MedStudent101 Posted February 9, 2010 Report Share Posted February 9, 2010 I was just trying to get an idea about how much the average medical student is studying. I am a first year med student at an Ontario school. I am passing my courses comfortably but not doing particularly well (about 1 to 1.5 standard deviations below average). I know I am not studying as much as most of my colleagues but I am not sure by how much. I study about 15-20 hours a week with a moderate amount of cramming before exams in addition to going to most of my classes. I am not particularly concerned with my marks (I can live with the fact that people are smarter than me) but I want to know if the reason why I am not performing as well as the other people in my class is because they are working much hard than I am. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 I've never kept track of how much I read, but 15-20 hours/week doesn't sound like you are slacking off (unless you are counting "studying" in front of the TV or somesuch). I would focus more on the quality and yield of the time you spend.. are you focused during your study time? are you happy with the strategies you use? Plus, everyone enters with different backgrounds, and everyone learns differently and at different speeds, so it may be less useful to compare yourself with others than to simply try working harder/better during the next block, and see if your performance correlates with time spent studying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superking25 Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 I am not lieing. But i think you are not studying enough. I don't think i am too naturally gifted but i have about 20-25 hours a week of class and i study about 5 hours a day (between classes + home) and on the weekend about 7 hours a day. This is actually sitting at my desk not including breaks, Ec or work. If you are below average, you should definitely pick up your marks if you want a chance at med or dent. Everyone is different! I study 10-15 hours/week and did very well in first semester. However, I'm anticipating it ramping up this semester. Your mileage may vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedStudent101 Posted February 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 I am not lieing. But i think you are not studying enough. I don't think i am too naturally gifted but i have about 20-25 hours a week of class and i study about 5 hours a day (between classes + home) and on the weekend about 7 hours a day. This is actually sitting at my desk not including breaks, Ec or work. If you are below average, you should definitely pick up your marks if you want a chance at med or dent. I am already in med school and I am having no problem getting by. It's just that getting by isn't much of an accomplishment as passing isn't difficult at all (easier than undergrad in many aspects). That said, you are probably correct in your advice. I am just not sure I am willing to study 10 hours a day to learn material of which I will forget 85% a few weeks after the exam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 MS101, I share your views regarding the lack of desire to overwork myself into a manic-depressive state for an extra 5% at a pass-fail school learning material that I will, for most part, forget within a few weeks. I tend to sit right at the class average for all our exams, never gone more than 2% above or below. Until cardiology started, we spent about 25 hours a week in class (this includes small group stuff - and about 8-9 hours of lecture) and I studied an average of 10-15 hours on top of that - about 2-5 hours during the week and 5-10 on the weekend. This includes homework (e.g. PBL research). Now that we started cardio, our workload is greater and the material is more complex. We are in class about 30 hours a week (with 10-11 hours of lecture) and I study an average of 15-20 hours on top of that. I am not willing to sacrifice social time, workouts, etc, so I focus on time management - which includes reviewing tons whenever we get a break (e.g. next week!) and skipping lectures by professors whose lecturing style doesn't mesh well with my learning style (I simply listen to the webcasts - you can pause these at any time and rewind if you need to go over a concept again). This reading week, I will read about 150 pages of Lilly's (will probably take me about 20 hours to absorb it), write a paper for a fluff course so it's off my chest, and then review the preceding 3 weeks of lectures (will probably take me about 30 hours) - all so I don't have to kill myself during exam week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt.pepper Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 So you guys don't study much b/c you guys don't want to match into a hard residency or b/c you will just study your ass off for step 1 or w/e they call it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moo Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 How is 1-1.5 SDs below the average "comfortably passing"? When I went to med school, fail was 2 SDs below the mean. When I started med school, I almost failed my second exam, not because I wasn't studying, it was because I was studying the wrong material. Are you reading the text? If you are, don't. Just memorize the slides/professor's notes. That's what I did and I ended up usually getting class average for the rest of my first two years (give or take... I did get top 5 for the micro/immuno block in second year but that was the rarity rather than the exception). Regardless, stop stressing over the first two years. Nobody cares how you do the first two years of med school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 So you guys don't study much b/c you guys don't want to match into a hard residency or b/c you will just study your ass off for step 1 or w/e they call it 1) You don't write Step 1 unless you want to go to the US (I don't) 2) Most medical schools are pass-fail, and preclinical marks don't matter at all. If you were #1 and got one of these "best in block!" scholarships, I'm sure it's a bonus on your CaRMS app, but if you are 2nd or below, tough life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt.pepper Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 1) You don't write Step 1 unless you want to go to the US (I don't)2) Most medical schools are pass-fail, and preclinical marks don't matter at all. If you were #1 and got one of these "best in block!" scholarships, I'm sure it's a bonus on your CaRMS app, but if you are 2nd or below, tough life. Is it the same in dentistry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 Is it the same in dentistry? Dunno. Most dentists don't do a residency, so likely, yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Stark Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 I am not lieing. But i think you are not studying enough. I don't think i am too naturally gifted but i have about 20-25 hours a week of class and i study about 5 hours a day (between classes + home) and on the weekend about 7 hours a day. This is actually sitting at my desk not including breaks, Ec or work. If you are below average, you should definitely pick up your marks if you want a chance at med or dent. This week I have 5 hours of lecture, 6 hours of tutorial, and another 5 hours or so of clinical (not including about 3 hours of elective tomorrow morning). I'd