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Episode 23: Doctor Dan gives away secrets about his preparation for medical school, integration of speed reading techniques, and his major tenant of goal setting for EACH reading session. These show notes also reveal key insights into discovering your own, innate learning style.

Listen to this 33 minute podcast here…

Where did you get your tricks, Doctor Dan?

How does a guy go from dropping out of high school and not getting into medical school to creating the most robust, customized study course for medical student on the planet?

As Malcom Gladwell would say in his book Outliers, opportunity, 10,000 hours of practice, and cultural legacy.

We all know that medical school is not easy. Clearly a certain, minimum of intellegence is required to be a competent physician. By merely reading a lot of books,  some medical students appear from the outside to have mastered the study skills necessary to beat the numbers game.

But, is that enough for you?

Here are a couple of free resources I’ve put together to sample the How To Study Medicine Course:

MEDICAL SPEED READING 101

&

INNATE LEARNING STYLES 201

Read along in the 201 Innate Learning Styles 201 lecture using these handout notes:

HOW TO STUDY MEDICINE – STEP 1:

Learning style theory will help you make a beginning to studying your own best methods for retention.

Students have different ways to take in and process information. It can be through audio, visual, reading, analyzing, and interacting. First and foremost you have to indentify first what kind of learner you are.

Different learning styles:

* Reading

–        This is required, obviously. I don’t teach short cuts or gimicks that would mislead you into thinking you don’t have to ready your medical school syllabus 2-3 times and the text books. Just do it.

Instead, the lecture on Study Techniques teaches 14 categories of different techniques to finally let you get the most out of reading, including interactive processes to keep you engaged in what you are reading.

* Listening

–         Increasingly, our society is getting away from reading and moving towards audio/visual learning. It’s a lazy man’s way, at least it used to be. Reading is still a powerful skill and can help you stand out among your competition, particularly in undergrad, but if you have the opportunity to access recordings or make your own this can help tremendously.

I put together a specific slide show presentation on Using MP3 Files To Study In Medical School that you will greatly benefit from.

* Watching

–                   This type of learners prefers pictures and images. Video is increasingly popular too and many medical schools post their lectures online. I know mine did and I used them instead of live lectures every chance I could.

On disk #1 of the CD of the Month Club, I discuss how you can speed up boring professors and shave hours off your lecture time every week.

* Kinesthetic (“Doing”)

–                  There are dozens of ways to interact with the material you’re studying, but I’ve condensed them into 14 Categories Of Study Techniques. Few people use this learning style primarily,

Episode 22: Experience the instant refreshment of sharing your everyday experience with peers – of all levels of training! You can have a scientific literature presentation on any topic you choose. Doctor Dan explains the concept of these groups and how he’s merged another genre into what he now calls the Medical Mastermind Group.

Listen to the 15 minute podcast here…

It’s hard to believe that I’ll soon be reaching the 2-year mark in podcasting, beginning with the Pre-Med Podcast.

Thank you for all your support! The CD of the Month Club student body and listner emails have kept me going. I couldn’t have done it without you.

I did start out by surveying the listeners to guide podcast topics, but have now found a much better way to deliver exactly what you want – no matter who you are.

Groups of medical and premedical students from all over the world are meeting at regular intervals to get their questions answered from journal articles, air their grievances, and find mutual support from classmates, doctors and student doctors.

The Mastermind Group Schedule changes frequently, but the Meeting Format remains the same. We use teleconferencing software to meet in a virtual classroom on the internet, where you can view the Power Point presentations on my office computer.

Students participate in the discussion as experts in their own right, drawing from their own life experiences. You can even choose all the topics! I only ask that you submit Mastermind Group topics at least 1 week in advance to give time for adequate preparation.

I hope to talk to you in our next meeting!

God bless,

Doctor Dan

Episode 21: What USMLE book should you buy? How about all of them! In this interview with Kiran Bellubbi, I unveil a new collaboration project for the USMLE and COMLEX. You can now get online access to multiple publishers’ titles for less than the cost of one book!!

Listen to this 30 minute podcast here…

The United States Medical Licensing Examination, or the USMLE for short, is a four-part licensing examination series that is required in order to receive a state license to practice medicine in the United States. Allopathic (M.D.) students take the USMLE, while Osteopathic (D.O.) students take the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX).

