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01. Which of the following was the most useful learning resource
in the 2nd year of medical school? Please choose only one.
Answer
Count
Percent
Audio
recorded lectures
1
1.47%
Handouts
49
72.06%
Lectures
3
4.41%
Other
1
1.47%
Small groups
4
5.88%
Textbooks
6
8.82%
Web
Resources
4
5.88%
01 Other.
Answer
Count
Percent
Summary
Handouts from classes before us
1
100.00%
02. In your 2nd year of medical school, what percentage of total
lectures did you attend?
Answer
Count
Percent
25-49%
13
19.40%
50-74%
10
14.93%
75-89%
9
13.43%
90-100%
25
37.31%
Below 25%
10
14.93%
03. Did your attendance at lectures decline over the course of
the 2nd year?
Answer
Count
Percent
A little
17
25.37%
A lot
21
31.34%
No
17
25.37%
Some
12
17.91%
04. Did you make a conscious choice to cut back on lecture
attendance during the 2nd year?
Answer
Count
Percent
No
29
42.65%
Yes
39
57.35%
05. If applicable, please indicate the relative importance of
each of the following factors on your decision not to attend certain
lectures in the FALL of your 2nd year in medical school.
05(a). Pressure to study for exams
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
14
20.59%
Somewhat
Important
27
39.71%
Very
Important
27
39.71%
05(b). Need to prepare for USMLE Step 1
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
52
76.47%
Somewhat
Important
12
17.65%
Very
Important
4
5.88%
05(c). Many scheduled afternoon activities that reduced study
time
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
35
52.24%
Somewhat
Important
22
32.84%
Very
Important
10
14.93%
05(d). Quality of the lectures
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
9
13.24%
Somewhat
Important
29
42.65%
Very
Important
30
44.12%
05(e). Increasing confidence that I could identify which
lectures I needed to attend and which I did not
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
26
38.81%
Somewhat
Important
22
32.84%
Very
Important
19
28.36%
05(f). I believe that I learn better through self-study than
through lectures
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
19
28.36%
Somewhat
Important
25
37.31%
Very
Important
23
34.33%
05(g). Availability of extensive web resources (handouts,
Powerpoints, quizzes, etc.)
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
17
26.56%
Somewhat
Important
30
46.88%
Very
Important
17
26.56%
06. If applicable, please indicate the relative importance of
each of the following factors on your decision not to attend some lectures
in the SPRING (Jan-Mar) of your 2nd year in medical school.
06(a). Pressure to study for cumulative exams
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
6
8.82%
Somewhat
Important
15
22.06%
Very
Important
47
69.12%
06(b). Need to prepare for USMLE Step 1
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
15
22.06%
Somewhat
Important
14
20.59%
Very
Important
39
57.35%
06(c). Many scheduled afternoon activities that reduced my study
time
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
35
52.24%
Somewhat
Important
21
31.34%
Very
Important
11
16.42%
06(d). Quality of the lectures
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
7
10.45%
Somewhat
Important
30
44.78%
Very
Important
30
44.78%
06(e). Increasing confidence that I could accurately identify
which lectures I needed to attend and which I did not
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
16
24.62%
Somewhat
Important
26
40.00%
Very
Important
23
35.38%
06(f). I believe that I learn better through self-study than
through lectures
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
17
25.37%
Somewhat
Important
22
32.84%
Very
Important
28
41.79%
06(g). Availability of extensive web resources (lecture
handouts, Powerpoints, quizzes, etc.)
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
16
25.00%
Somewhat
Important
31
48.44%
Very
Important
17
26.56%
07.
Answer
Count
Audiorecorded
lectures
3
Availability
of web resources did NOT affect my attendance at lectures
18
Lecture
handouts
34
Other,
Please Specify:
3
Powerpoint
presentations
33
Practice
quiz questions
26
07 Other.
Answer
Count
Percent
Pharm Charts
1
33.33%
interactive
web pages like the webpath site
1
33.33%
other
internet sites, online texts
1
33.33%
08. If there had been fewer scheduled activities in the
afternoons, would you have attended more morning lectures?
