Love it? Hate it? PBL & Non-traditional curriculum

[ferral]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

So, I'm researching schools and I'm really interested in finding out how vet students feel about these non-traditional programs (Cornell, Western, Tufts, Wash.U etc).
Anyone going to a veterinary school with an emphasis on Problem Based Learning or some other non-traditional theme? How do you like it? How many hours do you spend in lecture? Do you feel that it makes for a more conducive learning environment?

Thanks everyone! 😀

 

[sofficat]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=410585

this is a link explaining pbl in med schools & faq.

Although Auburn isn't a nontrad school, we do have a class called problem solving where a small group of students and one advisor gets together and tries to solve cases, etc. I really enjoy because it keeps us focused on why we sit in class 7 hours a day and listen to lectures and it also enables us to go... so THAT is why we learned about ____ and that is how it relates to vet med!

 

[Angelo84]

Hi,
I am currently at tufts. We have a mix of lecture and PBL, mostly lecture PBL is once a week. PBL is useful for tying things together and making you think clinically but I don't think it is a good way to actually learn the material. I actually ended up deciding between tufts and cornell and decided to go with tufts because I wasn't sure I would learn as well at cornell since they are heavily into PBL. So far I am quite happy with my choice!

If you have questions about how I made that decision feel free to PM me

 

[AuburnPreVet]

Yes, I love our hour or two of PBL... I could see how it would get old if it was our main information flow though. My group is great... which helps too.

 

[silverelf]

i'm with angelo84....i love how PBL helps to break up the week and you get a chance to basically "play dr. house" (as our group refers to it)...it is a welcome change from sitting in lecture. that being said, i think PBL is important in helping you learn to think like a clinician, but i would not feel comfortable if my entire curriculum was based on it, i don't think i would learn enough. i guess it really depends on your learning style. if you would rather learn most things on your own, a school like cornell might be good for you. if you are like me and prefer a more structured lecture-type curriculum, then pick a school that has a little PBL (like tufts or auburn) or none at all.

 

[pressmom]

Add UTK to the list of "a little PBL" schools. We have something called ABLE (application based learning experience) for one or two weeks a semester. Each day a group of 7 students and one prof goes in to study a case and each day you are given more information until you come up with a diagnosis and a treatment plan. I'm really excited about it. I'll fill you in once we have one.

 

[jfitzpatri8]

MSU just changed the curriculum, and removed a few of the semesters of PBL classes. I think they left 2 semesters with PBL, and 3 without.

My class has one each semester. I like it- but it really is very dependent on who you get in your group, and what you are like. My friend is one of the smartest girls in our class, but is so quiet and reserved, she never gets a word in. I am not so smart, but always get my two cents heard- even if they end up being wrong!

J

 

[Electrophile]

Mizzou's med school was the first to do the PBL, so we have a little influence of that over at the vet school in trying to do a decent amount of clinical correlates, but I don't think we have formal PBL style classes. Mizzou is a little different in that we have nearly 2 full years of clinical rotations since classes our 3rd year only extend 1 block (8 weeks) into the first semester. This is cool to get more hands on experience than a lot of other schools, BUT the caveat is that we only get a 6 week summer.

 

[LLIPPY]

Just giving this thread a bump..or more like a violent kick since its so old 🙂 Any new thoughts? I will most likely be attending Western CVM in a few months and am excited yet terrified of mostly PBL...

 

[Klhughes]

When I went out to Western a couple years ago to visit and check it out I sat in with one of their groups for a day. All of the students that I talked to there really liked the set up of their program. I ended up getting waitlisted there and am now at TN but Western is very good about hooking you up with a current students if you have questions that a student would be better suited answering.
At TN our curriculum only has a little of the problem based learning in it but what we do get I really enjoy. I think it really helps to solidify what you have learned in lectures. I personally don't think that I would do well with all of my learning being done that way but if I were doing it I may feel differently about it. Western does seem to have a great program but as someone said before it all depends on your learning style. That kind of program must be working since they are graduating students now and other more established schools are also taking on that kind of curriculum. It really does help you begin to learn how to think like a clinician.

 

[LLIPPY]

Hi klhughes,

Thanks for the quick response 🙂 . I think you were running the UT thread on the pre-vet forum too. I say probably Western because I JUST interviewed at UT. IF i get accepted to UT I will have a lot to think about..good to know you know a little about each program, I may be contacting you again 🙂

 

[mrcows3]

When I went out to Western a couple years ago to visit and check it out I sat in with one of their groups for a day. All of the students that I talked to there really liked the set up of their program. I ended up getting waitlisted there and am now at TN but Western is very good about hooking you up with a current students if you have questions that a student would be better suited answering.
At TN our curriculum only has a little of the problem based learning in it but what we do get I really enjoy. I think it really helps to solidify what you have learned in lectures. I personally don't think that I would do well with all of my learning being done that way but if I were doing it I may feel differently about it. Western does seem to have a great program but as someone said before it all depends on your learning style. That kind of program must be working since they are graduating students now and other more established schools are also taking on that kind of curriculum. It really does help you begin to learn how to think like a clinician.

I am currently at Western and I can tell you that I'm not crazy about the 100% PBL method. It is a tremendous amount of work, and the cases contain a plethora of information. ie. Renal Failure in a cat, its up to you to decide what would be important to know in order to diagnose such a case, such as anatomy of all the renal system, physiology, tox, path, and on and on. It wouldn't be so bad if the school gave you a list of what you should have learned like a review sheet, but they don't , so you don't find out if you missed anything till the day of the exam. The good part is that this anxiety forces you to be exposed to far more than you probably would be in a traditional curriculum, the bad part is that you could easily miss something important and focus on something that isn't that important. Overall however, I think the curriculum is good, its just extremely painful and takes some getting used to.