Average hours of class time for med school?

[hs2013]

From my research it really seems to vary on the school, some being about 4hours a day M-F and some 8 hours a day M-F, so on average what would you say is the time commitment just to class in M1/M2?

Seems like med school wouldn't be so bad if you only have half days M-F, but having to be in class 40 hours a week and then study on top of that..... YEA NO. Why is there that discrepancy?

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[differentiating]

Like you said - it’s too variable to give a concrete number. Even at one school, it can vary week to week.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Moving to pre-MD.

 

[907914]

Most schools have less than half day in person group or individual activities/labs that are mandatory maybe a few days a week, then they may have voluntary 2-4 hours of lectures a day. That is most MD schools. Some still have 8 hour per day mandatory lecture periods. Some have mandatory 4 hour lecture periods. The latter 2 are basically universal in DO schools (some exceptions) and rarer in MD schools.

The variability exists because schools experiment their own ways and have different philosophies And emphasis.

 

[Goro]

From my research it really seems to vary on the school, some being about 4hours a day M-F and some 8 hours a day M-F, so on average what would you say is the time commitment just to class in M1/M2?

Seems like med school wouldn't be so bad if you only have half days M-F, but having to be in class 40 hours a week and then study on top of that..... YEA NO. Why is there that discrepancy?

100% school and curriculum dependent.

U VM has eliminated lectures .

 

[965978]

100% school and curriculum dependent.

U VM has eliminated lectures .

What did they replace it with?

 

[Goro]

What did they replace it with?

Team Based Learning. This is the latest fad in medical education nowadays .

 

[965978]

Team Based Learning. This is the latest fad in medical education nowadays .

I wonder how that would affect tuition.

 

[907914]

What did they replace it with?

They still have 2 or 3 times a week where students come together and do case based or things like that. But all of the lecture material has been replaced with "You have access to these programs, these are the sections you should have completed by x date" kind of thing. So, basically what students at schools with non-mandatory lectures do anyway.

 

[907914]

I wonder how that would affect tuition.

They haven't changed tuition. They know you will pay it.

 

[965978]

They haven't changed tuition. They know you will pay it.

The reason I ask is that with more smaller learning groups, you will need more faculty. More faculty = more tuition?

 

[907914]

The reason I ask is that with more smaller learning groups, you will need more faculty. More faculty = more tuition?

Curious to know if you need more faculty for the small groups or the same amount of faculty distributed in a different fashion.

 

[965978]

Curious to know if you need more faculty for the small groups or the same amount of faculty distributed in a different fashion.

You’re right. I just assumed you would need more faculty when that’s not necessarily the case.

 

[Goro]

I wonder how that would affect tuition.

It doesn't. Just don't go there.

 

[907914]

It doesn't. Just don't go there.

Why do you say don't go there? Do you mean don't go to UVM or don't talk about tuition?

 

[hs2013]

Well ignoring class time then, just about in general including class time and study time and anything related to med school, how many hours a week should one expect to dedicate to med school?

Can you regularly have a daily schedule of something like this in med school through all 4 years?

8-5: class/lecture/study
5-8:relax/dinner/gym
8-11:study
11-7:sleep

 

[907914]

Well ignoring class time then, just about in general including class time and study time and anything related to med school, how many hours a week should one expect to dedicate to med school?

Can you regularly have a daily schedule of something like this in med school through all 4 years?

8-5: class/lecture/study
5-8:relax/dinner/gym
8-11:study
11-7:sleep

From what I have gleaned, it seems the general consensus is you get out what you put in. For some students, 4 hours of studying is enough to completely understrand a subject. For others, they need 10 hours to understand the same thing.

The difficult thing with medical school is that there is just so much information and the more you study, there are diminishing real world returns.

If you are the kind of student who just 'gets it' you could likely comfortably only study 20 hours a week plus mandatory stuff and glean by with a decent Step score and pass your classes. That same student could probably put in 40 hours a week and perform top tier or 60 hours a week and achieve master status 550lb #gains. With the 20 hours, a 230 step would get them any non-competitive specialty. The 40 hours would get them anywhere and the 60 would just be to show off.

If you are the kind of student who needs to sit down and immerse yourself in the material to figure something out, that other student's 20 hours will likely be your 40, their 40 your 60 and so on.

If you are the kind of student who just naturally succeeds but isn't gunning for anything competitive, your proposed schedule may actually be too much studying. If they are gunning, then what you have proposed is perfect.

If you are the kind of student whose success is matched by their effort, what you have suggested is a likely perfect work/life balance but don't expect anything gunner-wise.

It really is so student specific, subject specific etc. Even some courses the workload varies greatly. Micro or GI will take tweice the effort as Cardiac stuff. Etc.

 

[ciestar]

From my research it really seems to vary on the school, some being about 4hours a day M-F and some 8 hours a day M-F, so on average what would you say is the time commitment just to class in M1/M2?

Seems like med school wouldn't be so bad if you only have half days M-F, but having to be in class 40 hours a week and then study on top of that..... YEA NO. Why is there that discrepancy?

Lol wait for rotations. Where you can be there for 80 hours a week and still have to go home and study afterward.

 

[ciestar]

Well ignoring class time then, just about in general including class time and study time and anything related to med school, how many hours a week should one expect to dedicate to med school?

Can you regularly have a daily schedule of something like this in med school through all 4 years?

8-5: class/lecture/study
5-8:relax/dinner/gym
8-11:study
11-7:sleep

The first two years, sure you can depending on what you want in a schedule. Third and fourth year, no. No rotation I’ve had is really on a “set” schedule relative to the hours and the hours vary greatly from clerkship to clerkship, and even between services.

 

[hs2013]

From what I have gleaned, it seems the general consensus is you get out what you put in. For some students, 4 hours of studying is enough to completely understrand a subject. For others, they need 10 hours to understand the same thing.

