If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?

I would approach the concept differently - either through verbal communication, drawing a diagram, or even making an analogy to something more familiar. Every student learns in different ways, and in order to fully grasp a concept, a tutor needs to be capable of approaching a problem from multiple perspectives.

How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?

Reading comprehension is a very important skill that transcends any subject that a student may come across. I have many tricks that can help any student become a master of reading comprehension, including slow visualization, chunking, and other techniques; but the most important thing for any student is to be reading on a consistent basis.

What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?

It's important for a tutor and the student to be comfortable with each other. I would make sure that we have a good relationship with each other and set goals that the student wants to reach, whether that is a certain score, or certain medical schools that they want to be accepted to.

How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?

Connect the subject with other subjects they are more excited about! The good thing is that every topic overlaps with each other, and making connections within different subjects is crucial to developing an overall good understanding of the material.

What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?

It is not so much whether a student gets the right answer, but their thinking process and approach to the problem that is most important to understanding the material. I would ask students broad questions about physics, general chemistry, organic, etc., and see how they approach the question and where they take the problem - this gives me the best idea of where they are at with the material.

How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?

A student's confidence must come from within the student themselves. They are the only ones taking the exam when they sit down on test day, and it is my job to make sure that they have the inner confidence and abilities to hit their target score when that time comes.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Practice tests! They give the best idea of where a student is at and what they are lacking.

How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?

Every student is unique, thinks differently and approaches problems differently. Adapting to a student's needs is finding a good middle-ground, where the student is comfortable approaching problems from their own unique perspective, but also confident that the answers they are getting are the ones that will be considered the best choice from the ones given.

What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?

I use EK and PR review guides, along with official AAMC material questions/exams during my tutoring sessions.