Answer
Count
Percent
Maybe
18
26.87%
No
23
34.33%
Not
Applicable
10
14.93%
Yes
16
23.88%
09. If the quality of lectures affected your decision not to
attend some lectures, please rate the importance of the following factors
in that decision.
09(a). Too many lecturers and too little continuity from lecture
to lecture
Answer
Count
Percent
Not Important
20
30.77%
Somewhat
Important
23
35.38%
Very
Important
22
33.85%
09(b). Poor faculty teaching skills
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
11
16.67%
Somewhat
Important
30
45.45%
Very
Important
25
37.88%
09(c). Failure to use resources to stimulate learning
(Powerpoint, Audience Response System, etc.)
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
33
51.56%
Somewhat
Important
22
34.38%
Very
Important
9
14.06%
09(d). Lectures are mere recitations of lecture notes
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
8
12.31%
Somewhat
Important
23
35.38%
Very
Important
34
52.31%
09(e). Many lectures are not clinically relevant to the needs of
future physicians
Answer
Count
Percent
Not
Important
22
33.85%
Somewhat
Important
24
36.92%
Very
Important
19
29.23%
10. Did comments and advice from other students affect your
decision not to attend certain lectures?
Answer
Count
Percent
A little
30
44.12%
A lot
7
10.29%
Not at all
14
20.59%
Some
17
25.00%
11. What changes would be most useful in improving student
learning during the 2nd year (Core Systems section) of the curriculum?
Answer
Count
Percent
1
2.13%
1
2.13%
-
1
2.13%
1) Create
consistent lecture note formats for each subject 2) Provide more
quiz/self test material for each lecture - I learn best when I struggle
with a question then read a good explanation. I believe this, combined
with online notes and presentations, could facilitate students who have
different learning styles. Also, this would make our study time more
efficient since each student struggles with different aspects of course material.
3) Provide more clinical interaction and simulation sessions - There is a
lot of scientific detail presented to us in 2nd year that we do not take
on into our 3rd year. The elements I took from 2nd year into 3rd often
were solidified by small-group sessions where connections to clinical
practice were made more often than in lecture. Also, I have enjoyed using
the simulation center in our Life-saving Techniques workshop and I
believe this could be used during 2nd year, too. An example might be
taking students into the mock trauma bay and learning why certain
medications are given for hypotension, arrhythmia, etc. according to
current guidelines. Then, some of this info. could be integrated into our
exams. Instead, our Pharm exams focused on dosing and administration
info. that was hard to memorize b/c we had no context for it. It seems
that dosing and administration is learned when you are an intern and
actually prescribe meds on a daily basis. This scenario is an example of
what I mean when so much scientific detail we learn during 2nd year is
lost b/c we don't use that info. and, moreover, haven't learned what is
applicable to specific clinical scenarios just down the "hall"
in the hospital. Thanks for taking the time to perform these surveys.
1
2.13%
1)Continuity
in lecture notes (Microbiology is the ONLY course that does this well)
2)Updated lecture slides and handouts- some of them are ancient, powerpoint
slides are unlabeled despite extensive requests to change them,
3)consistency in exam questions. Again, micro does this well, while other
courses have each lecturer make up their questions 4)***There MUST be a
way to make POM a more "real" and serious course. This is by
far, the most important course of your second year, and yet is the one
with the least emphasis. It would also be nice if POM packets were
updated as well as the POM question packets.
1
2.13%
A more
continuous lecturer pattern -- many professors did not know what we had
or had not had. I would have preferred professors with fewer credentials
and more teaching skills. I would have preferred dynamic lecturers who
were not reading their notes. Many lecturers were so concerned with
"getting through everything" that they never emphasized one or
two points. By the end of the lecture, I realized that they had glossed
over everything, but nothing had really stuck in my head. I then decided
to attend fewer lectures and spend more time studying the information in
depth -- while I never would get through all of the material, the
material I got through, I understood well and I still remember and use
today in third year.
