is work load in medical school like taking 20 units in undergraduate?

[ilubse7en]

i hear that medical school workload is pretty heavy, but i was wondering just how much things there are to study, is medical school course load like taking 4-5 science courses aka 20 units in undergraduate school?
thanks in advance

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[NickNaylor]

The way our schedule is set up, we usually have 2-3 one hour lectures per day in what I would consider to be our "rigorous" class for the quarter. That comes out to 10-15 lectures per week. Compare that to your average undergrad class which usually includes about three hours per week.

 

[ilubse7en]

thank you, so how many hours do med school students study each day? 8 hours sufficient?

 

[NickNaylor]

thank you, so how many hours do med school students study each day? 8 hours sufficient?

Depends on your goals. I go to a P/F school and I'm perfectly content with passing. I'd say I put in at least an hour or two of studying a day; probably closer to three or say. The few days before an exam I probably step it up to six or so.

Once again, though, that's just for me. If you're one of those people that wants to get 90+ on exams, you'll probably have to study significantly more.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Depends on your goals. I go to a P/F school and I'm perfectly content with passing. I'd say I put in at least an hour or two of studying a day; probably closer to three or say. The few days before an exam I probably step it up to six or so.

Once again, though, that's just for me. If you're one of those people that wants to get 90+ on exams, you'll probably have to study significantly more.

Does your school have quartiles? If not is there an advantage towards doing better than passing?

 

[ilubse7en]

Does your school have quartiles? If not is there an advantage towards doing better than passing?

isn't it usually honors/ passing/ fail?

 

[ilubse7en]

Depends on your goals. I go to a P/F school and I'm perfectly content with passing. I'd say I put in at least an hour or two of studying a day; probably closer to three or say. The few days before an exam I probably step it up to six or so.

Once again, though, that's just for me. If you're one of those people that wants to get 90+ on exams, you'll probably have to study significantly more.

thank you, i am not too crazy about getting 90+ on tests but i will take into the account that you are a genius so i'll probably have to study longer, lol

anyways, thanks for prompt answer

 

[NickNaylor]

Does your school have quartiles? If not is there an advantage towards doing better than passing?

No, we aren't internally ranked. The only advantage is that you might have to study less come boards time, but that's all I've been able to discover. In my view that's worth having a much more enjoyable lifestyle.

isn't it usually honors/ passing/ fail?

Not at all places. This is very school-specific.

 

[tryp]

We have 3 hours of class per day of our main block class, plus 3 per week of our longitudinal course, plus 3 hours per week of clinical methods and 2 per week of small groups.

The latter 3 don't take up much of my time. I'd say on our main block I probably spend at least 10-15 hours per week, and more close to the exams.

 

[redpanda]

i hear that medical school workload is pretty heavy, but i was wondering just how much things there are to study, is medical school course load like taking 4-5 science courses aka 20 units in undergraduate school?
thanks in advance

I would say no in two ways.
1. (More lecture time and far more material presented)/unit time
2. More study time to learn material as a consequence

The semester in undergrad where I took 6 technical courses, I never spent this much time working. That being said, you adapt, and depending on your work ethic and risk tolerance, you may decide to live like an undergrad and then backload all your studying to the last 72 hours before the exam. I would personally not recommend this as these classmates of mine cease to function as normal people during the immediate pre-exam period.

 

[Law2Doc]

There are some posters on here who do not represent the norm. Typically folks do fine if they treat the first two years of med school as a long houred job. Meaning that between class time and studying time, it adds up to around a 60 hour "work" week. That's what most people need to do to do well. There will be people who get away with studying an hour or two a day, but usually won't be you. So a typical schedule consists of getting up and either hitting the books or lecture by 8 am, spending about 10 hours a day doing med school coursework or studying, and then having a few hours to blow off stem 5 days per week. Then working half of each weekend. That adds up to 60ish hours and is what more people end up doing than the examples above.