say I've studied or done work for all of about 3 hours so far this week... I suppose I'll have to do more, but I'll just say that the pass/fail system is a wonderful innovation. To the OP, don't worry too much about being just "average" in your class. You can't know everything and you don't need to know everything - well, not yet, anyway! I have a lot of other things going on besides studying (research, some important community work, administrative/class rep work, some semblance of a social life) and at the end of the day I want to enjoy myself, not try to study everything in excruciating detail. I'll forget many things quickly either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Stark Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 This reading week, I will read about 150 pages of Lilly's (will probably take me about 20 hours to absorb it), write a paper for a fluff course so it's off my chest, and then review the preceding 3 weeks of lectures (will probably take me about 30 hours) - all so I don't have to kill myself during exam week. Do you do everything about cardio all at once? Lilly is probably my favourite text (if such a thing exists), but so far our cardio block is dense but very approachable. We did cover all the normal physiology and anatomy last year, and I did cardiology clinical in the fall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedStudent101 Posted February 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 How is 1-1.5 SDs below the average "comfortably passing"? When I went to med school, fail was 2 SDs below the mean. When I started med school, I almost failed my second exam, not because I wasn't studying, it was because I was studying the wrong material. Are you reading the text? If you are, don't. Just memorize the slides/professor's notes. That's what I did and I ended up usually getting class average for the rest of my first two years (give or take... I did get top 5 for the micro/immuno block in second year but that was the rarity rather than the exception). Regardless, stop stressing over the first two years. Nobody cares how you do the first two years of med school. It is pretty much impossible to fail even if you do horribly on the exams. You can pass a block comfortably with a 50% on the exams. I mean it when I say that it is not much of an accomplishment to pass. I am not stressed out AT ALL. I am a bit unhappy with my performance and would like to do better. I am just not sure how much harder I need to work to be satisfied with my performance. Thanks for the information about the first two years of medical school although it may affect my motivation to study adversely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 Do you do everything about cardio all at once? Lilly is probably my favourite text (if such a thing exists), but so far our cardio block is dense but very approachable. We did cover all the normal physiology and anatomy last year, and I did cardiology clinical in the fall. 6 weeks of cardio, balls to the wall. Lots of clinical skills, too. Thank god for reading week smack in the middle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renin Posted February 10, 2010 Report Share Posted February 10, 2010 Not enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandibular Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 3-4 hours a day is enough I guess. 1,5 Sd is kind of risky though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinase Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Everyone is different! I study 15-20 minutes/week and did very well in first semester. However, I'm anticipating it ramping up this semester. Your mileage may vary. Maybe some of you are simply retarded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebouque Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Everyone is different! I study 15-20 minutes/week and did very well in first semester. However, I'm anticipating it ramping up this semester. Your mileage may vary. Maybe some of you are simply retarded. 15-20 minutes per WEEK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbdent Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 Is it the same in dentistry? Is what the same? Pass-fail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt.pepper Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 Is what the same? Pass-fail? You don't have to be at the top of the class in first two years to be competitive for a specialist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbdent Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 You don't have to be at the top of the class in first two years to be competitive for a specialist. No it's not the same case for dental school. From what I've heard, later years are worth more, but everything still counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdai Posted February 13, 2010 Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 In pre-clerkship I studied around... maybe 6 hour a week? Most of it was PBL research. However, 2 weeks before the exam I bare down and study 15 hours a week, and spend the whole weekend before the exam doing nothing but studying. Given that, my ratio of bumming off on the net to time spent actually studying is around 6:1. Yes that's right, for every 10 minutes I study, I spend an hour surfing the net! I sat at class average in my classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinase Posted February 13, 2010 Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 In pre-clerkship I studied around... maybe 6 hour a week? Most of it was PBL research. However, 2 weeks before the exam I bare down and study 15 hours a week, and spend the whole weekend before the exam doing nothing but studying. Given that, my ratio of bumming off on the net to time spent actually studying is around 6:1. Yes that's right, for every 10 minutes I study, I spend an hour surfing the net! I sat at class average in my classes. You are lucky. In my french-canadian med school, in the pre-clinical years, we have problem-solving sessions twice a week (8 students with 1 physician, 2X3 hours). We have a clinical period once a week at the hospital (4 students with 1 physician). If one would study only 6 hours a week, he would almost certainly look like a complete jackass in those sessions and get failed by the tutors with the amount of material we have to cover in these short periods of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdai Posted February 13, 2010 Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 who said we dont have the same thing? in fact its very similar to what you described. its really helps to pay attention in lectures because thats where i learned what i needed to learn to not look stupid. because i go to class and pay attention i dont need to study as hard on most days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinase Posted February 13, 2010 Report Share Posted February 13, 2010 Who said we have the same thing ? We have only one lecture every week and it's about the material already covered in the problem-solving sessions the past week. Good for you if you can study six hours a week. I'm just saying that in my med school, it's not possible to do so. The systems are different, we probably have more free time to study by ourselves and you have probably more lectures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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