Here's some info for those who are applying in later cycles and are truly clueless about the PBL process. Truth be told, it's very difficult to advise other students on whether or not they will enjoy the PBL process or not. Everyone has a different learning style and what I consider helpful/useful may not apply to you. Take every piece of advice that's given to you with a grain of salt, do your research, and figure out if the facts of PBL align with your learning style. With that being said, here are some facts about PBL:
1. Yes, you do "teach" yourself. The cases have anywhere between 4-6 parts where you dissect every part of the case, come up with a list of information that you need to learn, create a learning need centered around the information that you need to know, and study for the multiple choice tests as well as an image focused test where you're asked what an image is/asked to label it.
2. PBL is really what you make of it. If you learning need is on "viral life cycle" for example; you may spend a few hours on the learning need or you may spend 5 minutes randomly copy-pasting websites with incorrect information. If you complete your learning needs in 5 minutes and don't spend time reading the learning needs of those in your group, then you really cannot complain about the process because you're not doing it right.
3. If you like to view patients in a more holistic view, if you like to solve problems, if you're a self-guided learner who likes to do your own research and come up with ways to learn new topics, then PBL is for you. If you want to go through dental school being spoon-fed the science courses, then PBL is not for you (and that's ok)!
Personally, I truly dislike lecture because I think of it as passive learning and I basically have to do double the work trying to re-teach myself what my professor stood up and lectured on. In undergrad, I supplemented lectures with my own notes from books and online vids (shoutout OsmosisMed). People often forget that even when the course is lecture based, the exams may be completely off! I truly enjoy PBL because of the flexibility and because of the creativity that it allows me when learning. There should be a distinction between undergraduate and graduate education - and I believe that PBL really offers us a new perspective on education. It fosters life-long learning where we are expected to find the answer (which is what will be required of you in the real world), rather than just spoken to and expected to memorize information.
Again, take my advice with a grain of salt & shoot me a message if you'd like to discuss further. Just don't believe those who say that PBL is just "paying to teach yourself." This couldn't be further than the truth. I'd rather spend my days truly learning information on my own than sitting in lecture and listening to someone speak, only to go home and do the real learning myself, but that's just me.
