How much information???

[WheresWaLDo]

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I know this type of question has been asked a million times, but mine is slightly different, and I cannot seem to find the answer to this particular question. I was wondering exactly how much information is presented and required to be known during medical school??
how many pages/chapters per book/class is covered in day, week, and term?
I know it may be different for everyone, school, and so many other factors, but I would like someone to give me a close estimate as to how many chapters/pages per course they study every night, week, and/or semester??

Example:
"I study a chapter (30-40) pages a night, rotating through each subjects every night."

The reason I ask it this way is because some people can study a 30-40 page chapter in 2 hours and others take 4-6 or maybe even 8. So getting information like this may help me to more accurately determine how long it would take me to study the information by comparing it to how fast I can study now, even though the information is probably much more complex.

Thanks for any input, this is my first post, although I have been reading through the posts for a couple weeks now.

 

[Blade28]

This will vary by school - unfortunately, it's impossible to predict how many pages a day you'll have to read.

Bear in mind that people read at different rates depending on many factors:

*Difficulty of textbook
*Concurrent note-taking
*Concurrent highlighting
*Ease of reader's comprehension

So it's just not possible to predict. Why not just wait until med school to see what works for you? I certainly wouldn't advise "pre-reading."

 

[Punkn]

Agree with Blade...and also, for us it could vary considerablely depending on the subject or the day. For example, our first day of anatomy we had 100 pages of textbook reading to do. Other days we'd have maybe 25 pages. I know it's hard to not be anxious about starting school, but try to enjoy your summer! 🙂 All will fall into place once you start school.

 

[mglavin]

I haven't counted up the total number of pages of the entire year. I do know our first histo/physio test covered around 550 pages of syllabi which we covered in about 2 weeks. I'd say that was slightly higher then normal volume wise but about equal in effort to say 150 pages of anatomy syllabi. You get used to it pretty fast though. I felt that the amount of material in first test of the year was equal to or possibly greater then everything I learned my last year of college. But then again I slacked quite a bit after getting accepted 😀

 

[WheresWaLDo]

Well, how big are the books and how many books for how many classes..?? I was reading the block schedule for my undergraduate school's Medical School and it looks like they spend around 7-8 hours a day in class or lab 5 days a week, taking only 3 main subjects and a couple shorter courses on fundementals or something. Am I interpretting this right? I assume there is a text for each class maybe around 1,000 pages or so? that you will completely go through, read, and study throughout the semester??

I know this will probably not be able to tell me anything, because like you all said, it depends on the subject, ease of comprehension, and other factors, but, it will give me a general idea of what to expect. And no I am not going to pre-read when that time comes. I am still undergrad, sophomore. I started school pretty late. I was 22.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Blesbok]

It is tough to say. IMO textbook time is wasted time unless you really don't understand something. Most med students don't read a traditional textbook every night (save for maybe big robbins). Everything is usually presented in the most precise manner possible in order to save time. It is a completely different learning experience than undergrad. The amount of material covered in a day in med school is about equivalent to that presented in a week of undergrad, if not more.

 

[rhiannon777]

Hmmm...I'm most of the way done with semester two of MS 1 (we do three semesters this year) and I have yet to open a textbook. Most people in my class didn't even buy them. So I can't give you an estimate of how many pages or chapters we do per day. We have three lectures a day (sometimes one or two if we have labs instead). I'd say each lecture is about 2-3 times as much as would be covered in a lecture in undergrad. So...six to nine lectures a day, equivalent.

I wouldn't worry too much about it, though. The amount of information will always seem overwhelming, but you always find a way to get it done.

 

[WheresWaLDo]

Ok, last question. Are the only thing on the exams the topics that are covered in lectures and labs, correct? I mean they do not say, "Well, no time to finish today, read 20 chapters tonight!" and then test you on it?

Thanks

 

[BEMD]

It is tough to say. IMO textbook time is wasted time unless you really don't understand something. Most med students don't read a traditional textbook every night (save for maybe big robbins). Everything is usually presented in the most precise manner possible in order to save time. It is a completely different learning experience than undergrad. The amount of material covered in a day in med school is about equivalent to that presented in a week of undergrad, if not more.

I would definitely agree with Blesbok. I remember thinking that the first day of classes covered between one to two weeks worth of college material. At first it was overwhelming, but you will get used to the increased pace. 🙂
As far as your last question goes, most schools give out syllabi for each course. At my school the objectives for each lecture are listed at the beginning of the lecture, and they explicitly state exactly what we are supposed to take from the lecture. It is very rare that a professor doesn't complete a lecture, but occasionally we will have to read a few pages of notes that weren't covered.
It is hard to compare it to undergrad. I never believed people when they told me that we wouldn't need text books, but it really is true. I only read the text if I really am having trouble understanding a concept, and I am hoping for another point of view on the subject.
Good luck, and try not to stress too much🙂

 

[Punkn]

Ok, last question. Are the only thing on the exams the topics that are covered in lectures and labs, correct? I mean they do not say, "Well, no time to finish today, read 20 chapters tonight!" and then test you on it?

