Firecracker

[JackShephard MD]

med.firecracker.me

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

Cheers.

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[Psammoma-body]

Question for fellow FC users: how much/how often do you rate topics as Past? I'm asking because it seems like most of the cards I rate as Past I end up not seeing for several months, and then I've forgotten the card by then. For those of you that already finished Step 1 how did you deal with this? Did you just go back and review through all your Past topics closer to the test date? Thanks!

I am a curent M2
I have never rated something as past, all current. Current school material=urgent.I also give 3 most of the time even if I know the card well. I occasionally give 4 when it is something that is really obvious, and I feel I would never forget
Just wanted to share what I am doing

 

[uvrsol]

so it looks like firecraker doesn't work...anyone having issues?

 

[Brorthopedic]

Has anyone that has taken the practice step 1 exam (4 blocks, 44Q) know if it's worth doing?

 

[blah12346497]

I'm a current M1 in the middle of 2nd semester. Is it too late to start FC? And how much of a commitment (in hours extra on top of coursework) is this per day? Last question, I promise. Has anyone tried both broencephalon + FC and can comment on pros/cons?

 

[intubesteak]

I'm a current M1 in the middle of 2nd semester. Is it too late to start FC? And how much of a commitment (in hours extra on top of coursework) is this per day? Last question, I promise. Has anyone tried both broencephalon + FC and can comment on pros/cons?

I would also like to hear some current FC user experiences who are in dedicated or took step1. Ive been using FC since beginning m1 but probably have not fully utilized the spaced repetition aspect. I feel like I have just enough time to do current cards, and the 30 or so review cards don't seem like enough to actually stay current. I'm planning on catching up this summer and increasing my daily cards next year to be reviewing the old stuff more. FWIW, I have found it very helpful studying for my exams in that it fills in gaps and sometimes explains things better than my lectures. It also helps keep me on top of reviewing and memorizing as I go instead of waiting till the week before the test to memorize everything.

 

[FlatIsJustice]

Hey all! I'm trying to finish all of Firecracker basic sciences section before the beginning of M2. It does look like flagging everything isn't the best idea though. Anatomy especially seems really low yield.

What topics should I flag and what topics can I just never flag and learn the few necessary facts from FA/UWorld next year? I'm thinking I can skip all of Anatomy and Embryology? What about Behavioral Science? Is all of Biochem high yield?

 

[Anti-PD1]

Is FC any good for Step 2? I flagged (but didn't master) everything for Step 1, and just took it a few days ago.

 

[intubesteak]

Is FC any good for Step 2? I flagged (but didn't master) everything for Step 1, and just took it a few days ago.

How was the step1 experience for you with regards to using fc? Any specific advice you would give to an m1 in light of your experience?

Sorry, obviously not answering your question...

 

[Anti-PD1]

How was the step1 experience for you with regards to using fc? Any specific advice you would give to an m1 in light of your experience?

Sorry, obviously not answering your question...

My UWorld average, 1st pass, random, timed was 84%. I owe it mostly to FC. We'll have to see the score.

My take on FC, if you know you don't have photographic memory, aren't a natural genius, and must get a 250+, then FC is worth it. It takes a lot of effort.

 

[bobjonesbob]

My UWorld average, 1st pass, random, timed was 84%. I owe it mostly to FC. We'll have to see the score.

My take on FC, if you know you don't have photographic memory, aren't a natural genius, and must get a 250+, then FC is worth it. It takes a lot of effort.

How many cards did you average per day? It seems like most of the users on here who had success with FC used it before the program started limiting the number of daily cards. I find I can't remember old stuff very well if I only do the 100-120 that it recommends.

 

[Anti-PD1]

How many cards did you average per day? It seems like most of the users on here who had success with FC used it before the program started limiting the number of daily cards. I find I can't remember old stuff very well if I only do the 100-120 that it recommends.

Some days it was 600 per day. I never used the beta version. I had to scale it down when dedicated came around.

 

[uvrsol]

Hey all! I'm trying to finish all of Firecracker basic sciences section before the beginning of M2. It does look like flagging everything isn't the best idea though. Anatomy especially seems really low yield.

