Hey Peter,
I am also at WVSOM and I love PBL. In fact, I can barely stand to sit in a lecture anymore now that I know how to look up information and process it fast. This is my personal preference. Now with that said, here are some advantages and disadvantages to PBL.
Advantages:
You learn by doing as you'll have actual cases to work through. You'll order tests, make differential diagnoses and weave your own tapestry of understanding over time. As such, you will develop a sense of clinical savvyness (is that a word? hehe) as you plow through these cases.
You are forced to discuss what you learn with your other 7 groupmates and as such you will be motivated to study. Other group members can fill in holes in your understanding if you don't get a particular topic.
One also gets a good deal of time out of class. (read: not sitting through lectures all the time) This is convenient as you can get your necessary stuff done (paying bills, gym, bank, grocery shop, etc.) However, it takes a great deal of responsbility to use your time wisely. It's still medical school and if you don't study, it'll catch up to ya. Use the flexibility wisely.
The group session teaches you effective communication skills you'll need in residency.
Of course the main draw of PBL is student directed learning. Even though you form learning issues as a group, you are free to study what you want in your time outside of class.
PBL has a beautiful way of weaving concepts from different systems together. As you go through cases, you'll begin forming a "Big picture" of how all systems in the body work together. It is quite nice.
Lots of time to study for boards
Disadvantages:
You run the risk of getting gunners in your class. A gunner is defined as someone who will trip others up in order to get the highest grade for themselves. Since PBL is a very tight knit group, there's a certain amount of drama that can come with it, especially if it is gunner centered. As a general guideline, I avoid drama at all costs, but it exists and one should be aware of it.
Group members aren't always going to agree with you. Subjects you may deem important might not be important to others. As such its up to you to fill in the holes in your learning yourself sometimes.
A PASS/FAIL system works ideally in PBL.
It encourages comradere while still requiring mastery of the material. However, you'll find that most PBL programs have a numerical grading system in place, one that is highly subjective at times and is often not truly indicitative of an individual's performance.
I will say at WVSOM, the system has been very fair to me though.
I've heard horror stories from other PBL programs though.
Temptation to slack off! You must be very self-motivated to do PBL. Otherwise you'll use all the downtime inbetween class meetings to slack off. It's not really that big of an issue for most people but it's there!
Anyway that's my point of view. I believe the advantages greatly outweigh the disadvantages. I am very happy with PBL.
This coming from someone who majored in computer science and knew very little about medicine and biology coming into medical school
Oh yeah, and Steve is like one of the best group members ever. His advice is good too.
If you have further specific questions, feel free to email me. Though know I have a 10 week block exam on thursday so I will be slow on replying.
