The STATMed Podcast

Retrieval Practice and Memory Palaces: More Takeaways from An Academic Educator’s Perspective on the STATMed Study Skills Class 

Host Ryan Orwig is back with Dr. Jim Culhane, Assistant Dean for Student Academic Success Programs and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy. In this miniseries, Ryan and Dr. Culhane debrief from a recent STATMed Study Skills Class where Dr. Culhane participated as a student. In the final part of this series, they dig various studying techniques, from mapping and memory palaces to retrieval practice. 

"I think this speaks to a number of the tools you've developed for time management, productivity, workflow, those three areas. I think any student you work with would agree that having a plan before you engage in any complex task is really important. I don't think anyone would deny that, and yet many of our students just wing it on a day-to-day basis. They don't have a plan. They don't think strategically. They don't take the time to do what they need to do to lay out what they need to do." - Dr. Jim Culhane

From Doing the Homework to Thinking Like an Entrepreneur, Academic Educator Dr. Jim Culhane Shares His Top 10 Takeaways from the STATMed Study Skills Class 

Host Ryan Orwig is back with Dr. Jim Culhane, Assistant Dean for Student Academic Success Programs and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy. In this new miniseries, Ryan and Dr. Culhane debrief from a recent STATMed Study Skills Class where Dr. Culhane participated as a student. In part 2 of this series, they dig the importance of frameworking, doing your homework and thinking like an entrepreneur. 

"That's an illusion of productivity that we always talk about. I think if you asked any student and gave 'em a choice, 'do you wanna be an office drone or an entrepreneur CEO?' I mean, who's gonna choose [drone]? But yet most of them, I think, fall into that office drone mentality. And I think the reason is that they just don't know how to escape it. They don't know how to act like the CEO, like an entrepreneur. So I like that mentality and attitude. And, the reflection, the insight, the constantly looking at 'what can I do better? How can I deploy these resources more effectively to take control of my learning?' I think that's incredibly empowering." - Dr. Jim Culhane 

Academic Educator Dr. Jim Culhane Debriefs After Taking the STATMed Study Skills Class 

Host Ryan Orwig is back with Dr. Jim Culhane, Assistant Dean for Student Academic Success Programs and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy. In this new miniseries, Ryan and Dr. Culhane debrief from a recent STATMed Study Skills Class where Dr. Culhane participated as a student. In this new series, they dig into the top 10 takeaways from the 10-day class. They also discuss the difficulties some students experience with learning in med school and related fields. 

"The students in this cohort and again, from what I've heard from what you've said, the students in your cohorts or classes are very, very bright individuals. I was very struck by their level of motivation, their investment in medical education, their intelligence, just they're great students. I mean, as a teacher, I'd give my right arm to have any one of these guys in any of my classes because I know they would knock it outta the park, and yet they all had this thing in common where they struggled, they fell, and so they had that kind of shared experience together." - Dr. Jim Culhane 

STATMed Alumni Share Their Advice for Struggling Med Students Considering the STATMed Study Skills Class

In this episode of the STATMed Podcast, host Ryan Orwig is back with six recent STATMed Study Skills Class alumni for the final part of this miniseries.This week, they share top takeaways from our grand unifying theory on why learning in med school is so challenging. These alumni also dig into advice and what to expect for other struggling students in medical, pharmacy, or veteraniry school considering the STATMed Study Skills Class.

“This is a class for somebody who definitely is struggling academically and that they know that they have something to change regarding their study methods, but they need the help to do so, especially in the science field where material's presented so quickly and so fast. That's who I recommend this for. But in general, I would say anybody that takes this STATMed class will benefit in some sort of way because through the methodology to the time management, there's always something to pick up through this class that can help augment your studying as you move forward.”

STATMed Alumni Share the Worst Advice They Received As Struggling Med Students 

Not all advice is created equally. And bad advice can come from good intentions, as many of our former students can attest. In part three of this miniseries, Ryan is back with six recent STATMed Study Skills Class alumni. In this episode, they share the worst advice they received about how to study and succeed in med school.

"That goes back to the bad piece of advice I'd alluded to was to memorize everything. And this was said to me by the same individual who told me that my previous medical experience doesn't matter, so I didn't necessarily trust the advice, but this goes back to this idea that it's possible to somehow work in a fifth or a sixth pass. And really, all that's doing, and we talked about this in this podcast before, but all it's doing is giving you this idea, this allure, this facade of familiarity. It's not actually giving you that experience, that touchpoint with the material."

