Class Attendance in Medical School

[Random Anesthesiologist]

I didn't name the school because I didn't want to discourage students from applying to a school just because of the essays. The school is Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University. I know that this policy applied in the first semester, but it may have been more lax in the second.

Are you sure about this? I'd like to see someone from CCOM verify this.

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[HickMD]

Go figure, some schools out there actually think that you might be studying if you aren't in class. My school continually tells us that we are going to fail step 1 and do horrible our third year if we don't go to class. As a result, we still have sub-standard board scores. I haven't set foot in class during my second year, besides the one organ system that required we come and then the course director thought we were third or fourth years instead of second years. As you can imagine, it was a waste of time. My classmates and I who are not attending have more time to focus on Step 1 relevant material rather then the professor's pet topics. Some professors are great, most are lousy here. I hope lots of new first years read this threat, especially those going to schools that claim class attendence as the only way to study, that way they might know there are other options out there. Some people do well with class and others are much better off without it.

 

[gulnosh]

I'm chiming in agreement with everyone else, bc it seems like most people posting would rather not/ or don't attend classes. I attended most (90+%) because
1. It was mandatory the first 6 months
2. I am a lecture goer. I'll listen to the audio too, but I find I skim too much if I don'g go
3. An odd sense of guilt if I did not go.

The third reason is a complete mistake; if you get something out of going, then go. If you have to go, go. Otherwise, no one SHOULD care. One of my pet peeves was when lecturers would complain for 2+ mins about the low class attendence. It was as if they did not realize that they were complaining TO the people that CAME. Those that stayed home are just going to fast forward through that crap. sigh. ..

But if you study best at home, then those guys won't be able to bother you anyway . And your classmates WONT care. They won't care if you do or don't show up until 3rd year when you are dividing up pts.

I don't even think the admin care if you attend class; if you end up failing a test/ course. You will have to remediate/ repeat/ be dismissed according to your academic track record - not whether you attended (non mandatory) classes.

for me number 3 is the reason for going to school..well we have a mandatory attendence system so those who dont feel guilty not going to class they mark proxies.. ever heard of this??

 

[cubssox2000]

Are you sure about this? I'd like to see someone from CCOM verify this.

It's what I was told by my friends who attend the school. I would also greatly appreciate a current student verifying.

 

[podgi237]

don't go to class, it is pretty worthless.

 

[Its_MurDAH]

What I despised about medical school was that they treated the students like we were in high school all over again. At some point the faculty need to understand that most students are over 25 years of age and well into adulthood, have a learning system in place that works for us, and that forcing their inane rules and regulations on us do more damage than good. Crap courses like ethics discussions, interviewing and communication, and worthless physical diagnosis/cultural sensitivity "modules" are all a complete waste of time but they are a necessary evil because it's not the med school but LCME that is shoving it down everyone's throats. Most importantly though, I don't see how they should be allowed to tell you attendance is mandatory for class when you are paying exorbitant sums of money to get that degree. Unless the way one studies is not paying dividends and the student is failing classes (it's in the school's best interest to not have you fail) only then should the faculty step in. Otherwise leave me the hell alone.

I was lucky enough to attend a school where attendance was not mandatory. Not going to class frees up a ridiculous amount of time. Someone mentioned earlier that medical school should not be treated like college part 2 and I couldn't disagree more. If you are one of those people that can slack till the last minute then memorize a terabyte of information to your brain and do well on tests there is no reason you can't continue to do that in med school. Not everyone is going to be able to do that and the slackers out there were realize that soon enough. Especially since the pool gets concentrated and there are a lot more type A personalities in your class than you are used to. I personally did not go to any class unless attendance was mandatory. Using the syllabus, course textbooks, and advice from upper-classmen you too can do just fine. Again, individual results may vary.

 

[MilkmanAl]

That's not really true, and a good review or text will have way more info on a subject than you could possibly want. There's also the problem of lecturers taking an hour to tell you what you could probably read in 20-30 minutes.

 

[Antibodies]

I think we all should attend the class. Because teacher can tell us better then any website or machine and we can question him for any thing.

Or.. you can just watch the lecture online.

 

[Fiddlergirl]

Some teachers actually make it more difficult to understand the subject. After hearing a professor lecture about the coagulation cascade, I thought I would never be able to learn it. After about 15 minutes with Goljan, I had it down.

 

[dude1344]

Some teachers actually make it more difficult to understand the subject. After hearing a professor lecture about the coagulation cascade, I thought I would never be able to learn it. After about 15 minutes with Goljan, I had it down.

Worst. Lecture. Ever.

 

[RySerr21]

I think we all should attend the class. Because teacher can tell us better then any website or machine and we can question him for any thing.

False. Black Bear.

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

Worst. Lecture. Ever.

Because of the different professors we had throughout the year in biochem, this was one of the easier lectures for me to understand, even though the material is not so fun.

Just goes to show how nice it is to have great lecturers! I was not particularly fond of the amino-acid lectures simply because of which prof was lecturing that block.