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 ClassIn 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 habitsIf 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 wayYou 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 wayIt 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 boardsJust 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 

The STATMed Way to Approach Medical Boards Prep 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 strategies students can use to prepare for medical boards. Here, they discuss strategies to implement when preparing for medical boards. “You've got two real tracks or approaches to board prep. You've got the study component to it, where you're interfacing with the materials that your school provided or that you purchased. And then, you've got the practice question side where you're actually, going to mimic the exam or in the test-taking environment, in that way. And they cross over, they overlap, but they are two separate entities.” - Dr. Jim Culhane 

Strategies to Avoid When Preparing for Medical BoardsWith so much riding on your medical boards, studying the same way you always have can seem like a good idea. Why rock the boat? But if you're not getting the results you need, it may be time to reassess. In this episode, Dr. Jim Culhane, Assistant Dean for Student Academic Success Programs and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy, flips the script and interviews STATMed host Ryan Orwig. In this multipart miniseries, they dig into strategies students can use to prepare for medical boards. Here, they discuss strategies to avoid if you're looking to get the most out of your study sessions. "Being strategic with your exam preparation and following a process that utilizes good productivity skills, time management skills, study skills and the approaches that are going to get you the best results versus the mentality that you're just going to plow through the material. You're putting in long days, you're doing a lot of hard work, but you're getting very little return on your investment." - Dr. Culhane

Use these strategies to get the most out of lecture-based learning Between the speed of lectures, the excessive cognitive load it requires, and the possibility of disorganized learning materials, lectures in med school can be tough — even for smart students. On this episode of the STATMed Podcast, 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 some of the factors that can make lecture-based learning in medical school so difficult – and discuss some “survival skills” students can implement. “You can't control the type of material that they're giving you, or how they're presenting it, or the speed at which they're presenting it at. But what you can control is how you interface with that material. And that's really why I like a lot of the techniques and approaches that you teach.” - Dr. Jim Culhane 

For the Ask STATMed podcast miniseries, we dig into the most common questions we get asked about studying and board-style test-taking in medical school. In Part 2, we look a little deeper into the nature versus nurture discussion and determine how to tell if a missed question on a test or medical board exam is from a test-taking miss or a knowledge miss. In this episode, we explore specific test-taking issues like working memory limitations and the binary test=taking mentality. “My view is test-taking methods, won't cover or bridge these knowledge gaps. Test-taking does not hack the test. Test-taking is about cleaning up the user interface so you can clearly show what you know, but you have to know enough. And that's addressed, through augmented streamlined study methods.” - Ryan Orwig 

New Podcast Miniseries Answers Your Top Questions About Studying and Test-Taking In Med School In our newest podcast miniseries, we dig into the most common questions we get asked about studying and board-style test-taking in medical school. In Part 1, we dig into a top question we hear all the time: “With regards to medical board exams, are good test-takers born, or are they made?” We examine the “nature versus nurture” argument to see if bad test-takers are born or made. “When we talk about test-taking at this level, I'm not interested in test-taking tricks or deductive reasoning strategies. That stuff is all invalid in my book. Test-taking at this level should be about cleaning up the test-taker's ability to interface with and show what they know on boards. Being a good test-taker means you consistently plug into a question and read it accurately, without adding or losing key information while drawing the correct inferences using the parts of what you know. In some manner, the good test-taker narrows the choices by eliminating options that are partially false and then choosing the safest remaining answer choice.”

