Using both Firecracker and Anki

[madmuttal]

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Hello!

Has anyone used both Firecraker and Anki together during first two years of medical school? Using FC for high yield board materials and Anki for materials that are emphasized in school ? Is it possible to do it? If yes, any tips on how to make it work?

Thx!!

 

[Cytarabine]

Way too much time commitment. Firecracker is too much by itself imo, at least when I last used it

 

[Ophthoseidon]

There is definitely enough time to do it. Just depends if you want to be using flashcards the majority of the time. Firecracker should be 2-2.5 hours/day. The rest of the time you can do whatever you want. Not sure how long it takes you to make anki cards but that's where the sink is going to be.

 

[TheLionheart]

Overkill. There's good free Anki decks out there (like Brosencephalon) that have been premade and vetted by the community that'll help you memorize First Aid and Pathoma. I've been doing the corresponding decks as a first year concurrently with my organ blocks and it's been working wonders so far.

For me, making cards is too much of a time sink. This way I can study lectures + learn (and retain) high yield material from high yield sources for free, instead of whatever outrageous price tag Firecracker currently is at.

 

[CyberMaxx]

Firecracker and Bros deck are both good resources, so you definitely don't have to pay for Firecracker if you don't want to. That said, its what I'm using for boards along with anki for classes. Doing both is doable, much easier though if you keep up with Firecracker during first year (and catch up/get ahead during the summer). Like I do 2-4 hrs of Firecracker a day + 4 hours of lecture + 4-6 hrs of anki. If you are a first year though you would do a lot less firecracker though, simply because you would have flagged less content.

Also, if you can get anki cards for your coursework from upper classman that will save you considerable effort.

 

[basophilic]

Aside from the cost, what're the essential differences between the Anki Brosencephalon deck and Firecracker?

 

[clementane]

You can't edit or add cards in Firecracker, so there is much less freedom in FC. Bro's deck might have some errors, but mostly pretty good. I think the key is that you don't just memorize, but be actively looking up stuff if you don't know why the things are the way it is as you memorize.

I prefer Bro's deck over FC for the freedom it gives and I like Anki in general.

 

[mcloaf]

You can't edit or add cards in Firecracker, so there is much less freedom in FC.

I see this written all the time and it is false, at least for legacy mode. You can add your own questions to existing topic cards or make your own new cards in FC. I added a significant amount of material from qbanks and other resources to FC. The implementation is much less flexible and robust than Anki, but it's absolutely there.

 

[The Kraken]

Anki for lecture material because lecture is priority #1, firecracker when you are done with class (if you want to).

 

[basophilic]

I see this written all the time and it is false, at least for legacy mode. You can add your own questions to existing topic cards or make your own new cards in FC. I added a significant amount of material from qbanks and other resources to FC. The implementation is much less flexible and robust than Anki, but it's absolutely there.

Is Firecracker divided by subject so I can follow it as I go along with my blocks? And is Firecracker good to use during M1 blocks?

 

[DrEnderW]

Is Firecracker divided by subject so I can follow it as I go along with my blocks? And is Firecracker good to use during M1 blocks?

Yes you can.

The new Firecracker MD offers a huge increase in customization.

Anyone that has questions about FC, feel free to PM me.

 

[Merely]

Once you get into medical school, you'll realize you wont have nearly the time you had to study and use so many outside resources. Most people do fine by sticking with just class notes and a few outside sources. Don't burden yourself unless you see you are able to manage the load well

 

[sliceofbread136]

Sounds like a huge waste of time. If you really want to get a head start for step then read along with your classes in FA and pathoma+do some usmleRx questions (save uworld for dedicated). Focus on your grades first though, it will translate to more base knowledge come step day.

 

[basophilic]

Once you get into medical school, you'll realize you wont have nearly the time you had to study and use so many outside resources. Most people do fine by sticking with just class notes and a few outside sources. Don't burden yourself unless you see you are able to manage the load well

From your experience, what approximate proportions of study time should be devoted to coursework studying vs. Step 1 studying?

 

[Shjanzey]

FC has probably changed since I last used it, but I hated the algorithm. Seeing something once a day wasn't enough for me to retain it. When I switched to Anki I noticed a huge improvment in retention...and it is free. Did I mention Anki is free?

 

[moisne]

The only time I use flash cards are for hard cold facts.

ie. IL1,2,3,... and their function, pharm, etc.

 

[chronicidal]

The only time I use flash cards are for hard cold facts.

ie. IL1,2,3,... and their function, pharm, etc.

Can you give an example of a soft warm fact that is important?

 

[Merely]

From your experience, what approximate proportions of study time should be devoted to coursework studying vs. Step 1 studying?

First test start out mainly with class notes and see how you score. If you're a top scorer and feel like you have additional time then invest in FC and take it from there. However, many people won't be in that boat and they will have to spend all their time studying for school to get a decent score so feel it out and adjust as appropriate.

 

[*brobro*]

The most important thing you can do to prepare for boards is to do very well in class. Ignore those people who say things like, "I'm ignoring all this stupid minutiae and focusing on boards..." (you know, the people who walk around with a copy of first aid in their first semester). If you are an MS1, then don't start trying to study for boards this early unless you are doing very well in class. Once MS2 starts, you should begin slowly running your board study in the background. I think the free anki decks floating around are just fine (I used the old slyfaux deck, based on FA 2012, and I got a 259 on step 1) and I've heard the bros one is great also. There is no reason to use both anki and firecracker. I would recommend using pathoma immediately along side all your path lectures. The most important thing is not to be one of those people that gets all hyped up about studying and then burns out in a month or two because you took on too many resources. This is a tortoises race. Just start slowly incorporating board study at the beginning of MS2...but never stop. Anki and Qbanks is all you really need.

...as much as I'm a huge anki fan, I now use firecracker for MS3. It's sufficient to score well on the shelf exams and answer nearly every reasonable pimp question.

 

[moisne]

Can you give an example of a soft warm fact that is important?

Yeah.
Psych. 😛

 

[KarmaIsTruth]

Terrible strategy.

Firecracker takes too much time. Avoid.

 

[jqueb29]

Shouldn't need either one. Get good.

 

[madcowz]

I used both on occasion, just not in the fashion you're describing. I liked the FC cards but hated the questions. Just my opinion, but I always felt like the questions were poorly designed for spaced repetition. Too heavily reliant on questions with multiple components. So I made my own questions in anki based on the FC cards. I ended up ditching it about halfway into rotations because the clerkship cards are far inferior to other cheaper resources (especially the free online med ed videos).