how are so many medical school students able to skip lecture and do well?

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How long has it been since you were in medical school? I can guarantee you that at the two medical schools I have information about, the 10-20% of students actually going to lecture figure rings true.

Also, plenty of people who skip lectures actually have discipline, get their work done, and end up doing very well. Like you said, there is no "one size fits all game plan". I wake up at 10-11 am, and watch at 2x. By the time everyone else is done with lectures and eating their lunch at 12:30, I've finished them as well from home. Then I can stay up late and study when I'm most naturally inclined to (~midnight-2am).

More than a few of my classmates who wanted to improve their grades at the end of first year started going to lectures again at the start of a new block, then stopped when they realized it was hurting them more than helping them.

Not sure why I'm responding really, as I really agree with your last paragraph. I guess your post just sounds a little too much like our administrators/block directors who, despite having podcasting/streaming available like to try to guilt trip us into going to class by implying that not going to class makes you a worse/less dedicated to medicine student. I'm just tired of hearing it, because it is patently untrue.

The people who don't attend classes aren't usually the ones who actually know how many people are there when they aren't. There was absurd exaggeration of how many skipped class even when I was in med school, and before. I suspect that's thats going on on this thread too. When I was in med school people say "like 90% don't come to class" and yet half the class did religiously attend, was just a few people who didn't attend pretending everyone else didn't as well.

If you have the discipline to study on your own, great.then you should study on your own. But again most people who say they do don't. More then a Few people getting up late, exercising, doing errands, pursing around and showing up sheepishly to the library a few hours later than their classmates, having yet to preview the material once. For some the freedom isn't a benefit. For many it sounds great but they are Often their own worse enemy to succeeding. I promise you not all of your classmates benefit. Certainly not all of my classmates did. I know many who started studying later than those of us who attended class, already one pass through the material behind. They did poorly and after a few classes were back in class, having failed their experiment, Again, if it works for you, great.

But a lot of time the proponents for not attending class screw over their classmates by saying "nobody attends class anymore" and that nobody should and then a healthy chunk who listen to them end up doing poorly. There is a lot of "peer pressure" in med school that you should do this or not do that by people who refuse to accept that in fact there are many approaches to med school and that the one that works best for one person can actually be the worst approach for everyone else. This is a perfect example of something that's not a good idea for everyone. and yet on SDN for over a decade people have created threads saying "nobody attends class" and "nobody should." No, I don't think times have changed. You can search for threads going back to before I went to med school with the identical debate. The streaming technology is a little better but the underlying facts haven't changed, nor has human nature. If anything the number of distractions the typical med student has to deal with outside of lecture are now greater than ever before.

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Is there anyone that never watched the lectures? Is it possible to use only books and prepared course notes/outlines? That is, is it possible to pick a few recommended sources, use the syllabus as a guide, and only attend tests--no lecture at all?

Our syllabi are generally really good, so in MS2 I would really only watch the lecture if it was a good lecturer or if I thought the lecture notes were lacking in explanation. I'm not an auditory learner at all, it's reading and taking notes that sticks with me, so listening to the lecture was not always a productive use of time. I would wait until you have a solid understanding of how you study before doing that though. I listened to the majority of lectures for MS1.
 
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I've definitely attended a few lectures where the attendance was down around 10 students out of a class of about 80. This is usually much more near the end of a block for an early morning session which seems like it will be low yield (unpopular teacher, etc.). Usually about half the class was there on any given day, although I didn't keep careful statistics. This is just for the didactic lectures. We had many other activities, like PBL sessions and work with standardized and real patients which was, of course, required.

My school is very good about recording material. They also provide sample tests from previous years, so I think some people studied using external materials and then learned the teacher specific quirks from the previous tests. I know some people did quite well without viewing all the lectures.

I will note, that the only students who really fell behind and struggled and had academic troubles were the ones who didn't go to class. However, some of the non-attenders were also the really strong students. One student did an analysis from the previous year and showed that class attendance was slightly correlated with test scores (unsurprisingly), best on anonymous self-reported data.

There are some people who seem to totally check out and you never see them except on exam day and required events, and frankly, I don't know what they are doing to study and how they are doing academically, but they seem to be advancing along with everyone else and know their stuff, so they must be studying effectively outside of class.
 
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Kind of surprised at the idea of podcasting peer pressure. How were class-goers shamed if the podcasters weren't there? Of the 30-40% of classes I attended (and about 70%+ M1 year) attendance varied by subject. The best professors would pull 60-70%ish but the majority of the time, it was less than 1/3 of the class.

Look, podcasting is a tool. Like anything else, it can be misused. By the time you get to medical school, you should be intelligent enough to have a general idea of your strengths and weaknesses. Waking up at 10 AM isn't a killer if you were up until 4 AM studying the night before, some people just have different schedules than others. There were people at the top of the class in both the podcasting and non-podcasting groups. I knew a guy who was AOA who simply sat in class and listened, and didn't take a single note in two years. Things that work for certain people won't work for you, and part of the battle M1 year is finding your ideal study style.

If you give podcasting a try and find that on the weekend you're scrambling to catch up on the 20 lectures you still haven't covered, while other people are reviewing, then you probably need more structure in your life. Just be self-aware enough to realize that.
 
