USMLE/COMLEX/ABIM Professor Specializing in Test Taking Skills

Sean M.

Knowledgable and more than just a tutor

When I first started working with Sean, I was 6 weeks out from Step 1 and pretty unsure if I was on track to passing. From the very first meeting with Sean, I felt right away that he had a well-honed philosophy for test preparation and was ready to help me develop a plan to get ready. Literally the first time we spoke, my confidence began to grow because he not only had a well-thought out approach to helping me prepare but he also understood the health challenges I was dealing with and genuinely cared about how he could best help me navigate those in preparing for Step 1. Every time I worked with Sean, he not only was teaching me great test-taking skills and doing helpful content review for problem areas, but he was building up my confidence that I could not only pass the exam, but do well on it. Sean makes you feel like you've got a great partner behind you the whole time and I saw fairly quickly great improvements in my practice exam scores. By the time I took the exam, I felt so much more confident in my abilities and even when I had last minute test-anxiety, Sean was there to reassure me that the work we had done would pay off and in the end, he was exactly right and I scored well on Step 1. To give you some insight into how crucial some of the test-taking lessons Sean taught me, some of the strategies I remembered during a critical part of my exam when I was mentally worn out. I literally could hear Sean's advice in my head, and I am convinced this was just one example of how the test-taking skills he taught me were a key part of my success on test day. Bottom line is, if you're struggling with test preparation, just want additional support, or need a lot of help with any subject area, I am telling you, run and don't walk to sign up to work with Sean, you will not regret it.

Nathan, 14 lessons with Sean

Tutor responded:

Appreciate you Nathan!! I genuinely enjoyed helping build your knowledge base, sharpen your test-taking skills, and, most importantly, strengthen your confidence in both yourself and the process. Watching your growth throughout our time together has been incredibly rewarding. And many thanks for the pie! It was such a thoughtful surprise, wishing you nothing but success moving forward. Keep trusting the process, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you ever need anything 💪🥧

Step 1 Review

He was able to break down the material and clearly explain all the topics. It was great to be able to discuss the material with someone who is so knowledgeable and more importantly who has a knack for teaching others.

Trina, 3 lessons with Sean

Tutor responded:

Thanks, Trina! You stayed consistent by coming prepared with your concept misses every week, which made it easy to keep refining your study calendar and tracking your progress instead of just reviewing random topics. Keep using your active recall notes that are taken for you by the scribe in between sessions, and we’ll keep building from there. Excited to see how much you’ll improve!

Extremely motivating!

Sean was extremely motivating and dedicated to me as I prepared for COMLEX 2. He did a fantastic job tailoring his sessions with my schedule and timeline. In our sessions, we reviewed material, practiced test taking strategies, and went over practice questions. Most importantly in my case, he was a huge support and helped me regain my confidence as he I prepared mentally to retake COMLEX 2. I would highly recommend him!

Hailey, 6 lessons with Sean

Tutor responded:

Thank you! I remember that after our first eval session, we had a much clearer picture of where your biggest opportunities were. From there, it was all about tailoring the workflow to fit your goals instead of forcing a generic study plan. Watching your confidence build as everything started to click was incredibly rewarding. Now you've got the framework to eval YOURSELF to help build all your future study plans. I hope you continue to approach every future board exam with confidence 🥳 🩺

Kicking myself for not hiring Sean sooner!

Sean helped me prepare for COMLEX Level 3. I struggled with Level 1 and 2, had to retake both of them. My difficulties continued with Level 3 which I failed twice. After the second failure, I knew I had to drastically change my approach so I invested in private tutoring with Sean. He helped a coresident overcome a Level 3 failure and I took a chance. I met with Sean via Zoom and immediately felt reassured I made the right choice. Working with Sean, we immediately created a REALISTIC study schedule. He even provided resources that proved invaluable! Through our many sessions, I found Sean to be intelligent, understanding, experienced, motivated, and very professional yet laid back at the same time. We worked through question bank questions while on Zoom to analyze and critique my test taking skills which, along with Sean's frequent motivating/encouraging comments, drastically increased my confidence. Yes, Sean helped address knowledge gaps, but I honestly think my success more so resulted from his identifying and highlighting my strengths than identifying weaknesses. Sean was always available via text/email despite his own busy schedule. He stayed on top of me to monitor my progress without being overbearing in the slightest. At one point, I asked Sean why he does this. Why tutor when you have your own medical career progressing with your own stressors and time constraints? He replied honestly with an answer I ultimately found very true. He truly enjoys teaching and plans to make it a significant part of his career moving forward with hopes of pursuing medical teaching positions with ivy-league institutions. If you are on the fence or considering hiring a tutor AT ALL, please do yourself a favor and invest in your future by hiring a tutor like Sean. From my own experience, once you're on the other side with a passing score and ALL the stress is GONE, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Good luck and remember, exam scores do NOT reflect your future potential!!

William, 10 lessons with Sean

Tutor responded:

Thank you so much for sharing this Willl, I remember how much weight you were carrying after everything you’d been through with the previous exams. From day one, my goal wasn’t just to prepare you for another attempt, it was to help you trust yourself again. Once that started happening, everything else became much easier to build. I’m incredibly proud of the work you put in. 🙏

The best there is.

I write this review for those who are in a difficult place in their life and are struggling with their examinations. Personally, I was in a difficult place, with limited time, trying to obtain a passing score for Level 2. Sean, who is equipped to handle both Step and Level exams, simply changed my examination thought process and quite frankly, my life. He is was a major part of my success and I feel very lucky to have been guided by him. I encourage those who find Sean to reach out. He is ALWAYS there to help his students get through their test. He is VERY experienced with learning styles and will find what you consider difficult, teach you one-on-one, and ensure you understand the material. He will check in on you to make sure you're mentally doing okay. If you have anxiety or test taking skill deficiencies, he will guide you with those concerns too. The bottom line is: Sean is a kind, patient, and knowledgeable person, who loves what he does and wants to ensure that your needs are met so that success WILL come your way.