These exams play a crucial role in the student’s advancement through the different stages of medical education. Ideally, these tests ensure that the would-be physicians demonstrate that they understand and can apply the knowledge necessary to practice medicine safely and intelligently.

However, we all know that standardized exams have some inherent weaknesses and each question is practically required legally to give you some telltale sign indicating the correct answer. It’s up to you to know what that is!

So, every year medical students from around the country buy books and online question banks and plow through a grueling and tiring mountain of content to ensure that they get the residency they want and ultimately their medical license.

But what if you could get access to 20 books’ content online – all in one place? And for less than the price of one book?

Well, you’d be crazy not to listen to this podcast…

In this podcast, I interview the co-founder of a revolutionary web site that hosts multiple USMLE/COMLEX publishers’ content – offering 20+ books in one place. Check it out here at www.Medi-Tribe.com.

Kiran Bellubbi and I discuss how supplementing your test preparation harnessing the power of social media can really propel you to the next standard deviation on your exam.

They have years of experience in the United Kingdom and have recently obtained permission from U.S. publishers, such as Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins. All you have to do is an Amazon search for the USMLE/COMLEX books they publish and compare that to online access at a fraction of the cost.

That’s right, you get all their best books for one low price. These guys definitely meet our standard for interviews here by doing new and different strategies that can help medical and premedical students.

What’s more, thousands of community votes have purified their collection of nearly 3,000 questions with full explanations for all answer choices. What’s left are only the highest yield, best explained, and relevant questions that you will need to succeed on the COMLEX or USMLE.

Kiran is one of the founders of www.MediTribe.com, a unique website that has a content on USMLE/COMLEX prep and says that they have about 2800 questions available for users the answer and to interact with. 1,400 are free!

In addition, they offer index card-style case reviews with identical content in books plus many that are exclusively released by the publishers for the internet. Combine that quality with the opinions from the community and you have a unique product that rivals USMLE World and Kaplan.

This kind of subscribing is available of a discounted price of $35 a month plus other forms of discounts are available. With this kind of payment, no wonder this website is helpful – it’s a cheap yet effective way to meet your goals on the USMLE or COMLEX.

What can a Couple of dollars can hurt much if we pass? Not much except our pocket book. All of these book titles are priced at less than the cost of one book. They’re also coming out with a 3-month discount option.

So, before you buy your next USMLE or COMLEX book, check out the 1,

Episode 20: Learn your innate learning style, 14 study techniques, 6 types of material you encounter in medical school and premed courses, 5-Step Study Method, and a cheat sheet that integrates all of these tools into one printable checklist to staple to the front of your notes for a particular test.

Listen to the 39 minute podcast here…

Like many would-be doctors, I struggled with certain parts of the MCAT more than others. I took a $1,000+ commercial speed reading course to help me improve and spent the summer at the Kaplan center only to be disappointed.

It wasn’t until the first year of medical school that I actually learned how to study, speed-read, and manage my time so that I could be successful in school and spend time with my family. Next, I studied these learning styles and study techniques and formalized them into a 5 Step Study Method that I’ve been teaching for several years.

When I began teaching all of the techniques, people really appreciated the insight into a “doctor’s mentality” and found that they shaved hours off their time spent studying and were enjoying more time with family and friends almost immediately!

Then, I began to get a lot of emails with specific questions and I soon realized that, just like in medical school, everyone’s approach to different techniques and types of information varied a little bit.

Then a light bulb went off!

What if I taught you how to teach yourself which techniques work for you?

That’s when my Custom Speed Reading System was born. This profoundly insidious system has become ingrained in how I think, not just how I study.

I have since prepared myself to excel at and pass those big exams like MCAT, medical school exams, and all four of the USMLE exams. Most of the methods in my speed reading course will be less foreign to you than you might initially think and therefore its easy for us to learn and use!

I created a multi-media course on Speed Reading for Medical School:

* Evaluate your own study methods and test them objectively

* Prepare yourself to be a speed reader

* Manage your time and spend it the way you want

Here is a little bit of the science I teach behind my methods:

As children we were taught to read letter-by-letter and word-by-word. We start from the very beginning of a sentence and read through to the last word of the document. We rhythmically and painstakingly give attention to every word and most of our schooling focuses on memorizing each detail.

I submit that the United States is behind many leading countries in the education department because of a lack of vision. This type of rote reading is only good when you’re reading a novel or fulfilling another pleasurable pasttime. However, this type of reading is not what we need in medical school and many students don’t have the academic “genes” to survive undergrad without something more. They experience this with a damaged GPA or low score on an MCAT section.

