go to class?

[lilnoelle]

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I'm in my third week of M1 and up to this point I've been a regular class attender. I'm trying to decide as to whether I should continue as such or just prepare on my own. I've gotten mixed reactions from the M2s at my school. Some of them don't go to class, but (surprisingly) a lot of people I've talked to do go to class. Anyway, I'm sort of scared not to go... think I'll miss something I guess. What do you guys do? Is there a higher percentage of med students that skip class than those who attend? At this point, I'm planning on skipping classes that I feel comfortable with and feel I can get everything I need from the power point slides... i.e. the medical interview, determinants of health (a look at society) and I think I'm gonna go to the biochem/more mentally draining lectures.

edit: maybe I should include more info about myself...
I have two young children, so all of my studying occurs between 7 am and 6:30 pm, while the kids are at daycare. I am relatively used to getting up early in the morning and will be studying during that time frame whether in class or not. my school provides podcasts on my computer that allow me to listen to lectures, but several days later (I think). I guess I feel that if I end up listening to the podcast, I just as well have been at class because they consume the same amount of time. My lectures take place between 9 and 12 and in the afternoon we have a variety of group activities, meeting on average 3 days a week and taking two hours a piece. I am not currently in gross anatomy - so that doesn't come into play... yet.

 

[Nerdoscience]

You have to figure out for yourself whether class is worth it to you. I went to about 90 percent of my first year classes, and did miserably. I went to about 20 percent of my second year classes, and kicked butt. It was all about figuring out which ones to skip, and when it was better to sleep in a little bit, then study independently.

 

[Taus]

If you have lectures available on podcasts or mp3's....then you 100% won't miss anything unless u know that a certain professor tends to do a lot of freehand drawing, visual demonstrations or doesn't provide any notes/powerpoint at all. I actually prefer to do the oposite w/ lectures....I tend to go to the more conceptual/simpler classes as I can just take a few notes and never have to touch it again....whereas I prefer to do the more detailed, basic science classes w/ the mp3's so I can pause and rewind whenever as often as I'd like (and not have to scribble notes like a madman in class and risk missing critical details)

 

[joe6102]

I think the majority of med students would do better if they studied on their own instead of going to class. The problem is that a lot of them just can't skip because it's their personality.

My advice: try it for a block. If it works you'll have a good system for the next year and a half. If not, it's only 1 block in your first year and it won't hold you back.

 

[Taus]

I think the majority of med students would do better if they studied on their own instead of going to class. The problem is that a lot of them just can't skip because it's their personality.

My advice: try it for a block. If it works you'll have a good system for the next year and a half. If not, it's only 1 block in your first year and it won't hold you back.

or you can do it on a teacher/subject specific basis....go once and give each prof a try...if you like it..go again...if not....don't...simple as that....

 

[PoorMD]

or you can do it on a teacher/subject specific basis....go once and give each prof a try...if you like it..go again...if not....don't...simple as that....

👍 Taus offers the best advice for attendance.. its totally teacher/subject specific, since some subjects just dont lend themselves to lecture halls.

personally I skipped a lot of anatomy lectures and did just fine, but I attended most biochem lectures. I would try the method described by Taus

 

[Dr. McDreamy]

you will do better and have more free time if you dont go to class. just do it.

in the end, everyone is tested on the same stuff on step 1. so just learn what brs says and you'll do peachy!

 

[RaaMD]

You have to figure out for yourself whether class is worth it to you. I went to about 90 percent of my first year classes, and did miserably. I went to about 20 percent of my second year classes, and kicked butt. It was all about figuring out which ones to skip, and when it was better to sleep in a little bit, then study independently.

Awesome. Good to see it worked out for you.

 

[njbmd]

I'm in my third week of M1 and up to this point I've been a regular class attender. I'm trying to decide as to whether I should continue as such or just prepare on my own.

Hi there,
Why don't you wait until your first block of exams and then see how your current system is working for you. If it turns out that after you have taken exams and you feel that class attendance is optional for you, then stay home and prepare. Three weeks in is a bit early to be ruling out anything at this point.

njbmd 🙂

 

[fun8stuff]

I'm in my third week of M1 and up to this point I've been a regular class attender. I'm trying to decide as to whether I should continue as such or just prepare on my own. I've gotten mixed reactions from the M2s at my school. Some of them don't go to class, but (surprisingly) a lot of people I've talked to do go to class. Anyway, I'm sort of scared not to go... think I'll miss something I guess. What do you guys do? Is there a higher percentage of med students that skip class than those who attend? At this point, I'm planning on skipping classes that I feel comfortable with and feel I can get everything I need from the power point slides... i.e. the medical interview, determinants of health (a look at society) and I think I'm gonna go to the biochem/more mentally draining lectures.

edit: maybe I should include more info about myself...
I have two young children, so all of my studying occurs between 7 am and 6:30 pm, while the kids are at daycare. I am relatively used to getting up early in the morning and will be studying during that time frame whether in class or not. my school provides podcasts on my computer that allow me to listen to lectures, but several days later (I think). I guess I feel that if I end up listening to the podcast, I just as well have been at class because they consume the same amount of time. My lectures take place between 9 and 12 and in the afternoon we have a variety of group activities, meeting on average 3 days a week and taking two hours a piece. I am not currently in gross anatomy - so that doesn't come into play... yet.