What topics should I flag and what topics can I just never flag and learn the few necessary facts from FA/UWorld next year? I'm thinking I can skip all of Anatomy and Embryology? What about Behavioral Science? Is all of Biochem high yield?

What I would do is flag whatever ur learning in class and if u have free time, flag older topics including anatomy. Even though it may seem low yield, it's still worth it ( one of the posters was saying how if he/she flagged everything, he would have gotten more points cuz the results showed him the weaker subjects were from unflagged topics)...What percent are you flagged? When did you start?

 

[uvrsol]

My UWorld average, 1st pass, random, timed was 84%. I owe it mostly to FC. We'll have to see the score.

My take on FC, if you know you don't have photographic memory, aren't a natural genius, and must get a 250+, then FC is worth it. It takes a lot of effort.

When did you start FC? Was percent did u flag by end of m1? Do you recommend to get ahead with FC during summer?

 

[fcuser1]

When did you start FC? Was percent did u flag by end of m1? Do you recommend to get ahead with FC during summer?

Yes. Live, breath, fc = step > 260

 

[Anti-PD1]

When did you start FC? Was percent did u flag by end of m1? Do you recommend to get ahead with FC during summer?

I wouldn't do FC in the summer before med school. You'll just be learning things at face value. Flag topics as you learn them in class. There were plenty of times where only a professor in front of you could explain a concept well, and that helped it stick.

I started at the end of MS1. Then again I took Step 1 after MS3. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't, but if I had to, I'd flag from day one and stick to it. By the time dedicated study time comes around, you'll be 75% prepped. The rest will be honing your test taking skills and becoming familiar with the language of questions.

 

[uvrsol]

I wouldn't do FC in the summer before med school. You'll just be learning things at face value. Flag topics as you learn them in class. There were plenty of times where only a professor in front of you could explain a concept well, and that helped it stick.

I started at the end of MS1. Then again I took Step 1 after MS3. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't, but if I had to, I'd flag from day one and stick to it. By the time dedicated study time comes around, you'll be 75% prepped. The rest will be honing your test taking skills and becoming familiar with the language of questions.

no i meant summer b/ MS1 and MS2. I'm MS 1. I'm now 41% flagged. Hoping to flag 50% before the end of semester. Trying to figure out if I should flag ahead the second year material in summer or not. Watching pathoma and flagging topics in FC? I want to finish flagging by end of 3rd semester and just review old cards for the 4th semester leading up to the dedicated. is that a good idea?

Thanks!

 

[Anti-PD1]

no i meant summer b/ MS1 and MS2. I'm MS 1. I'm now 41% flagged. Hoping to flag 50% before the end of semester. Trying to figure out if I should flag ahead the second year material in summer or not. Watching pathoma and flagging topics in FC? I want to finish flagging by end of 3rd semester and just review old cards for the 4th semester leading up to the dedicated. is that a good idea?

Thanks!

In that case, yes it might be helpful. Maybe try flagging only path for now, since you have a teacher (Pathoma). The thing with FC is you need enough time to not only flag everything, but also to then master it. So giving yourself a head start is a good idea.

I know there might be some topics that are considered low yield, but I flagged everything. Got an anatomy question on the real deal that I wouldn't have known otherwise.

 

[FlatIsJustice]

What I would do is flag whatever ur learning in class and if u have free time, flag older topics including anatomy. Even though it may seem low yield, it's still worth it ( one of the posters was saying how if he/she flagged everything, he would have gotten more points cuz the results showed him the weaker subjects were from unflagged topics)...What percent are you flagged? When did you start?

I just started 2 weeks ago and I'm at 5% flagged. My goal is to flag all of Microbiology and Immunology by the end of this semester and then do all of Pharm and Pathology and Behavioral Science over the summer. This leaves Embryology and Anatomy (questionably low yield?), and Biochemistry (a really big section to tackle - not sure I'll have time).

My school's curriculum sucks. We had a shoddy 2 month pharmacology class that covered only a few drugs and didn't go into much depth at all and that was our only pass at it. I thought we'd get a more comprehensive look 2nd year, but people from upper years told me we won't. The same is true for biochemistry. We are just left on our own for those two subjects.

