Does skipping class really help?

[silas2642]

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I am terrified of medical school. To be more accurate, I am terrified of flunking out of medical school.

Lurking around this forums, I've noticed that a lot of people suggest skipping class. Is this really true? Does skipping class to study on your own really help? I'm asking this because I've found as an undergrad that it doesn't make a difference if I go to class or not, as long as the power point presentations are posted, and that I never learn anything in lecture anyway. Any comments? Does anyone find that NOT going to class kills their ability to learn?

 

[robotsonic]

silas2642, first realize that it is very very difficult to flunk out of med school. They have invested way too much in you to let you fail. So that is one thing you can stop worrying about 🙂

As for lectures, I usually went to lecture. Although my school gives everyone the notes ahead of time, most of the lectures were not recorded (or they might have been, but I hate using recorded lectures), and I always felt like I learned better when I actually heard the lecturer explain the information. Also, I always thought it was best to go and actually hear what the lecturer thought was important. Unfortunately, my school is a big academic center where the lecturers often feel that their research on the structure of Protein X9DS242 is the most interesting and useful information a med student could ever possibly want to learn. So some of the lectures were skewed toward very useless information that, unfortunately, was tested on. And even when the information was useful, a lot of doctors really aren't good at teaching. Some of them were really great, but others just sucked.

In conclusion, looking back (I'm now MS4), I think I might have gotten more out of skipping lecture and reading on my own, but I probably wouldn't have done as well on the exams.

 

[Hurricane]

It's a matter of personal preference. I was a lecture goer. We had access to all of the powerpoints, but I learn better by hearing the professor explain it, then going over the notes and powerpoints myself, using what the professor said as a guide to what's most important. And let's face it - these aren't powerpoint experts putting together self-study modules. Sometimes in path for example, there would be powerpoints with just a jpg of a path specimen and no labels. Not much help without a lecturer to put it in context.

 

[Tiki]

I never go to lecture unless it's mandatory. My grades have gone up. I learn better and have more time to study and enjoy life when I'm not going to lecture. My school does record the lectures and put them online, so I'll usually listen to them before the exam.

 

[lil pook]

same here.

i don't go unless absolutely required. if you are not an auditory learner than don't waste your time attending. you have to figure that after sitting in lecture all day, maybe cooking dinner, spending time with your S.O. and working out or watching tv or whatever, how many hours does this actually leave you with to effectively study and retain anything? for me this is zero, so i stay home and it works out beautifully.

this is if your school has note service or power point posted online. if not then i don't know what to tell you. reading the book alone can be a hassle since they can be unnecessarily verbose and a real pain in the a$$, not to mention rather expensive

 

[ms1finally]

My school has a scribe service, so I don't feel pressure to attend every lecture. Most of the profs use powerpoint, making lecture even more unnecessary. I used to go to EVERY SINGLE LECTURE and I discovered that it was a huge waste of my time (particularly mine, I'm not an auditory learner). I stopped going. Grades went up. I feel less stressed before tests now. There's no way I'm going back!

 

[scrubs09]

mine has a scribe service too. i don't attend all lectures esp if I space out anyway. what's the use of sitting 2 hrs in class when i could be spending my time doing something else. I do go to the lectures like gross anatomy but lectures like histo--nah

 

[efex101]

It really depends on whom is lecturing...some lectures are worth their weight in gold because the professor is excellent and you get so much out of going....others OTOH are not worth going to. Start by going and see how it goes IF you realize that you can do well by going then go, if you find yourself not getting anything from lecture then do not go.

 

[felipe5]

the best idea for someone in your position (as is EVERYONE's position at the start of anything new in medschool) is to start off by going to class. After a while, you may realize...."damn, this lecturer sucks" or "it'd sure be nice to be drooling on my pillow right now". Really the key point is to personalize your day to how YOU think will suite you the best and you can really only find this out by experimenting. In the end, I ended up skipping most classes, but there were a few lecturers that I really liked and thus I went to them. Like I said, don't worry about what others do. If you realize that you can learn anatomy better at home with a nice cup of coffee in your PJ's, then do it.

