About HyGuru
HyGuru is an innovative medical education company founded by Drs. Rahul Damania and David Shafran, two physicians enamored with the complexities of the human body and who believe there is a more effective way to deliver medical information to all types of medical learners. Learning happens best with impassioned delivery, in small bites, question-based, and integrated across organ systems. When the exam room door closes, it is the years of dedicated study upon which patients rely and in which they trust. It is this immutable truth that continuously informs HyGuru's mission and commitment to educating its students.
Efficiency and time management are our central tenets. HyGuru integrates its lectures across organ systems because that’s how the USMLE tests and, more importantly, that’s how medicine works. Utilizing active recall, we offer focused, high-yield information that challenges you to review in a question-based manner. Imagine you are doing both questions & content review at the SAME time!
Focus on High Yield concepts
Meet the Instructor
Dr. Rahul Damania, fiery and infectious, taught his first USMLE course while still in medical school and
has accrued many teaching accolades since then. A born educator and motivator, Rahul continues to augment
his educational portfolio through old-school hard work and an authentic pledge to his students' success.
Currently a PICU fellow working about 80 hours per week, Rahul humbly recognizes that his credibility as a
teacher is forever rooted in an enduring willingness to listen to and learn from his patients.
Rahul, who himself scored above the 90th percentile on Step I and II, has over 3000 hours of USMLE
teaching experience. Students working with Rahul average a 20-point increase on their exam. This year
alone, he has had multiple students who initially scored sub-200 experience an increase to 230+. He has
held multiple comprehensive USMLE courses at top tier medical schools in the Midwest.
What Our Users says
Dr. Damania helped me through one of the toughest times of my life. STEP 1 is already difficult, but STEP 1 during COVID has been a whole different story. He made sure I stayed motivated, helped me plan out a strategy/schedule to best accomplish my goals, change my mindset, and prepare myself mentally to succeed on the biggest day of my life. He pushes his students hard, checks in frequently, and truly cares about a student’s growth and success from start to finish. Hyguru materials focus on how to best utilize STEP 1 materials from the big 3—First Aid, Pathoma and UWorld in question format to promote retaining and learning & Dr. Damania is able to explain any difficult areas as relevant to STEP 1 extremely well. I highly recommend going through HyGuru.
Meera Kapadia
Rahul is a very enthusiastic tutor who clearly cares deeply about helping students succeed! He explained complex topics in a clear, engaging manner in order to resolve my confusion, and he was an excellent source of helpful mnemonics and study tips. He was always there to help at a moment's notice whenever I needed a pep talk, or when I needed to adjust my study plan so that I could use my time more effectively and target my weaknesses. Most importantly, he really helped me to boost my confidence and go into Step 1 feeling as ready as I possibly could. I just received my score and am thrilled with the results, and am so grateful to Rahul for helping me to get there!
Perry Dinardo
I recently came across this page, and it has helped me clear some concepts that are confusing for my Shelf exam preparation. His powerpoints and videos have the same content as in Boards and beyond, and kaplan, but there's a different perspective that he brings in and clicks for me. Thank you!
Yash Pawate
Being a second year student at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, I had the privilege of being taught by Rahul all throughout the school year, as he hosted 3-hour review sessions in an organ based manner aligned with our curriculum. I also had the honor of attending Rahul’s all day HY GURU review session in the spring before my exam. I can honestly say that both of these experiences were truly phenomenal. First, Rahul brings an extremely high level of energy and passion to every single session. It was this positive attitude that was really impactful for me. I couldn’t help but feed off this energy. I became excited to learn all the material, and studying did not feel like a chore. Second, the way the material is organized is unlike any other review source I have used. Rahul makes all his teaching centered around active recall. This forces students to pull old facts from memory, recognize their weaknesses and think quickly on the spot. All of these skills are vital in preparing for the USMLE. In addition, the majority of Rahul’s session questions are framed in clinical vignettes. This is helpful to not only learn the material, but also to understand exactly how the USMLE will be testing that particular topic. To continue, through the creative use of figures and tables, Rahul presents the material in easy to learn formats. Examples of this include simplified venn diagrams for UC and Crohn’s, or taking one disease and breaking down all the symptoms by organ system (for example each organ system impacted in Down Syndrome or Cystic Fibrosis). Finally, Rahul takes one USMLE high yield buzz word, such as Psammoma bodies or café-au-lait spots, and lists all the clinical scenarios where they present. It is these methods that are not found in other standard textbooks, review books or question banks. All of this innovation in STEP1 prep was present at both Rahul’s 3 hour review sessions and his all-day event. The amount of time that Rahul put into preparing for these was evident as he had long Powerpoints equipped with figures, charts, vignettes, questions, graphs and more. He also was always driven to get through as much material as possible. He would often go over time in order to make sure we got as much out of the session as we could. Rahul truly was dedicated to doing anything for the benefit and success of the student! He is a dedicated and inspiring teacher, one of the best I have ever encountered. Overall I felt so blessed to have Rahul as a mentor throughout my STEP1 process. Not only did he teach me so much (a lot of which actually showed up on the exam!) but he was there for advice and support when I took practice tests, had studying questions, or just needed motivation. I can with absolute certainty say that my STEP1 score was much higher because of Rahul’s investment in teaching and his passion for helping the next generation of physicians.
Selena Pasadyn
As someone who has utilized Rahul as a primary resource throughout the first two years of medical school, I cannot recommend him enough! He takes many hours worth of material and synthesizes it into a very doable, interactive session. His sessions are are some of the most time efficient, useful tools that I have had the pleasure of attending. He is extraordinarily knowledgeable and holds you accountable for the things you don't know, ensuring the concept is clear. Rahul is not just another "Kaplan type" company, he is someone that uses this information in his daily career, in addition to being an excellent teacher.
Hagar Grete
HyGuru does a great job of integrating material in a way that’s active and reinforces concepts I’ve learned! Rahul is a passionate and enthusiastic teacher who keeps you interested and engaged the whole time! These sessions are so time efficient and cover so much you need to know!!!
Shana Williams
Rahul is an amazing tutor! You can definitely tell he loves to teach students. He simplified so many hard to understand topics and taught them in such a way that they are easy to remember. The rapid review session is well worth your time, especially if you have test coming up in a few weeks. He covers so many high yield topics in such a short amount of time and can integrate them across organ systems.
Ann Glover