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.

 

[cwwm]

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.

I'm actually the same way and ended up changing the time zone in my account settings to something like Hawaiian time zone so that the next day's questions get added later

 

[pathologyDO]

Ok that works! Just changed the time zone too.

 

[DrEnderW]

Ok that works! Just changed the time zone too.

Yup, that's the way to do it. It definitely works, I've been doing it for a long time.

Glad this got posted, I'm sure it can help a ton of people out.

 

[EBaillie]

For anyone who's interested, we're holding a demonstration with Q&A on Firecracker next week May 27 at 1:00 p.m. EST. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5356899082457985026 David Guertin, our Customer Success Manager, and Trevor Rosenlof, our Editor-in-Chief will presenting. We'll cover things like:

Where does the Firecracker content come from?
Who are your editors?
How can I use the product if I only have ___ amount of time?
How do I use the product for Step 2?
General (not necessarily specific to Firecracker) tips for Step 1 or 2

And open to any other questions or concerns you may have.

Attendees get 30 days free - either as new users, or added onto their existing accounts.

 

[Blue Blood]

For anyone who's interested, we're holding a demonstration with Q&A on Firecracker next week May 27 at 1:00 p.m. EST. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5356899082457985026 David Guertin, our Customer Success Manager, and Trevor Rosenlof, our Editor-in-Chief will presenting. We'll cover things like:

Where does the Firecracker content come from?
Who are your editors?
How can I use the product if I only have ___ amount of time?
How do I use the product for Step 2?
General (not necessarily specific to Firecracker) tips for Step 1 or 2

And open to any other questions or concerns you may have.

Attendees get 30 days free - either as new users, or added onto their existing accounts.

Any upcoming discounts? I've played around with it for a few months on throw away accounts and would like to use it when I start in 2 months, but I'm not about to drop >$800 for 24 months..

 

[deecee90]

Hey guys in need of some advice regarding microbiology. I'm a rising second year with the intention of flagging all of microbiology before second year starts. Currently, I'm reading through Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple but this is painstaking task even though it has been really helpful. I was considering switching over to just using First Aid and then going in and flagging topics but did you guys find First Aid thorough enough with Micro to get a good working knowledge of Micro throughout second year or was it more of a refresher after having studied some other resource?

I'd like to add that I'm an avid user of Firecracker I have over 40% flagged currently but I'm aiming to have about ~60% flagged before M2 year starts (hopefully all of Basic Science and the stuff from Organ Systems that I covered throughout 1st year).

 

[DrEnderW]

Hey guys in need of some advice regarding microbiology. I'm a rising second year with the intention of flagging all of microbiology before second year starts. Currently, I'm reading through Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple but this is painstaking task even though it has been really helpful. I was considering switching over to just using First Aid and then going in and flagging topics but did you guys find First Aid thorough enough with Micro to get a good working knowledge of Micro throughout second year or was it more of a refresher after having studied some other resource?

I'd like to add that I'm an avid user of Firecracker I have over 40% flagged currently but I'm aiming to have about ~60% flagged before M2 year starts (hopefully all of Basic Science and the stuff from Organ Systems that I covered throughout 1st year).

I personally think you'll be fine with First Aid plus Firecracker. The organization and charts/diagrams FA has are extremely helpful and FC had the extra details FA doesn't have. You'll fill in some random ridiculous factoids with UWorld you've never heard of as well.

I think the micro and immuno section of FC is the most important thing to get done early (as you're planning to). Extremely helpful to have that in your long term memory come dedicated study period. Those are my highest two sections on UWorld and NBMEs and I've done 1x FA through micro and nothing for immuno outside of using FC for a year.

 

[deecee90]

I personally think you'll be fine with First Aid plus Firecracker. The organization and charts/diagrams FA has are extremely helpful and FC had the extra details FA doesn't have. You'll fill in some random ridiculous factoids with UWorld you've never heard of as well.

I think the micro and immuno section of FC is the most important thing to get done early (as you're planning to). Extremely helpful to have that in your long term memory come dedicated study period. Those are my highest two sections on UWorld and NBMEs and I've done 1x FA through micro and nothing for immuno outside of using FC for a year.

Thanks for the input especially coming from someone who is good in these two areas (Micro and Immuno). I'll take your advice and go for reading First Aid Micro and Immuno. Keep up the good work and all the best!

