FAQs

Why do I need Gunner Training?

Regardless of where you are in your medical training, career-defining standardized exams like the MCAT and USMLE are critical to your success. To excel on these exams and get the career you deserve, you must:

1. Learn everything the exam makers say is fair game;
2. Be able to apply this knowledge quickly and accurately;
3. Remember everything come test day;
4. Know where you stand relative to your peers; and
5. Get the most out of your study time, coursework, books, and test prep efforts.

Gunner Training makes sure you succeed on all fronts (see the FAQs below to learn more) and is the only solution that helps you where you need it the most — remembering everything on test day.

Studies show that we are a) very poor judges of what we really learned (especially at the level of important details) and b) we are always forgetting what we learned — and fast. This would be ok if all you wanted to do was pass your tests, but if you are hoping to become a resident in a competitive field like dermatology, a few points here and there will be the difference between success and failure.

Say, for example, you are studying Hardy-Weinberg Genetics. You read and understand that allele and genotype frequencies in a population remain constant if 4 conditions are met. You move on to another topic and mentally file this information into the “don’t worry, I got this down” pile. On exam day, a multiple choice question asks you to choose the one condition out of the 5 possible answer choices that is not one of the 4. You know 3 conditions for certain but have forgotten that large population and random mating (to prevent genetic drift) is one of the 4 conditions. You choose this one thinking it isn’t a condition and you get the question wrong. The same thing happens on a handful of questions and you don’t score high enough to get into the residency program or medical school that you desire. This happens everyday to thousands of promising and hard-working students — but not to Gunner Training members.

At Gunner Training, after studying say Hardy-Weinberg Genetics, you take a quiz to test your recall of everything you studied — including each of the 4 conditions. Then, depending on how you do, we build a personal study plan to make sure that you not only remember each condition come exam day (reviewing the conditions you are having trouble with more, and those you have mastered less frequently). Thus, in addition to helping you identify how well you really know something — down to specific details and atomic facts — this process also creates a personal knowledge management system that you can rely on to ensure you don’t forget any critical information come exam day.

There is rock-solid science behind this “spaced learning” approach as it has been validated many times by randomized controlled trials of medical student learning at institutions such as Harvard Medical School and has been published in leading academic journals such as the Annals of Surgery, the American Journal of Surgery, and Medical Education.

Not surprisingly, our members are reporting scores well into the 99th percentile with this approach and also credit Gunner Training with improving their grades in school as well. But don’t take our word for it, read some testimonials here.

Read the FAQs below to learn about the other reasons why Gunner Training is rapidly becoming the Gold Standard of Medical Education.

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Who writes the content and how do I know that it is up-to-date and representative of what I will see on the exam?

Our content was written by Harvard trained MDs and is continually updated by top-notch medical students and residents who have a proven track record for excellence on standardized exams.

Our content comprehensively covers every facet of the standardized exam you are preparing and is based on what the actual test makers say is fair game. For instance, content for our USMLE Step 1 Program is based on the recently updated “Step 1 2011 Content Description” (http://www.usmle.org/examinations/step1/step1_content.html) and our MCAT Program is based on the content outlines for the Physical (Physics, General Chemistry) and Biological Sciences (Biology, Organic Chemistry) (https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/preparing/).

We determine what content to emphasize (i.e. what is “high-yield”) based on the experiences of recent exam takers whom we employ as editors. Because both the underlying evidence based medicine and how the exam questions are structured can change rapidly, it is critical to keep your finger on the pulse of the medical and scientific community and to adapt to any introduced or anticipated changes. For example, when the USMLE announced on April 21st, 2010 that there would be a “Reduction in number of Step 1 items presented without a clinical vignette” (http://www.usmle.org/general_information/Announcements.aspx?ContentId=46), our team quickly increased the number of multiple choice questions presented with a clinical vignette which our members now use as part of their review and exam simulation/practice. And, our editors spend many hours each week updating our content with the latest scientific and medical findings.

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How does Gunner Training help me learn better and faster?

In addition to being the only medical education solution that helps you remember what you’ve learned, our revolutionary approach also helps you learn better and faster than traditional methods.

Gunner Training utilizes adaptive spaced learning to not only recommend when you need to review something (i.e. determine when you will forget something and remind you to review it before you do!), but also to figure out what you should be reviewing. Each review is an opportunity to learn the material better thereby deepening your understanding and, conveniently, also further solidifying the information in your long-term memory. Based on your current level of mastery, we will recommend you review the material that most increased your peers mastery of identical concepts. As our experience with your individual learning style grows, your personal factors play an increasing role in determining when and what material we recommend you review to both maximize your learning and retention of critical knowledge.