 

[IM/EM/CCM]

Guys, I bought Firecracker subscription. I have a question. It shows only 8975 review scores and 621 topics. But while subscribing it showed 33,622 recall questions with 2162 topics for step1. I am confused now! (This question may sound dumb but I am new to FC and I am an IMG.) Please help! Thanks!

 

[IM/EM/CCM]

Guys. I am using FC. Please can anyone confirm the number of questions and topics in high yield step 1 alone? I don't want to miss out questions and topics please.
Thank you.
Good Luck!

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Incoming MS1 here and it's been suggested to me to use firecracker. After looking into it myself I've decided I want to give it a go to give myself the best chance a a good board score down the road. For all of you who have done it do you recommend just starting it from the beginning of first year? Or should I just really focus on classes the first part of first year and then introduce firecracker the second part of first year? Any advice would also like to give would be greatly appreciated!

 

[intubesteak]

Guys. I am using FC. Please can anyone confirm the number of questions and topics in high yield step 1 alone? I don't want to miss out questions and topics please.
Thank you.
Good Luck!

High yield is gonna have less questions. Turn off high yield and you will have all the topics and questions.

 

[intubesteak]

Incoming MS1 here and it's been suggested to me to use firecracker. After looking into it myself I've decided I want to give it a go to give myself the best chance a a good board score down the road. For all of you who have done it do you recommend just starting it from the beginning of first year? Or should I just really focus on classes the first part of first year and then introduce firecracker the second part of first year? Any advice would also like to give would be greatly appreciated!

I started at the beginning and would not have done it differently. The best way to use it is follow along with your classes and use it to help memorize details from class. If you wait too long to start it, it can be tough to catch up on all the stuff from first year.

 

[IM/EM/CCM]

High yield is gonna have less questions. Turn off high yield and you will have all the topics and questions.

Thank you so much. It works now. Feeling dumb!!

 

[Psammoma-body]

Incoming MS1 here and it's been suggested to me to use firecracker. After looking into it myself I've decided I want to give it a go to give myself the best chance a a good board score down the road. For all of you who have done it do you recommend just starting it from the beginning of first year? Or should I just really focus on classes the first part of first year and then introduce firecracker the second part of first year? Any advice would also like to give would be greatly appreciated!

Start from day 1 if you are going to use it. You should do at least 200 card everyday, and you should read the topic before marking it.Here is how I think how it should be used, just my opinion. When you see the card for the firs time, you give it a 1 regardless, then next time give it a 2. The third time you see that card snooze it, and then give it a 3. Give low-yield cards a 4 or a 5, so you focus on what is high-yield. Never mark anything as urgent, and from time to time change what you feel you are weak at from past to current when doing your daily review cards. Using Firecracker without doing these steps, imo, is not that effective. I wish I had started from day 1

 

[intubesteak]

Start from day 1 if you are going to use it. You should do at least 200 card everyday, and you should read the topic before marking it.Here is how I think how it should be used, just my opinion. When you see the card for the firs time, you give it a 1 regardless, then next time give it a 2. The third time you see that card snooze it, and then give it a 3. Give low-yield cards a 4 or a 5, so you focus on what is high-yield. Never mark anything as urgent, and from time to time change what you feel you are weak at from past to current when doing your daily review cards. Using Firecracker without doing these steps, imo, is not that effective. I wish I had started from day 1

100% agree on the reading it before marking it. Personally I like to have my current block as urgent and all past material as current. This gives me 150 of the current block and 150 of the old block. There are so many ways to play around and adjust the settings to work for you.

 

[Psammoma-body]

100% agree on the reading it before marking it. Personally I like to have my current block as urgent and all past material as current. This gives me 150 of the current block and 150 of the old block. There are so many ways to play around and adjust the settings to work for you.

I am just saying that marking topics as urgent should not be done because it will crowd out past and current cards. Having said that if you are doing 300 cards, that is a different story. I think your approach is great as well. You are right. You can adjust it as appropriate

 

[Blunt Dissection]

I don't know if anyone else has done this, but about 2 weeks ago, I started doing Bro's Anki Deck + USMLE-Rx FlashFacts to supplement Firecracker. Personally it's made a huge difference in how well I do on my FC cards. I run through about 400 Bro cards in about 1-1.5 hours and then hit up 140 FC cards. I consider it a success if I can mark somewhere between 40-50% of the cards on FC as 3-5 and achieving this has been more frequent after supplementing with Bro cards.