1
2.13%
Absolutely
do NOT require class attendance!! Obviously if people felt the lectures
were of adequate quality we would have attended. Instead of forcing us to
attend poor lectures, work on improving them. Start by having professors
update the quality of their handouts (every 5 years would be a start).
Lingering typos after 15 years is simply unacceptable.
1
2.13%
Actually, I
wish you had made lectures in 2nd year mandatory and cut out afternoons
completely except for 2 hours of POM. I thought I didn't need to go, but
now in retrospect I wish I had gone!!! There is a LOT of material that is
really useless in 1st year; why not cut that whole year in half and make
2nd year longer. I would have been much better prepared for boards and
3rd year if that had been the case. More POM, more PATH, more PHARM, more
MICRO. No one needs biochem!
1
2.13%
Although
video recorded lectures would decrease lecture attendance, I would have
found them to be very useful.
1
2.13%
Better
continuity of the information stream. It is difficult with so many
different lecturers and teaching sytles to figure out what actually is
important from any given lecture. This was especially challenging in
Pathology.
1
2.13%
Consider
audio recording all lectures, or creating podcasts of all the lectures. I
have friends at other med schools who have told me that all of their
lectures were availalbe as podcasts. Also, the number of afternoon
acitivites (espeically during the spring semester) was an extremely
important part of my decision to skip lectures in order to study. I felt
completely overwhelmed during the spring semester because of cumulative
finals and boards and I don't think that was especially focused during
afternoon sessions in general due to stress. I also think that if the SOM
could institue some sort of official boards review series, or even a
boards review course that runs during the spring semester - maybe meets
for just an hour a week - but talks about what resources to use to study,
how to sign up, and then moves into actual boards questions - that would
be very helpful. A lot of the stress surrounding step 1 was simply my
ignorance about the process and the resources to use to study. I know
that we had a lecture at the end of 2nd year, but it was only 2-3 weeks
before most of us were going to take boards. I really think an organized,
systematic boards review class (that meets for a minimal amount of time
and that starts at the beginning of the spring semester) would do a lot
in helping reduce our stress and would probably ultimatley help us attend
more classes.
1
2.13%
Decreasing
afternoon activities--especially before exams!
1
2.13%
For me the
problem was that I can't sit for four hours in a row looking at power
point without going brain dead by the end. During my undergraduate I
would arrange my schedule such that I was never in class longer than two
and a half hours at a time. This provided me with a chance between
classes to step back and think about the things that I was learning,
maybe read a little etc. It also broke up the monotony of 4 hours in
class followed by 5-6 hours of studying, which is a typical day in
medical school. This may be too drastic but I would have found it much
more enjoyable if the four hours of lecture a day were broken up and not
always consistent. You know some days two hours in the morning and two in
the afternoon, or maybe three in the morning and one at night. I know
it's a change but it is one idea to consider. Also more sessions where we
are required to use the information we are being taught, such as cases
and discussions would have been helpful instead of hour after hour in the
lecture hall being Power Pointed to death.
1
2.13%
Hard to say,
some classes like pharm, usually don't have much to add during lecture so
its easier and faster just to learn the material on your own. Other
classes, like micro, often elaborated on the material which made it
easier to learn. Unfortunately, for me it basically came down to time and
if I could learn the material decently on my own I did so, it becomes
more about learning most of it quickly then learning all of it slowly by
going to lecture and then studying. I understand that its frustrating for
lecturers and concerning for the curriculum committee, but its really
comes down to cost(time) vs. benefit (easier grasp of material through
lecture).
1
2.13%
I believe
that if you prepare for the lecture ahead of time, you have a much better
experience during lecture. By preparing ahead, you can engage in
discussion and ask appropriate questions that will solidify your
understanding.