What we need is a different type of reading that is fast and has good retention of the facts, not only for a test but also for an important career.

Normally you can read a book in about 3-5 hours with the help of this Speed Reading Course. More importantly, you will learn how to set goals for each time you sit down with a book. It’s possible to shorten the time it takes you to get everything you need from a book to 30-45 minutes per book – total! With this you can spend your time covering more study resources or with your friends and loved ones.

My Speed Reading program is actually a combination of reading methods, which will increase reading speed and comprehension of voluminous material. To us doctors/med students/premeds, this is the every-day fact – that we need to study tons of medical details. Thus, we need to prepare ourselves to be able to adapt the ever-challenging MCAT,

Episode 19: Ever wish you had the T.A. in your pocket? Well, now you can. In this interview with Liam Martin, we discuss a revolutionary new tutoring program for Pre-Med prerequisites that is completely over the internet and telephone. Now you can have a grad student coaching you on study techniques, high yield facts, and efficiency.

Listen to this 33 minute podcast here…

In this episode, I interview Liam Martin a Pre-Med tutor who has gone pro.

If you are a medical student already, then you probably don’t want to listen to this episode. However, listen long enough to understand how this remote tutoring works and let me know if you would use remote tutoring for medical school.

Liam has put together a national network of graduate students that are each obtaining their Master’s or Ph.D.’s in the various premed prerequisites. He’s used his experience tutoring and studying successful students to devise specific programs for each course you need to take as a premed (biology, chemistry, etc.)

They build your confidence, motivate and hold you accountable to your study plan so that you can really achieve your goals.

Don’t make the mistake of taking premedical prerequisites early on in college and make B’s and C’s, not to mention worse grades or incompletes.

We all know that getting an A’s on prerequisite subjects are practically essential to get into medical school. A list of A’s on your college transcript can easily catch the attention of admissions staff when you apply to Med Schools. The prerequisites include Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, English, and often Calculus. Always check with the medical schools you’re applying to and verify their admissions requirements.

Getting A’s initially in college seems hit and miss for many students. I get a lot of emails from people after they’ve damaged their science GPA.

I recommend starting off with their tutoring service for your prerequisite courses from the beginning to learn the study techniques and work ethic that they will instill. Then, you can decide if you can ace your courses on your own from that point onward.

These tutorials represent a robust way to prepare for tests in undergrad and especially when you’re about to take the MCAT.

If you sign up for tutorials, you will be expected to attend and participate. They allow you to have mini lectures, but mostly the time will be spent discussing the content to ensure that you leave the session with a thorough grasp of the material being covered.

The purpose of tutorials is that first it can promote clearer and deeper understanding through dialogues. This allows students to actively raise questions and draw on the knowledge or experience of the grad student.

This style of learning really caters to kinesthetic, audio and video learners as well as students who learn through discussion. An added benefit is building confidence to discuss advanced scientific topics in a public forum, which can help in medical school.

To get the most out of your tutoring sessions, here are some preparation steps that

1. Review the relevant lecture

2. Read or work on the set problems given.

3. Prepare questions on topics you don’t understand

What’s the catch?

Their Pre-Med Tutoring program is only available for a limited time. So, sign up now: Pre-Med Tutors DISCOUNT

God bless,

Doctor Dan

Episode 18: Dr. Dan explains how you can avoid being among the majority of physicians dissatisfied in their work. By looking at the literature and physician surveys you can avoid mistakes that thousands of doctors are making in their career decisions and goals.

Listen to the 33 minute podcast here…

This podcast is all about Reemerging Priorities, which is Phase 5 Evolution for the Physician In Training.

We all have “ah ha” moments and even feel relaxed and appreciated occasionally along the medical school education pipeline. Well, Phase 5 is the culmination of everything you’ve worked for for the last 10 years or so.

And what a relief…

No longer do you have to study exactly what someone else tells you to, at least not traditionally. You can learn Evidence-Based Medicine or any other favorite topic at your own pace now.

It’s in Phase 5 that you can become an independent lifelong learner and be proactive about the educational and research directions that you choose.

My, how liberating!

If you’ve made it that far, please let us know how it feels! We’d love to hear from practicing physicians to tell us that this long path is worth it in the end!

