Skipping PPTs all together and just learning from textbooks/review books?

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Are you saying ppts are a better way to ace the exams? Our path professor bases her lectures from Robbins but I find her lectures very disorganized..
 
Brahventus said:
Would this be a better way to learn the material and also do well on exams in medical school? I hate ppts and will do anything do avoid them.
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Many people hate powerpoints. You can look at powerpoint slides with jumbles of google images and 400 words per slide where you learn absolutely nothing. Or you can read from books that are written by clever authors and accepted by thousands of medical students across the country. in addition, Strep pneumo is strep pneumo whether its from first aid, BRS micro, or CMMRS, or your professors crappy PP. Unless you go to my school, I didn't read your professors powerpoints either and I'm doing just fine. Its true that the powerpoints may direct you to whats on your particular professor's test, but they won't necessarily help you on the USMLE. You choose between reading your professor's PP, consistently making B-, and being lost when it comes time to studying for boards OR you can read the text books, study the review books, make Cs, and then know your sources (which ones work, which ones don't) and murder boards. There are plenty of people who study the text books, sometimes they don't do as well in their classes, but when they are compared to medical student across the country using usmle scores, they rank very high.

small sample set, but me and few other people used this strategy, never studied from professors PPTs, we studied from the big text books, then condensed using the high yield books. you won't be prepared for your professors nit-picky questions, but you'll actually learn. and when it comes time for boards you'll beat all your classmates.

I could go on and on about this. PM if you'd like.
 
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shibby1111 said:
Many people hate powerpoints. You can look at powerpoint slides with jumbles of google images and 400 words per slide where you learn absolutely nothing. Or you can read from books that are written by clever authors and accepted by thousands of medical students across the country. in addition, Strep pneumo is strep pneumo whether its from first aid, BRS micro, or CMMRS, or your professors crappy PP. Unless you go to my school, I didn't read your professors powerpoints either and I'm doing just fine. Its true that the powerpoints may direct you to whats on your particular professor's test, but they won't necessarily help you on the USMLE. You choose between reading your professor's PP, consistently making B-, and being lost when it comes time to studying for boards OR you can read the text books, study the review books, make Cs, and then know your sources (which ones work, which ones don't) and murder boards. There are plenty of people who study the text books, sometimes they don't do as well in their classes, but when they are compared to medical student across the country using usmle scores, they rank very high.

small sample set, but me and few other people used this strategy, never studied from professors PPTs, we studied from the big text books, then condensed using the high yield books. you won't be prepared for your professors nit-picky questions, but you'll actually learn. and when it comes time for boards you'll beat all your classmates.
Click to expand...

Or do both and make high grades on the exam, as well as be prepared for Step 1. They're not mutually exclusive, unless your school sucks. In which case you have my condolences.
 
MedWonk said:
Or do both and make high grades on the exam, as well as be prepared for Step 1. They're not mutually exclusive, unless your school sucks. In which case you have my condolences.
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you have to admit some professors powerpoints are an insult. if i ever put together a ppt with as little effort as some of my profs. i'd get an F.
 
Every school does it differently, but many times the professor giving the lecture also writes the test questions. Looking at their slides, essentially a distilled version of the text, gives you an idea of what concepts and facts they find important. Thus, the powerpoint also is a closer representation of what material they plan to put on the exam.
 
Brahventus said:
Would this be a better way to learn the material and also do well on exams in medical school? I hate ppts and will do anything do avoid them.
Click to expand...

Are you a pre-med or are you a current medical student?

If you're a pre-med, consider a PBL program. We have lectures (power points) for H&P and OPP, but very few lectures other than that. Basic science is from the textbooks.

Edit: just realized I'm in allopathic, not osteopathic. I'm not sure if there's an MD school that has a almost-only-PBL curriculum so this probably isn't helpful advice after all.
 
shibby1111 said:
Many people hate powerpoints. You can look at powerpoint slides with jumbles of google images and 400 words per slide where you learn absolutely nothing. Or you can read from books that are written by clever authors and accepted by thousands of medical students across the country. in addition, Strep pneumo is strep pneumo whether its from first aid, BRS micro, or CMMRS, or your professors crappy PP. Unless you go to my school, I didn't read your professors powerpoints either and I'm doing just fine. Its true that the powerpoints may direct you to whats on your particular professor's test, but they won't necessarily help you on the USMLE. You choose between reading your professor's PP, consistently making B-, and being lost when it comes time to studying for boards OR you can read the text books, study the review books, make Cs, and then know your sources (which ones work, which ones don't) and murder boards. There are plenty of people who study the text books, sometimes they don't do as well in their classes, but when they are compared to medical student across the country using usmle scores, they rank very high.

small sample set, but me and few other people used this strategy, never studied from professors PPTs, we studied from the big text books, then condensed using the high yield books. you won't be prepared for your professors nit-picky questions, but you'll actually learn. and when it comes time for boards you'll beat all your classmates.

I could go on and on about this. PM if you'd like.
Click to expand...
I agree just read the better materials. Most powerpoints these people make are just plain terribad.
 
shibby1111 said:
Many people hate powerpoints. You can look at powerpoint slides with jumbles of google images and 400 words per slide where you learn absolutely nothing. Or you can read from books that are written by clever authors and accepted by thousands of medical students across the country. in addition, Strep pneumo is strep pneumo whether its from first aid, BRS micro, or CMMRS, or your professors crappy PP. Unless you go to my school, I didn't read your professors powerpoints either and I'm doing just fine. Its true that the powerpoints may direct you to whats on your particular professor's test, but they won't necessarily help you on the USMLE. You choose between reading your professor's PP, consistently making B-, and being lost when it comes time to studying for boards OR you can read the text books, study the review books, make Cs, and then know your sources (which ones work, which ones don't) and murder boards. There are plenty of people who study the text books, sometimes they don't do as well in their classes, but when they are compared to medical student across the country using usmle scores, they rank very high.

small sample set, but me and few other people used this strategy, never studied from professors PPTs, we studied from the big text books, then condensed using the high yield books. you won't be prepared for your professors nit-picky questions, but you'll actually learn. and when it comes time for boards you'll beat all your classmates.

I could go on and on about this. PM if you'd like.
Click to expand...

Won't the textbooks have most if not all the material that the professor tests you on?
 
I have yet to crack or even buy a single textbook. Everything I've needed has been in coursepacks.

That said, some profs are incompetent/dicks. In either of those cases, textbook reading would be a good idea. I still would start with the PPTs to get an idea of what they are emphasizing.
 
Really depends on your school like many have said. Our professors gave us ppts and everything on the test came from the ppt or lecture (which you just watch at home on 2x speed, but it's the ppt with maybe a little extra info). If you read the book they say they get their info from you should be fine though. It's just a lot more work for you and you won't have the time.

I usually used ppts and a review book for stuff I didn't understand.
 
I don't think anyone likes powerpoints, but the thing is, most professors test from the material they teach with a bit of the book thrown in, since you can't possibly know all of the material about a given subject. If you want to read Robbins, go ahead, it's fantastic. But be aware that you can read a powerpoint in a tenth the time as the chapter, do you might be best served reading the PP, then going over the things you don't understand in Robbins. You don't have infinite time, after all.
 
Mad Jack said:
NBME exams for every exam? Harsh. Would have loved to have that system though, as it would ensure we were learning the correct material.
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They don't use them for lab exams (Histology, Anatomy, Neuroanatomy)... They are probably harsh because our class average is usually in the mid-to-high 70s without curve--seldom we average 80%...
 
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