In addition to adaptive spaced learning, our proprietary system leverages the “testing effect”, which refers to the research finding that long-term retention of information is significantly improved by testing students on this information. Thus, testing is not merely a means to measure a student’s level of knowledge, but also a method to enhance long-term knowledge retention. Recent research demonstrates the profound improvement that testing (retrieval practice) can generate on longer-term retention of knowledge. Further evidence suggests that testing with fill-in-the-blank questions (free recall) produces greater improvements in retention, compared to testing with multiple-choice questions (cued recall). For this reason, Gunner Training incorporates free recall questions alongside exam-like multiple choice questions to make sure you remember what you’ve learned come exam day.

To learn about the other ways we optimize learning and memory, flip through a brief presentation on medical education and learning & memory science that we have given at places like Harvard and Dartmouth Medical School (link to new presentation).

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How does Gunner Training help me apply what I know quickly and accurately on the actual exam?

In addition to helping you learn what you need to know faster and more completely, honing your memory retrieval reflexes through constant testing, and making sure you remember what you’ve learned come exam day — Gunner Training also provides students with exam-like questions that they can use to practice their application of what they know in a real exam-like environment (in our USMLE Step 1 program, for example, we replicated the USMLE’s “FRED v2” interface pixel for pixel). Exam simulation is not only a great way to practice applying what you’ve learned, but also critical to increasing your cognitive stamina which will be pushed to the limit on exam day.

Our members simulate the exam in either "Exam or “Tutor” mode. In “Exam” mode, you do a timed exam for a predetermined (you choose) amount of time. In “Tutor” mode, it is not timed and you see explanations of right and wrong answers as you go through multiple-choice questions. Our “Tutor mode” feature is a great example of how we leverage what we know about educational psychology to help you learn better; by presenting answers immediately after the question, we minimize “negative suggestion effects” which occurs when a wrong answer choice is reinforced because the student does not know it is wrong and what the correct answer is until after the exam is complete. Tutor mode is our solution to this problem.

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How does Gunner Training help me get the most out of my study time, courses, books, and test prep efforts?

Because Gunner Training is the only medical education system that helps you remember what you are learning, we are an essential component of your study efforts — regardless of what other books, courses, questions banks, etc. you may choose to use. Without Gunner Training, you will not be getting the return on investment your study efforts deserve. GT will help you get the most out of any of these resources — not only by helping you identify and retain the material you will need to know for your standardized exams — but also because it will save you from having to relearn things you would otherwise forget. In fact, recent research shows that benefits of online spaced education persist for two years.

For instance, after learning something in class, a review course, a book, etc., our members review relevant sections of our content, take a quiz on the material to see how well they know it, and then follow a personal study plan to make sure they remember and build upon their knowledge over time. Since our content is based on what the exam makers will test, this process makes sure they identify, master, and retain the high-yield (i.e. likely to be tested) information they will need for their standardized exams. Our members repeat this process over and over until they have studied all of the material that may appear on the exam and, once they have done so, their personal study plans function as a personal knowledge management system that will make sure they remember, enhance their understanding, and know how to apply what they have learned come test day.

And, the time-saving benefits can not be underestimated. By using our system you will save time by knowing when and what to study, learn what you need to know quickly, immediately identify and address any weaknesses you may have, retain your hard-won knowledge by reviewing it right before you forget it rather than wasting time relearning something, and see how you stack up relative to thousands of your peers to further help you prioritize your study efforts.

Since relearning something is much more time-consuming than simply reviewing it, merely getting the timing of review right will literally save you weeks of study time that would otherwise be wasted. You can then spend this time deepening your understanding of what you know, studying new material you wouldn’t have otherwise gotten to, or going to the movies. :)

But, don’t take our word for it — see what people are saying about us online (http: A). Chances are good that you will find people reporting scores well above the 99th percentile on standardized tests (http: x), saying that we improved their grades in school (http: Y), are that we are “life-savers” and “the future” of medical education (http: Z). Many of our members use other resources but consider Gunner Training the platform upon which their other study efforts and resources rely.

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What’s so special about Gunner Training’s technology?

Our proprietary and acclaimed learning system is based on 17 principles of effective learning and our underlying technologies leverage many cutting-edge techniques in machine learning, algorithm design, and database architecture. Gunner Training’s technology was built (and is constantly improved) by experienced Harvard-trained computer scientists and entrepreneurs. The algorithms that underly our recommendations of when, what and how to study are based on millions of data points derived from thousands of your peers. We use this data to continually validate and improve our approach as well as do the most important thing of all — ensure we maximize your success and get you the career you deserve.

