How much reading is required in med school ?

[albus.911]

How much reading is required in med school ?

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[chillaxbro]

Almost none?

 

[blub1212]

Yeah, you won't have to do any reading. It's an outdated skill.

 

[Psai]

Reading what

 

[gracie369]

Enough to at least pass your exams.

 

[Celestia]

I think the answer varies, but generally people find that the study time needed to do well in medical school is more than what is required in undergraduate. Maybe twice as much?

In terms of how to master the material, I think folks use different methods. I think reading textbooks is probably the least time-efficient way to learn the material for the purpose of exams, but on the other hand, textbooks are generally more thorough and provide a more holistic approach to the material than lectures/ notes/ test-prep materials. Even with non-textbook learning materials, some reading will be required.

Hopefully some other folks will give you more useful answers.

It might help to give some background to your question- are you a slow reader and wondering whether that will hold you back? Are you wondering what other types of materials are high yield?

 

[Entadus]

On average, about 20-30 pages a day of 'Required' reading. Not that much

Again, the 3-5 pancakes a day analogy rings true here

140-210 pages a week of dry science textbooks can become pretty sickening after a while

 

[Low Flow]

Textbook reading required? Next to none. How much should you read? Probably more than none. As Celestia said, it's a mix of both reading and digesting PPs (although, technically, you are still reading). Some things won't be clear from PPs and/or the textbook provides way better explanations for certain topics. I wouldn't suggest reading a chapter out of Robbins all the way through, but I would recommend reading individual sections explaining the pathology of the major diseases as you encounter them in your curriculum. You'll find that reading a textbook description can often be valuable.

 

[albus.911]

Actually I read slow, not sure if this is a problem bcs I read things once and connect things easy. But I live in Balkan so the college system here actually is kinda messed up. The main problem is that Professors here want us to memorize ex.a 1000 page book word-by-word. It doesn't matter for them if the student has no idea what he/she is talking about. Memorizing a science book this way if feels like an eternity -to me.

Ps.sorry for my english...

 

[tymont12]

It really depends on the topics importance, the quality of the Professor's PPT, the quality of the Professor's lecture and also the textbook available. Some books are really clinically focused whereas others are too in-depth and meant for someone pursuing a PhD. I don't always refer to a textbook but I do way more work than I did in undergrad (except for maybe physics).

As a whole, I find myself supplementing lectures and other materials (such as Pathoma or Sketchy Micro) with textbooks as needed. I religiously read Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease. Really great starting point.

 

[asdf123g]

Do you commit to memory information from your textbooks that are not in your PPTs?

 

[Inventor of Post-Its]

I feel like a lot of lecturers will say to read the relevant chapter/section in such and such textbook in addition to their lecture, but no one bothers buying most of those textbooks and all of the information you need to know is in the lecture anyway. The giant exception to this is anatomy, Moore's is my bible.

 

[tymont12]

Do you commit to memory information from your textbooks that are not in your PPTs?

Textbooks are usually there to help clarify a topic for me but honestly, anything medical that I read now can be said is 'relevant.' It's a matter of figuring out what is important to know at this point in time. The more you know the better but it becomes a balancing act...you can't learn everything.

 

[pocillopora]

I feel like a lot of lecturers will say to read the relevant chapter/section in such and such textbook in addition to their lecture, but no one bothers buying most of those textbooks and all of the information you need to know is in the lecture anyway. The giant exception to this is anatomy, Moore's is my bible.

Amen, Moore's Essential Clinical Anatomy is a God send. It's the only book I regularly use, but I only use it as supplementation to my anatomy PPTs.

 

[sabsaf123]

On average, about 20-30 pages a day of 'Required' reading. Not that much

Again, the 3-5 pancakes a day analogy rings true here

140-210 pages a week of dry science textbooks can become pretty sickening after a while

So is that 20-30 pages a day, the bulk of the information for a single day? Or is it 20-30 pages a day + 100 ppt slides/day?

 

[asdf123g]

Textbooks are usually there to help clarify a topic for me but honestly, anything medical that I read now can be said is 'relevant.' It's a matter of figuring out what is important to know at this point in time. The more you know the better but it becomes a balancing act...you can't learn everything.

If it helps you understand a topic more, i get that. But if its just some random "cool to know" piece of knowledge, is it really necessary to commit it to memory? Since you won't be tested on it and you'll forget it by boards anyways...

So is that 20-30 pages a day, the bulk of the information for a single day? Or is it 20-30 pages a day + 100 ppt slides/day?

