See, I disagree. But I agree totally with the assessment that it totally depends on the type of person you are and how you learn. If you're self motivated, then not going to lecture shouldn't be a problem. If you need some motivation, then skipping lecture will probably hinder your learning. It depends on the school too I think. Some schools record their lectures, others don't. Actually, I would be interested to hear what schools record their lectures and which ones do not? For the record, DMU does.
With all due respect, you are still yet to complete your first year. You will probably realize near the end of your didactic pod education that the vast majority of the people not in lecture are the people who make poor marks and are scrambling around a few days before exam week to ask, "what chapters are on the test?" and "can I copy your notes?" because they have fallen behind. There are always exceptions to the rule, but I think that holds up pretty well as a generalization. I think you will see a marked correlation between the students who regularly attend lecture and the students who are still around in the program a year from now.
In my personal experience, the didactic part of a pod education is more about dedication than simply motivation/inspiration. Most decent students come out of the gate strong and get good grades in the first semester, but initial motivation/inspiration will likely begin to fail some time in the second semester or second year as the program picks up intensity. That is where dedication and mental fortitude come into play. Keeping pace by being in lecture is a great way to ensure that you are up to speed. I think that missed lectures can quickly turn into missed exam hints and piles of unread notes or lecture audio files which the student may never "get around to" listening to. Even if you listen to the lectures later on, can you ask the teacher a question or see the radiograph/path specimen/physio flow chart, etc that he is describing while listening? Also, what would you do if the AV guy didn't record the critical day you missed or the mp3/tape got damaged?
You will have to be on time and in clinic during the latter half of pod school, so why not practice meeting at scheduled times and gaining faculty respect during the didactic portion of the education also? I guess different strategies work for different students, but I'd stand by my statement that the vast majority of students will stay on pace better and gain faculty respect by attending the course lectures. Lab attendance also goes without saying; highly visual and hands-on material simply has to be experienced first hand.
Barry records almost all lectures on mp3 and makes them available as a helpful review. I sometimes review the audio from lectures if I didn't take good notes, I missed a session, or the subject matter is particularly difficult. However, it's extremely hard to follow the PowerPoint pace while simply listening, though - especially in highly visual subjects (derm, radio, path, etc). The university policy is that attendance is mandatory (although this is seldom enforced). Many professors do not take regular attendance, but some do it simply as a recourse against failing students claiming that the exams were unfair. A student who fell grossly behind and failed will have little ground to stand on if the professor can show that they attended less than half of the lectures, labs, etc. Random extra credit or non-extra credit quizzes may also be given in some courses if stated in the course syllabus.
