Going to lectures???

I do not go to some lecture for both reasons. Like right now I go to all physio lectures but only some biochem because some of the biochem profs are really bad and some of the material is easier to read in a book.

 

i have learned that lectures (for me at least) are only occasionaly helpful. sometimes the profs suck, or more likely, i am usually not prepared to learn what they are teaching. if i haven't read what is being presented it is way beyond me to get anything out of it. my advice is to spend the time learning the way you learn best. for me, that is late in the term under pressure, on my own. not very effecien, but old habits die hard.

one thing that i consider is face time. it is pretty important here, as the lecturer is typically the dept head, who is our oral examiner. since our entire grade is based only on one oral exam, i try not to miss ALL the lectures. usually early i miss a bunch and then toward the end of the year i titrate upward, so it appears as though i am a dilligent student!

 

It's an interesting subject. I attend essentially no lectures and I think that it is actually beneficial to my studying. The professors are fine I'm told and our school as a transcript service such that you can read the entire lecture while looking at the lecture slides online. Plus you can do it entirely at your own pace so if there is something that isn't clear you can check on it rather than sitting in class thinking about it such that you miss the next ten minutes and waste the entire time. I also don't like to get up before noon and I often study until 4 in the morning. Waking up for class would destroy my study schedule, plus I'd be much less inclined to go through the transcripts SLOWLY and CAREFULLY if I attended the very same class that morning. We have conferences and case studies in the afternoon which I always attend.

 

What med schools do you guys attend and do you think that this is permissable at most med schools? I'm thinking that schools which emphasize PBL would probably not allow it, what do you think?

 

I don't go to alot of lectures. Right now I'm taking a neuro/psych course at SUNY Upstate. Most of our lectures are taped (depending on how many of the tapes get screwed up). For the psych lectures it's good to attend because I can follow them. For the neuro lectures I often skip because there is so much information that is being thrown at us. For me it's just better to read the text with the notes at my own slow pace.
I'm the type of learner who needs to continously review and have some time to digest and process information. Which is why weekends are a must! I just hope I can pick up the pace when it comes to 2nd year.

 

Oh how i feel for those who don't like to wake prior to noon. i was the same way during the first two years and attended as few of the lectures as humanly possible. THEN, 3rd year hit. Waking up at 4am on surgery or ob/gyn was a mild shock to the body but i guess i adjusted.

Lectures are good if you want to find out what the professor really stresses (i.e. what's on the test). Our transcript service keened in on the points that lecturers stressed which made up for not being there. The problem was the lecturers received copies of the notes and could manipulate their test questions so only those who attended had the upper hand. this was rare so i continued to skip lectures. it worked for me.