The Marshall University Medical H.E.L.P. Program was founded and developed by Dr. Barbara Guyer in 1986 when she started working with an exceptionally bright but struggling medical student from Marshall University School of Medicine. The student’s professors at the medical school were perplexed because the student demonstrated advanced understanding of material during class interactions and one-on-one discussions. He even tutored his classmates. But his knowledge was not evident on his exam scores. Even though he had been top of his class in high school and as an undergraduate, he was failing out of medical school.
Dr. Guyer had the student screened for A.D.H.D. and other Specific Learning Disorders and worked intensively with him in the areas of study skills, reading comprehension, memory, and time management. What soon became evident, outside of any learning disability diagnosis, was that this student had a fundamental lack of study skills. His above-average intelligence had allowed him to complete his undergraduate program with minimal effort and high marks, so he never needed to learn how to study dense difficult material in an efficient and effective manner. From this first student (who is today a highly-respected reconstructive plastic surgeon in the Atlanta, GA area) Medical H.E.L.P. has grown into a program specifically tailored to help all students learn how to manage the pace and volume of a medical school curriculum and perform well on standardized exams.
We’d like to thank all of our former coordinators and co-instructors who have each made their own unique contributions to the growth and development of Medical H.E.L.P. over the decades:
- Robbie Ashworth, Coordinator
- Renea Bostic, Coordinator
- Pat Butler, Coordinator
- Cortney Castle, Co-instructor
- Yvea Duncan, Coordinator
- Nancy McCormick, Coordinator
- Ryan Orwig, Coordinator
And a special thanks to Dr. Barbara Guyer whose vision and continued guidance since 1986 has made the Marshall University Medical H.E.L.P. Program such a unique and successful enterprise touching the lives of hundreds of students.