 

[house@henrygray]

hey guys iam sorry if iam the odd one out hanging around just came across this post and i want u firecrakers help
iam half through MS2(IMG)
when did u guys start using FC(heard of it during MS1) but never gave it a shot
would you advice to start FC at this point of time??
do you guys use any other resource beside FC+UW+FA(like kaplan ,pathoma)
how do u suggest me to use, waiting to hear from u guys😀

 

[Ophthoseidon]

hey guys iam sorry if iam the odd one out hanging around just came across this post and i want u firecrakers help
iam half through MS2(IMG)
when did u guys start using FC(heard of it during MS1) but never gave it a shot
would you advice to start FC at this point of time??
do you guys use any other resource beside FC+UW+FA(like kaplan ,pathoma)
how do u suggest me to use, waiting to hear from u guys😀

I started it early in M1. I think halfway through MS2 would be pretty difficult to get 100% mastery because you'd have to work on it literally hours and hours per day. When is your test date? I just finished M1 so I can't really tell you what to so for step, but I've used FA, Pathoma, Kaplan, Rx with classes and it's been pretty good. Other people will have better advice in that department.

 

[Focused1]

Does anyone understand :

corrected absolute reticulocyte count and reticulocyte production index (RPI) ?


How do we use em ?
The formulae are different from the ones in Goljan..

 

[abolt18]

Does anyone understand :

corrected absolute reticulocyte count and reticulocyte production index (RPI) ?


How do we use em ?
The formulae are different from the ones in Goljan..

I don't really get the utility of the RPI and corrected ABSOLUTE retic count, but Pathoma covers "corrected retic count" and it's been fine for me. I just ignored all that other stuff when they added it to firecracker because I haven't seen a use for it.

Corrected reticulocyte count can be used when they give you labs to help you figure out if the patient has, say, a hemolytic anemia (peripheral destruction/loss), or if they've got aplastic anemia (poor marrow response and underproduction) etc. It just tells you if your problem is production or loss. He used
Corrected reticulocyte count (RC) = RC * (hematocrit/45)
Normal response to blood loss, you'll see RC go up to >3%. Patient with corrected hct <3% isn't making enough blood (parvovirus b19, drug induced aplastic anemia, whatever).

Hope that helps. Not sure if that's what you're looking for.

 

[Focused1]

I don't really get the utility of the RPI and corrected ABSOLUTE retic count, but Pathoma covers "corrected retic count" and it's been fine for me. I just ignored all that other stuff when they added it to firecracker because I haven't seen a use for it.

Corrected reticulocyte count can be used when they give you labs to help you figure out if the patient has, say, a hemolytic anemia (peripheral destruction/loss), or if they've got aplastic anemia (poor marrow response and underproduction) etc. It just tells you if your problem is production or loss. He used
Corrected reticulocyte count (RC) = RC * (hematocrit/45)
Normal response to blood loss, you'll see RC go up to >3%. Patient with corrected hct <3% isn't making enough blood (parvovirus b19, drug induced aplastic anemia, whatever).

Hope that helps. Not sure if that's what you're looking for.

Yeah..thanks..

I get the corrected retic count also but not the corrected absolute retic count and the RPI..

 

[abolt18]

Yeah..thanks..

I get the corrected retic count also but not the corrected absolute retic count and the RPI..

Haha ok sorry, I figured I'd just blurt it out just in case. Maybe someone else knows why you'd need the absolute and RPI.

 

[EBaillie]

Hi everyone. I promise not to pop up too often. We are holding webinars on Wednesday afternoons at 1:00 p.m. EST with our Editor in Chief and Customer Success Manager. They will give demonstrations of Firecracker, and answer questions from users. I'm listing the webinars here: https://www.firecracker.me/firecracker-webinars/

 

[pathologyDO]

Does anyone have a list or maybe could take a screenshot of the highest yield micro topics to flag in FC? I'm wanting to spend a couple days going over bacteria, fungus, parasites, and viruses but if I flagged all topics the bacteria alone would take more than a day I'm sure

 

[abolt18]

Does anyone have a list or maybe could take a screenshot of the highest yield micro topics to flag in FC? I'm wanting to spend a couple days going over bacteria, fungus, parasites, and viruses but if I flagged all topics the bacteria alone would take more than a day I'm sure

Toxins summary is good and very HY I'd imagine. As well as in the "laboratory microbiology" section there are some very useful/important topics like "dna viruses" and "rna viruses." There are a handful in there that hit the really important stuff to help you master which viruses are enveloped vs naked, ss vs ds, circular vs linear. The growth media is a good one too. I've seen a lot of questions that depend entirely on your knowledge of the name and/or make-up of the media used to culture an organism.
As far as which bacteria/parasites/viruses?