Cheers,

Dr. Dan

Episode 17: Discover the best-kept secrets of Interview Day. Here Dr. Dan explains what things to keep in mind when choosing a medical school and residency – by learning what the scientific literature says our challenges are.

Listen to the 48 minute podcast here…

From disappointment with yourself, peers and program directors to the U.S. health care system et. al. we’ll take a broad look at these daunting topics so you’ll be better prepared for your career.

After a thorough literature search of over 200 peer-reviewed articles, I organized them into 5 Phases In The Evolution Of A Physician In Training.

This topic of “The Let-Down” represents Phase 4 from these five developmental stages.

Essentially, disappointment comes from failure to meet an expectation. In this audio MP3 podcast, I explain what common, realistic expectations are when it comes to the altruistic premedical student discovering what realities are in today’s health care machine.

While this topic covers painful experiences of medical school and residency, there is hope! Phase 5 is called Reemerging Priorities, as we get back to our fundamental values that drove us into medicine in the first place.

If I can help guide you along this path, join the Medical Mastermind Community today!

God bless,

Dr. Dan

Episode 16: Learn the research that shows what it takes to separate successful medical students from those who fail. This is Phase 3 (Assimilati0n) in the Evolution of  a Physician In Training, part of Dr. Dan’s Physician Wellness Initiative. Do you pass the test?

Listen to the 17 minute podcast here…

No amount of preparation is going to make you feel good when you are post-call. Sorry…

But did you know there are a lot of things you can do to maintain psychological and (some semblance of) physical well-being during medical school?

In this podcast, I explore my thorough literature search around what characterizes the types of stressors that we successful medical students get used to. Notice I said there will be stress and we will get used to it!

Not all stress is bad. In fact, there is such thing as a “sweet spot” in the Anxiety-Achievement Curve. Included in the Medical School Mindmap is the specific journal article that discusses the phenomenon of how stress helps performance – up to a point. Then, as stress continues to increase (in the first weeks of medical school, for example), performance can suffer. I’ll help you understand how to use stress to your advantage in my Medical Mastermind Platinum Group.

Until then, hang in there and post your comments below to seek help with stress in medical school!

Merry Christmas,

Dr. Dan

Episode 15: Drinking water from a fire hydrant? Learn what the scientific literature says about the medical school experience. Everyone gets overwhelmed, but what separates those that are successful from those who fail?

Listen to this 37 minute podcast as Dr. Dan outlines this important phase in the development of the future physician.

The first semester of medical school is, no doubt, the most academically challenging experience of a physician’s career. The skills developed early on transcend what can be taught in a traditional classroom, as only recent graduates can recall the specifics of what is faced there.

Our literature shows us several categories of stressors that all conspire to make the academic workload challenging, besides the sheer volume of information: financial, personal, ethical, and academic performance.

I takes each of these categories and teaches what the literature has to say about these topics in detail. This 37 minute podcast is a sample of the full Wellness Program that utilizes my Mastermind Conferences (a part of my high-end coaching program).

“Currently, I take 15 students per year through the course and cater our Mastermind Teleconferences to fit everyone’s schedule as much as possible.”

Listen in to the unique teaching style and content that this group enjoys and consider joining yourself!

Episode 14: Are you a perpetual people pleaser? Did it start as a Pre-Med? Dr. Dan reviews a recent article published by The New Physician in which the reasons for premed student unhappiness are exposed. “Basically, you just need to do what makes you happy – and stop worrying about what some admissions committee is going to think years from now.”

Listen to this 10 minute podcast to get the rest of the story…

Physicians are altruistic, but can we go too far? Daniel Erhman from the University of Michigan Medical School thinks so – and I agree with him.

In the most recent edition of The New Physician, Daniel does a great job of articulating how trying to please a premed adviser can lead to unhappiness. Believe it or not, there are tons of choices for volunteer and research opportunities. If you have a tough time choosing, you may want to reconsider how sure you are that you want to be a physician in the first place.

I mean, if you’re so sure you want to be a doctor but haven’t a clue what interests you, then how can you claim to know what you’re talking about? More importantly, be honest with yourself about your reasons for wanting to become a physician. If you don’t really want to write the truth on your application because of how it might be perceived, then you aren’t creative enough to put a positive spin on who you are and what makes you tick.

Dr. Dan can help.

Leave your comments below and let me know your questions about how to best explain your motivations for choosing the volunteer and research opportunities that you did.

Best,

Dr. Dan