How much do you study?

[astudentis]

Here at Dalhousie, in Med 1 we have:

On a weekly basis:

 

4-5 Hours of Lecture

 

6-7 (i.w. 2x2hrs 1x3hr) Hours of Tutorials (i.e. 7-8 students with clinician/scientist)

 

3(+ if want) Hours of elective time in any specialty choice by student (you get practical experience in the clinic or in the OR or it can he a humanities or research elective)

 

2 Hours of lab time (varies with unit: histology/microbiology/etc.)

 

3 Hours of clinical rotations with a doc in the hospital (rotate between specific systems i.e. cardio/GI/MSK/etc.)

 

2 Hours of Evidence Based Medicine (builds research skills)

 

Some weeks we have other Patient-Doctor Sessions (i.e. patient simulations/reading ECGs/etc.)/communication sessions/ethical sessions each 2-4 hours long

 

In terms of studying, I am in the same boat as JDAI

 

 

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!

[thebouque]

Is it me or canadian preclinical years are less hardcore than american preclerkship?

[Flame219]

I tend to agree.

 

This is our most relaxed time of the year, and here is my schedule for last week.

(this week is exams)

Monday

9-12 : Physiology

12-1 : Co-curricular seminar

1-3 : Biochemistry

lecture time (excluding stuff like small group, labs) = 5hrs

 

Tuesday

9-12 : Physiology

12:30-1:30 : Co-curricular seminar

1:30-4:30 : Biochemistry

lecture time = 6hrs

 

Wed

9-11 : Physiology + Biochem Review

11-12: Physiology Conference

12-1: Co-curricular seminar

1-3: Biochemistry

3-4: Clinical medicine

Lecture time = 5hrs

 

Thurs

10-12 : Clinical medicine small group

1:30-3:30 : Physiology

3:30-4:30 : Biochemistry

lecture time = 3hrs

 

Fri

9-12: Physiology + physiology review

1-3: Biochemistry

lecture time = 5hrs

 

This adds up to 24hrs of lecture time, and class time including labs = 30hrs. This is relatively more laid back than when we had our anatomy days, and we can NEVER get by with studying 10-15 hrs per week, well at least I can't. I heard that year II is harder than year I, and for a good reason (we have to take USMLE). Our preclerkship years are harder than our clerkship years in general (consensus: year II > year III > year I > year IV), and it's not hard to imagine why that is so.

[thebouque]

Now the real question is: do I start studying for my exam on Thursday, or do I watch some CSI and pretend to study on my laptop, while actually reading Fark???

 

What unit are you doing? musculoskeletal or digestive/endocrine?

[A-Stark]

Here at Dalhousie, in Med 1 we have:

On a weekly basis:

 

4-5 Hours of Lecture

 

6-7 (i.w. 2x2hrs 1x3hr) Hours of Tutorials (i.e. 7-8 students with clinician/scientist)

 

3(+ if want) Hours of elective time in any specialty choice by student (you get practical experience in the clinic or in the OR or it can he a humanities or research elective)

 

2 Hours of lab time (varies with unit: histology/microbiology/etc.)

 

3 Hours of clinical rotations with a doc in the hospital (rotate between specific systems i.e. cardio/GI/MSK/etc.)

 

2 Hours of Evidence Based Medicine (builds research skills)

 

Some weeks we have other Patient-Doctor Sessions (i.e. patient simulations/reading ECGs/etc.)/communication sessions/ethical sessions each 2-4 hours long

 

In terms of studying, I am in the same boat as JDAI

 

Ahh, PIM - the pleasant interlude between M&F and Pharm (which isn't really that hard; it's just monotonous).

 

In Med 2, you double the amount of time spent in clinical and the LRC. For example, tomorrow afternoon I have peds and every Thursday morning we all have general medicine (think full histories and physicals with interminable write-ups).

[future_doc]

hey guys, if you are against plagiarism, I encourage you to report the ^ above poster who is selling term papers.

[jwp2000]

In pre-clerkship, I probably studied 4-8 hours/wk regularly and then 20-30 hours/wk in the 2 weeks before exams. I was on the better part of the middle of my class - ie. usually got honours. I think it varies a lot. But my philosophy is that you don't need to kill yourself studying, but make every minute that you do spend count. It'll help you keep sane. Make your studying as efficient as possible. Also, when you have lectures and seminars and anatomy labs, try to actually be awake for them. It'll save you a lot of time trying to figure out what's going on later. You spend 6 hours a day doing class work - if you use that time wisely, you'll already know half of what you need to know. No point in killing yourself studying every night and then wasting 6 hours a day sleeping through class.

[newresident]

I never studied past 9:00pm, but classes end at 5:30 (pre-clerkship - U of C) and I'd study from 6:00 (ish) to 9:00 most evenings + plus several hours during the weekend.

[hjmed]

I never studied past 9:00pm, but classes end at 5:30 (pre-clerkship - U of C) and I'd study from 6:00 (ish) to 9:00 most evenings + plus several hours during the weekend.

 

Going to UofC too. Was this kind of a schedule enough to do sufficiently well, and know what you're talking about in Clerkship?

[newresident]

Going to UofC too. Was this kind of a schedule enough to do sufficiently well, and know what you're talking about in Clerkship?

 

This schedule worked well for me. I never felt like I had to pull all-nighters to get ready for a test; I always felt prepared. Medical school dishes out a lot of information (regardless of your background) so I think it's important to set a schedule and stick to it. As for clerkship, while I felt adequately prepared to start, I studied almost as much as I did pre-clerkship. The difference being that I couldn't do it every day because of the 26+ hour call shifts.

[resumedocket]

You don't have to be at the top of the class in first two years to be competitive for a specialist.

 

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[caseycolin]

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.

 

 

 

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[future_doc]

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