USMLE FlashFacts

[argatroban16]

Just needed to vent a bit - hope this isn't inappropriate. I am reviewing endocrinology and came across a FlashFact card that asks "A very tall teenage boy is found to have GH excess. How does GH mediate growth? For what ..." and the very first sentence of the response starts with "GH increases IGF-1 and somatomedin C secretion, which ...". Do these people not know that IGF-1 and somatomedin C are the same thing? I mean, it says it right in the corresponding FA chapter.

This is not the first time I've come across an error like this and it just amazes me how they take information out of FirstAid (which tends to be correct) and then integrate errors into their flashcards. This is probably a minor example, there are a ton of other cases where you can clearly tell that the person who wrote the flashcard probably had no idea what the underlying concept was and I've come across some terribly wrong flashcards. Don't they peer-review these things at all!? It's a shame cause some chapters are really well done but it's just super annoying when they butcher other parts. What makes it worse is that their 'quality management team' is super slow when it comes to dealing with these issues....

Anyone else struggling with this?

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[pediadocto]

Of course they dont review. First imagine that First Aid is published yearly and used by thousands of medical students for their prep, and still there are so many mistakes that they publish in the first print. Even recruiting a class of M2 would be sufficient to point out all their mistakes, but no... they enjoy releasing stuffs that have so many flaws.