HIV is a MUST. enteroviruses, hep B and C viruses, paramyxoviridae.
Staph, strep, pseudomonas, h. flu, e. coli, salmonella, shigella. Neisserias, chlamydia, treponema. I'd think those are guaranteed subjects on the test for just about everyone.
Candida, aspergillus, histoplasma, blastomyces, cryptococcus, coccidioides. Those to me seem to stand out the most for the fungi.
Not really sure on parasites which ones are the most high yield. I feel like I don't see that many questions for them anyway.

I'm sure others could contribute, but those are the ones I feel like I see the most.

 

[mechanic21511375]

Legendary Mode Vs. Normal Mode

Hey everyone.

I have been using firecracker for the past year on legendary mode. However, I have only managed to flag 415 topics out of the 1169 for step one. I am about to start second year and I am starting to get overwhelmed with the number of questions that I have to do for legendary mode.

Firecracker has been a tremendous help with medical school so far. I enjoy doing flashcards a lot more than reading first aid or listening to lectures or looking at my school's scribes notes. I end up falling asleep within 20 minutes of each lecture and I can tolerate first aid for only an hour.

My issue is this. I have tried doing firecracker this summer (between M1 and M2) and I find that I am starting to forget all the little details I covered in firecracker at the start of M1. This forces me to rank those questions a 1 or a 2. Then I end up having a huge number of questions backed up. I did firecracker on legendary mode because it helps with my classes and I am assuming it will help with step. During the school year, I was able to do 250-300 flashcards a day on legendary mode but now over the summer I have gotten really lazy and I manage to only do 150 flashcards a day.

Has anyone done firecracker on normal mode and found it to be helpful for step or does normal mode just not cover the material in the detail that is necessary for step?


I might consider opening another account on Firecracker. This way, I can keep all my topics flagged on normal mode from first year and then for my classes second year, i can do those on legedary mode while I am in that class and then when I am finished with that class switch over to my real account and continue in normal mode. This is because firecracker doesn't allow you to pick and choose which topics are done in legendary mode and which are done in normal mode.

OR

Should I stop whining and just try to chug through legendary mode?
I appreciate any help and advice that I can get.

 

[pathologyDO]

Toxins summary is good and very HY I'd imagine. As well as in the "laboratory microbiology" section there are some very useful/important topics like "dna viruses" and "rna viruses." There are a handful in there that hit the really important stuff to help you master which viruses are enveloped vs naked, ss vs ds, circular vs linear. The growth media is a good one too. I've seen a lot of questions that depend entirely on your knowledge of the name and/or make-up of the media used to culture an organism.
As far as which bacteria/parasites/viruses?

HIV is a MUST. enteroviruses, hep B and C viruses, paramyxoviridae.
Staph, strep, pseudomonas, h. flu, e. coli, salmonella, shigella. Neisserias, chlamydia, treponema. I'd think those are guaranteed subjects on the test for just about everyone.
Candida, aspergillus, histoplasma, blastomyces, cryptococcus, coccidioides. Those to me seem to stand out the most for the fungi.
Not really sure on parasites which ones are the most high yield. I feel like I don't see that many questions for them anyway.

I'm sure others could contribute, but those are the ones I feel like I see the most.

Bomb . com brother. Thank you, very much appreciated

(btw, nice "joined date" 👍👍)

 

[abolt18]

Legendary Mode Vs. Normal Mode

Hey everyone.

I have been using firecracker for the past year on legendary mode. However, I have only managed to flag 415 topics out of the 1169 for step one. I am about to start second year and I am starting to get overwhelmed with the number of questions that I have to do for legendary mode.

Firecracker has been a tremendous help with medical school so far. I enjoy doing flashcards a lot more than reading first aid or listening to lectures or looking at my school's scribes notes. I end up falling asleep within 20 minutes of each lecture and I can tolerate first aid for only an hour.

