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JackShephard MD

JackShephard MD

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

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Hemorrage said:
Question to M1 and M2s... how many questions/day are you all managing? I'm struggling to keep up with 80-100 alongside the curriculum.

My problem might be that i find it difficult to remember all these esoteric diseases out of context (relative to their other flavors in a given biochem pathway for example). Anyone have any advice for this issue?
Click to expand...
What year are you?
 
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In the beta does anyone know if you do subject specific review, is there an algorithm in place? Like if I go to an organ system and just do those questions, will the ones that I have done worst on come up first?
 
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Ophthoseidon said:
In the beta does anyone know if you do subject specific review, is there an algorithm in place? Like if I go to an organ system and just do those questions, will the ones that I have done worst on come up first?
Click to expand...
Yes the questions should be prioritized within that subject, based on last rank, last seen, average rank, etc.
 
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seminoma said:
Why memorang and not FC for those select topics?
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Memorang is just a lot faster at this point i am only doing rote memorization of select factoids i.e. viral genoma, etc. With FC i would have to unflag stuff and get a lot of open ended questions i dont have time for. I have a few topics favorited in memorang and part of my study plan is just to pick one every day and do it for a half hr..often times in bed or something. Aint nobody got time for 6 hrs of no flash cards doe
 
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cbrons said:
Memorang is just a lot faster at this point i am only doing rote memorization of select factoids i.e. viral genoma, etc. With FC i would have to unflag stuff and get a lot of open ended questions i dont have time for. I have a few topics favorited in memorang and part of my study plan is just to pick one every day and do it for a half hr..often times in bed or something. Aint nobody got time for 6 hrs of no flash cards doe
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks for the info. Just took a look and $19 for a month ain't bad.
 
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seminoma said:
Is anyone currently in dedicated prep time and still using FC?
Click to expand...

I'm 8 weeks out and have been keeping with the doing 100 cards in the early AM before getting going on other stuff. I'm unsure if I'm going to switch to adding a UWorld block or keep with FC.

What is your game plan?
 
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DrEnderW said:
I'm 8 weeks out and have been keeping with the doing 100 cards in the early AM before getting going on other stuff. I'm unsure if I'm going to switch to adding a UWorld block or keep with FC.

What is your game plan?
Click to expand...

I'm 9.. I've been keeping up as well, but we're both pretty much at a point where the next time we see a question will be the last time we see that question. Right now I'm planning to keep going until dedicated starts (in about 3 weeks) at which point I'm not sure what to do.
 
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seminoma said:
Cool, thanks for the info. Just took a look and $19 for a month ain't bad.
Click to expand...
I am starting DIT soon, so the way I figure I will do flash cards is if I am doing practice questions and keep forgetting random stupid little factoids (i.e. those damn pharyngeal arch derivatives), I can just go into my Memorang and favorite that set. And every day just do literally no more than 45 minutes on multiple choice mode (free recall mode is actually quite mentally draining for me) - the multiple choice mode is pretty much the equivalent of having a your head repeatedly hammered over and over with factoids. Not sure if it is more efficient in the long-run for recall (I suspect it might be), but I DO know it is far less mentally draining after a long day of studying.

For me the most beneficial and high yield time is spent doing and reviewing practice questions. Videos, flash cards, etc. are all a part of my study plan but I'm honestly very ADD and cannot sit there and just watch videos all day.

I'm not one of those people who plans to go through first aid 3-4 times, I'm just going to get through DIT thoroughly once, do some flash cards here and there, and finish my 3rd qbank (maybe add one more if I have time). I also have CRUSH Step I, which is way more readable for me than First Aid, which I am just adding 1 hour per day of reading through. With luck I can get through that 2 full times as well.

But yeah, I was one of those ANKI freakazoids who did like 3 hours per day for a good part of the year, but I burned out a couple weeks ago and switched my strategy to memorang. I know a lot of people do very very well with keeping on top of Firecracker right up to the exam, but they have a discipline for doing free answer-style flash cards for 2-3 hours per day or more that I simply do not have at this point.
 
