DIP Episode 505 - Why people fail USMLE exams (a thoughtful discourse)

Welcome. This is episode 505 of the Divine Intervention Podcasts. Into this podcast I'm going to be addressing a topic that I promised last week that I will be addressing. And this is going to be Why Students Fail USML exams. Why Students Fail USML exams. And please, I will say a few things here. I'm going to try to be very calm and kind with this podcast. What's one of the things I may see today may be hard hitting. But I will just encourage you to please just take it with some grace. I'm not making this podcast to make anyone feel terrible. I'm making this podcast because I truly genuinely from my heart want to help. I truly genuinely from my heart want to help. So I'm just going to go right into it. Number one, why do people feel the USML exams? I'm a born and it's probably one of the more common reasons is a poor foundation. It's a poor foundation. If you're building, if you want to erect the building, the very first thing you do is the foundation. And it's pretty amazing how fast the building goes up after the foundation has been laid. But many people go into the USML exams with very poor foundations. Very, very poor foundations. Again, what's your foundation? Your foundation is what your base of knowledge is. And that base of knowledge, you really have to be very careful when you're defining your foundation because some people will say they have a bird base of knowledge.

But they have a bird base of poor quality knowledge is not just enough to have a foundation is enough to have a is important to have a foundation with the right components. Many people, they have a bird base of knowledge, but that knowledge is a bunch of sand basically. It's not rocks, right? So you just have to be very, very careful with this. The foundation you're building, are you building a good foundation? That's one of actually a very common problem with medical students. They'll say they've matured this deck, they've done this, they've done that, they've done this, they've done that. They've built a foundation, it's just a faulty foundation. And the thing is, if you know that you have a poor foundation, then you have no business having a short dedicated period. That is the truth. You have a poor foundation, you have absolutely no business having a short dedicated period. No, you're going to need a long dedicated period. And you see some people, they try to short circuit the process, they want to start building when they have no foundation. That's why sometimes this generic advice of just do questions, it makes absolutely no sense for a good number of people actually. Because they're just like, I'm just going to start questions, I'm going to learn by questions, but they have like zero, zero foundation. The thing is, you're going to get a lot less from questions when you are working with a poor foundation. Many people want to use questions to build their foundation.

That is not smart. Questions are supposed to help a person that has a good foundation and they're supposed to teach you more than just knowledge. They're also supposed to teach you how to critically think. But if you have no foundation, then those questions are just literally for you to just try to catch any bit of information, you can catch, catch any bit of information, you can catch. That's why you see many times I tell people, even if it's just the first few days of your dedicated period, try to like establish a good foundation in a subject before you start doing questions on it, you get a lot more. And I know this advice I'm giving is counterintuitive, but I'm telling you I will argue that my experience, not just my personal experience, but in my other experiences, teaching on tutoring like tons of people for these exams, it is right. So, and again, but again, please, I'm not saying that I'm some person that knows it all. No, right? Your mileage may vary with the, in fact, take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. But again, I'm just speaking based on experience and based on logic. So, because that's the thing, if you have a poor foundation and it keeps propagating, you're going to keep getting messed up. That's the truth. Like you see some people, the reason they are feeling their residency exams is because they had a poor foundation that was never fixed in the first place. That problem will keep following you. I'm telling you this is not a matter of a curse.

It's just a matter of the reality of life. You see people, they just believe that, okay, I'm just going to coast through. I'm going to keep going, right? The barely past the step one, they go to step two and then boom, they end up feeling it. And then, okay, they retake it and they pass it. But they still keep that foundational problem is still bad. They get to step three, they start struggling with it. They start messing up in residency because they don't have a good foundation from step three. The program says, oh, you've taken step three now three times, you feel the three times, you need to go on a live of absence. We will not renew your contract. X, Y, Z. And then you see these people, okay, maybe the tick step three after much pain, they squeak by. They're like, okay, I hit the pass and score. Who I passed and they're do be late in now. You don't you should not be do be late in because your future is going to be impaired because you see these same people, the same people that take their specialty board exams and they feel it multiple times before the pass. I'm telling you this, you cannot outrun a poor foundation. You literally cannot outrun a poor foundation, right? A propagated for foundation will keep messing you up. At some point that building that you put on a poor foundation is going to fall, right? And the thing is it takes time to set a good foundation. It takes time. A good foundation, it may be slow to build.