My issue is this. I have tried doing firecracker this summer (between M1 and M2) and I find that I am starting to forget all the little details I covered in firecracker at the start of M1. This forces me to rank those questions a 1 or a 2. Then I end up having a huge number of questions backed up. I did firecracker on legendary mode because it helps with my classes and I am assuming it will help with step. During the school year, I was able to do 250-300 flashcards a day on legendary mode but now over the summer I have gotten really lazy and I manage to only do 150 flashcards a day.

Has anyone done firecracker on normal mode and found it to be helpful for step or does normal mode just not cover the material in the detail that is necessary for step?


I might consider opening another account on Firecracker. This way, I can keep all my topics flagged on normal mode from first year and then for my classes second year, i can do those on legedary mode while I am in that class and then when I am finished with that class switch over to my real account and continue in normal mode. This is because firecracker doesn't allow you to pick and choose which topics are done in legendary mode and which are done in normal mode.

OR

Should I stop whining and just try to chug through legendary mode?
I appreciate any help and advice that I can get.

😉
In my opinion, it's worth keeping legendary mode. Personally I started 2nd year with 0 questions flagged and I'm now almost 77%, just over a week before step 1. I think You can definitely do it. The fact that you kept up with 150 q's a day in the summer is great. You'll thank yourself later.

 

[abolt18]

Bomb . com brother. Thank you, very much appreciated

(btw, nice "joined date" 👍👍)

Yup, hope it helps. Those are just the things that stood out to me most in the 5 minutes I sat there. Of course you could always do more and fill in any other knowledge gaps you find, but to me those were all a "must" based on the practice tests and UWorld. Oh yeah I was just thinking, I'd also add Herpesviridae (all 8) as a must to that list of viruses and TB to the list of bacteria.

Never noticed we joined the same date. We're blood brothers now.

 

[deleted480308]

I pretty much started end of 1st year actually using it regularly....I'm doing regular until I get caught up with my flagging and then I'll "up" to legendary

 

[deecee90]

Legendary Mode Vs. Normal Mode

Hey everyone.

I have been using firecracker for the past year on legendary mode. However, I have only managed to flag 415 topics out of the 1169 for step one. I am about to start second year and I am starting to get overwhelmed with the number of questions that I have to do for legendary mode.

Firecracker has been a tremendous help with medical school so far. I enjoy doing flashcards a lot more than reading first aid or listening to lectures or looking at my school's scribes notes. I end up falling asleep within 20 minutes of each lecture and I can tolerate first aid for only an hour.

My issue is this. I have tried doing firecracker this summer (between M1 and M2) and I find that I am starting to forget all the little details I covered in firecracker at the start of M1. This forces me to rank those questions a 1 or a 2. Then I end up having a huge number of questions backed up. I did firecracker on legendary mode because it helps with my classes and I am assuming it will help with step. During the school year, I was able to do 250-300 flashcards a day on legendary mode but now over the summer I have gotten really lazy and I manage to only do 150 flashcards a day.

Has anyone done firecracker on normal mode and found it to be helpful for step or does normal mode just not cover the material in the detail that is necessary for step?


I might consider opening another account on Firecracker. This way, I can keep all my topics flagged on normal mode from first year and then for my classes second year, i can do those on legedary mode while I am in that class and then when I am finished with that class switch over to my real account and continue in normal mode. This is because firecracker doesn't allow you to pick and choose which topics are done in legendary mode and which are done in normal mode.

OR

Should I stop whining and just try to chug through legendary mode?
I appreciate any help and advice that I can get.

I very much feel your pain. We are pretty much almost identical in terms of topics flagged and are both between year 1 and year 2. It's a pain but I think we should just keep pushing through it. I adapted the mindset of not caring how many questions are stacked up but just to spend 2 or 3 hours max a day or every other day doing as much as possible hoping to make review easier down the road even though it stings when I forget stuff I mastered throughout the year. When school starts back up I'll probably use that 'more options' button to make my questions relevant to the upcoming test and do the remainder of the questions once I complete that if I haven't already spent more than 3 hours doing questions.

 

[Focused1]

Firecracker USMLE Step 1 Diagnostic Exam

Anyone else got that email ? Just got it 30 mins ago.

Any thoughts on this ?

Also any thoughts on FC QBank in general...had used it a long time ago and i found it utter ****..