We can help you figure out what's next after a failed board exam “Help! I failed my board exam… can you help me?” We hear this - or a version of this - statement nearly every day. So, if you've failed a board exam, you're absolutely not alone. And, you're not necessarily looking at the end of your medical career. At STATMed Learning, we work closely with students who have failed the COMLEX, NAVLE, USMLE, or other medical boards exams. In this episode of the STATMed Podcast, Ryan Orwig and David LaSalle dig into how STATMed Learning can help students who have failed their medical boards. They break down what students can expect from the STATMed Boards Test-Taking  Workshop and the Boards Study Skills Course.“Just to be clear, I think sometimes it's easy to think that what we're talking about is that we're going to teach you some “hacks” to get past the test-taker, to read the mind of what they're doing, to “beat the test”. That's not what we're talking about. These tests are not something where we can institute two hacks, and all of a sudden our scores are improving. This is really about learning about who you are as a test-taker, historically. We have identified about 15 individual bad habits that people implement while taking tests and working on a test. Most people aren't doing 15 things wrong, most people are doing maybe four or five things wrong, and of those, they're doing two or three things wrong all the time, and that's what is costing them the majority of their questions. So that's what the Boards Workshop is about; [discovering] the two or three things you're doing wrong, how to spot them and what to put in place of that behavior. It's in-depth, it's intense, and it's super effective.” - David LeSalle 

Strategies and techniques to optimize your time in a study groupIn 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. Part three of this miniseries digs into study group best practices. "If you're doing any kind of application practice, whether you're in a study group or by yourself, again, simulating exam conditions is key. You want to put a time limit on solving the problem because you're not going to have all day on an exam. You want to make sure that you're attempting to solve that problem without any types of learning materials available. So that means notes, textbooks, similar types of problems. A lot of my students, when they sit down and do practice problems or practice sets, and they'll have their notes and their resources right next to them. And you know, it might be okay when you're a novice learner, and you're still trying to figure out how to solve some of these problems. You can learn an awful lot more from your failures and mistakes, right, than those successes. I think that's a huge part of problem solve." – Dr. Jim Culhane 

Optimize learning in your study group with these strategies Joining a study group sounds like a logical way to prepare for exams in medical school. You find a group with your peers, show up, study, ace the test. Rinse and repeat. While that seems like a sure bet, that's not quite how it usually works out. To get the most out of them, study groups require forethought and a little bit of strategy. In this episode, host Ryan Orwig sits down 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. Part two of this miniseries discusses the strategies med students can use when setting up a study group for success. "I think it's really important for people that are joining a study group or forming a study group that they're really honest with themselves and with one another about what their goals and objectives are. Because some people are looking for that emotional support group, some are looking for a social group to join. Some people are just: 'hey, I don't care as long as I can pass this class. That's my primary objective.' And then you've got the gunners; they want the A no matter what. If you all don't have at least one shared reason why you're there, that can really lead to a lot of discord, I think, amongst group members. I like your idea of setting the stage first. That's the way things are gonna be." - Dr. Jim Culhane. 

Study Groups Episode 1Love them or hate them, study groups can be a big part of many medical students' study strategies. In this podcast miniseries, we dig into the pros and cons of study groups and systems to implement to maximize the productivity of a group.In this episode, host Ryan Orwig sits down 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 part one of this miniseries, they discuss the pros and cons of study groups in medical school. "My take on it is that study groups can be an effective tool in your learning toolbox if they are run appropriately and if we use some best practices. Unfortunately, often when I work with students, helping them plug up the canoe and bail water, I find out that the study groups they belong to aren't terribly effective. And because of some of the things they're doing in the study group. So I think it's a double-edged sword in a lot of ways. There is a mixed bag. It depends on how you use the tool." - Dr. Jim Culhane 

 Uncommon Pathways Episode 3Host Ryan Orwig speaks with STATMed alumni who share their uncommon pathways to their dream careers in this podcast miniseries. In the first episode, Ryan and JT, a surgeon, discussed the challenges low boards scores could cause when pursuing a competitive field like orthopedic surgery. In the third installment of our Uncommon Pathways podcast miniseries, Ryan is back with JT, an orthopedic surgeon, who shares how the STATMed Boards Workshop transformed how he approached board-style exams. They dig into the importance of implementing test-taking strategies that yield results and the benefits of identifying test-taking issues. "What frustrated me was that I didn't have words to articulate the mistakes that I knew I was making. And so it was like, finally, I can identify the problem, and once you identify the problem, you can do something about it. And so y'all gave me this lens through which to identify my problem. And a big part of that was misreading and then twisting what the question was asking. And I would realize I was answering the wrong question like it was right in my head because that's the question that I was answering, but it's not the question on the test. That was a big error for me that I realized pretty early on." - Dr. JT

