I'm a third year student at Cornell. Personally, I loved PBL. Our 1st and 2nd year curriculum is about 1/3 PBL, 1/3 small group sessions (which could probably be loosely termed PBL), and 1/3 lectures (more PBL than 33% would probably be too much, because there is just some information that is better suited to lecture presentation).
PBL groups are ~10 students each, in a room with 4 computers and dry erase boards, as someone above said. Typically PBLs are scheduled for M,W,and F, from 8-10:30, and there's generally one case per week (each time you meet, you receive more information on the case). Depending on your tutor, you may be required to make handouts to present topics, or you may work on finding material during the group time.
Benefits of PBL:
-I found it very helpful for getting me used to the "patient case" format. You learn to evaluate/integrate lab values, clinical data, and patient history, and you get used to looking at the "whole picture." I found this very useful for the USMLEI.
-You get to know your classmates in your group quite well
-You get to interact with a faculty member in a personal format. VERY good if you need advice/recommendations.
-I liked the learning style...I'd much rather go home and read about something and come back the next day for discussion than sit in lecture for 5 more hours.
Drawbacks of PBL:
-Some people complain that the student evaluation by instructors is too subjective. I never found this to be a problem, as most of my instructors were consistent in their evaluation of me. But other students found this troublesome, especially if their personality didn't mesh well with the instructor/facilitator. As PBL makes up ~30% of your grade, this is a potential problem (although if you get good PBL grades it can boost a high pass on tests into an overall honors grade)
-Sometimes you get very tired of the 9 other people in your group, and strong personalities can cause interpersonal problems...bad news when you're stuck with that group for 6 months!
-as far as small group sessions, they're typically 10-20 students in the same rooms. A good example would be pathology sessions--they are also "problem-based," in that you are given a case with lab values and patient history, and then you look at the histopathology (almost all of it is on the computer, although they still make you fork over $200 per year for a microscope you never use) and discuss the symptoms/pathology of the disease. I always found it very helpful.
Hope this answered some of your questions...
