You may click on the following blue Qs to bring you to their respective As.
I see a lot of FAQs here. Can you just tell me: What are you offering me / what is your purpose?
How important is a strong USMLE score?
How high of a score should I personally aim for?
Can you help me with shelf exams / clinical rotations?
Can I be a tutor on your team?
Do you use a specific method for teaching?
How long is a typical session?
How often should I meet with my tutor?
How many hours of tutoring do I need?
Do you do semi-private and group tutoring?
Do you guys make customized study schedules?
Do you offer anything in addition to tutoring services?
What is this I hear about your Audio Qbank?
Do you have a Telegram group I can join?
I see a lot of FAQs here. Can you just tell me: What are you offering me / what is your purpose?
We have no interest in preaching at you cliché mission statements about why our dreams and aspirations as a group are so spiritually amazing. Our purpose here is straightforward: to offer you premium 1-on-1 tutoring for the USMLE, CBSE/COMP, shelf exams, clinical rotations, and your medical coursework. You want to do well on your exams. We understand that. So what do we do? We help you get those scores you’re looking for through effective, quality tutoring. It’s really as simple as that. We cut to the chase and get your scores up through helping you solidify exactly the key factoids + concepts you need to know. In our experience, even students who are not specifically searching for tutoring instantly realize the benefits after just one session. We know what we’re doing and we do it well.
How important is a strong USMLE score?
Look, let’s just be real. If a strong score weren’t paramount for a good residency placement, you wouldn’t even be reading this page nor would you be thinking about the possibility of a tutor in the first place. Statistical data has consistently shown that applicants with top board scores match into their desired specialties more often than those with lower scores. It doesn’t matter if you took care of sick children in Swaziland for seven years and experienced kwashiorkor yourself; if your board scores aren’t where they need to be, some programs won’t even give your application a chance. Is this pessimism and/or myopic cynicism? No. This is the communication of practicality because we have absolutely zero interest in wasting your time and every interest in boosting your score as much as possible. We have as much ardency as you in wanting to augment your score. Everyone wins. You get a strong score, and we get the fulfillment of knowing that we’ve helped you out along the way.
How high of a score should I personally aim for?
Most people undoubtedly seek high scores in order to maximize their chances of matching into their preferred specialty. Others may seek a strong performance in order to achieve personal fulfillment or sense of mastery of the material. Whether you are looking for that magical 260 or just praying to pass, our tutors will work with you to help you achieve your desired aims.
Can you help me with shelf exams / clinical rotations?
We have a track record of helping students ace (i.e., High-Pass and Honor) their shelf exams / clinical rotations. We have students who say, e.g., “I really need help with peds. My shelf is in x-number of weeks.” And then we help them ace their shelf. Our 1-on-1 tutoring is not just tailored to helping you do well on the USMLE and CBSE/COMP. We help you dominate your shelves as well.
I’m still in my preclinical years. Can you help me with general coursework and my school’s annoying exams?
We help plenty of students with their MS1/MS2 coursework. This applies to both preclinical shelves (i.e., micro, pharm, etc.) as well as general coursework (i.e., “Hey, I have a mixed GIT/endocrine exam in three weeks. Can you help me with that?”). The approach we take when a student has specific coursework requirements usually starts with asking about, and taking a look at, the student’s syllabus and figuring out exactly how to optimize for his or her school exam. We also take into consideration a student’s concurrent study for the USMLE/CBSE/COMP and if he or she needs tailored scheduling to simultaneously study for both exams. The process clearly isn’t cookie-cutter; this is why our 1-on-1 tutoring sessions aimed at customizing and optimizing for each student’s specific needs are so effective.
Our tutors carry average USMLE scores of 260, with a mandatory floor of 250 to be qualified to teach an exam for our group. Although board scores are undeniably crucial in the selection process for our tutors, this is not a blind selection. Our tutors have all shown a desire to engage with and help others through community platforms. A passion for teaching and a commitment to the betterment of the medical community are factors we consider in the scouting of prospective tutors. All tutors in our group carry the aim of wanting to give you an enjoyable learning experience and the prospect of the highest score possible.