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Who uses Gunner Training?

Gunner Training is used by thousands of people who want to crush their standardized exams (e.g. USMLE Step 1, MCAT). Our members include not only US pre-medical and medical students, but also Foreign Medical Graduates looking to practice medicine in the US.

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I keep hearing how people start using Gunner Training years before their standardized exam. For instance, alongside their pre-med or first-year (M1) coursework or as a complement to their independent study efforts, review courses, books, or question banks. Can you explain how to do this and how it will help me?

After learning something in class, a review course, a book, etc., our members review relevant sections of our content, take a quiz on the material to see how well they know it, and then follow a personal study plan to make sure they remember and build upon their knowledge over time. Since our content is based on what the exam makers will test, this process makes sure they identify, master, and retain the high-yield (i.e. likely to be tested) information they will need for their standardized exams. Members repeat this process over and over until they have studied all of the material that may appear on the exam and, once they have done so, their personal study plans function as a personal knowledge management system that will make sure they remember, enhance their understanding, and know how to apply what they have learned come test day.

Because we are the only medical education system that helps you remember what you are learning, we are an essential component of your study efforts — regardless of what other books, courses, questions banks, etc. you may choose to use. In fact, GT will help you get the most out of any of these resources — not only by helping you identify and retain the material they will need to know for your standardized exams, but also because it will save you time by saving you from having to relearn things you would otherwise forget.

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I only have a few months to prepare for my exam. Can Gunner Training still help me?

Yes. Benefits can be obtained in as little as 1 month. Our members see rapid gains after 7-10 days. Gunner particularly excels at strengthening a person’s weakest knowledge areas. Some data can be seen here: http://gunnertraining.blogspot.com/2009/06/gunner-training-works.html. Moreover, our world-class content and questions can be used as stand-alone flashcards and question banks / practice exams, respectively.

If you only have a few weeks before the test, we recommend covering as much material as quickly as possible. You’re the best judge of how many hours you can study per day, but some of our users have covered all the flashcards in 4 weeks.

In support, a recent HMS study actually asked this exact question and found that spaced learning is just as good for short periods when compared with conventional study methods.

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If I subscribe to Gunner Training for one month, and then want to renew, will all my progress be saved?

Yes, definitely. In fact, this represents the core philosophy of our teaching approach. Our objective is to provide you with a single source review which tracks your performance over time. Our power analytics scores your performance on the direct review questions as well as multiple choice questions on each topic and subtopic. This analysis is continually updated and reported as your memory retention changes over time.

We use a recurring subscription system, so you only get charged $30 for each subsequent month until you cancel. Our plan was to offer the most affordable and flexible medical educational tool in the market.

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Is this program compatible with Mac OS X?

Yes! We designed Gunner Training to be compatible with any web-browser, including the iPhone. Moreover, there is NO software to download or install.

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Do you offer a free trial?

Yes, we offer all interested students a free 2-week free trial. We give our current members free 1-month trials that they can send to their friends so ask your friends and ask them to invite you to get a free 1-month trial. Or, you can simply go to one of these forums to see if people will send you a free 1-month trial. There are other great resources at these forums as well!

And, although most Step 1 preparatory websites only offer a 3-day money back trial period. In contrast, Gunner Training offers both a 2-week free trial plus a 7-day money back guarantee. If you have a friend send you a 1-month trial, you can essentially use Gunner Training risk-free for 5 weeks.

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What’s your cancellation policy?

Simply use the cancellation link under your Account Management page to end your subscription. If you cancel within 7 days of signing up, we’ll provide a full refund.

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If I only sign-up for the monthly subscription, will I get full access to your program and all the content?

Yes!

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What else do I need to buy to study for the USMLE Step 1? What would you recommend?

As long as you use Gunner Training to get the most out of other resources, the more high-quality reference and review books and practice questions you can get your hands on, the better. At a minimum, we recommend buying review books and full textbooks for X, Y, and Z subjects. And, if you want to supplement Gunner Training’s thousands of practice questions with another question bank, we recommend USMLE World or Kaplan.

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Can I use Gunner Training to prepare for my Shelf Exams?

Due to increased importance of USMLE’s, schools and rotation programs are increasingly using tests provided by the administrators of the USMLE — the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) — to assess their students preparedness for the USMLE. And, since GT is divided into critical subjects such as biochemistry, immunology, and pharmacology, people often keep using GT subscriptions even after their USMLE Step 1 exam to make sure they can prepare for their shelf exams in those subjects while not having to worry that they will forget anything. The best students also know that everything they learned in M1, M2, and for the USMLE Step 1, they will also need to know and build on during M3 and M4 to make sure they crush the USMLE Step 2 CK and USMLE Step 3 exams.