 Uncommon Pathways Episode 2Host Ryan Orwig speaks with STATMed alumni who share their uncommon pathways to their dream careers in this podcast miniseries. In the first episode, Ryan and JT, a surgeon, discussed the challenges low boards scores could cause when pursuing a competitive field like orthopedic surgery. In this episode, Ryan is back with JT, an orthopedic surgeon, who shares how the STATMed Doctor Study Skills Course changed the way he prepared for exams. Here, JT shares the biggest takeaways from his quest to learn how to study more effectively. From the importance of frameworking to transforming his study sessions with retrieval practice and managing workflow while studying, JT shares his top three lessons learned.How To Study Effectively In Med School and For Boards"I would say the overarching thing was that I was very passive in how I would study. So that meant just reading or rereading material that I had read a thousand times over and just thinking, okay, well, maybe it'll stick this time. Or if I just keep reading this, it'll get imprinted into my subconscious. I realized it's not good because it's not intentional. And so what the study skills scores taught me was that you have to intentionally engage in the material, and the way you do that is by testing and retesting. So, instead of just reading through a passage, article, or review book, I had to framework this out. Like, I would have a blank, and it would be "name these three things associated with this fracture pattern." And instead of just rereading them, I would have to say, okay, I actually have to recall what these three things are." - Dr. JT

Uncommon Pathways Episode 1Although the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, that's not always the path that a career in medicine follows. Host Ryan Orwig speaks with STATMed alumni who share their uncommon pathways to their dream careers in our newest podcast miniseries. In this episode, Ryan and JT, an orthopedic surgeon, discuss challenges he faced in his journey to becoming a surgeon. JT recounts the issues he faced when struggling with boards. He also digs into the hurdles his relatively low scores caused when trying to get into a super competitive orthopedic surgery residency. "When I found out what my Step 1 score was, I was freaking out. And so, of course, I would ask people, it's like, man, you know, is this even worth it? Is this even worth doing? Should I just try something different altogether? And you know, almost universally, people told me, and this is what I tell people now, your step score shouldn't completely define you or dictate what you do. And so if this is something that you really, really want to do, and you know that beyond a shadow of a doubt, you should just go for it, and you should make every effort to make yourself a good applicant, despite the fact that you may not have the best test scores." - Dr. JT

Conversations About ADHD in Med School: Part 4It's happened to the best of us. You've got a laundry list of things to do, but before getting started, you sit down for a second and glance at your phone. Then, suddenly, it's 3 hours later, you're hungry, you're confused, and you've inadvertently memorized three TikTok dances. (Maybe that last part is just us…) But, the point is, your day got away from you. When this happens occasionally, it's not that big of a deal. However, if you keep finding yourself 3-hours later and very little to show for it, you may have a problem. Issues with time management and ADHD can go hand-in-hand, and the strategies you've used previously may not be cutting it anymore. In the fourth episode of our podcast miniseries, Conversations About ADHD in Med School, host Ryan Orwig returns with Mike, a former STATMed class participant. They share how issues with time management and ADHD can derail medical students as they study or take boards. During this conversation, they share specific strategies med students can use to overcome these issues. "I think time management is probably one of the biggest problems [with having ADHD in med school]. You're fighting against time. You've got a set amount of hours between one test to the next. And so, you know you have a set amount of work that has to be put in, in that set amount of time. But that's the fight against time because your ADHD is making you want to do other things. So, when you should be studying, you're looking at your phone, watching videos, and doing anything else besides studying. And it's a constant fight against time that you're wasting and losing." - Dr. Mike 

