studying in bookstores/coffee shops

[DocToBe]

What are current med students thoughts on using these places as study locations? The good thing about them, in my opinion, is that you can't really good off that much....

What do you guys think?

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[Snoopy]

I love studying in coffee shops and bookstores, as do many of my friends. I've never been much of a library studier (I can't stand the quiet intermingled with whispering), but I like more public places because there is a nice buzz about the place without it being too distracting. Studying at home is OK but it can be problematic for me because I tend to slack off rather than focus. It's amazing how appealing the dirty dishes are when you're studying the muscles of the foot. Some people I know have made a decision to NEVER study at home, preferring to keep home as a complete and total refuge from all things medical. They therefore spend much of their time in coffee shops, bookstores, libraries, etc. This is an interesting philosophy that would be very appealing to me if most of my studying wasn't completed between the hours of 12 midnight and 4 am. What can I say? I'm a night owl. Just my thoughts.

 

[DocToBe]

That is very true. Another neat place to study is the university student center, which has a similar sort of buzz to it. I think I am going to start out studying in the local university student center and see how it goes. Many are also open quite late (~1 am).

 

[qb1]

I have found that studying anywhere there is not complete silence to be a waste of my time. I usually try to find the remotest part of the library and hang out there. Snoopy, I have also found the dishes to be very enticing (sp) while I attempt to study at home.....Late..

 

[wheatfarmer]

Personally I study at random carwashes and rifle ranges. Sometimes I blindfold myself, drive through a field and real suddin-like, break. I then get out of my car and read all of "Cecil's Essentials of Medicine" in latin.

 

[bsthomas]

HA HA HA

That's pretty funny!

 

[Carbon Klein]

If I'm not in front of a TV then I can't study. I could never study in a library or the lecture hall. Can't study outdoors on a lawn or beach either. Must be at my desk or on my bed with my TV blaring (just my luck, I started watching a lot of foreign films and I can't use them when I study because I have to read the subtitles.).

 

[Stephen Ewen]

I love this subject of studying locations. It actually says a lot about temperament.

Really, everyone is different, or more accurately people tend to fall into categories in this. I love to study or do any type of work in the coffee shoppe environment. I study best on a overstuffed couch in dim light while leaning back nice and comfy. If there is a fountain trickling nearby, so much the better. And I love coffee, and certain munchies while studying.

Others would find just as horrible as I find horrible what thay like: a desk and straight back chair in a plain, silent, brightly lit room. And then there are those in between.

In this, go heartily with >whatever< you like!

 

[fiatslug]

I have an old (1930's) mahoghany schooldesk with a wide tilted top. It has two seemingly contradictory funtions: the chair enforces a rigid and wide-awake posture, and yet it is oddly comfy for studying! I like coffee shops, too, but I hate lugging books all over creation. And the tables are so small!

 

[DocToBe]

I also hate lugging the books--it is such a nusiance.

 

[fruitbat]

If you're studying in a coffee shop, maybe some hot dreamboat guy will come up and ask if he can sit at your table. "Sure", you'll say. "What are you reading?" he'll ask. "Oh, I'm in medical school. These are just some notes for class."
"Wow. You must be smart", he'll say. "Smart AND beautiful!"
"Oh, go on", I'll answer, "Now you're making me blush."

Dammit, now I'm all distracted and my coffee's cold.
Any wonder why I never get anything done in coffeeshops?

Note to the hot dreamy dreamboats: I'm the girl pretending to read the path book.

 

[SW-Adrian]

Mmm... is that wishful thinking?

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Adrian Zai
Scutwork.com

 

[wheatfarmer]

I was sitting in a coffee shop when this rodeo clown came up to me and began to look under my desk.
I asked "what are you looking for?"
She said "I am looking for my burrow owl"

Jumping Jesus on a Pogo stick! Everyone knows a borrow owl live in a hole in the ground! Why the hell do you think they call it a burrow owl in the first place!

Right then I realized I would never have sex with her, my beautiful rodeo clown.


So I continued to read about the acute abdomen.

 

[tristate]

We are all kings (and queens) of wishful thinking which makes us beautiful individuals.

When I was an undergrad, I liked studying in a library late at night at one of the group tables with books spread all over the place. And after the library closed, I would head to the local 24 hour diner and continue studying with a cup of coffee and a slice of cheesecake. I didn't dream of a dreamboat waltzing through the door because the cheesecake was heaven enough for me.

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And the blessings just keep coming!

 

[suliman25]

If you study in a coffee shop, are you required to buy anything? Sometimes, i get a dirty look from the waitress if i don't buy anything.

 

[gp]

Yes - Sulliman - you should buy something if you are taking up space at a table with a waitress AND you should tip well! That waitress depends on the tips from people to eat and pay her rent - if you park yourself there to study, you are preventing the table from turning over so that she can collect tips from other customers. (Oh - and tipping 20% on a dollar cup of coffee just won't cut it...) Even if it's the middle of the night, and there are no other customers, your waitress is probably working to keep your bottomless coffee cup filled. So be nice and leave several dollars in tip - she'll appreciate it rather than cursing you as one of those people who takes up her table and doesn't tip.

On another note - I also like studying in coffee shops - like my local Starbucks - no wait staff to bother...nice decor and usually some sort of jazz in the background ... even comfy couches : ) but they typically don't stay open that late - however, I'm a morning person - so I like to go in between 6:30 and 7 am - and study before class. My favorite study spot, though, is in our student center - they rehabbed it a few years ago, and there is a great big wood-panelled room with a gas fire place at one end with couches set up around the fireplace - and lots of comfy chairs all around the rest of the room - I like to grab one of those couches and work there. Fortunately, I still have a few more weeks left before reclaiming my spot in the fall...