 

[chaingangdx]

Firecracker USMLE Step 1 Diagnostic Exam

Anyone else got that email ? Just got it 30 mins ago.

Any thoughts on this ?

Also any thoughts on FC QBank in general...had used it a long time ago and i found it utter ****..

yea i got that email too

I'm 8 days away from my exam however so i'm debating if i should spend time on it

 

[Focused1]

yea i got that email too

I'm 8 days away from my exam however so i'm debating if i should spend time on it

I plan on giving it soon..
if nothing else atleast 200 or so questions of more prep..

 

[EmpathMan]

Hey all! Just finished M1. Have you all been using FA alongside FC the whole time? Do you plan on still reading through FA like everyone else?

 

[smile8888]

Just finished MS1, and I am thinking about starting to use FC starting now. I've been using it intermittently over the first year, but find very little time for it. What is the best efficient way to start using FA now and throughout second year? Is it recommended to flag all topics that I've already learned and just do them randomly? Or is it better to do them section by section?

Also, is it even possible to run through all of the flashcards? If I flag everything I've already learned, there must've been thousands and thousands of flashcards already. How is it possible to even run thru all the cards multiple times (for the repetition?!)??

 

[Ryuzaki]

I'm not entirely impressed with the application, however it does have it's good aspects though. I would definitely state that using this application for microbiology and nothing else is the best way to use it. It provides detailed and albeit over the top information which while you are studying would make you think you've never seen this before. However, it's perfect for that weird micro crap they ask you, personally, I thought using it for solely micro proved to be a benefit because First Aid doesn't cover everything and there is that bit extra that you want. I found it useful for that, I didn't bother with anything else though.

 

[abolt18]

I'm not entirely impressed with the application, however it does have it's good aspects though. I would definitely state that using this application for microbiology and nothing else is the best way to use it. It provides detailed and albeit over the top information which while you are studying would make you think you've never seen this before. However, it's perfect for that weird micro crap they ask you, personally, I thought using it for solely micro proved to be a benefit because First Aid doesn't cover everything and there is that bit extra that you want. I found it useful for that, I didn't bother with anything else though.

If you only used it for micro, how would you know it's useless for everything else? 😉

 

[Ryuzaki]

If you only used it for micro, how would you know it's useless for everything else? 😉

For everything else, I'd rather give HYN, Goljan, BRS Anat/Physio and UFAP another once over as opposed to adding this to the mix.
That's just me, I didn't use it for anything else and the micro textbook was far too much detail, I needed a bit more not a whole textbook more.
Firecracker is more of a memory aid, I used for stuff that I needed burn into my brain which I needed to do immediately before my exam.
I spent about 2 weeks on it for micro with a FA supplement and it was one of my stronger sections on the exam.

 

[touchpause13]

So what's the general consensus about this? I'm thinking about getting it but idk yet

 

[Ryuzaki]

What resources are you currently using?

 

[Bancrofti]

How is the beta mode working out for people now? I just took a look at it for the first time and it looks cool. I know I had read a lot about it glitching and people having other issues with it when it first rolled out so I'm wondering if those issues have largely been resolved?

 

[abolt18]

How is the beta mode working out for people now? I just took a look at it for the first time and it looks cool. I know I had read a lot about it glitching and people having other issues with it when it first rolled out so I'm wondering if those issues have largely been resolved?

👍

 

[Elevencents]

I was largely against the new app for months. Now it's all I use.

 

[ATypicalLymphocyte]

Do any of you have trouble with the Beta version on Firefox?

 

[Ophthoseidon]

Does anyone know the mechanism for secondary amyloidosis as a complication of bronchiectasis? I continue to get this card wrong every time mostly because I don't know why.

 

[Focused1]

Does anyone know the mechanism for secondary amyloidosis as a complication of bronchiectasis? I continue to get this card wrong every time mostly because I don't know why.

Maybe just chronic infection inflammation so secondary amyloidosis AA variant

 

[freshbagels]

I've just finished M1 and am switching to the beta algorithm and expanded question set - I'm doing the mostly on my computer, occasionally on my phone, and the syncing between those two devices is fine. However, if I switch back to the traditional view it hasn't logged the number of questions I've done. I guess if I stick with the beta it won't be a problem, but I don't want to come back to the traditional format for some reason and end up 3000 flashcards behind.