Conversations About ADHD in Med School: Part 3In episode three of our podcast miniseries, Conversations About ADHD in Med School, host Ryan Orwig returns with Mike, a former STATMed class participant. They dig into how issues with executive function can negatively affect students with ADHD. During this conversation, they discuss what they term "executive dysfunction." Ryan and Mike also share strategies med students can use to mitigate these issues. "I think executive function issues are probably the widest and biggest of all the ADHD issues. With being a first-year student, even getting tasks completed, getting papers done, getting notes mapped out, and getting the lectures done [is extremely difficult]. Because your brain is always running and you always want to be focused on something else when you really have to stop and focus on one thing for an extended amount of time is probably the most difficult time. Trying to finish up whatever thing you're working on at that time because your brain always wants to skip to the next thing." Dr. Mike 

“One of the lesser-known issues that the average person might not immediately associate with ADHD, working memory is the aspect of your memory that everything has to pass through on the way in and pass through on the way out. You can think of it as a workbench — or a chalkboard. There's limited room, and that space will fill up. When more information comes in, it pushes out the old stuff.” -Ryan Orwig In episode two of our podcast miniseries, Conversations About ADHD in med school, host Ryan Orwig returns with Mike, a former STATMed class participant, to discuss issues with working memory and how this can impact med students with ADHD.“I didn't even know it [working memory] was a thing. You just kind of compensate through your life. You use sticky notes or write things down, or find ways to compensate without really knowing what working memory is, that it's a problem, or that it can cause problems.” — Dr. Mike

Conversations About ADHD in Med School Part 1 Lectures in med school: you know they're essential. You know what's discussed will be on the exam. And, vitally, it may be something you need to save a life one day. But, if you're struggling, it might seem impossible to actually learn during lecture — especially if you're also navigating medical school with ADHD. In this new podcast miniseries, Conversations About ADHD in Med School, host Ryan Orwig and Mike, a former STATMed student, discuss the various ways learning in med school is complicated by ADHD. In this episode, they dig into the potential difficulties of learning in lecture. They discuss issues with impulsivity, distractibility, and inattention, as well as strategies to mitigate them."You feel guilty because you just wasted a whole day. You know you're going to have to get the information somehow, and you know how hard it is to catch up. You're tired because you've been fighting to pay attention for six or eight hours. You're angry and exhausted because everyone else just spent the same hours you did, but now they get to dinner, they get to go out and hang out with their friends. But you're trying to catch up and finish that eight hours. And you're not even close." - Dr. Mike 

Navigating ADHD and Test-Taking as a Med School Student or Practicing Physician In this podcast miniseries, STATMed founder Ryan Orwig examines life as a doctor or medical student with ADHD. He outlines how ADHD affects your ability to study, take tests effectively, and manage your time. And he shares common patterns he's observed with ADHD-affected medical students and physicians. In the final episode of this 4-part miniseries, Ryan outlines ways ADHD symptoms can impact test-taking in medical school and on board exams. He also shares strategies to overcome these challenges. 

Why Are Med School Lectures So Much Harder with ADHD?In this podcast miniseries, STATMed founder Ryan Orwig examines life as a doctor or medical student with ADHD. He outlines how ADHD affects your ability to study, take tests effectively, and manage your time. And he shares common patterns he's observed with ADHD-affected medical students and physicians. In the second episode of this 4-part miniseries, Ryan discusses why med school lectures are so much harder for students with ADHD and shares strategies to help students with ADHD process information and study more effectively. 

Navigating ADHD and Time Management in Med SchoolIn this podcast miniseries, STATMed founder Ryan Orwig examines life as a doctor or medical student with ADHD. He outlines how ADHD affects your ability to study, take tests effectively, and manage your time. And he shares common patterns he's observed with ADHD-affected medical students and physicians. In part 3 of this 4-part miniseries, Ryan outlines how ADHD can impact your time management abilities and shares strategies to help medical students and practicing physicians who are struggling. 