It may require being very methodical, but it will last. That's the truth. It will last. I'm telling you this, many people think that wow, divine, just all of a sudden new his material very well. No, the reason that exams have generally gone pretty well for me is that I built a good foundation. When I was learning this material the first time, I learned it to the best of my abilities. Am I going to stand here and say that, wow, everything I learned to the best of my abilities, absolutely not. No, even I am guilty of some of these mistakes that I'm going to be talking about. Some of these mistakes have affected me personally, right? But having a good foundation really helps. I'm telling you this, like what I would pray with. What I would pray with the success I had on step one, there are many other factors, right? And I'm grateful to God. God has been my helper in many things I've done in my life. But one thing that's very important is just that right foundation, that right foundation helped on step one. Carried over to step two, carried over to step three, carried over to residency exams, everything, right? So a good phone, even clinical practice, having a good foundation is extremely helpful, extremely helpful. So please don't just look at the exam as something that you need to pass. No, consider the importance of a right foundation. You'll be grateful for it. Your exam scores will be grateful for it. Your patients will certainly be grateful for it. Right?

And again, just be careful. What kind of foundation are you building? You see some people, they build their foundations on sand, right? They use the wrong resources. They don't go in the appropriate amount of depth. And then they wonder why their foundation is messed up, right? You see some people these days, they want fast foundations. People these days are not patients. And unfortunately, this overuse of social media has really made people have a hard time focusing, right? People want things to be dished to them in quick size, quick size, fast size. They want to go from zero to 60 in two seconds, right? But again, those foundations that are built quickly are not memorable. They are usually not going to be solid foundations, right? It's kind of like the difference between eating a solid meal, home cooked meal, and eating fast food. Fast food is fast. You can get it quick. You don't have to work for it. Literally just drive to a place, drive to some fast food place, go through the drive-through, then you don't have to go inside, go through the drive-through, buy it, eat it and you're done. But the thing is within an hour, you're going to be hungry. Versus solid food that you cook at home is more feeling. It's a lot healthier. It's not going to give you long term problems, right? So again, the thing is the foundation that you're standing on will ultimately determine how far you're going to go exemplarize. That's the truth. Okay, so that's principle number one.

Why people fail exams? What's principle number two? Principle number two is people have the study for the exams with no direction. Literally no direction, no direction. Some people just like, oh, I'm just going to start studying, you know, see what happens. No, that's not smart. You see people that are not methodical about things. People don't have any sense of diagnostics, right? The thing is, is very important to know what are my weaknesses, what are my strengths, and then how do I go after these weaknesses and these strengths? But many people, they just start their dedicated periods without direction. They start med school, literally without direction. It makes absolutely no sense. I'm telling you this, it makes absolutely no sense. Your learning has to be thoughtful so you can get a lot from it. You see people, they just follow stock advice. I cannot tell you how many people that I've worked with one on one. Where they come to me, they say that, well, they're fine. I've been studying for my USMT for four months. I'm like, what happened? Oh, my med school said that I should just do questions. I should just do questions. I should just do questions. Oh, I should just do questions. But then I see down with these people, we talk for like 30, 40 minutes. Sometimes an hour and I'm like, look at your history. Let's, let's, let's going, let's start going down like, okay, how do things go on your M cut? How did you study for your M cut?

How do things, okay, let's just take two take her. How do things go on step one? How do you do to during your preclinical subjects? These are things I dive into with people, right? Because I want to have an understanding of the foundation so that I can know the best plan of attack going forward. But you see many people, they have like absolutely no direction. They just follow stock advice. Literally, they follow stock advice. So they don't have a proper diagnostic of what their problems are. They just start studying with no strategy with no plan. And then they wonder, man, I spent two months on this process, three months on this process, four months on this process process. I'm telling you, I've literally seen people, I've worked in one of one of one of these study for these exams for like a full year and they are not passing any practice test. There's something wrong. But you see them, they keep so dream on, they keep bad dream on. But they are getting nothing for all their efforts, right? That's not a good place to be, right? So you want to make sure that you are going with direction, you're going with direction, you have a good diagnostic of this is what my struggles are. Okay. This is what I'm going to do to fix these struggles. Then you'll be more targeted and you'll get a lot more from your study time. Okay. Now what's principle number three, principle number three is many people take these exams and the lack of understanding and the lack of critical thinking skills.