 

[Ilovewater]

The most I took in undergrad was 18 credit hours in one semester, and I did not study half as much as I study now. I studied may 2 hours everyday just to stay on top of the material, and I rarely studied on the weekend unless there were exams coming up. Now for second year, I spend about 6-8 hours a day (listening to podcast + reviewing the syllabus). I studied much much less during first year. As for my classmates, a lot of people study less than I do and still do fine. Then, there are two or three people who study from 4 AM - midnight everyday (not joking).

I don't really know how my med school calculates the credit hours for each block, but for first year, we took 65 credit hours total. Second year is going to be around the same amount...but the content is much more intense. So, I don't really know if the credit hours are meaningful at all. Just throwing the numbers out there.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hm I'm pretty sure this isn't "the norm" either. That's pretty intense. Thats a test week for us, but not every week. 10 hrs per day of studying/lecture is definitely the high end of the spectrum at my school - ESPECIALLY if you are going to work half of the weekend too.

It's not even close to the high end. I'm talking working up to dinner time and having every evening off. Or doing some work in the evening and having time to workout earlier in the day, etc. It's pretty common. There are 24 hours each day, and assuming you work 10 and sleep 7 that still leaves 7 hours to goof off/relax every day. I knew a ton of people who put in about a dozen Or more hours a week more than that, some by choice/ambition, others by necessity. But honestly at a lot of med schools if you are only putting an hour or two in a day, you will be repeating first year.

 

[SLC]

I've got 40 hours per week of instruction broken down accordingly:

16 hrs of Anatomy, Case Studies, Clinical Skills.

24 hours of straight lecture.

I study for an additional 10-15 hours on top of that (usually 2 hours on school days, and 0 - 5 on Saturday). Sometimes my study is more productive than others, if I was better at staying focused I could probably shave 1/3 of that time away.

As it stands, I'm making high 80's across the board.

It hasn't been as bad as I imagined it would be.

 

[Nymphicus]

Depends on your goals. I go to a P/F school and I'm perfectly content with passing. I'd say I put in at least an hour or two of studying a day; probably closer to three or say. The few days before an exam I probably step it up to six or so.

Once again, though, that's just for me. If you're one of those people that wants to get 90+ on exams, you'll probably have to study significantly more.

Let's say you went to a P/F school that did rank...would that influence your studying habits?

 

[link2swim06]

It's not even close to the high end. I'm talking working up to dinner time and having every evening off. Or doing some work in the evening and having time to workout earlier in the day, etc. It's pretty common. There are 24 hours each day, and assuming you work 10 and sleep 7 that still leaves 7 hours to goof off/relax every day. I knew a ton of people who put in about a dozen Or more hours a week more than that, some by choice/ambition, others by necessity. But honestly at a lot of med schools if you are only putting an hour or two in a day, you will be repeating first year.

Are you talking about test week or every week?

1 week before a test 10+ hours per day is accurate. But this week (since last Thursday) I dont think I have spent more than 7 hours for the entire week on lecture, studying, and small group....so maybe one hour per day. Of course I dont go to lecture but neither does the majority of my class.

Next week I have a test...so starting on Sunday it will be back to 10-14 hours per day till Friday. But this week I am averaging maybe 1 hour per day max for everything school related.

 

[NickNaylor]

Let's say you went to a P/F school that did rank...would that influence your studying habits?

Probably. I would at least have a more compelling reason to study.

 

[dbeast]

It's not even close to the high end. I'm talking working up to dinner time and having every evening off. Or doing some work in the evening and having time to workout earlier in the day, etc. It's pretty common. There are 24 hours each day, and assuming you work 10 and sleep 7 that still leaves 7 hours to goof off/relax every day. I knew a ton of people who put in about a dozen Or more hours a week more than that, some by choice/ambition, others by necessity. But honestly at a lot of med schools if you are only putting an hour or two in a day, you will be repeating first year.

Yea... totally agree. About 9 hours per day during the week but people tend to ease up on the weekends at least at my school.

The 2 weeks before our tests are a completely different story. And we're P/F but an F really really really screws you over so nobody wants to take that risk.

 

[Law2Doc]

Are you talking about test week or every week?