Another thing that I suggest to you, which is easier said than done, is to try not and get discouraged when talking to others. Once you have a study plan and you hear someone say "oh yeah, i spent 8 hours studying yesterday STRAIGHT and then I read 3 Nature articles about the subject because it was sighted in last years syllabus" try not to get freaked out. Sure, its bound to happen and its only natural to feel like a sub-par ***** when talking to others about their crazy systems....But honestly, when you find out that your system works for you, then stick to it CONFIDENTLY but be aware that you will always need to adapt. As a previous poster stated above, you'll be fine....just get stoked about the next chapter of your life and not get stressed about the challenges that await for there will be plenty of time for that . Good luck, and happy holidays

 

[c diddy]

Time is the most valuable commodity while in med school. Unless you can remember eveything that is said in lecture, you are better off studying by yourself in half the time at home, and using your free time to exercise, spend time with those you love, etc. Not to mention the fact that quite a bit of the info covered in lecture bears no relevance to anything other than the test you will take on that subject. Enjoy essentially your last opportunity to get some decent free time before residency and more unavoidable resposibilities set in.

 

[raspberry swirl]

totally professor dependent. there were certain lecturers i would never miss, no matter how sick or tired i was, because it was always worth it. there were other professors i skipped every single lecture because they read the powerpoints monotonously. 1st year i attended 80% of the lectures, 2nd year, maybe about 60%. i say give all your professors a chance. if they suck, head home and dont look back . . .

 

[OSUdoc08]

I am terrified of medical school. To be more accurate, I am terrified of flunking out of medical school.

Lurking around this forums, I've noticed that a lot of people suggest skipping class. Is this really true? Does skipping class to study on your own really help? I'm asking this because I've found as an undergrad that it doesn't make a difference if I go to class or not, as long as the power point presentations are posted, and that I never learn anything in lecture anyway. Any comments? Does anyone find that NOT going to class kills their ability to learn?

The question is does going to class really help?

I can read through my typed lecture notes in 10-15 minutes at a speed that doesn't put me to sleep. I can do this the week before the exam, so I can focus my studies on the upcoming exam, and not all of the other classes at once.

This also allows me to sleep as late as I would like, which improves my morale & productivity.

 

[njbmd]

I am terrified of medical school. To be more accurate, I am terrified of flunking out of medical school.

Lurking around this forums, I've noticed that a lot of people suggest skipping class. Is this really true? Does skipping class to study on your own really help? I'm asking this because I've found as an undergrad that it doesn't make a difference if I go to class or not, as long as the power point presentations are posted, and that I never learn anything in lecture anyway. Any comments? Does anyone find that NOT going to class kills their ability to learn?

Hi there,
You are wise to respect medical school and the level of scholarship that you must maintain. Contrary to popular belief, you CAN flunk out of medical school if you are not able to master the material presented. That being said, you find your best method of mastery of material. If that means staying home and learning the material on your own, then do it. For many people, sitting in lecture is counterproductive to their methods of study. Unlike undergraduate coursework, the lecture and lecturer are not as important in medical school. Anyway you learn the material be if off a bathroom wall, works.

I found that I would pick and choose the lectures that I found useful. There were no mandatory lectures at my school and more often than not, I could get more done by taking a day away from school. This did not work for classes like Gross Anatomy dissection but worked well for things like Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Psychiatriy, etc.

The material is there for you to study. Often there are notetaking services, syllabi and the textbooks that have more than you need to know for the exam. If sitting in class is counterproductive in terms of time managment for your learning style, then stay out of class and learn the material on your own. Your instructors and deans are not going to care what you do unless you start to fail.

njbmd 🙂

 

[OSUdoc08]

Hi there,
You are wise to respect medical school and the level of scholarship that you must maintain. Contrary to popular belief, you CAN flunk out of medical school if you are not able to master the material presented. That being said, you find your best method of mastery of material. If that means staying home and learning the material on your own, then do it. For many people, sitting in lecture is counterproductive to their methods of study. Unlike undergraduate coursework, the lecture and lecturer are not as important in medical school. Anyway you learn the material be if off a bathroom wall, works.