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Is there anyone that never watched the lectures? Is it possible to use only books and prepared course notes/outlines? That is, is it possible to pick a few recommended sources, use the syllabus as a guide, and only attend tests--no lecture at all?

Yes. You're going to see different answers on this because A) Some people went to different schools where the resources or style is different B) Some people think the way they did things is the best way to do things for everyone C) Different things work for different people.

The variety of answers you're getting is a testament to the fact that there is no one right way, whatever way works best for you is the right way. There are many classes or people where you can get away with not watching lectures. It's not that big of a deal, you still use the syllabus and the lecture notes/slides as a way to determine what the lecturer wants to emphasize. You use the textbook or whatever review source you want as backup to that. In many classes you can study entirely from the syllabi because they can be quite detailed and useful. It's possible there'll be something that was said in lecture that is unobtainable from either the notes, syllabus, or the textbook, but you don't have to get a 95% to pass so sometimes you'll miss those questions. Does everyone do this? The majority watch lecture at some point, be it in class or as a recording. But is there anyone that never watches? Yes, there are.
 
Another thing I personally cannot stand is sitting in class all day. I don't do well with it and am not as alert. It also aggravates my back. This may seem silly, but standing desks are becoming more popular and some doctors actually do have treadmill desks.

I actually have one of these and love using it while studying: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/standing-up-for-your-health/
 
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At every medical school I've interviewed at so far (7 schools so far), each student I talk to skips the lectures and watches at 3X speed. Are these people all study gods or is medical school just structured in a way that this works? If so, explain? I always attended lectures in undergrad and it really helped me learn and reinforce them material. I'd read lecture notes a few times before and use the lecture to participate, ask questions, and reinforce concepts into memory. Skipping lecture seems like going blind, and I couldn't possibly imagine getting thing out of sped up lectures when it's so easy to miss material at normal time.
MD1 here. I do skip class. The lectures are recorded. When I do go to class, I zone about 50% of the time and have to watch the rest at home anyways. Why not just skip the middle man and just watch it at home. I don't watch it 3x speed, I think that's impossible. But I do watch 1.5 speed. Plus when you have other things going on you must attend (labs, preceptorship, club meetings, etc), the more free time the better. I will say though, after about 3 straight days of skipping class, I kinda get depressed. It's crazy what being alone can do to you. So then by the 4th day I show up to class and realize how much I miss everyone. I do tend to go to Friday classes as well. The environment is just more stress-free lol. Then the cycle starts again the next week.

The key to medical school is DO NOT GET BEHIND. If you're missing class and falling behind - theres a problem. If you're going to class and falling behind (yes, this is possible. I know many like this) - you have a problem. If you're missing class but not falling behind - you're good. A lot of people go to class because it forces them to stay on top of stuff. If you're in class, you're forced to at least be exposed to that day's material.
 
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I often relistened to lectures at home and found this needed if I missed something, but never had the ability to have recorded lectures online. This would be very convenient and save me a lot of time because I would need to attend to record my lectures on my phone.
 
I fall into the category of the slightly undisciplined med student. If i don't go to class, I get so behind and fast. Going to class just keeps me on task, honestly. If i need to "rewind" i just mark it in my notes and go back for that information later.
 
MD1 here. I do skip class. The lectures are recorded. When I do go to class, I zone about 50% of the time and have to watch the rest at home anyways. Why not just skip the middle man and just watch it at home. I don't watch it 3x speed, I think that's impossible. But I do watch 1.5 speed. Plus when you have other things going on you must attend (labs, preceptorship, club meetings, etc), the more free time the better. I will say though, after about 3 straight days of skipping class, I kinda get depressed. It's crazy what being alone can do to you. So then by the 4th day I show up to class and realize how much I miss everyone. I do tend to go to Friday classes as well. The environment is just more stress-free lol. Then the cycle starts again the next week.

The key to medical school is DO NOT GET BEHIND. If you're missing class and falling behind - theres a problem. If you're going to class and falling behind (yes, this is possible. I know many like this) - you have a problem. If you're missing class but not falling behind - you're good. A lot of people go to class because it forces them to stay on top of stuff. If you're in class, you're forced to at least be exposed to that day's material.

I'm glad you made the point about being lonely. Podcasting fits more to my learning style but when I think about the reality of days where I just learn from home I'm worried about not getting to know my class or spending time with people.


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M1 here.

I never go to lecture but I never study at home. I show up at the student center to study at the same time people are at lecture. The whole time they sit in lecture listening to someone explain stuff, I self study the same subject. I don't bother listening or watching the recorded lecture either. I'm doing well in school so far.

Its always me and a few of the same 15-20 people at the student center studying, so I get the chance to know these people and we have a good time while working. I'd say another 60-80 people wander in and out throughout the day so I get to see different people of my class enough to chat whenever.

I advise people to avoid studying at home. Studying at home poisons your "relax" space. Meaning, anytime you are at home, your brain thinks "I could be doing this" and gnaws at you, making you feel guilty about relaxing even when you are on top of everything. You need a space somewhere that when you walk in you know "I can chill out, aww yis."
 
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