 

[uvrsol]

In that case, yes it might be helpful. Maybe try flagging only path for now, since you have a teacher (Pathoma). The thing with FC is you need enough time to not only flag everything, but also to then master it. So giving yourself a head start is a good idea.

I know there might be some topics that are considered low yield, but I flagged everything. Got an anatomy question on the real deal that I wouldn't have known otherwise.

I'm watching pathoma and flagging those cards. Should I put those cards as current or past? cuz since its summer, i wanna see a lot of cards from first year to review over summer that i haven't seen in a while and i don't want to want to see too many cards from path atleast over summer in the daily review. what do you think? thx!

 

[Anti-PD1]

I'm watching pathoma and flagging those cards. Should I put those cards as current or past? cuz since its summer, i wanna see a lot of cards from first year to review over summer that i haven't seen in a while and i don't want to want to see too many cards from path atleast over summer in the daily review. what do you think? thx!

Just go with what Firecracker does. I didn't flag and unflag. Rule of thumb, never unflag. Keep doing your cards, the algorithm makes it all work out in the end.

 

[Pikachu01]

Question for Firecracker users: I go to a medical school outside US and will be starting the first year soon. I really want to use firecracker but am unsure whether it will suit my curriculum. So my school is structured in a way that in the first year, we study each organ system separately which takes about 4-6 weeks per system. During those 4-6 weeks we study anatomy, embryology, histology, physiology, pathology, clinical correlation and pharmacology of that system. If i were to use firecracker along with class lectures, for practice questions, would it suit the purpose? Furthermore are the contents on firecracker arranged in the way that i can select only the specific ones that i am studying in the class? What about the scheduling, would firecracker be able to arrange review session leading up to my exam, taking into account the way my curriculum is structured?

Thank you in advance for any replies

 

[waytogo1]

I'm a current M1 in the middle of 2nd semester. Is it too late to start FC? And how much of a commitment (in hours extra on top of coursework) is this per day? Last question, I promise. Has anyone tried both broencephalon + FC and can comment on pros/cons?

I would also like to ask the same question-- has anyone tried using both bro's deck and FC?

 

[uvrsol]

Just go with what Firecracker does. I didn't flag and unflag. Rule of thumb, never unflag. Keep doing your cards, the algorithm makes it all work out in the end.

What's your opinion on FC's clinical cases?

 

[Batracho]

So I haven't started FC before the end of M1 (starting M2 here). What's the best marking strategy to go over M1 material?

 

[izchief360]

same boat, 1.5 year preclinical

 

[izchief360]

Any tips on how to set up firecracker as I'm starting M2 of a 1.5 yr preclinical? I just made an account and haven't marked anything as past, current, or urgent yet (nothing is marked). We've finished basic sciences and are a few blocks into organ systems.

Can someone also explain what the rating system translates to? For instance, how should I interpret 'past', 'current', and 'urgent' when marking topics (should current coursework be urgent or current; should courses like anatomy/histology be past?) and 0, 1-2, 3, 4-5 when marking cards?

'preciate it

* I should also mention that just because I've completed a course, doesn't necessarily mean that I remember jack from it. Is it best to begin firecracker after doing a thorough review of that material, or is this an assumption the program makes?

 

[NeuResurgens]

Also joining FC starting very early in M1. We'll see how it goes!

 

[Shawn Kim]

a

 

[rlarudtjs332]

Looking for a Firecracker study buddy! we can set a number of questions we are going to do every day, send screenshots to each other for proof, etc...

 

[Scrubs101]

Does Firecracker have all of First Aid's information included in its cards? I've been using FC religiously, but I'm not sure if I need to purchase First Aid to pick up any information that FC might be lacking.

Unsure if it has all of the same material, but so far what I've gone over (Just basic sciences no systems yet) there's enough overlap that you could probably get away with just reading the "info pages" in firecracker as it's very similar. The books not that expensive and if you're slightly neurotic like me I like to cover all the bases in case. I like to read FA, read the FC section, and then let the cards do the rest.