What You Need to Know About ADHD in Medical School In this podcast miniseries, STATMed founder Ryan Orwig examines life as a doctor or medical student with ADHD. He outlines how ADHD affects your ability to study, take tests effectively, and manage your time. And he shares common patterns he's observed with ADHD-affected medical students and physicians. In the first episode of this 4-part miniseries, Ryan discusses what ADHD looks like for medical students and the problems it can cause within the context of medical learning. 

How One ER Doc Went on to a Dream Career After Failing A Board ExamIn this series, we‘re talking about something people rarely discuss: failing in med school and on boards. During these interviews, former STATMed students share some of their most vulnerable and scary moments. They talk about their “crisis points” — or their darkest hour in their medical careers when they realized they were about to fail or lose sight of their dreams. We look at what led up to these critical turning points and how these med students and doctors overcame them to achieve ultimate success. Navigating a Med School Crisis Point: Failing the BoardsIn this episode, host Ryan Orwig is back with Mike, a former STATMed Learning Class participant. Mike shares his second crisis point when he failed his COMLEX Step 2 exam. He outlines the bumps in the road and the steps he took to achieve his dream of becoming an emergency room physician after failing a board exam. “You take it (board exam). Then you go off on rotations and auditions and to all these different programs. You're trying to look good and work hard and get into one of these residency spots. And you're doing well, they like you, and they think you're a good fit. But then they pull your scores and see your Step 1 and your failed Step 2, and then you're back to the embarrassment of not doing well on testing because that's what everybody looks at.” - Mike, ER Doctor, and STATMed AlumniDon't miss the first part of Mike's story in Part 1. 

In this series, we‘re talking about something people rarely discuss: failing in med school. During these interviews, former STATMed students share some of their most vulnerable and scary moments. They talk about their “crisis points” — or their darkest hour in med school when they realized they were about to fail or lose sight of their dreams. We look at what led up to these critical turning points and how these med students and doctors overcame them to achieve ultimate success. As a society, we love a success story. The protagonist has a dream; they work hard and achieve it. If it's a movie, there's usually a montage of struggle, perseverance, and, ultimately, success. It's heartwarming and uplifting. But in real life, when you're in the struggle part of the montage, it can be an incredibly isolating and scary place. This is especially true for aspiring doctors who find themselves drowning in the depths of medical school. Crisis points like failing out of medical school or not passing board exams happen. They happen pretty frequently. But it's rarely discussed. Navigating A Med School Crisis PointIn this podcast episode, host Ryan Orwig sits down with Mike, a former STATMed Learning Class participant. Mike shares his crisis point, when he was dismissed from med school, and outlines his path to ultimately achieving his dream of becoming an emergency room physician. "Basically, you've been working through high school, through college. You've spent six or eight years of your life going to this point and getting through to be a doctor, and in two weeks, it all gets stopped dead in its tracks." - Mike, ER Doctor, and STATMed Alumni

Practical Ways to Include Retrieval Practice In Your Studying When it comes to study strategies, many of the students we work with tend to double down on the techniques that helped them get this far. But, sometimes, those methods fall a little short in the onslaught of information you're expected to know in medical school. If your go-to study strategy proves inefficient, retrieval practice is the med school study habit you need to try. This is the second of a two-part miniseries discussing retrieval practice. Listen to part one here. The Top Med School Study Habit You Need to Try: Retrieval Practice“There's a couple of components to retrieval practice that's important if you're going to do it correctly, You have to do the self-check. If you're doing a self-test, it's important to do a self-check for depth, breadth, and accuracy.” - Dr. Jim Culhane In this podcast episode, host Ryan Orwig is back with Dr. Jim Culhane to dig into ways students can incorporate retrieval practice as their go-to med school study habit. They share three different retrieval practice strategies students can use to maximize their studying. Be sure to stay up to date on our latest podcast episodes, videos, and posts by joining our mailing list! 