Many people lack understanding the, the, the, the moment a lot of stuff, but they don't understand a lot of it. Right. The lack of understanding, lack of critical thinking skills and to be honest with you, there are many causes of this problem, but when I can certainly identify is people have just gotten very lazy over time. People these days are going very lazy. People are not patient to learn things when learn things and learn them well. Right. People have adopted the fast food mentality to the learning process. Right. Because if you adopt that fast food mentality, all you're going to get is knowledge. You're not going to get understanding. You're not going to get wisdom from it. Wisdom is the ability to apply learned knowledge, but many people, they're not patient. They just want to run through things and run through it fast. Right. And I don't know cause of this thing is honestly, there has been a huge proliferation of resources in recent years with an emphasis is recall and memory tools, but no substance. I'm telling you a lot of learning resources out there are literally fast food literally fast food literally fast food. Right. I'm telling you this again, I'm not going to mention any specific resource, but if you read between the lines of what I'm saying, you understand precisely what I mean. There's been a proliferation. I'm telling you this more than probably any other point in the historical medical education.

There's been this huge proliferation of resources that emphasize recall and memory tools, but no real substance. You see people do over rely on on key. Right. You're over rely on on key. They're like, oh, I'm just going to match others deck and I'm going to crush my exam. Right. Let me tell you this. Let me tell you this. See, it's easy to use on key. It's easy. Right. It's easy. But again, it doesn't usually help with building critical thinking skills. You're just doing literally factual recall. And the thing is the USM is they're not stupid. What do you do these days? Many questions. Yes, you have to have the recall. But most times you're going to need that understanding and that ability to critically think that ability to critically think. Right. You see, there's this big over focus on quick, easy and dirty. Oh, give it to me quick, easy and dirty. Give it to me quick, easy and dirty. Right. Well, you see some people they are dependent on other people's thought processes for their own learning. Other people's thought processes and mostly you should never consult other people's thought processes, but don't over rely on it. Like you see some people like, oh, they're so hoodwing by premade on key decks. Again, please get the point. I'm not saying don't use premade on key decks. Well, let's say for example, you've learned the material. You've got in the material down. You have that on the stung area like you know what I'm just looking for recall.

Then you're like a good kind of. You need to be used in some persons premade deck, although they still an issue with that because you rely on another person's thought process. You're relying on a person's thinking in creating their own on key decks. There are many on key decks out there that are just. Horrible. That's the truth for lack of a better term. They're just horrible. They're literally just horrible. If you look through the universe of on key decks, the ones that actually like, hmm, okay, these ones are decent are in the minority, not in the majority. But you see people, they build their knowledge base based on the way someone else created their on key decks. Right. So, so that person that may have created that premade deck that you're using. Maybe the person had a very specific set of struggles or the person had a very specific thought process with the way they learned that may not work for you. But because you are much enough of that premade on key decks, you don't end up learning much of anything. Right. Or you're like literally learning based on those people, not based on your own self, your strengths and your weaknesses. Right. Or you see some people, they are so dependent on like, this is one of the common, this is like one of the crazies these days. Let's use this person's notes. Let's use this person's notes. Let's use this person's notes. Let me tell you this.

The stuff that you construct your own self is almost always going to be a lot better than the stuff that you're getting from other people. That's the truth. Especially with learning, the stuff you construct your own self, the thought process that you build your own self is usually going to be a lot better. And more attuned to you compared to what you're much enough of from other people. That's one thing that people do not understand. That is one thing that people do not understand. That is one thing that people do not understand. The dish should prepare for yourself. Sometimes can be better than the one you get from other people because you know that, oh, my strengths and my weaknesses came to bear in making this meal. Right. You know exactly what you want. You know exactly what you like. So why don't you create what you want and what you like. Right. Or you see some people, they depend so hard on other people's experiences. That's why to be honest with you, this whole concept of reading people's experiences that have taken the exams and gotten a certain score. Most times it's not very beneficial. It's not. Why? Because again, you're reading that person's specific experience. It may not apply to your own condition. Right. It may not apply to your own condition. So again, many people these days, they lack understanding, the lack of critical thinking. Right.