I found that I would pick and choose the lectures that I found useful. There were no mandatory lectures at my school and more often than not, I could get more done by taking a day away from school. This did not work for classes like Gross Anatomy dissection but worked well for things like Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Psychiatriy, etc.

The material is there for you to study. Often there are notetaking services, syllabi and the textbooks that have more than you need to know for the exam. If sitting in class is counterproductive in terms of time managment for your learning style, then stay out of class and learn the material on your own. Your instructors and deans are not going to care what you do unless you start to fail.

njbmd 🙂

I'd really hate to go to a school that requires notetaking services. All of our lectures included complete typed up notes for us with powerpoints available for download. We also have multiple classmates that record the audio to the lectures, if desired (I've never taken advantage of this.)

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

man. some profs need to learn how to use powerpoint.
they're useless.
those are the profs for whom you need to go to class for. unfortunately.

I know people who stay 2 steps ahead of class. They go through and memorize the notes way beforehand, and then use lecture as their 3rd brush up.

 

[gaikokujin]

Even after a semester, I still can't answer this question for myself. 1st block I went to all classes....did OK on the exams. 2nd block went to 1/2 of lectures...freaked out before the exams a bit more....did OK. 3rd block went to every friggin lecture (and read the lectures befor class to prepare)....and did exactly the same as on the last two blocks.

Generally, I feel totally lost when I don't go to class. And if I'm not in class, I'm usually wasting time sleeping, not using the time to learn. I find I have to spend double the amount of time on the material learning it if I don't go to class, but still seem to get exactly the same grades.

So I guess I find going to class is useful to lower my anxiety level and structure my day.

 

[SoCuteMD]

I'd really hate to go to a school that requires notetaking services. All of our lectures included complete typed up notes for us with powerpoints available for download. We also have multiple classmates that record the audio to the lectures, if desired (I've never taken advantage of this.)

I've never heard of a school that requires notetaking services. I personally prefer it (and the price was great). Our classes include a lot of outlines and powerpoints, too, but I've learned that nothing replaces a verbatim transcript.

 

[DireWolf]

I'm usually wasting time sleeping

this statement is an oxymoron. the words "sleeping" and "wasting time" are incompatible.

 

[OSUdoc08]

I've never heard of a school that requires notetaking services. I personally prefer it (and the price was great). Our classes include a lot of outlines and powerpoints, too, but I've learned that nothing replaces a verbatim transcript.

Perhaps at your school, but not all. Our notes ARE verbatim.

 

[peppy]

After the first couple of weeks, I never went to class unless it was mandatory. I feel that going to lecture hurt me because I wasted time getting ready, driving there, etc.
I found it vastly more efficient to listen to the lectures online from the comfort of home...especially once I figured out how to play the online lectures at 1.4 times normal speed. Speeding things up cut down on a lot of the time wasted on unnecessary "ums" and pauses, without hurting retention of necessary info.
If you care about socializing with classmates or need structure, that might be a reason to attend lecture. Otherwise, don't feel guilty about it.
You know you're going to spend plenty of time at the hospital in your clinical years, so I figure there's nothing wrong with enjoying being able to stay home and sleep in while it lasts. 🙂

 

[SoCuteMD]

Perhaps at your school, but not all. Our notes ARE verbatim.

Really? The profs take time to type out their verbatim lectures for you?

I find that incredibly hard to believe.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Really? The profs take time to type out their verbatim lectures for you?

I find that incredibly hard to believe.

All they do is read the powerpoints/notes to us and make corny jokes.

I don't need the jokes typed up for me.