Can anyone clarify if its 20-30 pages of mandatatory reading? 20-30 pages just to read would take me 2 hours at least to read (unless there were a lot of pictures/charts on the pages)...

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

Reading is definitely not mandatory. Like 99% of the time, there are only two reasons to read something: 1. Read a textbook if you don't understand something from the lecture ppt (and usually this will only be a few pages at a time) and 2. Read review books (first aid, brs, etc) the few days before the exam to make sure you didn't miss anything and that you understand it correctly (this is approx 30-40 pages per chapter that takes roughly an hour to go through depending on how well you know the material). I guess sometimes you will have required reading of articles for the fluff ethics/humanities/history taking classes but it's probably 10-15 pages per week.

Otherwise, it's focusing on that 150-200 slides of lecture per day.

I guess for some people in 2nd year you may supplement with more reading ie RR path or Robbins along with reading FA and pathoma, especially when ramping up for boards.

 

[Entadus]

So is that 20-30 pages a day, the bulk of the information for a single day? Or is it 20-30 pages a day + 100 ppt slides/day?

That's a normal textbook pace, obviously it would be in combination with other resources. Some will attend lectures, nearly everyone will watch the podcast, people use boards resources (pathoma, flashcards, etc) , people will use question books/banks, attend small groups, labs, etc

But if you wanted to follow along in a textbook (physio, path, etc) then typically that pace would be fine for me.

If it helps you understand a topic more, i get that. But if its just some random "cool to know" piece of knowledge, is it really necessary to commit it to memory? Since you won't be tested on it and you'll forget it by boards anyways...


Can anyone clarify if its 20-30 pages of mandatatory reading? 20-30 pages just to read would take me 2 hours at least to read (unless there were a lot of pictures/charts on the pages)...

If you are reading 2 solid hours a day, that's probably a good pace to maintain 6-7 days a week. When I say 'required' it's not mandatory per se (your school's administrators won't peek into your windows at home to ensure that you're reading the book) but usually the course syllabus will recommend a textbook, offer up some assigned readings, with page numbers and dates, etc

Not everyone will do the readings. They are optional similar to lecture attendance. No punishment for not doing it, but you're responsible for the material

My point is that 2 hours is enough to read it, but will you have it memorized come quiz/test day?

 

[asdf123g]

If you are reading 2 solid hours a day, that's probably a good pace to maintain 6-7 days a week. When I say 'required' it's not mandatory per se (your school's administrators won't peek into your windows at home to ensure that you're reading the book) but usually the course syllabus will recommend a textbook, offer up some assigned readings, with page numbers and dates, etc

Not everyone will do the readings. They are optional similar to lecture attendance. No punishment for not doing it, but you're responsible for the material

My point is that 2 hours is enough to read it, but will you have it memorized come quiz/test day?

Is it really possible to read 20-30 pages a day (~2 hrs), memorize it all (several more hours), along with the 100-200 slides a day (MANY more hours)? That doesn't sound possible unless you are really really smart/can pick up info fast or are good with only getting 4 hours of sleep. Back in college it would take me a good 2 hours to memorize 70-80% of the material for a 50 slide lecture and by then I'd be pretty mentally worn (the other 20-30% of material being the nitty gritty details). My school (like several others) has mandatory lecture too so that takes out many more hours out of my day...

 

[Vain Brother]

this thread doesn't really belong in the allo forum as it's a pre-med question

in terms of reading required to pass your exams, there is very little. if you want to be at the top of your class and/or actually understand the material, you're reading textbooks. there are outliers, but generally that's how it works

 

[sabsaf123]

That's a normal textbook pace, obviously it would be in combination with other resources. Some will attend lectures, nearly everyone will watch the podcast, people use boards resources (pathoma, flashcards, etc) , people will use question books/banks, attend small groups, labs, etc

But if you wanted to follow along in a textbook (physio, path, etc) then typically that pace would be fine for me.

Nice. I was just kind of surprised since I expected the number to be higher. I just got accepted to a school that is pretty much 100% PBL with no lectures (except for anatomy). Students get all of their information from textbooks and then meet to discuss it during PBL (MWF for ~2hrs). Most students say they read texts for about 8 hours a day. Does it really take them 8 hours to read 20-30 pages?