1
2.13%
I dont think
it matters if a PhD or MD teaches the lecture, as long as its of HIGH
quality. I encourage the members of the curriculum committee to spend a
week or so in class with the second years to appreciate how much
information is presented in leture, and how that information is
disseminated. Many lectures get lost in detail instead of highlighting
the most important points. I also think that lecture could be a tool for
synergistic learning; combining information from the various classes in
clinically relevant ways. To this end, I highly recommend members of the
commitee listen to the step 2 lecture review audio tapes by Dr. Goljan.
Many students, including myself, FAR prefer his style of teaching to our
lectures here.
1
2.13%
I guess
there's no easy way around it. When it comes down to it you just have to
sit down with your set of notes and memorize them. Having someone else
explain things to you only really helps after you've had time to look at
it yourself first. And it's hard enough to keep up with reading the days
lectures, I didn't know too many people who read the next days lectures
early.
1
2.13%
I think that
the main purpose of the cumulative exams is to help students prepare for
USMLE Step 1. Cumulative exams are a major factor influencing students to
skip class in order to study, especially late in second year. I would
prefer a review course through most or part of second year, such as what
I have heard is given at VCU/MCV. I think that targeted USMLE review
would be more helpful than cumulative exams, which do not necessarily
adequately prepare us for the USMLE. If structured effectively, I think
students would attend such classes.
1
2.13%
I thought
that the majority of classes were not well taught. Especially the
Microbiology course. There is too much information that pertains nothing
to what we will do as doctors. For example, during the virology lectures,
they told us it was important to learn the characteristics of all the
different classes of viruses (negative stranded, postitive stranded).
What an absolute waste of my time. JDT has very little grasp on what we
needed to learn as students. For the most part, pathology class did the
best job to prepare us for boards. I thought POM lectures were dry and
could be improved. The POM sessions on Friday were super boring and did
little to stimulate my interest. Post the answers to the problem sets and
let kids decide if they want to attend. Attendance will not happen,
because most students dont get a benefit out of going. I attended very
few lectures, and did very well on the USMLE step 1. I got A's on exams
where i never attended class. Too much stress is put on class attendance,
because we dont want to hurt the professors feelings. If I as a student
can utilize my time better by studying on my own, then I should be able
to do that.
1
2.13%
Improving
the lecturers. I honestly wish I hadn't gone to so many lectures during
2nd year. I should have skipped more because they didn't help me remember
or prepare for the boards. The vast majority of the lectures are too
basic science oriented, especially microbio. The one thing I really need
to know from microbio is what antibiotics to use when and we NEVER
learned that. We also spent too much time on the biological aspects of
the disease, such as how bacteria reproduce. We need more focus on the
actual diseases. I think it'd also help if we could understand the
professors. Some had such a thick accent that I couldn't understand them.
In addition, the shear amount of material made me want to skip class. If
you don't remember anything from lecture, you're better off studying on
your own and hopefully remembering something.
1
2.13%
Incentivize
coming to lecture more. I did well and I feel that a lot of it had to do
with going to lectures, listening to what lecturers tried to have us
focus on, and doing my best to be humble about what I know and don't
know. It seems like most students are a little too narcissistic about
their independent learning abilities. If they would just suck it up and
listen to the lectures, from people who have much more experience than
them, they might save themselves some study time and direct their
studying in the most high yeild ways.
1
2.13%
Increased
clinical relevance. Better quality. Microbiology taught by ID doctors.
1
2.13%
Integrating
the classes into a systems based format. The curriculum seems to headed
in that direction, but is not there yet. I skipped most lectures and
chose to study the material using a systems based approach on my own.
1
2.13%
It's hard to
say now that I am almost finished with my third year. I remember the end
of second year being miserable with all of the workload that we had, but
I don't know if there are any changes that would make a large impact. The
point is that we had too much information to learn in a set amount of
time, and for some of us the most logical thing to do was to give
ourselves more time to self-study by not attending lectures. Giving the
handouts are crucial, but when lecturers just go over the handout then
students do not feel the need to attend. Additionally, though, if the
lecturers do not talk about the handout and focus on other information,
the student feels that now he/she has to take extra time to go and
read/learn the handout. There might not be a good answer except to
provide the lectures for the people who learn that way, and let the other
students learn in a way that is best for them.