 

[PoorMD]

the best idea for someone in your position (as is EVERYONE's position at the start of anything new in medschool) is to start off by going to class. After a while, you may realize...."damn, this lecturer sucks" or "it'd sure be nice to be drooling on my pillow right now". Really the key point is to personalize your day to how YOU think will suite you the best and you can really only find this out by experimenting. In the end, I ended up skipping most classes, but there were a few lecturers that I really liked and thus I went to them. Like I said, don't worry about what others do. If you realize that you can learn anatomy better at home with a nice cup of coffee in your PJ's, then do it.

Another thing that I suggest to you, which is easier said than done, is to try not and get discouraged when talking to others. Once you have a study plan and you hear someone say "oh yeah, i spent 8 hours studying yesterday STRAIGHT and then I read 3 Nature articles about the subject because it was sighted in last years syllabus" try not to get freaked out. Sure, its bound to happen and its only natural to feel like a sub-par ***** when talking to others about their crazy systems....But honestly, when you find out that your system works for you, then stick to it CONFIDENTLY but be aware that you will always need to adapt. As a previous poster stated above, you'll be fine....just get stoked about the next chapter of your life and not get stressed about the challenges that await for there will be plenty of time for that . Good luck, and happy holidays

fantastic post. I agree 100%. Other people will always tell you their unbelievable study habits, how they read for 4 hours before class every morning because they get up at 4 am every day to read and jog and sing for the choir at church and run for local government office and... etc. These types of gunners made class a real unpleasant event for me, just listening to the "Oh and after reading 4 hours I made it to church, jogged 6 miles, worked out, studied more, etc." Add in a professor who says things like "The leutenizing stimulating hormone acts on the Leydig cells, but the follicular hormone acts on Leydig cells, and it happens once per mentsruational leuteal follicle mugmble mumble FSH"
Meanwhile, Im like "Wait a minute, wasn't it FSH acts on Sertoli? and LH on Leydig?" while Im contemplating, the prof is already two slides ahead and causing more confusion... AHHH!!

bleh! I like my place, studying in my apartment, happy with a cup of coffee reading over the notes that were printed off and prepared for us. I move a little slow, takes me about an hour (or 2) to get through a meaty lecture. I use the note-handouts to guide my reading, using all sorts of sources to fill in the gaps (because some prof's do NOT know how to write good notes. For example, sometimes the notes just say "GDP regulates" and you're like.. regulates whAT????) so you go to the textbook, realize its going wayyy too deap, but I get something out of it each time. In fact, when I read the text I usually smoke that section of the test.. but I digress..
.

..there are days where I know I need to go because one of the Champion professors ( like a "Biochemistry Master Jedi Knight") is lecturing. these are the ones you need to be at, because a) their notes suck, and b) they are unbelievable, talented and fantastic professors... Hope this helps.

(like others said, it's a lot of feeling your way through until you find what fits your style best. I go to 40% of the lectures).

 

[SoCuteMD]

All they do is read the powerpoints/notes to us and make corny jokes.

I don't need the jokes typed up for me.

And therein lies the problem...

 

[Soup]

Add in a professor who says things like "The leutenizing stimulating hormone acts on the Leydig cells, but the follicular hormone acts on Leydig cells, and it happens once per mentsruational leuteal follicle mugmble mumble FSH"
Meanwhile, Im like "Wait a minute, wasn't it FSH acts on Sertoli? and LH on Leydig?" while Im contemplating, the prof is already two slides ahead and causing more confusion... AHHH!!

Sums up my first semester perfectly. These were the classes that I decided that if I wasn't completely prepared before class, I should just stay home. Otherwise, I just got frustrated, confused, and angry with myself and the prof. I like going to class so this was tough for me to do but time is too precious to waste sitting in a low yield lecture.

 

[noncestvrai]

Well skipping class is addictive, just be carefull, but in my case going to class reduces my study time at home greatly, so I tend to go, but skipping once in a while to catch a few Zs is not so bad...