 

[Ophthoseidon]

I've just finished M1 and am switching to the beta algorithm and expanded question set - I'm doing the mostly on my computer, occasionally on my phone, and the syncing between those two devices is fine. However, if I switch back to the traditional view it hasn't logged the number of questions I've done. I guess if I stick with the beta it won't be a problem, but I don't want to come back to the traditional format for some reason and end up 3000 flashcards behind.

The question counter under statistics should work. However, if you're talking about the amount of questions in the top left corner, it's variable. Because it is a new algorithm, the questions you do in the beta aren't necessarily the questions you would have done for your daily review in the original version. So for example, if you have 179 questions due today and do 179 on the beta version, maybe only 30 of those questions would have been in the scheduled review on the original version, so it will say you are 149 behind, even though you did 179. The beta tries to give you the most important ones. The cards on the calendar system aren't necessarily most important, just what is scheduled that day. If you switch back you will have a ton of cards that need review but that's inevitable seeing as the are two different system. Moral of the story, try not to switch back and forth.

 

[Coldplayfan123]

Can someone explain "Beta" version to me? I get that it's the same one used on the mobile (iPhone at least) version, but what makes it better/worse than the regular version?

Is there any use to using it on the computer?

 

[Ryuzaki]

Can someone explain "Beta" version to me? I get that it's the same one used on the mobile (iPhone at least) version, but what makes it better/worse than the regular version?

Is there any use to using it on the computer?

Not really, in my dedicated time about 6 weeks out, all I did use FC for was on my phone as a wake up and going to sleep thing if questions. I hardly used it on th computer in that time

 

[nabilesmail]

Hey guys , just a couple of questions. I often get 200-400 cards a day and I'm at 20% banked at 65% Mastery. Is this normal? Note, I was only about 14% banked at the end of second semester, and I was very off and on with firecracker. When I started again 3 weeks ago I was at about 25% Mastery and only recently (within the last week) raised my mastery from 30ish% to 65%. Do I have tons of questions at a low % bankage due to the relatively recent "choosing" of 4's?

I also wanted to make a list in the order of how I should prioritize banking 1st year material. Can anyone help me out? Right now I have Physiology, Biochemistry ( not Molecular Bio stuff though), and most of Neurophysiology and Immunology banked. I plan on finishing up Neurophysio and Immuno and then starting the following. How do you guys recommend going through the following subjects (if I ideally would like to flag all of M1 by end of summer)

1. Anatomy- Basic Science Section
2. Embryo (I know these two are very low yield and I'm assuming these will be last aside from things like Brachial Plexus)
3. Anatomy per each Organ System Section (Probably more important?)
4. Genetics
5. Cell/Molecular Biology
6. Responses To Injury/Molecular Cell Injury
7. Skin - the 4 topics
8. Hematopoeisis
9. Neuropathology (the ones I've covered in class which is about 2/3)

Thanks!

 

[you.old]

Has Firecracker added any cards on the topic "Quality Improvement and Patient Safety" that has been recently included in the USMLE syllabus? Are there any resources which I can quickly go through? I've my exam in a few weeks.

 

[Focused1]

Has Firecracker added any cards on the topic "Quality Improvement and Patient Safety" that has been recently included in the USMLE syllabus? Are there any resources which I can quickly go through? I've my exam in a few weeks.

I hope they add this soon.. but they havent yet

 

[13132]

What is the consensus here on legacy vs. adaptive?

This summer I am doing legacy, but it is getting overwhelming. I do like 250 cards a day because the reviews alone can be 200+. I may switch to adaptive once school starts, but I was wondering how good the algorithm is. Does it really give you the stuff you need to see the most? Legacy certainly has its drawbacks... I dont need to see the gimmes as often as I do. I noticed that the app just added legacy with the most recent update, so prior to this I only used the desktop because I didn't want to do the adaptive version of the app. I also like being able to do cards by review vs. new categories.

PS: For all you people considering using FC that don't have a systems based curriculum. It is a lot more difficult. My school does the "normal" in the first year and the "abnormal" in the second year, and it is really difficult to completely separate the two in FC. Even if you don't flag the pathology or pharm you are inevitably going to get questions about that stuff. The good news is that I am learning a lot...its just more time consuming.