Alejandro, 11 lessons with Sean

Tutor responded:

Thank you for trusting me when things felt overwhelming Alex. I know those first few conversations had very little to do with medicine and a lot to do with learning about you and applying a solid test testing framework to keep us grounded. Once we built a realistic game plan, started breaking your preparation into manageable goals everything began to feel a lot less overwhelming. Keep it mind for the next one buddy. 👏 👏

UWorld from 40s to 72% average, STEP 1 PASSED!!!!

Sean gave me the right tools to get consistently high practice scores! I was in a terrible place, not knowing what to do about my performance at school and decided to shoot one last shot with a tutor. Sean right off the bat was incredibly encouraging. He directed my mental space and focus in the right direction and I can truly say that the way he has taught me to study is like nothing I have ever done before. We covered everything from nitty-gritty material, to decisive test-taking habits. I wish I had reached out sooner for help, because I was struggling with consistent 40s on my UWorld blocks; I cannot explain how dead-end that feeling was. But then redoing my entire daily schedule with Sean, and hashing out countless tutoring sessions, I was shocked to see my scores hitting 80s and sometimes 90s! Really, Sean came in and made my entire studying advance forward like nothing I've ever academically experienced before. The Lord truly was gracious with me and allowed me to meet Sean; I am beyond blessed to have met Sean when I did.

D., 11 lessons with Sean

Tutor responded:

Dante your discipline was something I will never forget. Remember, the goal was not to find a magic resource, it was to build a system you could trust every single day. Once we reworked your daily routine to tailor concepts specially to your weaknesses everything started compounding. The scores were exciting, but watching you realize what you were truly capable of was the best part. Can't wait to see how far you take the next one brother! 🤩

Highly recommended

I had a tutor BEFORE Sean that I worked with for about 1.5 months, but I kept plateauing on my Step 2 score in the 200-220s and eventually this tutor gave up on me and left me to pick up the pieces. It was devastating for someone who scored in the 99th percentile telling me I should just consider not taking Step 2. Then I met Sean who was an absolute godsend. He gave me the structure I needed to keep a strict schedule and focused me on evidence based methods for test-taking that would eventually help me boost my score. At this low point, I needed someone understanding, motivating, and passionate at teaching. After I spent most of my savings on my first tutor, I was running at the rock bottom of my bank account, but Sean was still able to accommodate my financial situation to help me get the tutoring I know I needed to eventually score 249 on Step 2 1.5 mo later. It has been an absolute blessing to have known and learned under Sean, and I would recommend him to anyone without reserve.

Benjamin, 10 lessons with Sean

Tutor responded:

Reading this brought a smile to my face, Ben. For us, I think the first priority was immediately restructuring your framework so that you no longer saw yourself as someone who “couldn’t score well on Step 2.” I saw someone who had been working incredibly hard with a system that simply wasn’t serving them. Once we stripped everything back and rebuilt your preparation around a schedule you could actually sustain, the numbers started taking care of themselves. That 249 wasn’t luck, it was the result of learning how to keep your routine balanced. Making time every day for something you enjoyed, protecting yourself from burnout, and building simple diet and exercise habits you can carry into every future board exam were just as important as anything we covered academically. Congratulations again, Ben. You earned every bit of that score. 🤓

Passionate and knowledgeable

Sean was enthusiastic about my success and is very passionate about teaching. He helped create a study schedule for me as well as set me up with a personalized Anki deck. We also went through questions together and dissected them to learn how to review them. I recommend him as a tutor to other people who want to succeed on their exams!

Payal, 11 lessons with Sean

Tutor responded:

Payal! You’ve trusted me through multiple board exams over the years, and that’s one of the greatest compliments I could receive. Every exam gave us another opportunity to refine your framework instead of reinventing it. For us, repetition was always the priority. Once you learned how to use your “scalpel” to efficiently cut away knowledge gaps, studying became much more intentional. I also loved watching you stick with your personalized Anki system and use it the way it was designed, to monitor your retention, identify weak areas early, and make sure your time was always spent where it mattered most. Watching your thought process become sharper with each exam has been incredibly rewarding. Thank you for continuing to trust me all these years doc! 🥼 🩺

Knowledgeable and great tutor Step 3

Great tutoring session for reviewing concepts and testing skills. Helps you day by day and schedules a study plan. Every tutoring session we cover my weak areas or review some important concepts to be able to attack questions efficiently. Happy to be working with Sean!

Hector, 5 lessons with Sean

Tutor responded:

Appreciate you Hector :) One thing I’ve really enjoyed thus far is how naturally we clicked from the start. Really puts an emphasis on taking the time shopping around to find a good fit with a tutor. Medicine is hard enough, you should actually enjoy working with the person helping you through it. Building that rapport made it easy for us to be honest about your weak areas, adjust your study plan week by week, and keep every session productive. I’m excited to keep building on what we’ve started!

Exceptional experience!

This was my first time working with a tutor and Sean has exceeded my expectations! I look forward to continuing this learning journey with his guidance.

Ikenna, 8 lessons with Sean

Tutor responded:

Ikenna, working with you was an absolute blast! I knew from the very beginning that this exam wasn’t something you wanted to think about, it was another responsibility on top of an already demanding schedule. Before we could optimize your studying, we had to optimize your life. A big part of our work together was productivity coaching, creating systems, protecting your time, and opening up space so that when you did study, every hour counted. Once we got that balance right, everything else started falling into place. Thank you for trusting me through the process brother.