1 week before a test 10+ hours per day is accurate. But this week (since last Thursday) I dont think I have spent more than 7 hours for the entire week on lecture, studying, and small group....so maybe one hour per day. Of course I dont go to lecture but neither does the majority of my class.

Next week I have a test...so starting on Sunday it will be back to 10-14 hours per day till Friday. But this week I am averaging maybe 1 hour per day max for everything school related.

Every week. Test week shouldn't need to be a huge ramp up, because you are reviewing all along, except you work that whole weekend, not half, during those weeks. Basically every day you read the next days lecture notes and syllabus, review the current days lecture notes and syllabus, and attend lecture. On the weekends you review and organize the weeks material (weekends are key, because they are the only day you aren't getting new material, and so you can iron out your knowledge on things, incorporate outside references, etc and then you glance over everything the week before the test as well. This basically gives you four passes through the material, which should be enough for most people. They key is to cement knowledge into your head, because you will need as much of it as possible in your longterm memory for Step 1 and the wards. Cramming the week before simply doesn't accomplish this as well. So a decent amount of daily review is critical. It's not like college, where once you pass the test you are done with the material. You guys have to shake that mindset. Arguably the grade on the med school test itself is a lot less important than "knowing" the material a year later.

At many med schools, if you spend only 1 hour a day, you either better be an unbelievable genius (there's always one, usually not as many as people think they are) or you are likely to be repeating things. It's hard to fail out of med school, but failing a test is remarkably easy some places if you don't put in the time each week. And the tried and true method for med school is multiple passes through t he material, on a consistent basis. For most of us, there are no good short cuts. If you dont attend lecture, that's fine, but lecture counts as a pass through the material, so you ought to be replacing it with something. Where I went to med school, lots of people tried the skipping lecture method. Those that replaced it with book learning covering the same number of passes through the material did great. Those that used that time to procrastinate and goof off, and really needed lecture to force them out if bed each morning did not.

 

[dmf2682]

Great saint Magnus and all his children!

This thread makes it sound like my premed adventures are easier than medical school! Have other folks found this to be the case? Especially those who did jobs while premed.

 

[IMSingular]

Putting in 60-70 hours a week is almost a requirement to keep any job that is classified as exempt, that is they can't log in any overtime. If people had to just work scheduled 40 hours a week there will be no unemployment.
Just treatt as a job after your undergraduate degree.

 

[Ebola4Breakfast]

Every week. Test week shouldn't need to be a huge ramp up, because you are reviewing all along, except you work that whole weekend, not half, during those weeks. Basically every day you read the next days lecture notes and syllabus, review the current days lecture notes and syllabus, and attend lecture. On the weekends you review and organize the weeks material (weekends are key, because they are the only day you aren't getting new material, and so you can iron out your knowledge on things, incorporate outside references, etc and then you glance over everything the week before the test as well. This basically gives you four passes through the material, which should be enough for most people. They key is to cement knowledge into your head, because you will need as much of it as possible in your longterm memory for Step 1 and the wards. Cramming the week before simply doesn't accomplish this as well. So a decent amount of daily review is critical. It's not like college, where once you pass the test you are done with the material. You guys have to shake that mindset. Arguably the grade on the med school test itself is a lot less important than "knowing" the material a year later.

At many med schools, if you spend only 1 hour a day, you either better be an unbelievable genius (there's always one, usually not as many as people think they are) or you are likely to be repeating things. It's hard to fail out of med school, but failing a test is remarkably easy some places if you don't put in the time each week. And the tried and true method for med school is multiple passes through t he material, on a consistent basis. For most of us, there are no good short cuts. If you dont attend lecture, that's fine, but lecture counts as a pass through the material, so you ought to be replacing it with something. Where I went to med school, lots of people tried the skipping lecture method. Those that replaced it with book learning covering the same number of passes through the material did great. Those that used that time to procrastinate and goof off, and really needed lecture to force them out if bed each morning did not.

Thanks for the input. It's nice to occasionally see the views of someone who is on the other side with the full course perspective.

 

[NickNaylor]

I should add that my experience is that of a first year, though it doesn't seem to be atypical within my class. Second year is a whole other beast and seems to be more like what L2D is talking about (at least at my school).