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Personally, I get a lot more out of doing firecracker than I do out if first aid, so while I'm doing a once through of first aid right now, I'm doing about 200+ questions a day, still trying to flag certain things aggressively. In the last week before the test, I'll probably just do my qbanks and 800+ questions a day on firecracker. I might unflag a lot before then so I can focus that week on the heavy hard memorization of facts, genes, bugs, and drugs especially. Currently 8 weeks out from USMLE. COMLEX is 3 days after that.
 
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seminoma said:
How's it going? What's your day like?
Click to expand...

It's actually not that bad. My daily q load is usually 100-200 so I just do them for ~1hr at night when I'm relaxing and watching TV before bed. Sometimes I'll do some of them in the morning to wake up before I start Uworld.
 
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I just started my free trial. I am an MS1 and up until now my method has just been to learn everything in MS1 to the best of my ability and crush exams. I do EVERYTHING with Anki. I convert pretty much every testable piece of information into Anki form. I don't really regret that tactic so far because I think it has resulted in a higher level understanding that will stick with me and be more easily "reactivated" when I review.

I have a few questions:
1. Will I have to give that style up if I want to devote significant time to FC in MS2?
2. Will I be able to catch up and review all the material from my MS1 year over the summer?
3. When second year starts would you recommend using it in conjunction with Pathoma/UW/FA or should I use it to just keep first year material fresh?
4. Would I be better served by just continuing my Anki habit. I know it works. Along those lines... how far does just smashing your classes go towards preparing for Step 1. If you just killed all your classes would you have theoretically be studying for Step 1 all year long and then only require a "review" during dedicated study period?

I've gotten a lot of mixed reviews/feelings about FC, so I am little unsure about what role it will take in my Step 1 studying.

I apologize if those questions are naive or common knowledge.
 
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msquaredb said:
I just started my free trial. I am an MS1 and up until now my method has just been to learn everything in MS1 to the best of my ability and crush exams. I do EVERYTHING with Anki. I convert pretty much every testable piece of information into Anki form. I don't really regret that tactic so far because I think it has resulted in a higher level understanding that will stick with me and be more easily "reactivated" when I review.

I have a few questions:
1. Will I have to give that style up if I want to devote significant time to FC in MS2?
2. Will I be able to catch up and review all the material from my MS1 year over the summer?
3. When second year starts would you recommend using it in conjunction with Pathoma/UW/FA or should I use it too just keep first year material fresh?
4. Would I be better served by just continuing my Anki habit. I know it works. Along those lines... how far does just smashing your classes go towards preparing for Step 1. If you just killed all your classes would you have theoretically be studying for Step 1 all year long and then only require a "review" during dedicated study period?

I've gotten a lot of mixed reviews/feelings about FC, so I am little unsure about what role it will take in my Step 1 studying.

I apologize if those questions are naive or common knowledge.
Click to expand...

1. You can get all your FC done in 1-2hrs per day. Now with an app, a lot of that can be done in transit and downtime. Early first year I did around 200 and then dropped to 100-150 which I did as an hour in the AM before class. It's doable while doing well in class.

2. You'll be able to make a lot of progress but it'll take some work. Don't be worried to pass on the daily review sometimes to get new content banked. It'll help you in the long run.

3. I used Firecracker and did 1-2x passed of both FA and Pathoma vids during M2. I went lighter on qbanks (still did a decent amount) and saved Uworld to closer to Step 1. People are split on the save Uworld vs use it early strategy. I went with the former.

4. I'm only an M2, but doing very well in class has made Step 1 prep a lot easier. Sustained firecracker and really learning things the first go around has put me in a place I'm pretty comfortable with but I won't really know until that score report comes back...

I tried Anki and felt like making the cards took too long (my school has an insane testing schedule). If you like it and it works, try FC over summer and see what you think. It's nice you can change your daily goal and taking a day off doesn't get you back logged. Those two issues were the main problems with FC and they've been fixed well. If you don't like it, go back to Anki and you've lost nothing summer some casual 1st yr review over the summer.
 
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Focused1 said:
I heard the Beta had some issues and had not transitioned to it.
What if any are the advantages of using it as opposed to the regular FC ?
Click to expand...
I've had no issues with beta in a couple months, but if you're well into using the calendar, you may simply prefer not to transition.
 
