PBL vs. Traditional

[snoopy69]

Hey everybody, I was just wanting some input on these 2 types of methods. PBL interests me because it is discussion based and you get a more interactive learning experience, but I'm worried that I would not learn enough in class and have to study like a madman to learn the material. Or the traditional method which seems more boring but could be better in the long run on tests.
What are the pros and cons of these methods?
For those of you currently in school or already graduated, do you feel like your particular school's method helped you or was detrimental?

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[LuckyMD2b]

Hey everybody, I was just wanting some input on these 2 types of methods. PBL interests me because it is discussion based and you get a more interactive learning experience, but I'm worried that I would not learn enough in class and have to study like a madman to learn the material. Or the traditional method which seems more boring but could be better in the long run on tests.
What are the pros and cons of these methods?
For those of you currently in school or already graduated, do you feel like your particular school's method helped you or was detrimental?

I don't know how much you get out of lectures, but for me personally they are only so helpful in learning new material. In college, and now in med school, I found that lecturers never really hold your hand and help you through new concepts. So I'd have to spend a fair amount of time studying to learn stuff on my own anyways. Plus much of what we need to know is just memorization and never is a lecture just a list of facts and definitions. Also if you're really busy it's so easy to just fall asleep in lecture or not even show up in the first place. Plus most of the high powered prof's tend to spend way to much time emphasizing thier research, which is totally unhelpful when you just wanna learn the basics.

I think that schools with PBL are better because the PBL session is a way to keep you on your toes with learning the material as the class progresses; which doesn't involve a weekly exam or some kind of homework assignment. I think the best system is something that balances lectures with PBL, Labs, and clinical exposure in the first two years. Giving you a comprehensive look at what you're learning.

 

[chameleonknight]

You will study like mad in either one. At least PBL gives you enough time to do it.

 

[pillowhead]

You will study like mad in either one. At least PBL gives you enough time to do it.

But you can't skip PBL.

 

[Blake]

PBL = study like a madman. It's just insane. When you have to 3 PBL per week and you need to find the material, and understand all of it in 2 days, well, it's kind of rough.

 

[automaton]

these small group sessions have mandatory attendance, have little educational value, and basically pisses everyone off. the only positive thing is that it teaches you to speak in front of an audience, which is good for when you're presenting patients on rounds or presenting a paper. other than that though, researching crap on pubmed and presenting it is not a fun activity, at least for me. give me lectures to watch from home any day. mandatory attendance sucks ass.

 

[pillowhead]

these small group sessions have mandatory attendance, have little educational value, and basically pisses everyone off. the only positive thing is that it teaches you to speak in front of an audience, which is good for when you're presenting patients on rounds or presenting a paper. other than that though, researching crap on pubmed and presenting it is not a fun activity, at least for me. give me lectures to watch from home any day. mandatory attendance sucks ass.

you'll find very few pure lecture curriculums anyway anymore. I'm at one of the most conservative schools curriculum wise, and we still have PBL once a week, labs for neuro, histology, and of course anatomy first year and path and micro lab second year which are all small group-ish. First year we have one hour small discussion groups for physio and genetics every week plus the occasional neuro small group, and second year we have one-to-two small groups for pathophys every week. Personally, I couldn't take any more small group/discussions and am happy to sit in lecture being anonymous, fading in and out of attention should I so choose.

 

[Gene Queen]

I went to a med school that was entirely PBL. I have mixed feelings on the subject. PBL can be fun at first, but after 2 years of it, it can become annoying. If you have a lousy group, it can be even worse. You definitely have to be motivated to study on your own.

I think the best approach is a mix of PBL and didactic teaching. I guess my school wasn't entirely PBL, because we still had lectures (although we didn't call them that), and didactic sessions. My school didn't have much structure, which is something I really would have liked. If I could create a curriculum, I would have a series of lectures supplemented by PBL sessions to complement what we learn in lectures. At my school the lectures we had were only loosely associated with PBL sessions so they weren't that helpful for integrating knowledge.

 

[hedera916]

I think the best curriculum would be one that's a hybrid of PBL and the traditional type...get the best of both worlds. It would be great if per subject there would be lecture/lecturettes, case discussions, labs, wards.

 

[babyruth]

I appreciate the mixed curriculum. I liked didactics because the lecturer brings all the info together for you, so you don't have to frantically search out the info, you just look up smaller details or interesting subjects to you afterwards. Another question, do you prefer systems or topic based curriculums? (i.e. Cardio vs. physiology)