Why do I never see anyone writing notes in class?

[Sigma]

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Had a question (partially trivia, partially confused) about med school lectures. I'm starting next year, and have sat in on a few classes at different schools. I don't know if I've ever seen anyone writing notes during the lecture. One class was an anatomy lecture, another was talking about blood return curves, and a third lecture seemed to be some sort of physiology lecture (although it was a first year class, so I might be wrong here).

While I understand med school is different, I can't imagine going through any of my pre-med reqs without taking notes during lecture. Did I just get an odd sample of classes? Do students really not take notes? If not, how do remember / absorb the material? Why does it look like a different study technique take over when med school hits?

Thanks!

 

[Blake]

There's just too much info given in a single lecture. I'd rather listen and think about the material than write notes during the whole lecture. Besides, we always end up studying on our own ( the lectures are a bonus at my school, meaning we have to find our own info most of the time ).

 

[velo]

Maybe its the schools you were visiting, plenty of people take notes here. Not extensive notes of course, because most of the info is already on the ppts and they distribute the slides to us in advance, but I always take a few notes just to keep myself involved and attentive.

 

[blufox80]

some schools have scribe serives where one of the students record the lecture and type it out for the rest of the class...so there's no need to write down notes.

 

[efex101]

We take notes on our laptops but many of us do not because our syllabi is chock full of information too darn much of it any ways..he he. I live by the BRS series.

 

[velo]

some schools have scribe serives where one of the students record the lecture and type it out for the rest of the class...so there's no need to write down notes.

oh yeah that too, almost all schools have a transcript service.

Still I think it helps to take a few notes if for no other reasaon than to keep yourself attentive.

 

[dancinjenn]

all of our notes are pre-printed for us...most people just annotate in class...very little writing, just for your personal clarification mostly. And all of our lectures are taped by the AV guys and are available to us online, so if you need to listen to it again, you can.

 

[Rogue_Leader]

Some people are just compulsive note takers. Today in neuro, the prof was doing a review of the 12 cranial nerves, something that was nothing more than simple review since it was all stuff we learned in gross anatomy, but some people were still scribbling things down as he was naming the 12 nerves. I remember thinking to myself something like "Put down the pen you God damn anal retentive tool. You already know this ****ing crap, you wouldn't have passed the head and neck exam if you didn't!!" I nearly lost it when people were taking notes again on when the professor was explaining the concept of pre and post ganglionic neurons in the sympathetic and parasympathetic system.

I appologise for the excess profanity. I have NITS - Neuroscience Induced Turrets Syndrome. Now I must return to these God damn brainstem pathways.

 

[prayerfulMD_MPH2009]

Taking notes help keep me from falling asleep on those 8 am lectures. I usually scribble the main concepts down so I can emphasize on them during exam review. But it's true that one can probably do without the notes and still get something out of it.

I guess it depends on your personality, background knowledge in the topic and learning style...

 

[sacrament]

all of our notes are pre-printed for us

Us too. I don't think I wrote down a single word during the first two years of med school. Our notes were fantastic and extremely comprehensive: we'd get about 300-400 pages every 2-3 weeks. That's unpardonably high tuition money at work, for ya.

 

[!dr_nick!]

Some people are just compulsive note takers. Today in neuro, the prof was doing a review of the 12 cranial nerves, something that was nothing more than simple review since it was all stuff we learned in gross anatomy, but some people were still scribbling things down as he was naming the 12 nerves. I remember thinking to myself something like "Put down the pen you God damn anal retentive tool. You already know this ****ing crap, you wouldn't have passed the head and neck exam if you didn't!!" I nearly lost it when people were taking notes again on when the professor was explaining the concept of pre and post ganglionic neurons in the sympathetic and parasympathetic system.

Yes, and those SAME people will ask me why I never take notes in class 🙄 My response should be "because Im not OCD". My real response is "Im too smart to waste my time doing that".

 

[azzarah]

WE are provided all the notes (everything we need to know) beforehand. I just go to lecture for review and to see what is emphasized.

Had a question (partially trivia, partially confused) about med school lectures. I'm starting next year, and have sat in on a few classes at different schools. I don't know if I've ever seen anyone writing notes during the lecture. One class was an anatomy lecture, another was talking about blood return curves, and a third lecture seemed to be some sort of physiology lecture (although it was a first year class, so I might be wrong here).

While I understand med school is different, I can't imagine going through any of my pre-med reqs without taking notes during lecture. Did I just get an odd sample of classes? Do students really not take notes? If not, how do remember / absorb the material? Why does it look like a different study technique take over when med school hits?

Thanks!

 

[MSHell]

If I go to lectures, I usually fall asleep. Ergo, no notes.

I look thru the syllabus to see what is emphasized and study the books and stuff I glean from practicals.

OP, you're right that med school is a whole new ballgame. I wasn't much of a notetaker in undergrad while others were OCD. I have remained the same in med school. My notes consist mainly of title headings and page numbers. I'm not here to reinvent the wheel or get carpal tunnel syndrome! Amazingly, there were still people who walked out of anatomy lectures with 10+ pages worth of notes written in just over an hour on limb muscles!

 

[Man In The Box]

I find that taking notes while I study, whether in lecture or on my own, facilitates retention.

 

[thackl]

all of our notes are pre-printed for us...most people just annotate in class...

They did that for us last semester, but not for this one. I'll been very bitter about it.

 

[YoungFaithful]

Some people are just compulsive note takers. Today in neuro, the prof was doing a review of the 12 cranial nerves, something that was nothing more than simple review since it was all stuff we learned in gross anatomy, but some people were still scribbling things down as he was naming the 12 nerves. I remember thinking to myself something like "Put down the pen you God damn anal retentive tool. You already know this ****ing crap, you wouldn't have passed the head and neck exam if you didn't!!" I nearly lost it when people were taking notes again on when the professor was explaining the concept of pre and post ganglionic neurons in the sympathetic and parasympathetic system.

I appologise for the excess profanity. I have NITS - Neuroscience Induced Turrets Syndrome. Now I must return to these God damn brainstem pathways.

I agree totally. I avoid sitting by certain people because I get nervous when they are constantly scribbling down notes for the full 50 minutes. How annoying!

 

[AF_PedsBoy]

Actually the real reason is REAL medical students are geniuses and can understand and retain everything they hear the first time around, amking notes superfluous. If you can't do this, medical school is not for you.














Ah ha ha THAT'S the answer you were afraid to hear, wasn't it? Admit it! No, you were probably looking at the smart section and some people don't need it. Or the reasons others have cited, scribes, personal studying, too much info - or conversely there were some classes where the lecturer is horrible or the info is just, well, useless, so in THOSE classes not only do you see people not taking notes, you may see them leaving. Or conspicuous gaps in the seats...