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abolt18 said:
I've had no issues with beta in a couple months, but if you're well into using the calendar, you may simply prefer not to transition.
Click to expand...
Thanks... and did you gain any benefit by transitioning ?
I guess the app could be handy..but that has been heavily criticized in the past too..
 
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Focused1 said:
Thanks... and did you gain any benefit by transitioning ?
I guess the app could be handy..but that has been heavily criticized in the past too..
Click to expand...
I greatly prefer using beta/the app. All my friends do as well. I like being able to just do a hundred Biochem questions because I find I'm not remembering them. It's less structured than the calendar but still 'prioritized' so it's perfect for me
 
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Focused1 said:
Thanks... and did you gain any benefit by transitioning ?
I guess the app could be handy..but that has been heavily criticized in the past too..
Click to expand...

I HIGHLY recommend switching to the app/Beta. I used the traditional version for 1 yr prior to switching. The benefits of the app are: you chose the number of questions per day, questions don't backlog if you skip tests or are studying for class exams, you can do quizzes of specific subjects, and you can do questions on the go. Sneaking in questions on the subway, waiting in line, or during lecture breaks translated to hundreds of questions more per week. I used primarily the app and most bugs have been fixed. Most of the complaints a ways back on this thread have been fixed.
 
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DrEnderW said:
I HIGHLY recommend switching to the app/Beta. I used the traditional version for 1 yr prior to switching. The benefits of the app are: you chose the number of questions per day, questions don't backlog if you skip tests or are studying for class exams, you can do quizzes of specific subjects, and you can do questions on the go. Sneaking in questions on the subway, waiting in line, or during lecture breaks translated to hundreds of questions more per week. I used primarily the app and most bugs have been fixed. Most of the complaints a ways back on this thread have been fixed.
Click to expand...

Did you feel that the question distribution was appropriate across all of the subjects?
 
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I am pretty confused by the mobile/beta. How come the mobile version is drawing from everything when I have only flagged a handful of things on the desktop version. Do they not sync? Example: I just got a question under "Do Today's Questions" that was about function and innervation of palatoglossus muscle. Definitely have not flagged that anywhere...ever.

Also, is there a way to do, say all neuro questions before a neuro shelf, even if those questions aren't going to come up for awhile. Can you break the algorithm and create custom temporary sets of questions?
 
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Hey all,

4 weeks left in M1 here. I've been using FC somewhat religiously the whole year, but haven't really actually cracked open a FA book. Do you all do FC and also study FA along with your classes?
 
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msquaredb said:
I am pretty confused by the mobile/beta. How come the mobile version is drawing from everything when I have only flagged a handful of things on the desktop version. Do they not sync? Example: I just got a question under "Do Today's Questions" that was about function and innervation of palatoglossus muscle. Definitely have not flagged that anywhere...ever.

Also, is there a way to do, say all neuro questions before a neuro shelf, even if those questions aren't going to come up for awhile. Can you break the algorithm and create custom temporary sets of questions?
Click to expand...

Did you just start using FC? The only reason I've seen this happen is if you have a very small amount of content complete and have your questions set at say, 150. Due to the small amount flagged, there isn't enough content to give you 150 per day with the spaced algorithm. Once you add more content, that should stop.

If this isn't the case, I dunno how to help and I've never heard of this happening. Check if that section of neck anatomy is flagged on your app/beta.

To just do a neuro questions, select the neuro tab and there's a "questions" icon with a stack of cards. Select that and you'll get neuro only. This is the whole advantage of the beta/app!
 
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DrEnderW said:
Did you just start using FC? The only reason I've seen this happen is if you have a very small amount of content complete and have your questions set at say, 150. Due to the small amount flagged, there isn't enough content to give you 150 per day with the spaced algorithm. Once you add more content, that should stop.

If this isn't the case, I dunno how to help and I've never heard of this happening. Check if that section of neck anatomy is flagged on your app/beta.

To just do a neuro questions, select the neuro tab and there's a "questions" icon with a stack of cards. Select that and you'll get neuro only. This is the whole advantage of the beta/app!
Click to expand...
Much appreciated. I suspect this is the reason. I am easing myself in during my trial period by only studying what I am doing in class as I do it. That happens to be neuro. It think I'll flag a ton of something Ive done like biochem and see if that fixes the problem.
 
