Going to Class

[all605]

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I've heard (mostly from lurking on other boards on sdn when I'm bored lol) that in medical school, it's really common for students to not go to lectures and just rely on notes that the professors hand out at the start of each year. I was just wondering if anybody knew if this was common of vet students as well? In many ways, it seems like a much more efficient way to learn the material.

 

[luplodw]

This is so dumb. Professors say things that aren't in the notes. People don't really skip class at my school

 

[quantized]

We're theoretically not allowed to skip classes and we have to tell the dean when we are absent. It has something to do with the AVMA accreditation. All I know is that with my medical problems, it was a bit of a headache to get it all straightened out so I could miss class for my doctor's appointments and not get into trouble!

People do occasionally miss class/oversleep/whatever, but I don't think anyone makes a regular habit of it.

 

[racccjlm]

I have one class right now that I MAYBE could skip occaisionally. The others - hell no. All of our professors do provide notes, but they often go off on tangents, and go into much more detail than the notes provide. I suppose it's different for each school, and each class - but why would you pay all of that money to sit at home and teach yourself? Might as well take advantage of the profs while they're there offering to help you. Just my two bits 🙂

 

[all605]

What you all are saying makes total sense and I agree. I just don't understand how those med students seem to get by doing that.

 

[BlacKAT33]

It isn't mandatory for us to go to class but majority of the class does. As in, the seats look like they are all full so maybe just a couple people skip. Now that exams have started, people have skipped the "easy" classes (intro to clinical vet med) to study for hard exams (bchm and anatomy). Of course, you can't skip the hands on clinical stuff, just the lectures. All of our classes are recorded so we can go back and listen to things. HOWEVER, everyone is super short on time. You have to choose the lectures you want to listen to again wisely. There just isn't enough time to listen to them all. With 8 hrs of class each day, you'd be sooo screwed if you skipped many classes.

My lab partner has a bf who is in med school right now. Their schedules are COMPLETELY different. First off, they do anatomy for the whole year, that is one body for the whole year! We finish the body (minus head) in 5-6 weeks. Also, they have 2 study days every couple of weeks. So he will come down to visit her on the study days (aka 4 day weekends). And finally, they get the whole day off when they have an exam. We have an exam, and then go to anatomy lab hahahah Of course, this is just generalizing...i know not all med schools are the same!! likewise for vet schools

 

[bunnity]

Like BlacKat said, at Penn all the lectures are recorded. My good friend (who is now a second year) does not go to classes unless they are labs. She listens to the recordings on her own time since she is more of a night person than a morning person. She does just fine!

 

[nyanko]

Like BlacKat said, at Penn all the lectures are recorded. My good friend (who is now a second year) does not go to classes unless they are labs. She listens to the recordings on her own time since she is more of a night person than a morning person. She does just fine!

Yeah, I was going to say you could definitely get by with just listening to the recorded lectures if you aren't going to class, because it's just like inverting your day or switching it around or whatever - just plunk those 8 hours down somewhere else...

To be honest, I've often thought of doing this (all of our lectures are podcasted as well) but just haven't brought myself to do it yet.

 

[StartingoverVet]

At this point, I skip almost every lecture (unless there is an exam that week).

After I got sick and fell behind, I felt it was more efficient to listen to the lectures than to sit through them. I get more out of the lectures replaying at my own pace than trying to keep up with the pace of some of the shot-gun lecturers (or the ones whose accents are hard to follow). This way I never have to worry about reading my increasingly hard to read handwriting (it was never good).

Plus, this way I can be comfortable rather than freezing my butt off in those annoying lecture halls.

A few of the lectures are so useless I just listen to them while exercising (that is just one class really).

With the huge anatomy exam coming up, I haven't bothered to keep up with listening to the lectures so I am probably pretty screwed, but I would have been more screwed sitting through the lectures.

 

[sunshinevet]

I never go to lectures. Instead, I stay at home and listen to the recordings on double speed - its almost never too fast, and I get through each lecture in about half the time! I don't learn well in lectures - when i did go to lectures, I would just whisper to my friends next to me, play hangman, write lists of things to do, play on my phone etc - I would never actually learn!!! Now my learning is quick and efficient, I can choose the hours I want to do it in, which makes it easier for me to earn money to support myself, and my grades have actually gone up. And I'm now in the top 10% of my class, so its not like im scraping by. I'm also an epic night person, so I'll stay up studying til 3-4am, and then sleep til midday.