Thanks

Not quite to that extreme but I've definitely been tested on material that wasn't covered in lecture. There are things you're expected to learn on your own because there just isn't enough time during lecture to cover absolutely everything. Also, you can do some searching on this forum regarding what books people found helpful for M1 courses.

 

[mTOR]

The amount of material covered in a day in med school is about equivalent to that presented in a week of undergrad, if not more.

This is pretty much sums it up.


In my experience, honestly, each lecture covers around the same amount of material as undergrad. But whereas in undergrad I had one hour lectures in a given subject 3x a week -- here, we have 1 hour lectures in a given subject TWICE A DAY (i.e., 10 one hour lectures PER WEEK); basically a little over 3 times the amount of material that you see in undergrad is covered in a week for each subject, all of which you are of course expected to master as if it were presented at an undergrad pace. That's the biggest difference IMO

 

[rhiannon777]

We're pretty much only tested on the material from lectures and labs. Every now and then, they'll throw in one question from the reading (I think they feel like they need to justify calling the textbooks mandatory). However, occasionally the lecturer won't finish the material she meant to get through, and she'll record an extra 20 minutes that we're expected to listen to on our own.

One of the biggest adjustments with medical school is realizing that you just can't do everything assigned. That means that even though they assign reading, you ignore it. For people who are used to being perfect students, it's tough to get over the feeling that you're never going to get it all done.

 

[nlax30]

Also depends on the curriculum. I've had friends in traditional programs who pretty much relied on the lectures/notes and very little actual text reading.

I'm in an all PBL curriculum and the textbooks are pretty much all I have and so I've gotten REAL comfortable with them and learning what book is good for what and how to sift through a lot of info.

Do miss some having some boiled down lectures at times, but I do like the full context a textbook provides, plus I have notes from previous students and of course there's the interweb.

Depends on the book and subject. Most days I'll try to get through at least a chapter. For something like physio, especially with our book that has small chapters, it's easier to get through several at a time. Not a huge fan of neuro so getting through one dense chapter is good. And then there's the big daddy Robbins Path and there's just too much stuff to tackle a whole chapter at once. Each chapter is usually broken down further fairly well anyway so you can cover a specific area at one time.

 

[Its_MurDAH]

i'm sorry this is just a dumb question

You want me to tell you how many pages I study each day or how many an average student studies? I don't see how that could help you in any way. There are people that study 8 hours a day and then there are people that study 14 hours the night before the test, and everything in between. Why don't you just get to medical school and I guarantee you will figure it out for yourself. There is no reason to sit down with a calculator and try to come up with a method for studying x number of pages each day. The question you are asking comes across way too TYPE-Aish. Then again, I am the complete opposite of Type A and you may actually get some real responses from people here saying things like: "Yeah I actually study 138 pages per day and you should do the same to get honors." Who knows.

 

[DoctaJay]

I know this type of question has been asked a million times, but mine is slightly different, and I cannot seem to find the answer to this particular question. I was wondering exactly how much information is presented and required to be known during medical school??
how many pages/chapters per book/class is covered in day, week, and term?
I know it may be different for everyone, school, and so many other factors, but I would like someone to give me a close estimate as to how many chapters/pages per course they study every night, week, and/or semester??

Example:
"I study a chapter (30-40) pages a night, rotating through each subjects every night."

The reason I ask it this way is because some people can study a 30-40 page chapter in 2 hours and others take 4-6 or maybe even 8. So getting information like this may help me to more accurately determine how long it would take me to study the information by comparing it to how fast I can study now, even though the information is probably much more complex.

Thanks for any input, this is my first post, although I have been reading through the posts for a couple weeks now.

I'm a first year medical student and from August to about 2 weeks ago, I have so far read every word of the following paper stack:

This doesn't include the text books, BRS and High Yield review books, and websites I have read and utilized. But, it is surprisingly doable. What you have to remind yourself is that other people have done it before you, and they can't be all that much smarter than you, so that means you can do it too.

 

[WheresWaLDo]

i'm sorry this is just a dumb question

You want me to tell you how many pages I study each day or how many an average student studies? I don't see how that could help you in any way. There are people that study 8 hours a day and then there are people that study 14 hours the night before the test, and everything in between. Why don't you just get to medical school and I guarantee you will figure it out for yourself. There is no reason to sit down with a calculator and try to come up with a method for studying x number of pages each day. The question you are asking comes across way too TYPE-Aish. Then again, I am the complete opposite of Type A and you may actually get some real responses from people here saying things like: "Yeah I actually study 138 pages per day and you should do the same to get honors." Who knows.

I believe I said general idea not exact. Just trying to get an idea, even if it's all lies. Just don't answer question if it bothers you that bad, you seem to be jumping to conclusions about me.

Anyway thanks for everyone's responses.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

My stack of notes (4 slides per page, double-sided), similar to the one above, sums up my experience, as well as drinking from the following...