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So after two days of using this program I can definitely see the upside if you are willing to put in the time. However, I think that is has one major flaw compared to Anki. I am someone who just won't remember something after reading it once, so I think the <1min and <10 min options on Anki are super ideal for people like me. If saying "I dont know this AT ALL" (aka a FC ranking of 1) pushes something to the next day then I will probably never learn it. I will just keep hitting 1 probably forever. Sometimes I hit 1min on tricky Anki cards like 5 times on an initial pass through a deck. Then I'll get to 10min, but I may not remember it so I find myself back at 1min. By the time it has left the deck I have seen it a ton. Maybe I am an idiot? Anyway... if that is what I need then so be it.

Part of the reason I bring this up is because I was just curious if anybody had any solutions for this or knows of a way to change the intervals.
 
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msquaredb said:
I just started my free trial. I am an MS1 and up until now my method has just been to learn everything in MS1 to the best of my ability and crush exams. I do EVERYTHING with Anki. I convert pretty much every testable piece of information into Anki form. I don't really regret that tactic so far because I think it has resulted in a higher level understanding that will stick with me and be more easily "reactivated" when I review.

I have a few questions:
1. Will I have to give that style up if I want to devote significant time to FC in MS2?
2. Will I be able to catch up and review all the material from my MS1 year over the summer?
3. When second year starts would you recommend using it in conjunction with Pathoma/UW/FA or should I use it to just keep first year material fresh?
4. Would I be better served by just continuing my Anki habit. I know it works. Along those lines... how far does just smashing your classes go towards preparing for Step 1. If you just killed all your classes would you have theoretically be studying for Step 1 all year long and then only require a "review" during dedicated study period?

I've gotten a lot of mixed reviews/feelings about FC, so I am little unsure about what role it will take in my Step 1 studying.

I apologize if those questions are naive or common knowledge.
Click to expand...
Yes you can catch up with FC over the summer, but it will be a big time investment.
 
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cbrons said:
Yes you can catch up with FC over the summer, but it will be a big time investment.
Click to expand...
Good to know its possible. I'll be doing research in a far away place, so besides exploring the city a bit I think I will have a lot of time on my hands on the weekends and the evenings. Hopefully it is enough and if it seems like it wont be then I might unflag some stuff I feel I am already solid on.
 
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msquaredb said:
So after two days of using this program I can definitely see the upside if you are willing to put in the time. However, I think that is has one major flaw compared to Anki. I am someone who just won't remember something after reading it once, so I think the <1min and <10 min options on Anki are super ideal for people like me. If saying "I dont know this AT ALL" (aka a FC ranking of 1) pushes something to the next day then I will probably never learn it. I will just keep hitting 1 probably forever. Sometimes I hit 1min on tricky Anki cards like 5 times on an initial pass through a deck. Then I'll get to 10min, but I may not remember it so I find myself back at 1min. By the time it has left the deck I have seen it a ton. Maybe I am an idiot? Anyway... if that is what I need then so be it.

Part of the reason I bring this up is because I was just curious if anybody had any solutions for this or knows of a way to change the intervals.
Click to expand...
I know I, and some others have previously mentioned, that if they really have no idea, they'll just skip the question instead of ranking it 1-5. This makes it pop back up soon because it's unanswered. So if you come to one and you want to see it again, skip it without ranking it, then exit after you do a handful of questions, when you start up again it should pull up near the top of your questions.
 
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abolt18 said:
I know I, and some others have previously mentioned, that if they really have no idea, they'll just skip the question instead of ranking it 1-5. This makes it pop back up soon because it's unanswered. So if you come to one and you want to see it again, skip it without ranking it, then exit after you do a handful of questions, when you start up again it should pull up near the top of your questions.
Click to expand...

is there a shortcut for skip like there is for the answer keys?
 
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Hemorrage said:
is there a shortcut for skip like there is for the answer keys?
Click to expand...
Bottom right, hit pause, then go to next. If you're on the computer you can use the keyboard shortcuts (I love this) which are "J" for back and "K" for next. Other shortcuts are "space" or "A" to show the answer. "Shift+A/B/C/D" for multiple choice selection. and of course just 1-5 to rank.
 