 

[DrEnderW]

Hey guys , just a couple of questions. I often get 200-400 cards a day and I'm at 20% banked at 65% Mastery. Is this normal? Note, I was only about 14% banked at the end of second semester, and I was very off and on with firecracker. When I started again 3 weeks ago I was at about 25% Mastery and only recently (within the last week) raised my mastery from 30ish% to 65%. Do I have tons of questions at a low % bankage due to the relatively recent "choosing" of 4's?

I also wanted to make a list in the order of how I should prioritize banking 1st year material. Can anyone help me out? Right now I have Physiology, Biochemistry ( not Molecular Bio stuff though), and most of Neurophysiology and Immunology banked. I plan on finishing up Neurophysio and Immuno and then starting the following. How do you guys recommend going through the following subjects (if I ideally would like to flag all of M1 by end of summer)

1. Anatomy- Basic Science Section
2. Embryo (I know these two are very low yield and I'm assuming these will be last aside from things like Brachial Plexus)
3. Anatomy per each Organ System Section (Probably more important?)
4. Genetics
5. Cell/Molecular Biology
6. Responses To Injury/Molecular Cell Injury
7. Skin - the 4 topics
8. Hematopoeisis
9. Neuropathology (the ones I've covered in class which is about 2/3)

Thanks!

It's not normal because you should be using the Beta and setting your daily question goal to something that is workable with your current schedule. The old website isn't going to be around forever and you should really take advantage of the benefits of the Beta (which won't be "beta" forever).

Your mastery is fine - don't focus on that! Everyone rates cards different. For example, I did essentially no 1s and very few 5s.

The most important M1 stuff, in my opinion, is biochem, micro, immuno, and physio if you've had all those. I'd do biochem and micro first as they are memorization heavy. There's a great blog post about the highest yield anatomy subjects for Step 1. I think I had 1 embryo question on my 308 question exam that I can recall. I never saw an embryo question in any NBME or UWSA that had anything but extremely basic embryo from the beginning of FA chapters. It's the lowest yield to put off if you don't have time.

It's recommended to go section by section and not mass flag. Read the content, take the quiz, and proceed. Skip try reading maybe if it's fresh. Personally I did that for anatomy.

 

[nabilesmail]

It's not normal because you should be using the Beta and setting your daily question goal to something that is workable with your current schedule. The old website isn't going to be around forever and you should really take advantage of the benefits of the Beta (which won't be "beta" forever).

Your mastery is fine - don't focus on that! Everyone rates cards different. For example, I did essentially no 1s and very few 5s.

The most important M1 stuff, in my opinion, is biochem, micro, immuno, and physio if you've had all those. I'd do biochem and micro first as they are memorization heavy. There's a great blog post about the highest yield anatomy subjects for Step 1. I think I had 1 embryo question on my 308 question exam that I can recall. I never saw an embryo question in any NBME or UWSA that had anything but extremely basic embryo from the beginning of FA chapters. It's the lowest yield to put off if you don't have time.

It's recommended to go section by section and not mass flag. Read the content, take the quiz, and proceed. Skip try reading maybe if it's fresh. Personally I did that for anatomy.

Thanks! I havent taken Micro yet so I'll flag that along classes next year. I only started upping the mastery because I was super anal and would rate things a 3 if I didnt regurgitate every single detail in a highlighted section (even if I knew it and forgot to say it because the question was poor).

Oh, I didn't even notice the Beta - Do you really suggest switching over? How will this affect my current set algorithms? Thanks!!

 

[DrEnderW]

Thanks! I havent taken Micro yet so I'll flag that along classes next year. I only started upping the mastery because I was super anal and would rate things a 3 if I didnt regurgitate every single detail in a highlighted section (even if I knew it and forgot to say it because the question was poor).

Oh, I didn't even notice the Beta - Do you really suggest switching over? How will this affect my current set algorithms? Thanks!!

The algorithm is slightly different - I don't know the exact technical details of how it differs. You're so early on without too much flagged I do think making the switch is worth it. The ability to take days off without questions backing up and ability to change your daily goal is invaluable. There is more content and more questions on the Beta as well. Additionally, it works best on the go with a mobile device/tablet and can be used offline. The product moving forward will be optimized for the Beta setup.

I know what you mean about every detail. If you feel like you know the concept and are getting most of the details and feel confident you'd get that last on a multiple choice exam when prompted, I'd give it a 4.