I'll also say that my "strengths" are learning concepts and synthesizing information while my weaknesses are memorizing a whole bunch of random facts (a la anatomy). That's likely colored my perspective as well since we've mostly had concept-based courses with some memorization (e.g., biochem, cell bio, genetics, and physio). When we were doing anatomy, though, I'd say I probably did at least three hours of studying a night and probably closer to five or six on the weekends.

 

[Ilovewater]

But this week (since last Thursday) I dont think I have spent more than 7 hours for the entire week on lecture, studying, and small group....so maybe one hour per day. Of course I dont go to lecture but neither does the majority of my class.

That doesn't sound like the norm to spend only 7 hours in a week. If people don't go to lecture, they still listen to podcasts at home on 2x speed. We have 4 lectures/day, so they spend at least 2 hours listening. If you review the materials after listening, that's at least another 2-4 hours of studying everyday not including small group, case studies, etc.

Most people will not be able to pass med school by studying only 7 hours a week. You must be a genius or something. I would never advise someone to study only 1 hour/day unless I'm trying to sabotage their education.

 

[link2swim06]

That doesn't sound like the norm to spend only 7 hours in a week. If people don't go to lecture, they still listen to podcasts at home on 2x speed. We have 4 lectures/day, so they spend at least 2 hours listening. If you review the materials after listening, that's at least another 2-4 hours of studying everyday not including small group, case studies, etc.

Most people will not be able to pass med school by studying only 7 hours a week. You must be a genius or something. I would never advise someone to study only 1 hour/day unless I'm trying to sabotage their education.

Two things, first I am not a genius, second I dont study 7 hours per week leading up to a test. Prior to a test I spend 5 X 12 hour days...so more like 60 hours on average for a test of actual studying. However in a given month I have 1-2 weeks without tests...on those weeks I dont spend more than a few hours each day. Most of my friends actually do this and most score in the top 50% percentile on subject NBMEs so it works ok for us. I actually know very few people who study a constant 7 hours everyday.

I suppose 7-8 hour days consistently would accomplish the same time put in...but I rather have a week or two completely off.

Regardless I agree there are no shortcuts...you are looking at 50-100 hours of work prior to a test. So if you have 2-3 test per month that is 100-300 hours of studying per month no matter how you divide it. M1/M2 year you can easily make your own schedule though, especially when you know your abilities to study for 12+ hours in one day.

 

[Ebola4Breakfast]

Does anyone here attend a school that does A-F grading and quartile (or similar) rankings? I'm slightly jealous of those with the Pass/Fail set-up, even more so of those without rankings. Unfortunately I don't have those kinds of options. Are these schools without P/F in the minority? What kind of grades are "average" in medical school? Or does this just vary too widely from school to school to say?

 

[Amemus]

Not even close. In my experience, one medical school exam is equivalent to an undergrad semester final exam. Comparing the number of class hours isn't accurate because so much more information is packed into each lecture compared to an undergrad lecture. In undergrad, I could easily cram a couple days before each test and I'd memorize my notes and I'd get A's. In medical school, that doesn't work. You learn quickly that you have to be much more efficient with your studying than you ever needed to be before.

 

[deleted261193]

Does anyone here attend a school that does A-F grading and quartile (or similar) rankings? I'm slightly jealous of those with the Pass/Fail set-up, even more so of those without rankings. Unfortunately I don't have those kinds of options. Are these schools without P/F in the minority? What kind of grades are "average" in medical school? Or does this just vary too widely from school to school to say?

how weird... i felt like most schools i went to were p/f and i only went to two schools (interviewed) that had a graded system. =\ at those schools it seemed like most were still content with just pass or even high pass but only the super gunners wanted honors.