And I'm telling you this, like that problem, if you don't fix it, you're going to keep struggling on many things in your educational life, in your medical education life. That is just the truth. Right. These days, people want quick and dirty. But you see people, they don't want any kind of thoughtful discourse literally. No kind of thoughtful discourse. I'm telling you, thoughtful discourse, it takes time, but it's a more permanent memory. It's a more permanent memory. Right. Like I've seen many people say that, oh, I would rather use this, this thing is much quicker, is much faster. Blah blah blah blah blah. And let me tell you this. Do you know what put you in? Do you know why you're in that situation? It's you. It's you. You didn't start building the right foundation early. So that's why you're like, oh, let me just go and pick this 3000 card deck and quick and dirty be ready for my exam. No. You've not gotten any kind of thoughtful discourse. Right. These days, people don't want to listen to a one hour lecture that would truly explain things to them and help them get those things down. Part. They'll rather do like a 20 meter on key deck that fits on that social media brain that cannot focus for long periods of time. Where did you just go? Every few seconds, they're clicking one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one. And they will deceive themselves and call that active learning. You're just learning fast. Is that I like to call that fast food learning?

You're stuffing your brain with facts, but there's no context, no reasoning, nothing, nothing. Literally, nothing, nothing. Right. And then you these days, there are people that many people don't like thoughtful discourse. Right. The thing that appeals to people's emotions these days, the thing that appeals to people's ears, these days, those each ears to be honest with you is just what is quick and dirty? Hmm. What is quick and dirty? Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. What is rapid, rapid, rapid, rapid, rapid, rapid? If you try to break things down from first principles, help people understand things, help people make integrations, they don't want that anymore. Right. Because let me ask you this, when you're learning a concept, how many on key decks do you see that say, oh, okay, this is this general concept? Hmm. Okay. How does this concept apply? What are some examples of this concept? How could you try to twist this concept around to confuse you? What are some other ways? What are some other terms that could be used to describe this concept? How many on key decks do you see that do that? Right. But people want quick and dirty. But again, a quick and dirty foundation will not last. Okay. Now what is principle number four? Principle number four is taking you exams with poor strategy, poor strategy, poor strategy. Many people take the exams and they're literally not methodical about anything, poor strategy. Time management is an important strategy for the exam.

You see some people, they have 10 questions left that they've not even looked at. And there's only five minutes left in the block. That's poor time management strategy. You see some people, they have the knowledge base, but they keep getting chopped down by the US Emily questions. Why? Because they have poor what? Poor what? Poor testing strategy. Right. You have to be strategic. You have to be methodical in the way you prepare for your exams and in the way you take your exams. You see some people, they just want to bum rush the whole process. They just want to push it through. They just want to muzzle through that they get a period. No. You see some people, they've done 4,000, 5,000 questions. But again, their practice test scores are not reflecting that level of effort. Why? Because they were not strategic with your effort. There's people that believe it or not, all they did for their US Emily is maybe like a thousand, 500 questions. But those 1500 questions, they got a lot more from it. Why? Because they were very strategic. You see people, even the way you repeat the material you have learned requires being strategic. Critical pieces of information where you're like, wow, this thing I got to make sure I know it from my exam. You see people, they are not strategic about repeating it. But they have, they have, they repeat a lot of, you see them, they're like, oh, I'm going to have done this deck, I've done this deck.

Well, they are critical things that they just don't know because they were not strategic. There's this concept of deliberate practice where you're very methodical. You're trying to get feedback, you're trying to look what's going on, what's here, what's there. Even your question review, like I kid you not, this is something that helped me tremendously with the MCAT. And help me tremendously, I will see with the US Emily exams. Just being strategic with your review like, wait, okay, this question. Because some people, they just get a question wrong and chalk it up to, okay, well, I got the question wrong. No. Why did I get this question wrong? Did I know the information? How did it, how was I tricked with this question? What example did he use with this question? Right? If you're strategic with your question review, you will get a lot more like you will not just be reviewing the content that you got wrong, but you'll also be building testing acumen. You'll also be building critical thinking acumen. Okay, what is principle number five? Why people fill the USM at least? People fill the USM because they overcompliquate things. They overcompliquate things. You see people, they have a study plan and the study plan has so many moving parts. And you wonder like, oh my goodness, these people are literally setting themselves up for failure. The plan has too many moving parts. The plan has too many resources. Right? The plan is just not well flushed out.

They're using like 10 different resources for 30 day, they get it paired. And then they wonder, hmm, why am I not succeeding? What's going on? Right? Don't overcomplicate your life. Make a simple plan. They are plans that are very simple, but very effective. Right? And the thing is, the plan that works for one person may not necessarily work for you. That's just a truth. Okay, what is principle number six? Principle number six is swinging too much in one direction. Why do people fill these exams? Swinging too much in one direction. Right? What are these two directions? Is the direction of doing questions and the direction of content review? See, you cannot make your dedicated period just doing questions. No. Are there some people that are succeed by doing that? Yes. Well, those people are the exception rather than the rule. That's the truth. But this is something that many people don't understand. The thing is, if you're learning just from doing questions, what you're learning is very slow until you're learning is very inefficient. It's very slow and is very inefficient. You need to have a balance between doing questions and actually learning content. See, there's only so much you can learn from just doing questions. And there's also so much you can learn from only reviewing content. You need to have a balance between both. Yes, don't get me wrong. As you're getting closer to your real tested, should you be emphasizing to do more and more questions? Absolutely.

But in the very beginning of your dedicated period, at least up till midway, you really should be very conscientious about reviewing content. To be honest with you, I am pro studying authorial dedicated period, building content and also doing questions authorial dedicated period. But probably for the first week, first 10 days, just been that time like really getting the content down, build that foundation. And then you notice that you be a lot faster as you go through your questions, as you go through your questions. So balance those things. Again, I can't tell you how many times I've worked with students that have failed USMLA exams. And what was the thing? Their school told them to do questions, they took that whole client and sinker, and then they failed the exams. You don't want to be in that situation. Now, what is the seventh reason why people fail the USMLA? The seventh reason is the mental angle, the mental angle. Many people go into these exams, and they have a lot of anxiety, they have a lot of fear, they have a lot of neuroticism. You need to work on that mental angle. If you need to see a professional, see a professional. But again, don't wait till the last minute. You see people, they start seeing a professional month before the exam. It doesn't make any sense. If you know that you have these susceptibilities, try to deal with them early. Try to deal with them early.

Like say for example, you know that, wow, I'm going to be taking a step between the summer of this year. If you know that you have these issues and the deep-seated issues, why don't you go and deal with them now before your dedicated period starts? Or you see some people, they need accommodations from the NBM Es. That process sometimes takes a year or even more. But you see them, they are taking the exams in June and they are applying for accommodations in April. How do you think you're going to be successful in that process? It makes absolutely no sense. No sense. Right? No sense. And I'm telling you this, one thing that can really help you with a mental angle, listen to episode 400 on the website, episode 400. It's literally titled Get Your Head in the Game. Get your head, that mental part in the game. Make that like a ritual before you take any practice exam before you take your real test. Even before you study your dedicated period, just listen to it. Right? And one thing I'm going to say with a mental angle is be a person that studies without distractions. Right? I'm telling you like literally having a phone by you while you're studying kills your productivity. Literally just having a phone by you, something that buzzes or some social media thing in the background, you literally killing your productivity. You're literally crushing your productivity. You don't want to be that kind of person. Right? Have distraction free studying instead of distraction field studying.

Right? You need to get your head literally in the game. And then what is the eighth reason why people fill the USME Ls? The weight still is too late. The weight still is too late. The weight still is too late. I can't tell you how many people that the schedule they are exam dates for like the last possible date before the you know, so that their scores will come out for errors. No, keep yourself a margin of safety. You see people, the weight until it's too late. Right? The weight until it's too late to make a plan. Right? Well, you see these people, one of the things that ends up killing their time during their kill periods is they make a plan for they keep changing it based on something that they read somewhere. Some persons experience the read somewhere, they change their plan based on what their friends friends told them or some new resource that comes out. No. See, don't keep jumping like shifting shadows. See compound interest, the law of compound interest applies to studying. Make a good plan to start and stick with it. Compound interest works when you give something ample amounts of time. You want to make sure that you are compounding in a steady direction. And one thing I will also see that helps is tracking your progress, track things like how many hours am I like things you want to track. How many hours did I study each day? What resources have I used? Like take inventory.