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What is everyone's threshold for "knowing a card". It really bothers me when a card asks me something with one simple answer, but the FC answer has a bunch of extra stuff. A simple example I just got was "What type of vision are rods useful for?", and I said in my mind something along the lines of "low light vision because they are high sensitivity/low acuity" but then the answer also talked about rhodopsin.

I feel like I'll never be able to remember what each card did or didn't want past what the question straight up asked for. Currently, my method is to say "Ok, if I knew the extra stuff but didn't know it wanted it then I knew the card."
 
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abolt18 said:
Bottom right, hit pause, then go to next. If you're on the computer you can use the keyboard shortcuts (I love this) which are "J" for back and "K" for next. Other shortcuts are "space" or "A" to show the answer. "Shift+A/B/C/D" for multiple choice selection. and of course just 1-5 to rank.
Click to expand...

Ah but you have to click pause..
 
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DrEnderW said:
I HIGHLY recommend switching to the app/Beta. I used the traditional version for 1 yr prior to switching. The benefits of the app are: you chose the number of questions per day, questions don't backlog if you skip tests or are studying for class exams, you can do quizzes of specific subjects, and you can do questions on the go. Sneaking in questions on the subway, waiting in line, or during lecture breaks translated to hundreds of questions more per week. I used primarily the app and most bugs have been fixed. Most of the complaints a ways back on this thread have been fixed.
Click to expand...

I tried the app for a couple days, after doing the website design for the past months but I'm still kind of skeptical. I flagged down a couple new topics when I started the app version, and I feel like I'm not seeing those new topics often enough (especially compared to the website version because the website version will continually show you stuff you've flagged until you get it) because there are always a couple details in each topic that I haven't been taught through lectures. Should I still continue with the beta version?
 
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smarts1 said:
I tried the app for a couple days, after doing the website design for the past months but I'm still kind of skeptical. I flagged down a couple new topics when I started the app version, and I feel like I'm not seeing those new topics often enough (especially compared to the website version because the website version will continually show you stuff you've flagged until you get it) because there are always a couple details in each topic that I haven't been taught through lectures. Should I still continue with the beta version?
Click to expand...

Sorry I can't give you a better answer, but I started using the Beta once I was already around 75% flagged. For that reason, it's hard for me to judge as everything was really spaced out by that time - I had been using FC daily for over a year. I don't know the exact tweaks that were made in the algorithm.
 
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DrEnderW said:
Sorry I can't give you a better answer, but I started using the Beta once I was already around 75% flagged. For that reason, it's hard for me to judge as everything was really spaced out by that time - I had been using FC daily for over a year. I don't know the exact tweaks that were made in the algorithm.
Click to expand...
Man are you just killing it on UWorld and practice tests right now? I'm 67% done and much of my success right now is attributable to using firecracker. If i had 100% I'm sure I'd be killing it because my weaknesses lie largely in the things I haven't yet flagged.
 
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DrEnderW said:
Sorry I can't give you a better answer, but I started using the Beta once I was already around 75% flagged. For that reason, it's hard for me to judge as everything was really spaced out by that time - I had been using FC daily for over a year. I don't know the exact tweaks that were made in the algorithm.
Click to expand...

Oh okay thanks though! I guess I'll be using the computer version then until I've flagged a good amount of FC.
 
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I have an account that expires January 4, 2016. I'm finding that I don't get around to doing FC often enough and would like to sell it. There's about 7.5 months left on the subscription at the time of this post, and I would be willing to sell if for $100. Msg me if interested.
 
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So I'm kinda a night owl and I like to do cards after midnight but my cards reset and add review cards after midnight (ex. I have 100 cards left to go through, it turns midnight, the next days review cards are added so now I have 250 cards). Is there anyway to change the settings to where the cards don't reset until later in the evening? Anki has this function and I can set the cards to reset at whatever time I would like.
 
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pathologyDO said:
So I'm kinda a night owl and I like to do cards after midnight but my cards reset and add review cards after midnight (ex. I have 100 cards left to go through, it turns midnight, the next days review cards are added so now I have 250 cards). Is there anyway to change the settings to where the cards don't reset until later in the evening? Anki has this function and I can set the cards to reset at whatever time I would like.
Click to expand...
Yes on beta, but not on the normal program that I know of.
 
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