Summary: Episode 20: Learn your innate learning style, 14 study techniques, 6 types of material you encounter in medical school and premed courses, 5-Step Study Method, and a cheat sheet that integrates all of these tools into one printable checklist to staple to the front of your notes for a particular test.<br> Listen to the 39 minute podcast here…<br> Like many would-be doctors, I struggled with certain parts of the MCAT more than others. I took a $1,000+ commercial speed reading course to help me improve and spent the summer at the Kaplan center only to be disappointed.<br> It wasn’t until the first year of medical school that I actually learned how to study, speed-read, and manage my time so that I could be successful in school and spend time with my family. Next, I studied these learning styles and study techniques and formalized them into a 5 Step Study Method that I’ve been teaching for several years.<br> When I began teaching all of the techniques, people really appreciated the insight into a “doctor’s mentality” and found that they shaved hours off their time spent studying and were enjoying more time with family and friends almost immediately!<br> Then, I began to get a lot of emails with specific questions and I soon realized that, just like in medical school, everyone’s approach to different techniques and types of information varied a little bit.<br> Then a light bulb went off!<br> What if I taught you how to teach yourself which techniques work for you?<br> That’s when my Custom Speed Reading System was born. This profoundly insidious system has become ingrained in how I think, not just how I study.<br> I have since prepared myself to excel at and pass those big exams like MCAT, medical school exams, and all four of the USMLE exams. Most of the methods in my speed reading course will be less foreign to you than you might initially think and therefore its easy for us to learn and use!<br> I created a multi-media course on Speed Reading for Medical School:<br> <br> * Evaluate your own study methods and test them objectively<br> * Prepare yourself to be a speed reader<br> * Manage your time and spend it the way you want<br> <br> Here is a little bit of the science I teach behind my methods:<br> As children we were taught to read letter-by-letter and word-by-word. We start from the very beginning of a sentence and read through to the last word of the document. We rhythmically and painstakingly give attention to every word and most of our schooling focuses on memorizing each detail.<br> I submit that the United States is behind many leading countries in the education department because of a lack of vision. This type of rote reading is only good when you’re reading a novel or fulfilling another pleasurable pasttime. However, this type of reading is not what we need in medical school and many students don’t have the academic “genes” to survive undergrad without something more. They experience this with a damaged GPA or low score on an MCAT section.<br> What we need is a different type of reading that is fast and has good retention of the facts, not only for a test but also for an important career.<br> Normally you can read a book in about 3-5 hours with the help of this Speed Reading Course. More importantly, you will learn how to set goals for each time you sit down with a book. It’s possible to shorten the time it takes you to get everything you need from a book to 30-45 minutes per book – total! With this you can spend your time covering more study resources or with your friends and loved ones.<br> My Speed Reading program is actually a combination of reading methods, which will increase reading speed and comprehension of voluminous material. To us doctors/med students/premeds, this is the every-day fact – that we need to study tons of medical details. Thus, we need to prepare ourselves to be able to adapt the ever-challenging MCAT,