Edit: I probably can't actually say if you can "get away with it" because I actually have no idea, but IMO lots of overlap but buy the book

 

[NeuResurgens]

Awesome. I feel like FC covers everything in First Aid (and more) from all of the annotations, but then again I've never opened First Aid so I wouldn't know. About to start Biochem next week, so maybe some of the images + tables in FA will be able to help a little more.

I still bought first aid as a supplement to FC just in case, as it seems to be the most comprehensive review of material for Step I. However, I haven't worked it into my study habits yet for whatever reason. I think it might be more important closer to the test for a different perspective on some of the material, I plan to get into it for the systems.

 

[Scrubs101]

@UNMedGa @Scrubs101 If you guys are willing to share, how far along are you marked and when did you start using the program?

I havent been doing too many cards a day, usually around 100/day. 5-6 days a week (some days are just way too busy and im not super dedicated yet). Started after our first semester (just anatomy), did all of the anatomy cards over my break between semester 1 and 2, and now im at about 270 topics marked with something like 2600 cards completed (about a little less than half of which are still “red” though).

Most frustrating thing for me rn is when my courses dont completely line up with the material in the designated sections, and especially when we didnt end up learning quite a few things. Makes going through cards the weekend before an exam feel tough to do because its not completely lined up (even though i generally try to only mark sections we’ve covered for the most part). Will probably play catch up on the material my school didnt cover over winter break and just learn it from B&B or something of the like. Hoping ill be able to finish the “basic science” sections before we start systems in the spring.

Edit: For clarification i started at the end of august

 

[NeuResurgens]

@UNMedGa @Scrubs101 If you guys are willing to share, how far along are you marked and when did you start using the program?

Started at just about the beginning of med school (knew that FK matched my study style so I could pull the trigger early). I'm about 11% marked with around 150 topics and ~1700 cards, doing about 100 cards per day.

 

[Frogger27]

How do you M1s that started FC like it? Just finished my first block (biochem) and thinking about starting FC for my next block (and to review old stuff)

 

[NeuResurgens]

Yeah, I never used flashcards in the past so I wasn't sure if FC would be a good fit for me or not. But, so far it's been my favorite resource to use every day!

Actually, same. Never was a flashcard person. But I've always been the type who starts early and does a little bit every day so that I'm not cramming in the end... in that sense I knew it'd be a good fit!

 

[NeuResurgens]

How do you M1s that started FC like it? Just finished my first block (biochem) and thinking about starting FC for my next block (and to review old stuff)

Been great for me. Good to see new questions about the material you've learned in class in a different format or asked a different way, and definitely helps retain previous material. It's really helped me retain old stuff that pops up through the curriculum as cumulative info. I'd definitely recommend starting early with it, as you accumulate cards based on what you've learned, so if you're starting summer after M1 like a lot of people do it gets overwhelming. Seems to have been designed as a "from day 1" (or at least early on) kind of thing.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Does FC get better as you go? I have it and it’s just kind of okay. I’m just an M1 though. Biochem and anatomy questions are decent, thought immuno was good. Everything else has either been way too superficial, or crazy in depth incorporating concepts we haven’t touched on.

Lots of good mnemonics

 

[NeuResurgens]

When you guys mark a topic, do you do the associated questions immediately or just wait until they show up in your daily tasks.

Depends, I usually just wait for them to show up in the daily tasks but if they start to build up I'll go through them and do the questions. I've found that my school sometimes works in such a way that you can slowly mark things and get them as they appear in the task, and sometimes they'll give us like 6 or 7 topics per day every day of the week and in those cases I'll do the questions immediately just to get them circulating.

 

[NeuResurgens]

Yeah my problem is the same. I marked maybe 10 topics today and it'll take probably two weeks to see all of these cards. But if I do them right after reading the topic then I might be overconfident and rate them too high.

I usually just don't give anything any higher than yellow if I'm seeing it for the first time even if I know it pretty well. Lets it circulate a few more times

 

[Scrubs101]

For those that have used FC for step 1, how many cards do you suggest doing a day?

I’ve been doing about 100, now 125, a day since close to the beginning of 1st year. Don’t really think I could do many more without having my grades slip. But at the same time only getting 60ish review cards a day with a stack of about 5k (2-3k red/yellow) worries me that I’m not getting enough out of the spaced repetition.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks