Dallin, a third-year medical student at Des Moines University, used Firecracker throughout year two of medical school to accomplish a few goals simultaneously; retaining information learned in class, preparing for USMLE, and shoring up osteopathic manipulative medicine knowledge that is emphasized on COMLEX. The Firecracker DO program includes comprehensive content and practice questions for every concept and fact that is fair game to be tested on both COMLEX and USMLE combined. The content is all originally authored, and indexed neatly to leave no doubt which materials are relevant for which exam(s) and classes/Clerkships. Dallin accounts how supplementing coursework with Firecracker, Uworld, and Combank was the perfect recipe for two tremendous board scores in one week:
How this Firecracker scored 255 on USMLE Step 1 and 734 on COMLEX Level 1
Topics: Students, Tales from the front line, USMLE Step 1, COMLEX, Summer Study Plan
Want to study like the most successful medical students do? Of course you do! We've compiled here a set of video tutorials recorded by medical students, for medical students, which delve into exam preparation skills and recommendations for successful studying. If you'd like to read some guides authored by students, we went ahead and put together this collection of winter break studying champions' experiences.
Topics: Students, USMLE, Tales from the front line, MCAT, USMLE Step 2 CK, USMLE Step 1, COMLEX
On the first day of winter break, Firecracker gave to me...
Vacation study strategies! Over the years, winter break has been one of the most popular times for students to start consistently practicing a daily routine of doing questions. Sticking to a regular review routine during the vacation helps you refresh on materials you've learned this past semester, and/or older content you learned last year. These healthy study habits will carry into the New Year, helping you to cruise right into your coursework, and for second- or third-year medical students, into boards with confidence in your comprehension.
Topics: Students, Tales from the front line, USMLE Step 2 CK, USMLE Step 1
The following is a guest-authored blog post from John, a second-year medical student at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, one of Firecracker's more than twenty official partner institutions:
Topics: USMLE, Tales from the front line, Learning & Memory Science, Spaced Learning, Practice Exams, Course Connect
How this D.O. student used Firecracker en route to board scores of 252 on Step 1 and 800 on COMLEX!
Ed: We're having one last sale on Firecracker before Back to School season starts in earnest. 1 year for $150, 2 years for $250. We hope you'll join us. Subscribe.
Firecracker D.O. is built for osteopathic medical students who want to kill two birds with one stone and crush every major challenge in sight; COMLEX and USMLE, COMATs, classes, and clinical Clerkships. We've recently rebuilt our osteopathy materials to address the most up to date COMLEX standards with comprehensive OMM content for the Shelf, and tons of newly published questions. More D.O. students than ever before are now taking USMLE as well, and balancing both board exams is easier than ever in Firecracker. Matthew, a third-year at PCOM, describes here how he was able to leverage the Firecracker D.O. platform in preparation for some stupendous success:
Topics: Students, Tales from the front line, USMLE Step 1, COMLEX
How this Firecracker member scored a 526 on MCAT
Firecracker has quickly become one of the most popular resources for medical students to use alongside coursework and to prepare for their major exams, and we've built out comprehensive content for Premedical years and MCAT into the same proven software. Not only do premedical students get full access to Firecracker via the mobile app and website to supplement their studies, the MCAT program is entirely free! When premedical students find out about this, they often respond by telling us we're "the best-kept secret in the test prep world." Oliver, whose voice is here in italics, is a premed at Baylor who wanted to crush his MCAT, and found Firecracker useful in achieving a near perfect score:
Topics: Tales from the front line, MCAT, Firecracker, Testimonial
In honor of Match Day, we've collected a few past Match Day experiences from Firecracker editors. We wish you all the best as you find out where the future of your medical career takes you!
Topics: Tales from the front line, Residency, Matching, Specialties
Using Firecracker During Your Dedicated Step 1 Prep
Topics: Tales from the front line, USMLE Step 1, Firecracker
How this Firecracker scored a 266 on USMLE Step 1
Firecrackers report "ridiculously high" USMLE scores all the time, but most don't share exactly what resources they used, how they used them, when the started using them, or what their NBME practice test scores were leading up to the big day. One Firecracker did all this and more! You can read about his experience preparing for USMLE Step 1 below.
Topics: Tales from the front line, USMLE Step 1
How this Firecracker scored a 266 on USMLE Step 1
Firecrackers report "ridiculously high" USMLE scores all the time, but most don't share exactly what resources they used, how they used them, when the started using them, or what their NBME practice test scores were leading up to the big day. One Firecracker did all this and more! You can read about his experience preparing for USMLE Step 1 below.
Topics: Tales from the front line, USMLE Step 1