 

[EricCSU]

I just want to say that this is the funniest thing I've seen on this forum since the "Top 10 things I want to say when I graduate med school" forum started.

 

[imtiaz]

Originally posted by wheatfarmer:
I was sitting in a coffee shop when this rodeo clown came up to me and began to look under my desk.
I asked "what are you looking for?"
She said "I am looking for my burrow owl"

Jumping Jesus on a Pogo stick! Everyone knows a borrow owl live in a hole in the ground! Why the hell do you think they call it a burrow owl in the first place!

Right then I realized I would never have sex with her, my beautiful rodeo clown.


So I continued to read about the acute abdomen.

This made me laugh for 5 minutes. I don't know why. I study at home on a rigid chair with a moderate lighting. It has to be completely quiet, if I want to remember anything at least.

 

[jenniferl77]

I study on the bed or on the couch. If it isn't silent there is no point in even trying to study anything that requires a lot of attention. My husband and I just bought a new couch, so now the couch is off limits if I want to use highlighters. In undergrad, When I get sick of my apartment during finals I would go to the library and study in the quietest spot I could find. From what I have seen the library here at my med school doesn't look like it has a quiet corner. Fortunately my new apartment has thicker walls and no college guys that think it is cool to play the radio so loud that my windows shake.

 

[SarahC]

OK Wheatfarmer is really crackin me up!!! I think the stress got to him! I'll put in my 2 cents...I study anywhere I can. I usually do the coffee house thing..but then i spend money...or the library thing...but then i get up to check email or get a coke every 10 minutes...or i study here at school...but again the email...and if i am at home..you know those infomercials are really fascinating. Maybe I have ADD. Not really. Study where ya want. I find that studying with people helps. Even if you arent actually working together, just sitting there in a group studying. It keeps ya motivated. Good luck!!!

One final thing about coffee shops that are nice...endless supplies of caffine!

Sarah

 

[wheatfarmer]

Thanks for the props!

 

[Badgerbabe]

Our school's main library is no place to get anything academic done - it has actually been published as the best pick-up joint on campus. Even the quiet study rooms are loud. My friends and I sometimes order pizza there when we "study." Ironically, it is one of the most gigantic weeknight parties on campus. To get any real work done, I retreat to my favorite coffee shop. (I, too, have a strange inclination towards dishes, dusting, rearranging furniture, etc. rather than spend one more minute studying!)

 

[Medic1895]

Wheatfarmer -

I remember that song vaguely - Punk rock girl I think? Who did it?

 

[wheatfarmer]

medic1895,
That post had bits and pieces of a song called "Stuart" by the Dead Milkmen. The burrow-owl thing.

Good catch my friend.

 

[lilycat]

Wheatfarmer, thank you for keeping all of us entertained, and helping us keep our sanity. Any more song lyrics that come to mind are greatly appreciated.

 

[lilycat]

As for study locations, my school finally refinished a 10-year renovation of our main undergrad library. Because the med school library is dark, depressing, and just generally sucks, all the med students study at the undergrad library. Presumably this is for the large wooden tables, skylights, and comfy chairs, or else just to flirt with the undergrads.

 

[kmmath]

I don't think that serious studying should be done in the coffeeshops...perhaps I come from a different perspective now, but here is my take:

We have two Books-A-Millions and a Borders where pre-meds and med students meet and study...and I do on occasion as well when I meet a group...but my expectations are that this is a public place, not a library and I will be distracted.

My children love Books-A-Million and we go as a family once or twice a week to have coffee/coke. My children are 5,4 and 18 months...this is something that they love ...really. So we get a table and talk about what we did that day and what we are going to do over the weekend. The kids are noisy and happy...and the DIRTY LOOKS that we get from the pre-meds/med students are UNBELIEVABLE....as if this is their library/study hall that we are interrupting.

I feel like screaming..."hey...this is a public coffee shop not a LIBRARY....if you don't want to be distracted you are studying in the wrong place!"

just another perspective...

Kris

 

[Socceroo4ever]

Can't say I know much about the coffee shoppe take... where I'm living right now, i.e., not a major university town, none of the coffee shoppes around here are worth studying in, unless you study well in a noisy bar as well. However, in Chapel Hill, I noticed that a lot of the coffee shoppes would be frequented by students. It seems to me that in large university towns, coffee shoppes are perhaps more student-friendly since they probably make up the majority of persons stopping by, while in otherwise non-university towns it's harder to find a quieter niche because a smaller percentage of customers are students.

Incidentally, I know of a guy who goes up on the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina every weekend and camps out all weekend... and studies. Rain or shine, this die-hard will find a comfy knoll near a tinkling stream, far away from any other humans, and crams for exams! Personally... I prefer a dimly-lit room with other people studying nearby, with a low to moderate noise level. Cafes are my prime choice of location.

 

[gp]

Kris

I completely agree with you. These places are public and a certain amount of noise comes with the territory. You have every right to go and hang out with your kids (maybe more? because I bet you actually purchase books a lot more often...) The students might glare at you, but they'll just have to get over it or chose another study spot. I wonder if any of them has ever been so bold as to say something?

I have had similar frustrations with our local Borders on Michigan Ave. here in Chicago - I stop in for coffee sometimes when I'm tired of shopping, and it's really hard to find a table because all the tables are taken by area med students - one to a table, with books spread all over the place. But the management seems to see that as part of its ambieance (and the view is really great, too) so it's likely to continue to be a popular spot - and even though I get frustrated, I will probably set up shop there myself sometimes over the next couple of years - and I promise not to give dirty looks to fellow patrons...

 

[kmmath]

You know, gp...no one had ever come out and said something TO me, but they began grumbling amongst themselves and look at us! Talk about rude and self-centered.

Actually, almost every time that we come we purchase books for the kids...it is part of the fun for them.

Kris