1
2.13%
Made
everything available on audio recordings.
1
2.13%
Make the
lectures more clinically relevant! Use lectures to explain disease
processes (pathophysiology) rather than esoteric details that must be
memorized (different types of staining in pathology or molecular proteins
in virology).
1
2.13%
More
clinical lecturers in microbiology, more focus on integration of
knowledge in a clinical fashion, more step 1 preparation integrated into
curriculum/ more offical opportunities for guided preparation
1
2.13%
More
interactive lectures!
1
2.13%
More
problem-based learning and less passive, lecture-style learning.
1
2.13%
More small
groups, better handouts that are mroe concise and organized better, and
faculty that are engaging and don't just read off of their notes.
1
2.13%
Personally,
I loved not having to attend class. It gave me a great deal of freedom
during a busy time. I loved being able to study when I wanted to, work
out when I wanted to, do errands when there wasn't a lot of traffic, and
not get out of my pajamas until 4pm if I wanted to study at home.
1
2.13%
Reduce
number of lecturers to cut down on overlap between lectures. Do not allow
printouts of powerpoint slides to substitute for lecture notes. Align
curriculum with USMLE step 1 and 2 material, so it feels relevant. Stop
concentrating so much of the pathology course on slide identification;
pathophys, disease presentation, and treatment are much more relevant
Combine psychiatry and human behavior courses Lecture hall that is not so
dark & depressing with uncomfortable seats. There is lots of overlap
in material between small groups and lectures, so if you have to attend
small group and have minimal time, lecture is cut regardless of which is
a better learning experience. Some lecture are way too detailed to be
good for people who are just being introduced to the subject - if its way
over your head, it is not a good use of time.
1
2.13%
Reevaluate
lecture material to be sure it is clinically relevant (Med Micro in
particular, and perhaps Pharmacology as well). Also, many POM labs took
place quite close to exams; when 2-4 hours in the afternoon/evening are
required for these sessions, this puts students in the position of
choosing between attending lecture and self-study. I think that if the
POM labs were better scheduled, more people would choose to attend
lecture.
1
2.13%
Take out
lectures that our purely basic science and not clicially relevant. 2nd
year students get too bogged down with all the irrelevant information and
end up not remembering anything.
1
2.13%
The
curriculum could be improved by adding more clinically relevant
parallels. If students can see how X basic science topic affects clinical
management/patient care, I think that would be more interesting and make
the concepts easier to grasp and stick. Also, if for example a class only
has 10 people in attendance for a lecture, there should be the option for
the lecturer to move to a smaller classroom so that the time can be spent
in a interactive group format rather than simply lecture. This will
facilitate discussion, which is far more stimulating that listening and
looking at a powerpoint, but also gives students and professors a chance
to get to know each other personally. Lastly, although it's a shame to
teach strictly to the Boards, it might be helpful for professors to be
more familiar with the material that appears on Step 1 board exams and
emphasize these things during their more comprehensive lessons. This
could take the form of sample quizzes or a quick review outline/blurb/key
points at the end of a lecture.
1
2.13%
The main
reason why I started skipping class is because it cut into my studying
time because the volume was extensive.
1
2.13%
The practice
of four consecutive pathology lectures needs to be discontinued. We
referred to them as "murder". People were passing out in their
chairs, falling asleep standing up. If we're going to be talked at, then
ensure that it is clinically relevant. You know what I'd love to see?
Teachers drawing concepts (particularly in physiology) on the chalkboard
for a change. Having powerpoint does not automatically make your material
more interesting, nor is it license to create a 200 page presentation
that needs to be covered in 50 minutes. Once, granted, only once, we had
a professor cover a 60 page handout in 45 minutes. Ludicrous.