Interestingly, I actually did better on units that I skipped a good chunk, maybe because I studied extra hard to compensate...

I think the approach of trial and error is the way to go...

noncestvrai

 

[SarahGM]

It's definitely trial and error.

I skipped the second "block" of our infectious diseases lectures, and ended up with one point higher on the exam than I got on the first block... and, because I skipped all the lectures, I did this with a lot more free time on my hands.

Still, though... our next unit was Neuropathology, which involved a lot focus in lecture on slides. I decided to attend lecture for this unit. It's nothing I probably couldn't do at home, but there was something about going over slides with people in lecture and small group, and just staring at the pictures while people talked about the finer details that really made it stick with me.

So, for me... the classes with menial, boring details aren't necessary to attend... but otherwise, it helps.

 

[Taus]

from my experience as an MSI:

If you are the type of student who knows that if you are not in class, you will sleep all day and just generally waste time, you MUST go to class. Nothing wrong w/ being like that, some people just need the structure of lecture.

If you don't have detailed lecture notes, recorded lectures and/or a scribe service, you won't be able to focus on what is important in the teachers mind. I hate to say it, but they are the ones writing your exams. If you try to learn every little detail about a subject, especially one that the teacher did not even mention, you will be wasting a lot of your time. While studying for future clinical knowledge and the boards are the true goals of class, if you can't do well on your tests because you didn't focus on what the teacher deemed important, you won't be doing very well on tests IMO.

Other reasons/classes you must go to: If you have an amazing professor, who all the upperclassmen say not to miss, trust their opinion and go (at least to the first few). For me this is pathology for a few reasons. Great professor, lots of pictures described and discussed, not too much random minutia, and he takes the class at a manageable pace while providing examples to make sure that you understand the material. I only have one other professor that I go to this term, other then that, I do it on my own (biochem, molec bio and pharm mostly)

If you know that you have the dedication to set your own schedule and have the lectures available in another format mentioned above, not going to class is AWESOME in my opinion.

Some teachers just talk about minute detail after detail and in class I find that if/when I miss some small detail or concept, I am generally lost for the next few minutes of lecture. So, on my own, I play the mp3's of class and follow along w/ the notes at my own pace. If the teacher says something that I want immediately repeated, I simply pause immediately and repeat. If there's a concept that I don't totally get, I'll pull out a text/review book and read that small section, then move on w/ the lecture. Using this method, I generally spend around 2 hours for every 1 hour of lecture. However, if I do 3-4 lectures a day, 8 hours of hard work is not exactly brutal and I don't have to spend the whole night trying to figure out wtf I was supposed to learn in lecture. With only 6-8 hours of work per day, I stay totally up to date w/ my classes and have ample free time to go to the gym, relax, socialize, etc.

My main suggestion would be to give the self-study method a try for the prof's that you either don't like or who go too fast for you to really learn the material. If it works, great, if not, go back to class.

Hope my long, rambling post helped somewhat...

 

[OSUdoc08]

And therein lies the problem...

Problem being what?

 

[tupac_don]

I am terrified of medical school. To be more accurate, I am terrified of flunking out of medical school.

Lurking around this forums, I've noticed that a lot of people suggest skipping class. Is this really true? Does skipping class to study on your own really help? I'm asking this because I've found as an undergrad that it doesn't make a difference if I go to class or not, as long as the power point presentations are posted, and that I never learn anything in lecture anyway. Any comments? Does anyone find that NOT going to class kills their ability to learn?

I find that skipping class is useful, but you have to know what lecturer you are dealing with. I found some will blatantly tell you what's on the test, so you don't skip those lectures, b/c it really saves you time on what to focus on. Some are not so blatant and don't give you such big clues. These might not be as good to go to. You kinda gotta gauge it based on the lecturer. But I mean once you get into med school you will figure out your style. It's kinda pointless to talk now. But skipping lecture I find works. I mean it gives you more time, but as long as you use that time, if you figure you can procrastinate, then it will come to bite you in the ass.