Could any current medical students talk a bit about day-to-day life at Wayne? (i.e. structure of classes, availability of recorded lectures/class notes, time spent in class vs time available to study, afternoon labs, etc.) I know they have a more traditional curriculum, and I think I heard the lectures are recorded, but that's about all I know.
Thanks!
I am a first year, so only a month and a half in, but I can give you information from my point of view.
Most lectures are optional attendance, and all are available online afterward to stream from home. Anatomy lab is in the afternoons, with mandatory lab 3-4 days a week and an optional "open" lab on off days, plus the lab is open pretty much any non-class time (weekends, week nights, until 8 or 10 or so at night, not sure the exact time). Histology "labs" are also mandatory, but most of them are essentially review/discussion sessions in smaller groups. These are in the mornings, but not as frequent as the anatomy labs.
Each course has a course pack printed out and available for pickup, plus digital versions available online on Blackboard (perfect for tablet note-taking on the PDFs). Everything that is fair game for the exam will be in the course pack, and/or possibly in lecture, so none of the "required" texts are actually necessary (with the exception of the anatomy dissection guide).
Once anatomy is over (ends before Thanksgiving), there are fewer days each week with mandatory events, I have heard around 2 as the estimate from M2's.
Exams are computer based, other than anatomy practicals, and are taken in two shifts due to the class size. First year has a set of exams approximately every month, meaning next week is our next set of exams.
Curriculum is traditional, no PBL or other group learning other than the labs for the core basic science courses. Clinical medicine begins teaching basic history and physical skills in first year (I have only had the "intro" session so far) though there are additional opportunities for early training in clinical skills and practice of those skills via the student run and other clinics. There are also ultrasound sessions coordinated with the anatomy units that provide basic hands-on ultrasound experience to everyone.
Time to study is going to be nights and weekends primarily if you go to every lecture. If you stream the lectures, you can study all day during class time (other than the lab time of course), come home and stream that day's lectures at 1.8 speed and spend less than half the time watching lectures as you would have spent in class. I am a "streamer" and have almost as much free time as I had when I was simply working a full time job five days a week, other than the week of an exam.
There are a ton of interest groups and other student organizations that you can join if you are interested, plus the co-curricular program which essentially consists of volunteer time and seminars attended first and second year that counts as a 1-month elective fourth year, giving you another month off. I am not doing that myself, but many students do and it seems to be pretty easy to get the hours needed in.
If you have any other specific questions, let me know. I am a commuting student, though, and have a family, so I am not as involved in the extra curriculars as most students.