From mapping to memory palaces, STATMed Alumni share the skills that have transformed their studying habits

If you’re struggling in medical school (or a related field), the tools you’re using may be working against you. If you’re relying on reading and re-reading material or continually listening to lectures but not getting the results you’re looking for, the issue could be your tools and strategy. In part two of this miniseries, Ryan is back with six recent STATMed Study Skills Class. In this episode, they share which of the skills learned in the Class have most impacted the way they approach studying. 

“After going through the homework sets you’ve been giving us and diving into the maps and memory palaces, I, personally, have seen my brain change and be able to store and retrieve information more quickly and easily than I ever have in my entire academic career. And I think that’s the biggest game-changer. I’ve seen that I have way more potential than I think I do, and that’s what makes it most exciting about using this as one of the tools.”

The struggle is real. Not for all med students (or vet, Pharm D, or PA students). But for the students we work with, medical school can be tough — sometimes it's even the first time a student has struggled academically. In our newest podcast miniseries, recent STATMed Study Skills Class alumni share the events that led them to take the Class and how it transformed their approach to studying. 

In this episode, Ryan sits down with six recent STATMed Study Skills Class students from different schools, different regions and at different points in their careers who all had one thing in common: they were struggling in med school, PA school, or on the boards. In part one, we meet each of the students who share their reason for taking the STATMed Study Skills Class. 

“I was on the brink of failure. I sat through two meetings on my performance and issues within the classroom. The first was patently unhelpful. On the second, I took command and decided to discuss a leave of absence instead of going through the specificity of that course. I found STATMed after doing a thorough search of what’s available within the marketplace. ...I had emailed a couple of them for information and got back quotes that were absolutely outrageous on the hourly fees. And I thought well, I don’t really want to spend $5,000 on a contract for tutoring when I know that I don’t need to be taught what’s going on in the classroom, I need to be helped with what’s not sticking for me. …I typed portions of vignettes of my story directly into Google and found a testimonial of one of your former students that was my story on the page. I thought okay, I could have written this story, so this is the place I need to start.”  -Elise, a first-year medical student

More Strategies for approaching test-taking on medical boards and in the classroom the STATMed way

You know that a lot rides on your med school tests and board exams. The pressure can be immense, and it only gets worse if you have test anxiety. But bad test-takers don't have to give up the dream of med school (or vet school, a Pharm D program, or a related career). STATMed Learning can help.

In this episode, host Ryan Orwig is back with Dr. Jim Culhane, Assistant Dean for Student Academic Success Programs and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy. They dig into test-taking on medical boards and in the classroom. In part two of this two-part podcast, Ryan and Dr. Culhane examine test anxiety and the psychology of behavior changes for bad test-takers. 

"This is a fact of human nature. Behavior change is hard. It takes time. It might take one person five days, and it might take somebody else 15 days, it might take somebody else 30 days. It might take somebody five hours of concentrated practice, and it might take somebody 30 hours of concentrated practice. You just don't know. But this is why it's so important to have the knowledge, and have access to the practice questions, to be able to actually train." - Ryan Orwig 

Strategies for approaching test-taking on medical boards the STATMed way

It goes without saying that a lot rides on your medical board exams. And before you even get to the point of taking the COMLEX, NAVLE, (or the exam for your field), you have to pass your med school exams. That’s a lot of pressure, especially for self-professed bad test-takers. 

In this episode, host Ryan Orwig is back with Dr. Jim Culhane, Assistant Dean for Student Academic Success Programs and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy. They dig into test-taking on medical boards and in the classroom. In part one of this two-part podcast, Dr. Culhane details the process of exam creation while Ryan shares STATMed’s meticulous approach to test-taking. 

“If you’re going to do the Boards Workshop, we’re not going to fix your test-taking. I’m not going to go in and plug holes. We’re going to tear your system down to the ground. We’re going to bulldoze that sucker and build in its place our very rigid, very meticulous system.” - Ryan Orwig 

Strategies bad test-takers can use to prep for medical boards

Just like you wouldn’t practice basketball drills to improve your soccer skills, it’s important to approach prep for medical boards so you can “train the way you want to play.” In this episode, host Ryan Orwig is back with Dr. Jim Culhane, Assistant Dean for Student Academic Success Programs and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy. They dig into more strategies students can use to prepare for medical boards, including using practice questions and the partial true/partial false strategy to prep for medical boards. 

“But if you're hurrying, picking the first answer that looks right, if you're missing key words, if you know  that you're that kind of test-taker because all through pharmacy or medical school or veterinary school, you're constantly complaining to your professors, ‘I picked the first answer that looked right’, or’ I missed this important phrase in the question’, you're the type of person that better slow down a little bit and utilize your time resource a little bit more effectively.” - Dr. Culhane