When It Comes to Studying In Med School, Think ‘Retrieval,' Not ReviewWhen you're struggling in med school, it can feel like you're jumping from one study strategy to the next, hoping that something sticks. While there is no “one-size-fits-all” study method, retrieval practice could be the key to getting more out of your study sessions. Skip Review and Focus on Retrieval Practice“I've turned ‘review' into a bad word. Review is anytime you have your eyeballs looking over something you've already studied. It's passive and it gives that sense of familiarity; it entrenches the trap of familiarity. The opposite side of review, to me, is this idea of retrieval practice… Retrieval practice is anytime you attempt to recall something you already studied. You allow for failure and then self-check it.” - Ryan Orwig In this podcast episode, host Ryan Orwig sits down with Dr. Jim Culhane, Assistant Dean of Academic Success Programs and Professor at Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy. In part one of the two-part miniseries, they analyze the benefits of retrieval versus other, more passive study methods.Ryan and Jim examine why traditional study methods, such as rereading, can yield low results, and explore how retrieval practice has been proven as an effective study strategy. Be sure to stay up to date on our latest podcast episodes, videos, and posts by joining our mailing list! 

Don't Let Common Test-Taking Pitfalls — Like Predicting, Ruling In, and Code Failures — Sabotage Your Performance Over the years, we've worked with many students who struggled to take medical board exams and other tests. And we've noticed specific patterns in the types of errors students and doctors make. In this podcast mini-series, we're breaking down 13 of the most common test-taking mistakes we see on the medical board exams and other tests. Common Test-Taking Mistakes: Part 3In this episode, Ryan and David discuss more common mistakes students and doctors make on medical board exams, including predicting, ruling in, partial true versus We'll dig even deeper into test-taking pitfalls in future episodes. Be sure to stay up to date on our latest podcast episodes, videos, and posts by joining our mailing list! 

Med school is astronomically hard. Students are responsible for an overwhelming amount of information at a whirlwind pace. And, chances are, for some, the study skills that got you through your undergrad aren't taking you as far as they used to. The STATMed Learning Program was created to share skills and strategies to help in med school. But don't just take our word for it. In this podcast, we hear from several alumni from the STATMed Study Skills Class who share their thoughts after taking this 10-day program the summer after their first year of med school.  They dive into how the skills and strategies they learned transformed how they approached med school. From frameworking and retrieval practice to implementing memory palaces, they dig into the approaches that help turn their med school experience around. 

Don't Let These Common Pitfalls Derail You Over the years, we've seen the students and doctors we work with make many different test-taking errors. And we've seen patterns in the types of errors they make.  So, in this podcast mini-series, we're walking through 13 of the most common errors that medical students and doctors make on board exams and other tests. Test-Taking ErrorsIn this episode, Ryan and David discuss four more common mistakes med students and doctors make when taking medical board exams:  misreading the question and the clues, focusing on a single point of contact, rounding down, and twisting. We'll dig even deeper into test-taking pitfalls in future episodes. Be sure to stay up to date on our latest podcast episodes, videos, and posts by joining our mailing list! 

Pitfalls to Avoid When Taking Medical Board Exams and Other Tests Over the past decade, we've seen the students and physicians we work with make a lot of mistakes on tests. But we've come to realize that the types of mistakes they make are surprisingly consistent. So much so, in fact, that we've been able to identify 13 common errors medical students and doctors make that cause them to miss points on board exams and other tests. In this mini-series, we dig deep into each “miss type,” or type of error we've seen. In this first episode of the series, we start with evaluating whether it's truly a test-taking issue or whether you simply don't know the material well enough — a miss type we call a “knowledge miss.” From there, we outline 3 additional ways test-takers can go wrong on exam day. We'll discuss other test-taking pitfalls in future episodes. So be sure to sign up for our mailing list and visit our blog to stay up to date on our latest, episodes, videos, and posts!