The difficult thing with medical school is that there is just so much information and the more you study, there are diminishing real world returns.

If you are the kind of student who just 'gets it' you could likely comfortably only study 20 hours a week plus mandatory stuff and glean by with a decent Step score and pass your classes. That same student could probably put in 40 hours a week and perform top tier or 60 hours a week and achieve master status 550lb #gains. With the 20 hours, a 230 step would get them any non-competitive specialty. The 40 hours would get them anywhere and the 60 would just be to show off.

If you are the kind of student who needs to sit down and immerse yourself in the material to figure something out, that other student's 20 hours will likely be your 40, their 40 your 60 and so on.

If you are the kind of student who just naturally succeeds but isn't gunning for anything competitive, your proposed schedule may actually be too much studying. If they are gunning, then what you have proposed is perfect.

If you are the kind of student whose success is matched by their effort, what you have suggested is a likely perfect work/life balance but don't expect anything gunner-wise.

It really is so student specific, subject specific etc. Even some courses the workload varies greatly. Micro or GI will take tweice the effort as Cardiac stuff. Etc.

I really appreciate your insight and examples, I've usually been the student who just gets it and understand material quickly and do not really care for competitive specialties and don't want to make my life hell in med school so maybe it won't be too bad. Residency tho...

 

[965978]

Lol wait for rotations. Where you can be there for 80 hours a week and still have to go home and study afterward.

Is research usually the most heavy in MS-2 and MS-4 then? Because it seems that MS-1 and MS-3 are very stressful.

 

[907914]

From what I have gleaned, it seems the general consensus is you get out what you put in. For some students, 4 hours of studying is enough to completely understrand a subject. For others, they need 10 hours to understand the same thing.

The difficult thing with medical school is that there is just so much information and the more you study, there are diminishing real world returns.

If you are the kind of student who just 'gets it' you could likely comfortably only study 20 hours a week plus mandatory stuff and glean by with a decent Step score and pass your classes. That same student could probably put in 40 hours a week and perform top tier or 60 hours a week and achieve master status 550lb #gains. With the 20 hours, a 230 step would get them any non-competitive specialty. The 40 hours would get them anywhere and the 60 would just be to show off.

If you are the kind of student who needs to sit down and immerse yourself in the material to figure something out, that other student's 20 hours will likely be your 40, their 40 your 60 and so on.

If you are the kind of student who just naturally succeeds but isn't gunning for anything competitive, your proposed schedule may actually be too much studying. If they are gunning, then what you have proposed is perfect.

If you are the kind of student whose success is matched by their effort, what you have suggested is a likely perfect work/life balance but don't expect anything gunner-wise.

It really is so student specific, subject specific etc. Even some courses the workload varies greatly. Micro or GI will take tweice the effort as Cardiac stuff. Etc.

Note: This is for pre-clinical. Years 3 and 4 will vary exponentially more across not just schools and students, but specific rotations. Psych may only be 30 hours, IM may be 80 hours. 4th year you may do as many electives as you want or as few as are allowed.

 

[907914]

I really appreciate your insight and examples, I've usually been the student who just gets it and understand material quickly and do not really care for competitive specialties and don't want to make my life hell in med school so maybe it won't be too bad. Residency tho...

Note my signature: This is less so insight and moreso my generalizations based on 2 years of SDNing and conversations/med student panels.

 

[ciestar]

Is research usually the most heavy in MS-2 and MS-4 then? Because it seems that MS-1 and MS-3 are very stressful.

Summer after M1 as well. Some people gunning for competitive specialties take research years between M3 and M4.

M4 it can be hard to do it as well. It depends on what your schedule lookings like (especially if you’re doing aways in the summer..) and how time intensive it is overall. Plus interviews. I don’t do research so i cannot really comment much more than that.

 

[aldol16]

Lol wait for rotations. Where you can be there for 80 hours a week and still have to go home and study afterward.

You're getting only 80 hour weeks? If only...

 

[aldol16]

Is research usually the most heavy in MS-2 and MS-4 then? Because it seems that MS-1 and MS-3 are very stressful.

M4 it can be hard to do it as well. It depends on what your schedule lookings like (especially if you’re doing aways in the summer..) and how time intensive it is overall. Plus interviews. I don’t do research so i cannot really comment much more than that.

MS1 is not a difficult time to start research at all. Especially if you're on a 1.5 or 2 year pre-clin curriculum. If you're on the newer, condensed 1-yr pre-clinical curriculum, it'll be harder because all your free time will be spent preparing for class. But then that's why you get the extra year just for research. MS2 is also a good time but by the end of MS2 year (which maybe at MS1.5 depending on the curriculum), you should be wrapping up some research projects and entering dedicated. Research doesn't matter if your Step 1 score is bad.

MS4 is also a terrible time to start/do research, especially for competitive specialties. You're filling out ERAS and traveling all over the country for interviews. Whatever research you've done is set at that point. Any posters/papers you get after programs have filled their interview slots won't matter. So your research record should be strong by the time you apply, not by the end of fourth year.

So basically, it's realistic to start research MS1 year, continue during your first summer, and well into MS2 prior to entering clerkships. Once clerkships start, you'll be worrying about shelfs and you won't have time to do much research other than chart reviews at your own pace.

 

[SouthernGent]

Team Based Learning. This is the latest fad in medical education nowadays .

Those poor souls.

Anyways, lecture time is usually about 4hrs a day at most schools. There will be interspersed mandatory activities throughout the the week in addition to or in lieu of lecture at points throughout the semester. Be warned though, many people do not go to lecture. We have about 20 max per lecture right now. There are online resources that make learning so much easier and efficient. Also, don't be surprised if your learning methods have to change for medical school.