There is no reason to go to class, except for social reasons. You probably havent talked to very many people who don't go to class becase... they are at home. I would absolutely recommend it if all the lectures were video streamed and you were given all the notes and you knew that all questions came from the notes.

Anyways, the best thing for you to do is wait and see how you do after the first round of exams. If you do well, ask yourself: did you really learn the material while listening to it in lecture or did you learn it while at home reading over your notes. Then, if you stil want to stay home, set up a routine every day where you read, organize every day's notes. Then, you listen to or watch the lectures at 2x and annotate the notes. If the lectures are a couple days old, this will serve as good review. i.e.:

Monday: Read/organize Monday's notes & Listen/annotate Thursday's notes
Tuesday: Read organize Tuesday's notes & listen/annote Friday's ntoes

 

[SoCuteMD]

Class? We have class?

 

[beponychick]

I am in my second week as an M1 and I stopped going to classes on the second day! 😱 I am definitely not a classroom person. I do listen to every lecture online and take notes. I play them at 1.5 speed, and stop to take notes on things I missed (which I cannot do if im sitting in lecture). Overall, I feel I definitely get more out of the hour I spend listening at home than I would if Im in class. Plus, I get to do it at my time which is later on in the day since Im definitely not a morning person.

If I were you, I would try it out. Don't be scared that you will miss something and dont think that just because everyone else is going to class, you have to as well. I have heard that people who dont go to class (but still study at home) do just as well as those that sit in class regularly.


Good luck!

 

[bjackrian]

First semester of M1 year, I went to probably 90% of classes. Second semester, it was more like 25-50%. Instead, I listened to podcasts on 1.5-2.0X (Windows Media Player has an easy way to do this), read the text, and studied the notes. It worked for me, since I got afeel for what the prof emphasized during class while still studying the way that works best for me (reading over and over and over and over and over and...).

Definitely agree with what others have said about it being highly individualized. You really do have to figure out what works best for you.

 

[Law2Doc]

Definitely agree with what others have said about it being highly individualized. You really do have to figure out what works best for you.

Agree with this. Know what works for you -- don't buy into the people who don't go to class do better hype of this thread. I know people for whom skipping class didn't work out well - if you are not a disciplined self starter, you can easilly sleep in, get distracted end up wasting the day pretty regularly, putting you in a far worse position than if you got the early start classes impose. Even if you only absorb 10% of the info in a lecture, sometimes that puts you 10% up over what you would be doing at home. So try both techniques and see what works.

 

[lilnoelle]

I know people for whom skipping class didn't work out well - if you are not a disciplined self starter, you can easilly sleep in, get distracted end up wasting the day pretty regularly, putting you in a far worse position than if you got the early start classes impose. .

for me the difference of going to class verses not going means I get up at 6:30 in the morning instead of 5:30... (I'm studying before classes start either way) I think I'm gonna try skipping a few days and see how it goes - if I feel more or less comfortable with the material- and then go from there. it is especially important to me to be very efficient with my time because of my kids.

 

[MeowMix]

I agree that this is an individual thing; do not be swayed by others' choices.

Some people with kids find that it works best to go to school as if it were a job: 8 to 5 or whatever. You can go to class or not, but being at school gets you in the mood for studying and getting done by your designated leaving time.

 

[bjackrian]

Some people with kids find that it works best to go to school as if it were a job: 8 to 5 or whatever. You can go to class or not, but being at school gets you in the mood for studying and getting done by your designated leaving time.

This is definitely true. I find it's way to easy to be distracted if I skip class and stay home, so if I'm skipping, I try to stick aroudn school somewhere where I feel obligated to study. Or at least read SDN which has to be good for my grades, right?

 

[medicomel]

you guys who go to class/labs all day then run home and get through the day's reading AND lecture notes must be superheroes. any advice on how you do it? i'm going to bed pretty late in doing this, and i'm not an unusually slow reader.

🙁


seriously, how do you do it? i see myself skipping very soon as more classes get added into the fold.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Well, I've started skipping my first class of the day (biochem) just because waking up and getting to class by 8 just doesn't work for me. We do have mp3s and notegroups, so it's not like the material isn't available. I would also skip anatomy if we didn't get points for attendance since that's just not a subject matter I can learn through a lecture.

I've heard very contradictory things from other students about class attendance, so it seems like it's a really individual thing.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

you guys who go to class/labs all day then run home and get through the day's reading AND lecture notes must be superheroes. any advice on how you do it? i'm going to bed pretty late in doing this, and i'm not an unusually slow reader.

🙁


seriously, how do you do it? i see myself skipping very soon as more classes get added into the fold.

This is what I'm wondering, too, which is why I'm leaning towards class skipping.

 

[logos]

During Med 1 I experimented with going or not going at various points throughout the year. Tward the end of the year I wasnt going at all and even skipping our small group sessions.

If I were you, I would wait until you get through a test or two. That should give you enough time to really know what is going on and what you need to do. That being said, dont be afraid to not go to class. It just isnt necessary when all the information is laid out for you in the powerpoints. Plenty of people (including me) do just as well or better than than people who attend class.