I see a few of these topics in my own sections (Heme/Onc and GI) that were authored by other employees in the time prior to when I received my editorship. I would very much like to re-write the topics in question, but my superiors will not allow me to waste company time fixing something that no users have openly complained about.
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You do not need permission from your supervisors to edit. You are responsible for responding to down votes, low rated topics, questions, and comments on your subject. I'm embarrassed that you even went on this forum to post asking for users to tell you what to edit, how did you make it through the screening project? Should I bring this up to the other editors to see how they feel about this?

YOU YOURSELF CAN EDIT TOPICS THAT YOU FEEL ARE NOT UP TO THE STANDARDS OF FIRECRACKER. PLEASE DO NOT REPRESENT FIRECRACKER ON THIS FORUM.

You are putting a bad mark on firecracker. Stop.
 
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fcuser1 said:
You do not need permission from your supervisors to edit. You are responsible for responding to down votes, low rated topics, questions, and comments on your subject. I'm embarrassed that you even went on this forum to post asking for users to tell you what to edit, how did you make it through the screening project? Should I bring this up to the other editors to see how they feel about this?

YOU YOURSELF CAN EDIT TOPICS THAT YOU FEEL ARE NOT UP TO THE STANDARDS OF FIRECRACKER. PLEASE DO NOT REPRESENT FIRECRACKER ON THIS FORUM.

You are putting a bad mark on firecracker. Stop.
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Lol, yeah you do need permission. At least that has been my experience, maybe your senior editor or w/e is different
 
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I am clueless as to why the android app gives you questions from topics that you flagged, be it a question that you will see in a month or one from same day Qs, but there is no option to only do your same day questions. I cannot understand what they are trying to do, and frankly it looks extremely stupid unless someone explains it to me.

Why show someone a mixed bag of questions from all flagged topics of his but not be able to show them today's required questions. This breaks the whole point of FC , namely spaced repetition, by throwing all the flagged questions randomly whether they're supposed to come up now, in a week, a month or a year. I am talking about the mobile app of course, desktop hasn't changed thankfully.

It's a shame because I instantly liked the mobile app but you guys blew it.
 
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DYT said:
I am clueless as to why the android app gives you questions from topics that you flagged, be it a question that you will see in a month or one from same day Qs, but there is no option to only do your same day questions. I cannot understand what they are trying to do, and frankly it looks extremely stupid unless someone explains it to me.

Why show someone a mixed bag of questions from all flagged topics of his but not be able to show them today's required questions. This breaks the whole point of FC , namely spaced repetition, by throwing all the flagged questions randomly whether they're supposed to come up now, in a week, a month or a year. I am talking about the mobile app of course, desktop hasn't changed thankfully.

It's a shame because I instantly liked the mobile app but you guys blew it.
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Agreed. I hope FC can fix this asap since this version is awful.
 
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cbrons said:
What's wrong with it? I haven't tried it.
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The interface is pretty awful- they tried to make it look cool but it just ends up looking bulky and distorted (see attached pic). The screen is crowded (look at how it overlaps with my iOS heading date/time), you have to do a ton of scrolling, and the answer choices are light blue and barely legible.

AND WORST: YOU CAN'T SKIP QUESTIONS. This puts a major jam in how I used firecracker (skipped questions I didn't know so that I would see them several times throughout the day). Considering how slow they are at making changes, I would avoid updating this if I could
 

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