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

Nice. I was just kind of surprised since I expected the number to be higher. I just got accepted to a school that is pretty much 100% PBL with no lectures (except for anatomy). Students get all of their information from textbooks and then meet to discuss it during PBL (MWF for ~2hrs). Most students say they read texts for about 8 hours a day. Does it really take them 8 hours to read 20-30 pages?

That sounds terrible

 

[W19]

Nice. I was just kind of surprised since I expected the number to be higher. I just got accepted to a school that is pretty much 100% PBL with no lectures (except for anatomy). Students get all of their information from textbooks and then meet to discuss it during PBL (MWF for ~2hrs). Most students say they read texts for about 8 hours a day. Does it really take them 8 hours to read 20-30 pages?

That sounds terrible

That's probably LECOM... I was told they have the highest board score in the DO world... I guess that works for them.

 

[Tenk]

Enough that you will develop a myopia if you don't already have one.

 

[Law2Doc]

Is it really possible to read 20-30 pages a day (~2 hrs), memorize it all (several more hours), along with the 100-200 slides a day (MANY more hours)? That doesn't sound possible unless you are really really smart/can pick up info fast or are good with only getting 4 hours of sleep. Back in college it would take me a good 2 hours to memorize 70-80% of the material for a 50 slide lecture and by then I'd be pretty mentally worn (the other 20-30% of material being the nitty gritty details). My school (like several others) has mandatory lecture too so that takes out many more hours out of my day...

Yes it's possible, and yes a lot of people in med school are really smart. Don't try to compare it to "back in college". The volume is bigger and pace is faster now. If you are asking these questions, you likely never pushed yourself to the limits before so you will have no clue what is actually doable.

 

[asdf123g]

Yes it's possible, and yes a lot of people in med school are really smart. Don't try to compare it to "back in college". The volume is bigger and pace is faster now. If you are asking these questions, you likely never pushed yourself to the limits before so you will have no clue what is actually doable.

there just doesnt seem to be enough hours in a day to do all of that! Or am i just overestimating the # of hours Ill be in class? ( 8-5 so I've heard- some days shorter though)

 

[Low Flow]

there just doesnt seem to be enough hours in a day to do all of that! Or am i just overestimating the # of hours Ill be in class? ( 8-5 so I've heard- some days shorter though)

Yeah time is pretty scant during the week. I'm up at 5, study for ~2 hours, then class/at school studying from 8am-5pm, gym, dinner, then maybe an hour or two before bed (I'm usually too tired after a full day to read/study much anyway). Weekends are crucial if you're looking to get ahead.

 

[ZX10R]

there just doesnt seem to be enough hours in a day to do all of that! Or am i just overestimating the # of hours Ill be in class? ( 8-5 so I've heard- some days shorter though)

Go to a school that doesn't require you to go to class. My school has required reading on top of lecture power points and its what separates the Honors from the passes. For the people who believe P=MD, med school is much more relaxing. We have around 50-70ppx4 everyday then around 50 pages of reading which sometimes is only minutiae (Pain theory's anyone) so you choose to read it or not. In my case, I don't go to class nor stream lectures. During those 4 hours that I would have spent wasting my time listening to someone read off Power points in monotone with no interest in teaching; I'm organizing the data in a format that's easy for me to remember/learn. Once you get to medical you'll see that the way they teach you things is convenient to them not you.

 

[Law2Doc]

... Weekends are crucial if you're looking to get ahead.

Disagree with the "get ahead" part. Weekends are a good time to review and synthesize and not fall behind it catch up. You'll never get ahead.

 

[Law2Doc]

there just doesnt seem to be enough hours in a day to do all of that! Or am i just overestimating the # of hours Ill be in class? ( 8-5 so I've heard- some days shorter though)

As mentioned you might study a few hours before lecture, a few hours after every day. And then the bulk of the weekends. Many schools actually have shortened lecture time (half days) so you can spend even more hours self studying each day. Just don't try to compare any of this to college or it will look impossible. Remember also that in college you weren't surrounded by people living this schedule either -- keeping up with the med school pace is helped by the fact that everyone else is studying hard too.

 

[Low Flow]

Disagree with the "get ahead" part. Weekends are a good time to review and synthesize and not fall behind it catch up. You'll never get ahead.

Well, yes. But in the context of reading not being "required", that would in fact be getting ahead IMO. But I agree, you will likely never truly get "ahead" in medical school.

 

[mvenus929]

Lots of reading is required. More is needed to be a good doctor. You will have to spend a significant part of the rest of your career reading if you enter medicine. Medical school just preps you for it.