Can I be a tutor on your team?
If you are interested in tutoring USMLE with us, please fill out this form.
Do you use a specific method for teaching?
We have special methods, strategies, and resources that we share amongst our tutors, yes. We are aware of specific ways to get your score up quickly and efficiently. However we also recognize that every tutor brings different strengths and perspectives to the table. In other words, there is of course natural variation in teaching style between tutors, as with all individuals in life. This diversity we view as a strength in terms of the assembly of our team.
How long is a typical session?
Sessions are 1 hour, 90 minutes, or 2 hours. The duration is completely up to the discretion and preference of the student and tutor. Rarely, sessions may extend longer than 2 hours.
How often should I meet with my tutor?
This largely depends on each student’s specific goals, how many total hours he or she wishes to utilize, and how far he or she is from his or her exam. There is no cookie-cutter approach that can be overgeneralized on behalf of all students, however it is generally recommended that students meet with their tutors at least once per week to establish consistency and accountability.
How many hours of tutoring do I need?
This is largely dependent on how high a student wishes to score. It has been observably the case that students utilizing 30-40-hour packages in dense timespans experience the most dramatic score augmentations. We have had students ace their shelf exams despite 6 weeks earlier sitting at non-pass level. There have also been students who come to us with, e.g., two prior fails on the USMLE who, in just three weeks, achieve 50-point gains. At a core level, this really isn’t magic. What you put in is what you get out. The more opportunity we have to teach you the “tricks,” infuse you with high-yield material, and develop your question-answering strategy, the higher you’ll score.
Sometimes students may wish to purchase a tutoring package in order to stratify over a longer period of time (i.e., across two or more clinical rotations or general coursework). Students who take this approach often tend to seek out ongoing advice, accountability, and a structured study routine in addition to the score-augmenting effects of the tutoring.
Do you do semi-private and group tutoring?
Greater than 99% of our tutoring is 1-on-1. However on occasion we do have students request 1-on-2 sessions (i.e., semi-private; one tutor Skyping through to two students simultaneously) as a means to split the cost of tutoring. This is perfectly fine and up to the discretion of the students. Although a 1-on-1 dynamic maximizes the degree to which a session can be tailored to a student’s specific needs and questions, semi-private lessons can be utilized by students to high degree of efficacy as well. With respect to group tutoring, this request is very rare, however we do have experience achieving this in which one of our tutors taught a couple classes of roughly 12 students simultaneously.
For a wide array of tutoring packages and discounts, please see our pricing page here.
You can pay directly from the pricing page using PayPal or credit/debit card.
Do you guys make customized study schedules?
We frequently receive requests for the creation of custom study schedules, information about resource utilization, and general study advice. This is one of our top strengths – i.e., holding students accountable and giving them the confidence and conviction to study knowing they are doing exactly what they need to do to get a top score. For instance, should you be using just UWorld and FA? What about Sketchy? Or Pathoma? Or Kaplan videos? Or OnlineMedEd? Etc. There’s a time and place for different resources. In our experience, first-time sessions with students usually entail detailed discussion of a study schedule and optimization of resource utilization.
Our tutoring rates are significantly less expensive while not sacrificing quality of service or efficacy. Each of our tutoring packages confers increasingly greater discounts. You can view our array of premium packages here.
Do you offer anything in addition to tutoring services?
We have lots of free HY documents, self-assessment exams, and pre-recorded lectures here. We also have a brand new shop with merchandise (mugs, notebooks, etc.) here.
What is this I hear about your Audio Qbank?
You can access our Audio Qbank here.
Yes, our YouTube is here.
Do you have a Telegram group I can join?
Yes, we have a Telegram group. We initially began growing our community through a WhatsApp group, however once this reached the maximum capacity allowed for the app, we switched to Telegram, which does not carry a limit. If you’d like to subscribe to our content in order to receive the latest updates about our content and join the group discussions, you can join our Telegram group here.
If you have serious tutoring inquiries for myself or team tutor, you can DM me on Instagram at @mehlman_medical. You can also fill out the form below.
GET STARTED