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How many hours should I uses Gunner Training every day?

You can use Gunner as much or as little as you like and you can set your own pace and use certain settings to manage the amount of time necessary to maintain your hard-won knowledge.

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Will Gunner work for me?

It’s worked for thousands of medical students, old or young, US or FMG. See our testimonials for examples and success stories.

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What is the advantage of using Gunner Training alongside programs like USMLE World, USMLE Rx, Kaplan, etc.?

Although other medical education products certainly have something to offer, Gunner Training is the only program that helps you remember what you are learning. Therefore, to make sure you don’t forget your hard-won knowledge come exam day, Gunner Training is an essential component of your study efforts — regardless of what other books, courses, questions banks, etc. you may choose to use. In fact, GT will help you get the most out of any of these resources — not only by helping you identify and retain the material they will need to know for your standardized exams, but also because it will save you time by saving you from having to relearn things you would otherwise forget.

After learning something in class, a review course, a book, etc., our members review relevant sections of our content, take a quiz on the material to see how well they know it, and then follow a personal study plan to make sure they remember and build upon their knowledge over time. Since our content is based on what the exam makers will test, this process makes sure they identify, master, and retain the high-yield (i.e. likely to be tested) information they will need for their standardized exams. Members repeat this process over and over until they have studied all of the material that may appear on the exam and, once they have done so, their personal study plans function as a personal knowledge management system that will make sure they remember, enhance their understanding, and know how to apply what they have learned come test day.

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What is the usual time frame for Gunner Training?

Gunner Training has been used to prepare for Step 1 from time frames as short as 1 month. Many of our users are also using GT over a two-year time period to maintain their hard-earned knowledge throughout the first two years of medical school.

The use of any Step 1 preparatory product is heavily dependent on each individual’s ability to study for Step 1. Factors like time available, baseline level of knowledge, personal work ethic, are of paramount importance and deficiencies in these areas can’t be overcome by any course, book, or product.

That being said, GT users see rapid gains after 7-10 days. GT particularly excels at strengthening any person’s weakest knowledge areas. Some data can be seen here:

http://gunnertraining.blogspot.com/2009/06/gunner-training-works.html

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Do you provide any suggestions or recommendations as to how many flash cards and questions a person should bank per session? Is there an order or way you recommend students approach the material? My biggest concern is making sure to stay on track to get through all of the material.

Gunner Training is intentionally designed for flexibility, so as to accommodate as many different learning styles and schedules as possible. If you have a lot of time before Step 1, we suggest you focus on making sure you know the material every time you go through it. Our user data indicates that 30-35% of the material is immediately forgotten (scores of 1 or 2). While GT is specifically designed to improve that number, the best way to lower the initial number is by studying when you are fresh and focused. GT lets you de-emphasize cramming and focus more on learning.

If you are using GT during the school year, we recommend tracking the subjects/flashcards with the classes/material you’re currently learning. Along the way, go back and cover the material you learned during 1st year. Again, if you have the time, avoid doing this when you feel stressed.

If you only have a few weeks before the test, we recommend covering as much material as quickly as possible. You’re the best judge of how many hours you can study per day, but some of our users have covered all the flashcards in 4 weeks.

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What’s the difference between the study questions and the multiple choice questions? Are both of these questions integrated with the flashcards?

Study questions are open-ended and are designed to “stress-test” your ability to remember material. It’s a lot easier to answer multiple choice questions than open-ended questions. Since we believe in the importance of memorization on Step 1, we offer 4,000 study questions for this purpose alone.

Both multiple choice questions and study questions are completely integrated into the system. However, if you really, really want, you can access the multiple choice questions separately, like a traditional question bank. We’ve replicated the newest NBME Step 1 interface (May 2009) for you.

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How is Gunner Training different from question banks? How do I know if those questions accurately reflect the material seen on USMLE Step 1?

The Gunner Training approach fundamentally differs from simple question banks. Our main focus is on efficiency and retention of material. Thus, rather than teaching through answer explanations to multiple choice questions, we focus on high-yield review followed by questions to make sure you retain that infromation. This will both improve your Step 1 performance and ultimately make you a better physician.

It’s worth debunking the myth that one question bank more accurately reflects Step 1 material than the others. The simple fact is that there is no reliable data, of any kind, showing that a given question bank is more accurate. All the available “data” is anecdotal which, as you’ve probably learned, is pretty terrible in terms of accuracy. If you ask someone who scored 250 which is better, he might say Kaplan; the next person could just as easily say UW, or USMLERx or so on.