1
2.13%
There needs
to be a significant change in approach to how course directors respond to
our feedback. Year after year, classes suggest changes, and those
suggestions do not get implemented. Thank you for allowing me another
opportunity to suggest changes - I hope that this panel will seriously
consider our feedback for this very important issue. Pathology - the
notes need a serious overhaul. Simply removing the box format from these
notes without adding any quality or substance to the notes serves no
purpose. I often found myself using three different resources to
supplement the notes - given time constraints, this is unacceptable. More
details need to be provided, and the notes need to be given in an
organized fashion. Moreover, I don't know how many years other classes
have to continue to request legitimate practice questions on the website.
Other classes are able to accommodate this request, why can pathology
not? In terms of Microbiology, this class needs to quit being taught as
if we are Ph.D. students interested in every mechanism of bacteria,
viruses, and immunity. There was very little clinical relevance placed on
this course, and my third year knowledge suffered as a consequence. We
need to know particular bacteria/viruses and have them be related to the
disease process and pathology. We do not need to know the minutia when
the broad picture isn't even presented. I assure you that almost every
third and fourth year you ask will tell you that their infectious disease
knowledge is a particular weakness, and would blame their lack of
preparation on the micro course. Pharmacology - basically just a
memorizing course. It is well organized for those who do and do not want
to go to lecture. I wouldn't recommend any changes. Finally, Human
Behavior and Psychiatry are redundant classes. It is a waste of
everyone's time to have both of these classes. A better utilization of
this time would be to provide small case-based learning, or independent
learning for those who wish for it.
1
2.13%
There was
too much scheduled for the afternoons. This played a big role in my
decision to skip several lectures. Also, looking back, many of the
lectures were not that clinically relevant. I felt as though I was
presented with too much information that helped neither on Step 1 nor
during third year medical school.
1
2.13%
Unfortunately,
I have never learned well in a large lecture format, especially when the
flow of information is coming at a force-feed pace. POM small groups,
although considered superfluous by some individuals, helped me to become
prepared to think like a clinician. Julie Turner's small groups were also
enjoyable. Oftentimes the problem with these activities is that the
so-called "gunner" population may deem these arrangements as a
waste of valuable study time. As indicated above, learning the material
to better the experience of my future patients is a top priority, along
with doing well on the boards. Thus cramming the oftentimes extremely
particular details needed to ace exams was not a priority. I would have
attended more lectures if I felt assured that the material and curriculum
closely followed what would be pertinent on the wards (not within a
sub-specialty of course) and on the boards. Although most of the material
is claimed to be centered on these two principles, after reading outside
material, I didn't feel this to be the case. (Of course this is my
opinion and I am still a student and by no means an expert!) Thanks for
taking the time to address a very serious issue!
1
2.13%
Video
recorded lectures. 45-min. classes. More visual learning tools.
1
2.13%
We need more
formal USMLE step 1 preparation and the quality of the lectures needs to
improve. My grades went up after I stopped attending lecture.
1
2.13%
Whether
lectures are "clinically relevant" matters less regarding
attendance, because ultimately what's lectured is what's tested, whether
we consider it "clinically relevant" or not. Furthermore on
that topic, most anything can be considered clincally "relevant"
-- the true question is what knowledge is **acutally used** in the
practice of medicine, standing apart from knowledge that is otherwise
just "medically interesting." Faculty that convincingly answers
the student's question: "Why do I care about this?" and uses
engaging techniques will have the most success as an instructor.
1
2.13%
continuity
of lecturers - it was difficult adjusting from one person's notes to
another's; some professors' notes were also poorly written - barely going
into detail about what the drug/bacteria/disease did.
1
2.13%
cut down on
number of POM lectures
1
2.13%
more
case-based clinically-relevant teaching
1
2.13%
more
practice quizzes; more clinically-relevant and USMLE-relevant emphasis