With the sheer volume of information, vet school is about studying smart, not hard. If going to lectures works for you, thats awesome, if it doesnt, thats also awesome. But if it doesnt, dont feel pressured into going (unless its part of a stupid schools stupid policy!) because you just have to do the right thing by yourself!

 

[karmapple]

Or.... you might go to a school where none of the lectures are recorded or podcast, like I do. Sure, you can get someone to record the lecture on a digital recorder, but it makes it difficult to follow along in the notes with audio alone. I often wish they would podcast lectures at OSU, but I think they are afraid people will use it as a reason to skip class.

Unfortunately, I am not an audio learner at all, and I often feel like going to class is a huge waste of time. I can learn more from two hours of reading than I can from seven hours of lecture. I keep attending most of the time anyway, because it's supposedly required.

 

[Nexx]

I've been VERY guilty about skipping classes in the first 3 years (of 5, currently year 4) at Murdoch. There are several professors who speak ungodly slow and one or two classes that where the material was a repeat of previous classes I've taken but couldn't get exempted for. Instead I typically listen to recorded lectures, crank up the speed on the media player 1.5-2x the pace and get done quicker -- and then the teachers speak at the pace of a normal person.

Also I tend to learn better from reading than listening so reading the course readers helps a lot more than sitting in class trying really hard to focus and getting caught up counting the "uhms"

 

[VeganSoprano]

I've also become a fan of watching/listening to lectures at home. I'm way fidgety in lecture, pretty similar to Sunshinevet's description. At home, I can multitask in a way that helps me pay attention better. I also work a full-time job and a part-time job while taking classes so efficiency is key. I often watch lectures while making dinner or folding the laundry. The end result is that I'm getting more out of lecture since I'm fidgeting in a way that enhances my attention instead of zoning out, I'm eating better and saving money since I'm cooking at home instead of getting takeout when I'm exhausted after 10 hours of work and 2 hours of lecture, and I've been able to do a bunch of little household chores I'd been putting off for ages. So for me, doing lectures at home is definitely beneficial.

 

[GellaBella]

I've also been thinking of not going to lectures anymore, I typically pay attention for a bit and then begin checking my email and playing on my computer. Plus it's distracting when i see other people on facebook during lecture because then I'm like "oh yeah, what's going on on facebook?!" even though I just checked like 10 min ago.

Like blackatt and bunnity And SOV said, our lectures are recorded and made available to is the same day. Plus they keep th lectures from the last few years up as well so you could actually listen to the lecture that was given to the current second/third/fourth years as well.

I download them as audiobooks onto my iPhone and listen whole I walk to and from school, not so much to really learn but to aquaint myself with the material.

So far at penn I think only our Wildlife elective and anatomy lab are required attendance events. Any other lab/class you can basically do on your own time.

 

[sumstorm]

I also work a full-time job and a part-time job while taking classes so efficiency is key. I often watch lectures while making dinner or folding the laundry. The end result is that I'm getting more out of lecture since I'm fidgeting in a way that enhances my attention instead of zoning out, I'm eating better and saving money since I'm cooking at home instead of getting takeout when I'm exhausted after 10 hours of work and 2 hours of lecture, and I've been able to do a bunch of little household chores I'd been putting off for ages.

Which vet school only has 2 hours of lecture a day and is unscheduled enough that you can work 40+ hours? I should have applied there!

Technically all our classes are mandatory attendance, but only a few actually ever use sign ins (or quizes) to track attendance. I wish I was brave enough to skip classes, but we have had professors be punitive on exams when attendance drops. I can completly see how some individuals could teach themselves the material from texts, notes, lecture capture, etc. For me, sitting in class is useless; normally I am studying another subject. Part of it is my ADD, I just don't have the duration of attention for passive learning (active learning is a completly different matter) and another part of it is that I am very uncomfortable with 80 people in a lecture hall and find it way to distracting....I am constantly aware of the lawn mowers outside of the building, the birds by the door (can hear them), chairs squeeking, etc. Wasn't a problem in my UG which had very small class sizes and lots of class participation. However, most of our class days involve some sort of lab, so I am often a warm body in the classroom since I have lab anyways. Attendance is taken in zoo med, careers (first year), phys exam skills, surgery, and teaching animal unit (large animal.) Some days large portions of the class skip (today only 1/3 of the class attended morning classes, and some folks skip most classes most days.

Having said that, there are some amazing profs and their class attendance is astounding. And everyone is fairly enthralled, so students are not studying other stuff or playing overly much online. You only find out, really, which profs are excellent, by being in class.

 

[VeganSoprano]

Sorry, I should have clarified that I'm finishing prereqs and only taking 8 credits.