Completion of a number of web-based activities and modules are part of the educational requirements during clinical rotations. These requirements give structure to protected academic time and independent learning. For this purpose the SOM makes available a number of web-based educational resources on SGU’s on-line course management system (Sakai). Each core clerkship as well as family medicine have corresponding web-based activities that students must complete.
USMLE World
During the first week of their first clerkship students will receive an email from USMLE World with instructions on how to access this question bank. Students must complete all the questions in Ob/Gyn, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery and a minimum of 600 questions in Internal Medicine during the corresponding clerkship.
The questions are separated into subjects as follows:
| Subject | Number of questions |
|---|---|
| Internal Medicine | 600 |
| Ob/Gyn | 205 |
| Pediatrics | 304 |
| Psychiatry | 150 |
| Surgery | 155 |
Firecracker
Firecracker is an adaptive software program designed to distribute core specific curriculum. Students should note the following:
- Before any core clerkship and family medicine, students must log into the core clerkship Sakai page (ex. Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Surgery, Psychiatry, Family Medicine) and sign up for Firecracker in order to access required weekly quizzes.
- The Firecracker sign up is essential for the proper deployment of the weekly quizzes and curriculum.
- Students are also responsible to notify Firecracker one week before each clerkship change including the correct dates of the rotation.
- A failure on the student's part to notify Firecracker of the clerkship change will cause incorrect quiz deployment and will result in missed quizzes.
- This adaptive software program is designed to track individual student participation and progress. Students will mark topics in the Firecracker software each week using the clerkship Sakai Firecracker calendar topics as a guide and use the flashcard exercises during down time (within the clinical sites) for high yield topic introduction.
- The program deploys a daily curriculum to each student with a required weekly quiz to assess the prior week's calendar topic knowledge retention.
- Students then will practice the solve case questions for each topic (these are Uworld and USMLE NBME like clinical vignette questions (see below)). The software uses flashcards, solve case questions, quizzes, and practice NBME questions to assess medical knowledge.
- The software identifies individual strengths and weaknesses with an algorithmic process to improve medical knowledge and retention.
- The more a student uses the Firecracker software the more accurate the program can predict weak topics and exam readiness (NBME and CK preparedness).
- Missing required Firecracker quizzes will negatively impact a student’s professional behavior grade on their final evaluation.
