That is all pre-COVID and a year ago, and things change fast. Maybe a current MS1 or MS2 can speak to what has changed?
MS2 here. Judging by your username, I think I know who you are and just wanted to thank you for the Anki deck/advice!
Some changes that came into effect this year:
1) Instead of just Work Case Examples (WCE), we now also have Team Based Learning (TBL; basically PBL with an individual and team-based portion). General thoughts so far are that having both is wasting an entire day, but I think that's primarily due to tech-centric issues. (People having difficulty downloading the questions, issue with WebEx Teams, etc.)
Having been through TBL/PBL at a graduate program, I think it would be fine if it were in-person - much easier and streamlined. Being behind a computer makes it too easy to just turn off your webcam/mic and hide.
2) The school has shifted from in-house examinations to NBME examinations. MS1's have their first exam this Thursday, while MS2's have our first exam in a few weeks. TBD on how we feel about it, but there are some mixed feelings. (Mostly centered around STEP-centric studying vs. School Material-centric studying considering that TBL's are ~10% of our grade)
Personally, I don't really mind since there's sufficient overlap, but it can be frustrating for little details here and there.
3) Everything is off-campus except for Medical Skills (i.e. Standardized patients, practicing physical exams, etc.) As someone that never went to lectures, that basically means no change. For people who do go to lectures, there are video lectures +/- recordings to help out.
4) Anatomy labs are recorded sessions run by Dr. Azim. Excellent quality lectures in my opinion. Also, Distinction in Anatomy TA's have virtual sessions where TA's present questions and discuss answers. There are talks of letting the TA's into the lab with some sort of video feed strapped in so we can present the prosections, but that is still TBD.
Students here are very collaborative and nothing like the competitiveness that other schools are known for. At least pre-COVID, there were plenty of sponsored and non-sponsored gatherings, and we frequently worked in groups, with plenty of group study space available for those who want it. Countless times students have reached out to give or ask for help, and we take care of eachother in and out of school because that is just what you do.
This is still extremely true. Within the MS2 class, we work collaboratively on note-taking for certain lectures, sharing Anki decks, and correlating outside resources (Sketchy, Pathoma, FA, BnB) with lectures to help students with their study-planning. Even between the MS1/2 classes, we're trying to promote a greater sense of inter-class collaboration via note sharing, advice, Anki decks, etc.
Study gatherings are, as expected, not as prevalent, but there are small gatherings here and there, within reason.