Difficulty Comparisons

[thestudent]

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Just curious...does the overall difficulty of medical school (yes I am aware that they are all difficult) vary somewhat from school to school or is it pretty uniform throughout? Perhaps it is easier to characterize the basic science years, but just wondering if there is some continuity in how hard they work you and how much they leave up to us and our self-motivation. We do need to take the same test in the end I guess.

 

[aaj117]

To learn the information and become a good doctor will be equally as difficult anywhere you go. To do well compared to others in your class, which is how they determine things like honors and AOA at some schools, will depend on the school and the others in your class.

 

[MrBurns10]

I think for the most part med schools are probably pretty similar in terms of difficulty. However, there a few med schools whose basic science curriculum goes faster, thereby perhaps making those a little more difficult in terms of speed. I know I had to study a lot more at Duke my first year than all my friends at UNC, but like I said, I'm sure this had more to do with the speed of the material than the quality of med school (because, as much as I hate to admit it as a Dukie, UNC has a great med school).

 

[thestudent]

Good point. This was along the lines of what I was thinking in terms of where the differences lie. At least the most measurable ones anyway.

I think for the most part med schools are probably pretty similar in terms of difficulty. However, there a few med schools whose basic science curriculum goes faster, thereby perhaps making those a little more difficult in terms of speed. I know I had to study a lot more at Duke my first year than all my friends at UNC, but like I said, I'm sure this had more to do with the speed of the material than the quality of med school (because, as much as I hate to admit it as a Dukie, UNC has a great med school).

Definitely true, but I am thinking more about the personal level of difficulty, not comparing performance with other students. I'm just trying to get a feel for how this fits into decision making in terms of both challenging myself and finding a good program for me.

To learn the information and become a good doctor will be equally as difficult anywhere you go. To do well compared to others in your class, which is how they determine things like honors and AOA at some schools, will depend on the school and the others in your class.

 

[DoctaJay]

No matter what you do, you have to learn the basic science information, which isn't inherently difficult. What makes things difficult is how your school may present the information, i.e.:

*does the school require alot of small group sessions which prevent you from studying what will actually be tested
*Do the histo or path teachers force you to know alot of stupid details related to their research, or do they teach you what you need to know for the wards and the boards
*How long does the school keep you in lecture? The longer lecture time, the less time you have to digest the info for yourself
*Are the lecture notes sufficient for studying, or do you have to read alot of books just to get what the lecture notes are saying?

There's a plethora of different things that the school could do to make the science presented more difficult than it needs to be. But overall, all schools need to prepare you for the boards, so all schools will be difficult in that respect.

 

[skinnylindsay]

I think some of it would also have to do with how the schools present material versus your learning style. For someone who likes going to lecture and taking notes, it might be more difficult for them to at a school that heavily uses PBL or a more self-directed method. Or a detailed oriented person might do better in a school that teaches basic science in individual units rather than an integrated system approach.

 

[thestudent]

Good list...definitely important, but having not been to med school some of these things are hard to weight properly. Time to study on my own though is clearly a good thing. Once I narrow my choices down to two or three, these are probably the questions I will need to ask current students. I always try to find out some of this stuff during interviews, but a lot of the time the tour guides are pretty vague about it.

Thanks for the info. Those are the type of ideas I was looking for.

No matter what you do, you have to learn the basic science information, which isn't inherently difficult. What makes things difficult is how your school may present the information, i.e.:

*does the school require alot of small group sessions which prevent you from studying what will actually be tested
*Do the histo or path teachers force you to know alot of stupid details related to their research, or do they teach you what you need to know for the wards and the boards
*How long does the school keep you in lecture? The longer lecture time, the less time you have to digest the info for yourself
*Are the lecture notes sufficient for studying, or do you have to read alot of books just to get what the lecture notes are saying?

There's a plethora of different things that the school could do to make the science presented more difficult than it needs to be. But overall, all schools need to prepare you for the boards, so all schools will be difficult in that respect.

 

[Law2Doc]

Just curious...does the overall difficulty of medical school (yes I am aware that they are all difficult) vary somewhat from school to school or is it pretty uniform throughout? Perhaps it is easier to characterize the basic science years, but just wondering if there is some continuity in how hard they work you and how much they leave up to us and our self-motivation. We do need to take the same test in the end I guess.

I think DoctaJay's post is a good one.
While things vary from place ot place, I suspect there is not that much appreciable difference in difficulty from school to school per se-- you cover the same material, usually in the same level of detail, with the same Step exam looming in the distance. In terms of motivational issues: Self motivation is important, but the real key is that in med school, if you fall behind, because of the volume of material, you sometimes cannot ever catch up again. So you will be motivated plenty by mere self preservation. Knowing the material takes working at it daily for most -- really no way around that. If you slack off, get lazy, at many schools you can run the risk of failing a class, having to take a make up test, having to take a course over again in the summer or repeating an entire academic year. There will be a few people from the year ahead in your class that serve as constant reminders that you can't let up. That tends to be plenty of motivation. So it isn't about "how hard they work you", it's how hard you work yourself to avoid potentially uncomfortable consequences.