 

[Miss Alyssa]

i hear that medical school workload is pretty heavy, but i was wondering just how much things there are to study, is medical school course load like taking 4-5 science courses aka 20 units in undergraduate school?
thanks in advance

Not at all.
First year of undergrad for me was 5 courses (bio, organic chem, physical chem, calculus, psychology, physics) and was nothing compared to the workload in medical school. Although in hind sight, if I had studied in undergrad like I studied in med school, I would have had a better GPA. Oh well

I agree with Law2Doc.
First two years here are classes on average 9-3 with an hour for lunch. Some days are 9-12. But some are 9-6 when you add anatomy lab. Then you get to spend extra time in the lab or go home and study. It was really exhausting for the first few months, then I realized I could move through the material quicker and more effectively if I wasn't going to class. It worked well for me. Others in my class are more auditory learners who could sit and absorb and not have to read. Learning is individual.

 

[Miss Alyssa]

Does anyone here attend a school that does A-F grading and quartile (or similar) rankings? I'm slightly jealous of those with the Pass/Fail set-up, even more so of those without rankings. Unfortunately I don't have those kinds of options. Are these schools without P/F in the minority? What kind of grades are "average" in medical school? Or does this just vary too widely from school to school to say?

My school has letter grades, GPA, class ranking, subject boards and other things that warm your heart.

 

[giantswing]

i hear that medical school workload is pretty heavy, but i was wondering just how much things there are to study, is medical school course load like taking 4-5 science courses aka 20 units in undergraduate school?
thanks in advance

I think a major difference is that if you're taking 20 credits in undergrad, that's five or six classes of varying difficulty. In med school (in mine at least) you take two or three classes at most, at 25 credits a semester, with the actual break down being a bit funky (something like 12 credits a class). One class will be a killer (ie, anatomy or physiology) with the second being difficult but not nearly as bad (histology) and the last being a blow off (whatever). I have to study 3 to 5 hours a day after lecture (this does not always get done) with three or four 12 hour days before an exam (this doesn't always get done either) with varying results. There are a lot of people who study more and less than I do, with varying results, so take this with a grain of salt.
This, IMO, is way easier than having five classes you have to study and "change gears for" in undergrad, not to mention having five exams versus three. I could not have taken 25 credits in UG. I would have failed. Medical school is hard, but totally doable.

 

[Ebola4Breakfast]

how weird... i felt like most schools i went to were p/f and i only went to two schools (interviewed) that had a graded system. =\ at those schools it seemed like most were still content with just pass or even high pass but only the super gunners wanted honors.

I honestly didn't even realize there were Pass/Fail schools until I kept seeing it around SDN. But I only interviewed at two MD schools... so... bummer for me. Haha.

My school has letter grades, GPA, class ranking, subject boards and other things that warm your heart.

Do you feel like it creates a more negative environment or does it not really impact at all?

 

[MT Headed]

Do you feel like it creates a more negative environment or does it not really impact at all?

I had an interviewer at an ABCF school sell me on the concept that it was better because there are no curved cutoffs... if the whole class rocks a test then everybody gets an A. This is much better than those ultra-competitive gunner P/F schools where the class is curved and 10-15% of the class has to fail each exam.





I think she had no idea what in the hell she was talking about.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

For you MS1s and MS2s, how much time would you say you spend going over future lectures? Realistically, do you only have enough time to review that day's lectures, or would not going over the next day's material ultimately make you fall behind?

 

[Ilovewater]

For you MS1s and MS2s, how much time would you say you spend going over future lectures? Realistically, do you only have enough time to review that day's lectures, or would not going over the next day's material ultimately make you fall behind?

I only pre-read the next day's lectures just to familiarize myself with the material and figure out where things are in the syllabus (makes it easier to follow professors who don't follow the order in the syllabus). This is usually a quick read...so about an hour to pre-read 4 lectures.

Some of my other classmates actually study future lectures so going to lecture is like a review for them. Different things work for different people. I could never do this because that means I'd have to study during post-exam weekend. Not going to happen haha.

 

[Barcu]

For you MS1s and MS2s, how much time would you say you spend going over future lectures? Realistically, do you only have enough time to review that day's lectures, or would not going over the next day's material ultimately make you fall behind?

I rarely preread, and I'm not really struggling. Maybe it would help; I don't know. I spend the extra time reviewing the lecture material again later that day. For me, listening first and then going over it written is fine. I get easily distracted if I try and read stuff I haven't even heard about yet.

