Does the podcast replace the Mehlman videos?

No. The videos teach how the NBME thinks about a question, and they stay a fixed step in every system. The podcast is for the PDFs: it gets you through a dense PDF you would otherwise give up on halfway, in time you would not have studied anyway.

Is Gemini Notebook the same as NotebookLM?

Yes. Google's NotebookLM is now called Gemini Notebook, at notebook.google.com. The Audio Overview button works the same way.

USMLE Vault · Step 1 & Step 2 CK · Resources

Turn Mehlman PDFs into a podcast

For students who find the Mehlman videos boring after a while, and can't finish his PDFs.

By Dr. Marish Asudani · Published 27 October 2026

How do I turn the Mehlman PDFs into a podcast?

Download the PDF from Mehlman Medical's Free Stuff page, upload it to Gemini Notebook (Google's free tool, formerly NotebookLM), and click Audio Overview. A few minutes later you have a 2-host podcast built from that PDF: our HY Arrows episode came out at 22:57. Listen on your commute, at the gym or while you eat, then still run the PDF actively.

Just want the clicks? Jump to the 4 steps →

The short versionI usually tell my students to do the Mehlman videos. And they tell me the same thing back: after a while, the videos get boring.

The PDFs are worth doing too, because a lot of the facts in them keep showing up on NBMEs, for Step 1 and for Step 2. The problem is that they're long and very dense, and most students give up halfway through.

So don't read them. Listen to them. It takes about 2 minutes to set up, and it turns time you weren't studying into time you are.

The PDFsStart with these 4

Mehlman has a long list of free HY documents. These are the 4 high-yield ones I'd start with:

PDFHY ArrowsMehlman Medical · Free Stuff PDFHY NeuroanatomyMehlman Medical · Free Stuff PDFHY GeneticsMehlman Medical · Free Stuff PDFHY BiostatsMehlman Medical · Free Stuff

They're free on freestuff.mehlmanmedical.com. Before the download, his site asks for your name, email and phone number, so have those ready.

Mehlman Medical's Free Stuff page, with the 4 PDFs to start with highlighted.

Skip the form for the HY ArrowsThe HY Arrows already sits in the Vault University, under Files, next to the Neil Randy PDF. Download it straight from there.

Open the Files tab →

The 4 clicksPDF in, podcast out

The tool is Gemini Notebook, Google's free notebook tool. It used to be called NotebookLM, so if a friend tells you "NotebookLM", it's the same thing at a new address: notebook.google.com.

Create a notebook. Sign in with your Google account and click New notebook.
Upload the PDF. Click Add sources, then Upload files, and pick the PDF you downloaded. It shows up under Sources in a few seconds.
Click Audio Overview. It's the first button in the Studio panel on the right. Leave the format on Deep Dive and click Generate.
Come back in a few minutes and press play. Our HY Arrows episode took under 10 minutes to build and runs 22 minutes 57 seconds.

The HY Arrows PDF, uploaded as a source.

Step 3: Audio Overview. Deep Dive is the default, then Generate.

Step 4: the finished episode in the Studio panel.

Here are 6 seconds of what it sounds like. This is the HY Arrows episode, generated from the PDF above:

3 settings worth knowing. Brief instead of Deep Dive gives you a short overview when you're short on time. Length (Short, Default, Long) changes how far it goes. And the box "What should the AI hosts focus on" lets you point it at the system you're on, for example "only the renal and endocrine arrows".

How to use it so it actually sticks

Listen first, then run the PDF. The podcast is passive. You're hearing it, not answering it. So use it before your active pass: by the time you open the PDF, you're recognising the facts, not reading them cold, and the active pass goes faster. For the HY Arrows, the active pass is covering the right-hand column and saying the direction out loud. How to run the HY Arrows →

It doesn't replace the videos. The videos teach you how the NBME thinks about a question: how it frames the stem and why every wrong option is wrong. A podcast of a PDF can't do that. The videos stay a fixed step in every system; the podcast is for the time you weren't studying at all. How to use Mehlman →

Double-check anything that sounds off. The hosts are AI, and Gemini Notebook itself says it can make mistakes. If a fact sounds wrong, check it in the PDF or in First Aid before you trust it.

Bored of studying in general, not just of Mehlman? Read what to do when it all feels the same.

When studying gets boring →

Know where Mehlman fits in your plan.

The Vault puts Mehlman, the HY Arrows and the Neil Randy PDF on the right days, and hosts both PDFs for you in the University.

Get the HY Arrows in the University →

usmlevault.com · free for your first 3 days