I'm telling you this, some people, their habits change once they start tracking because sometimes you think that you're doing certain things, well, you're not really doing them, but when you track, you're like, you see some people like, they're like, man, why am I suffering financially? You know, I'm always having to draw down my credit card harder at the end of the month. But then when they start tracking the expenses, wow, I spend this much money on this, this much money on coffee outside, this much money on that, this much money on this. When you track, it can help you see the problem. So I'm telling you this, don't disregard the importance of tracking during your dedicated period. And then what's the ninth reason? There's going to be 10 reasons that we're going to be done. What is the ninth reason why people feel the USML is? The ninth reason why people feel their USML is that they use the wrong resources. These are the wrong resources. They use resources that don't help with understanding, right? All these resources that just give you memory tools and methods of recall, right? Those things, again, you may think you're helping yourself or you're not, right? I'm not saying those resources are bad, but use them after the foundation has been built, right? Or you see some people use resources that are bad on giving them the correct example presentation, right?

You see like there's these, there are some Q banks where the particular concept X, the presented in the most non-classic way possible that is not in any way shape or form related to the way the USML is, present that information. But people then end up thinking that, oh, that non-classic presentation I saw in a Q bank is the presentation I'm going to show my exam and then they end up struggling because they're like, wow. This same concept, why they not presenting it like the non-classic way I saw in this Q bank and then they end up getting it wrong because they don't even know what the classic presentation should be. Or you see some resources, they have this crazy emphasis on what is useless, right? You see the really going to the weeds on certain topics and you're like, man, these topics don't matter at all for the USML exams, right? And you see people spending hours, days of the day, they get appeared trying to learn these things that have almost zero yield, right? Or you see these resources that are very linear, they are not multi-dimensional, again, that's not going to help you. If you notice in my podcast, I know some people really hate this, but honestly I'm not going to apologize for it because it ultimately prepares you better for your exams. But some people are like, wow, they've started with this vignette, but he has gone off in these 10 different directions. Why do you think I do that? I do that because that's a kind of thinking that is needed for the USML.

At least you want to be able to think in multiple dimensions, in multiple dimensions, right? Or you see people, they say that, oh, I took my exam and I did not do a single in-bini practice test. Oh, I got a 250. Don't get me wrong. The fact that it worked for those people does not necessarily mean that it worked for you. Again, there is almost nothing that is better prepared for an exam than materials from the people that are going to be writing the exam that you're going to be taking, right? So again, use as many in-bini resources as is possible, right? And again, that's the thing. People online a lot. They will tell you that, oh, they did this, they did this, they did this, they did this. But they only maybe 10, you 50% of what they did. If some of the scores that people put online are absolutely false, right? We see people, they take what people say online, hook, line and sinker. That is not wise. That is not wise, right? That is not wise. And then the 10th reason, oh, this one is really heartbreaking. You see people, they take the exams without having a raw data indicating that you'll be successful, right? I can't tell you how many people have seen, worked with many of these kinds of people 101. The practice tests were telling them that you're not ready for your exam. You're very likely going to fail. Like they're passing their practice tests with a skin of your teeth. Or the, you know, let's say they take 10 practice tests. Nine of them did not hit the passing score.

But then they take one where they get like, oh, five or 10 points above passing. And then they're like, yep, I am ready for my exams, right? And then the school is pressuring them. You must take your exam by this date. You must take your exam by this date. And then they end up failing the exams. Again, can you recover from a failed USML exam? You absolutely can. You absolutely can. But if you can prevent that from happening in the first place, that's the optimal situation. Can you recover from a failed USML exam? Oh, absolutely, you can. But it's just better to not be in that situation in the first place. So again, I know that I may have talked really harshly in this podcast. And again, I am really sorry. But I'm really trying to help these principles think about them. I can almost promise you that you're probably falling one of these buckets. I fell in some of these buckets in the past. Right? Yes, I am. I must I did not fill in USML exam. I did not. I did not. But again, I have a lot of experience working with people that have filled these exams and have subsequently passed. Right? So I'm just using this based on experience based on my observations over the years as an educator as a teacher in many different settings. Right? So please just keep these things in mind as you prepare for your exams so that you don't fall into these traps. And don't say, oh, man, I have never. I've never failed an exam. So I don't need this podcast.