 

[MilkIsGood]

No, we aren't internally ranked. The only advantage is that you might have to study less come boards time, but that's all I've been able to discover. In my view that's worth having a much more enjoyable lifestyle.



Not at all places. This is very school-specific.

So its just the first 2 years that aren't internally ranked. 3rd year is ranked, I'm assuming, for AOA and Dean's letter? And has this been said by the administration?

 

[tiedyeddog]

For you MS1s and MS2s, how much time would you say you spend going over future lectures? Realistically, do you only have enough time to review that day's lectures, or would not going over the next day's material ultimately make you fall behind?

If I am using a book I might preread that. I never preread lecture slides. Going over tomorrow's material would not make you fall behind, likely, but it probably won't really help you out either.

 

[NickNaylor]

For you MS1s and MS2s, how much time would you say you spend going over future lectures? Realistically, do you only have enough time to review that day's lectures, or would not going over the next day's material ultimately make you fall behind?

I don't pre-read. It's never helped me and always seemed like a waste of time. But then again I never go to lectures or watch them...

 

[NickNaylor]

So its just the first 2 years that aren't internally ranked. 3rd year is ranked, I'm assuming, for AOA and Dean's letter? And has this been said by the administration?

Yeah, third year is pretty much universally ranked if AOA is present at an institution. This hasn't been said by the institution... I suppose I could clarify. But that's my understanding.

 

[Omppu27]

The way our schedule is set up, we usually have 2-3 one hour lectures per day in what I would consider to be our "rigorous" class for the quarter. That comes out to 10-15 lectures per week. Compare that to your average undergrad class which usually includes about three hours per week.

Are you saying 10-15 lectures per week per class???? because if not then that's not any different than undergrad.

 

[Ilovewater]

Are you saying 10-15 lectures per week per class???? because if not then that's not any different than undergrad.

You'd be surprised how much they can cram into one 50-minute lecture. In undergrad, each lecture contains a lot less amount of information even in more rigorous courses.

 

[IMSingular]

I don't pre-read. It's never helped me and always seemed like a waste of time. But then again I never go to lectures or watch them...

Isn't pre-read redundant if you don't go to lectures? In a sense you pre-read everything, that is everything before you got to the lecture since you don't go to lecture.

 

[shinbeats]

Isn't pre-read redundant if you don't go to lectures? In a sense you pre-read everything, that is everything before you got to the lecture since you don't go to lecture.

Wtf?

 

[To be MD]

My friends in medical school have told me it's similar to taking 20 credits of GRADUATE level coursework.

 

[NickNaylor]

Are you saying 10-15 lectures per week per class???? because if not then that's not any different than undergrad.

You'd be surprised how much they can cram into one 50-minute lecture. In undergrad, each lecture contains a lot less amount of information even in more rigorous courses.

See love's reply. The amount of material included in a typical undergrad lecture pales in comparison to what is typically given in a med school lecture.

 

[MT Headed]

Isn't pre-read redundant if you don't go to lectures? In a sense you pre-read everything, that is everything before you got to the lecture since you don't go to lecture.

 

[tryp]

For you MS1s and MS2s, how much time would you say you spend going over future lectures? Realistically, do you only have enough time to review that day's lectures, or would not going over the next day's material ultimately make you fall behind?

I usually do not preview at all. I have a strong physiology background from undergrad, enough so that I feel confident I can understand the material without a pre-read.

I go to the lecture and write down everything the prof says that isn't in the notes. Then I go home and I copy out my notes and the professor's notes into a set of master notes that contains all the information from the lecture, and then I begin to review only my notes. Usually making notes takes about 2 hours per 1 hour of lecture - I don't do an awful lot during the week, maybe 1-2 afternoons I work, but I usually put in a full weekend of school work.

Compared to undergrad, it's just a ton more material. We basically do the equivalent of an entire undergrad course in 6 weeks, complete with full length midterm and final, plus written assignments, plus clinical methods, small groups and a side course that meets 3 hours per week (but I don't really do much work for that one at all).

In undergrad I worked hard around exams but I also had slow periods. My medical school doesn't really have those