Step 1 questions also change year-to-year, and the NBME/USMLE is taking definitive steps to minimize the impact of question banks that rely on test takers reporting what questions they saw.

That being said, our multiple-choice question bank contains over 2,000 questions written by Harvard residents and fellows. These questions cover every testable learning point in our flashcards. A significant proportion of our questions are “2-step” and “3-step” questions and teaches you to think through the information you previously learned. We also provide multiple questions based on a single vignette. And, we’ve replicated the newest NBME Step 1 FRED v2 interface for you.

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I’m a doctor in a non-US country (FMG) and I’m thinking of studying for the USMLE. How can Gunner Training help me?

Because many FMGs study for USMLE while working full-time, they usually do not have as much time per day as, say, a full-time medical student. Therefore they usually study for longer periods and have a lot more to catch up on since they have been out of school for many years already. B/c our system allows you to set your own pace but yet make sure you retain what you have learned, it’s especially useful for FMGs who have variable schedules due to work, life, family but who need to do well on the USMLE and who can’t afford to forget what they have previously learned/relearned.

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What is the Review Schedule?

After each flashcard study session and after completing the related quiz, our system will place review questions into a review calendar that, if you follow, will make sure you remember what you have learned. Depending on your performance during each review session, we then determine when you need to review the material next. If you show you know it well, you will be asked to review it often weeks or months later than if you have forgotten it. For example, let’s say you studied b-cells after learning about it in biochem class the, after class, reviewed the material and took a quiz on it on GT. Then, let’s say your quiz results suggested that you would forget X within 7 days if not reviewed. 7 days later you review the b-cell material and score very high on your review questions. We will then put related review questions in your review schedule many weeks away to reflect your newfound command of the material. The exact timing of the review is based not only on your own strengths and weaknesses, but also what we have learned from millions of datapoints illustrating how thousands of your peers learned the material the best. Our insight is now based on millions of datapoints from hundreds of your peers and improving every day as more and more people join and use our platform.

Recently, we have added features to your review schedule that allow you to, for example, complete your review questions by subject area (e.g. Biochem, Immunology) in preparation for an upcoming test in that subject. “Review Questions By Subject” will show all subjects for which there are review questions and the number of questions for each and selecting a subject starts the scheduled review, but includes only questions from that subject.

We also recently added an option to “Clear today’s review”. Selecting this will give you the option to spread the questions over 7 days, 14 days, or moving all of the current day’s questions to the “catch up” pile (i.e. topics you have previously studies but that our system predicts you have forgotten because you didn’t do the recommended review on the recommended day).

Once you have either completed the day’s review questions or cleared them via the method show above, you will see two options to accelerate your review (i.e. do future questions in advance). You can, for instance, prepare for a school exam (e.g. Respiratory class) by doing all Respiratory questions currently in your review schedule, answer all questions in your review schedule before a comprehensive exam such as USMLE Step 1 or MCAT, or answer up to 14 days of questions before a well-deserved vacation so that when you return you won’t have any review questions waiting for you!

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What is the “Catch Up” section?

The “Catch Up” section contains topics that, although you have previously studied, we recommend you restudy (and take the resulting quiz again) because you system predicts you have forgotten because you didn’t do the recommended review on the recommended day.

As mentioned above, using the “Clear today’s review” option will also give you the option of moving all of the current day’s questions to the “catch up” pile.

We also enable you to complete your “Catch Up” flashcards by subject as well! These features will be helpful for the vast majority of our members who use Gunner — not only as a USMLE Step 1 or MCAT preparatory program — but also as a complement to (i.e. alongside) their coursework as early as 2-years prior to their exam.

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Is there any way to get back to reviewing flashcards, or do I have to go through all my review questions?

Our system relies on the immediate quizzing we do after a flashcard study session so that we can figure out what you know, what you don’t, and how and when to show you related material again. We know that locking you out of Flashcards can initially seem annoying, but people really like the system once they get used to it.

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How can I reset my Gunner Training account and start again from scratch?

Email us at contact@gunnertraining.com and we will reset your account for you! This will clear your review schedule and “freshen” all your flashcards (i.e. so that you can bank the review questions again). Alternatively, we can reset only the review questions and flashcards for a specific subject, or we can reset all questions/flashcards except for any particular subject. Just let us know what we can do to help you with your studies!

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Can I enter my exam date and see a study plan that will maximize my score?

Not yet, but we’re working very hard on a system that will create a personal study plan for each user based your exam date, strengths and weaknesses as assessed by a diagnostic exam, time commitment to studying, and other individual factors. This is an example of something we are working on because you asked us to. Please let us know how else we can improve! Together we are creating the medical education system for the future.

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