No, you need this podcast because sometimes it's better to learn from people's failures. So you don't make the same mistakes they made that body into those videos in the first place. So I'm going to go ahead and wrap up here. I brought for one or one tutoring for all the USML exams step on to step three, complex level one to three pre clinical exams, 30 or shelf exams. Again, if you know you're present as struggles academically, you can reach out to me and I can give you some more information on the one and one work I do. And then also offer a bunch of review courses. I have a 20 hour step two step three class also, obviously, for complex level two and three studying today in the afternoon. It's going to run till Friday. So interested. Just ship me an email. The over Zoom. I can give you some more information. And these classes are not a bunch of memory call tools. No, if that's what you're expecting, then you shouldn't come to the classes. They're not going to help you at all. What are these classes? These classes are almost exclusively clinical scenarios, exam style scenarios. And then there's a big focus on helping you understand the concepts, helping you integrate the material across multiple disciplines. That's what I focus on. Like if you see the way I do my podcast, if you see the way I explain things, then you have a pretty good idea of how I teach, right? I'm not a person that just likes, Oh, what is the definition of this? What is the definition of that?

No, I like to like start work with a clinical scenario, start off with an exam scenario. Right? Help you understand the concept. Help you see that concept in many dimensions. Help you see that, hmm, okay, this concept. What are the different ways they could go after it? What are other examples that are closely related, but are not exactly this concept? Right? If you want that kind of learning, then I think you would find these review courses to be helpful. I have a bio stats class. I have one next month. It's a four hour class. It's for step one to three. I have a test-taking strategies class step one to three also next month. And then I have a social sciences class that is five hours in that class. We cover healthcare systems, ethics, communications, quality improvement, professionalism, communication skills and things of that nature. And then I have this podcast on Apple Google and Spotify. I have a You Tube channel, divine intervention, US Mly podcast and videos. That's where I post the videos that I make. And the slides that go with my shelf reviews, you can actually find them on my actual website, divine intervention podcast.com. Just go to that specific episode. The slide deck is going to be there. And then finally, I have another website called a divine intervention, life lessons.com. Every week I post two podcasts where from a blebical perspective, I address a life lesson. So check that out. I think there's many people that I've used it.

And if I need to be really helpful, it's almost like a devotional for them every every week. And actually, there's an Apple podcast associated with that called the divine intervention, life lessons podcast. So thank you for listening to me today. I will see you in a episode 506. Have a wonderful week. God bless you and bye for now. Thank you.

A poor foundational base of knowledge (building on sand rather than rock).

Establishing a solid content-based foundation through thorough review.

Fast food learning provides quick facts/recall but lacks context; deep learning (like a home-cooked meal) is slower but more lasting and comprehensive.

Be methodical and diagnostic—identify specific weaknesses and create a targeted plan of attack.

Do not wait until it is too late; maintain a margin of safety in planning and addressing mental health issues early.

Because those resources reflect another person's specific struggles, thought process, or learning style, which may not align with the student's own strengths and weaknesses.

To develop understanding and critical thinking skills (the ability to apply knowledge).

Do not overcomplicate things; keep the plan simple but effective.

Analyzing why a question was missed, understanding the underlying concept, and identifying how the question structure might have been misleading.

A conscientious effort toward content review (building foundation) alongside doing questions.

Studying; making a good plan and sticking with it allows knowledge gains to build steadily over time.

As early as possible, not just right before the exam or during the dedicated period.

To develop understanding and critical thinking skills (the ability to apply knowledge).

Do not overcomplicate things; keep the plan simple but effective.

Analyzing why a question was missed, understanding the underlying concept, and identifying how the question structure might have been misleading.

A conscientious effort toward content review (building foundation) alongside doing questions.

Studying; making a good plan and sticking with it allows knowledge gains to build steadily over time.

As early as possible, not just right before the exam or during the dedicated period.