Curriculum is one of the factors to seriously consider when choosing a medical school. If I were a student applicant on the interview trail, I would pay particular attention to the variations of curricula among schools, asking myself if I’d thrive or survive at various schools based on my preferred learning style.
The curriculum, arguably more than anything else, will mean the difference between a positive and a negative medical school experience. One style of learning can work well for one person but not another.
[Get tips from current students when choosing a medical school.]
Some students, for example, happily learn by memorizing a required list or watching a video stream repeatedly. They feel confident in their ability to earn an A grade when they have memorized the requirements. These types of students can become anxious when they don’t know where they stand with respect to others in their class. Other students like to branch out and work on solving problems with a team or study group.
Students who like to study at home on their own schedules might not find themselves as content at a school with required daily attendance. These students aren’t necessarily acquiring less material or knowledge than those who learn better in classroom environments. They just learn differently.
If prospective students do not see schedule or attendance information on the medical school’s website, they should ask other students during the day of interview. Another possibility is to ask the admissions director how professionalism is measured at that school. In other words, ask about the outcomes the school is looking for in its students.
The wording on the website, particularly the description of the daily or weekly schedule for the students, should provide a fair idea. If there are lectures scheduled each hour for a significant number of hours in the day, you are looking at a more traditional curriculum. Students in that program will be able to describe to the applicant how detailed the course requirements are for fulfilling responsibilities.
Some courses may have a graded test at the end of every week, every two weeks or at the end of the block. Students in the program can tell the applicant how demanding that has been for them, or if they find the testing schedule reassuring.
Students who need absolute clarity about what is expected of them may not do well with a curriculum that seems ambiguous. Other students might feel the curriculum is condescending if it does not encourage learning outside of the requirements. They may feel that the lecturer is talking down to them or they may even feel stifled.
Schools that rely on graded examinations tend to believe the content of their curriculum is most important. Unfortunately no one can know everything in medicine, so the decision about what is enough is somewhat arbitrary. Innovations and too many questions that push the boundaries can distract the lecturer who wants to get in a specific amount of material.
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Innovative schools that have more ambiguous interactive sessions leave much of the exploration to the students. There is a division of labor among the students in problem-based learning groups and team-based learning. Some thrive in these settings and others feel extremely anxious because a faculty member is not demanding that they memorize a certain amount of material.
Plan carefully to ensure that you and your medical school are a good fit; otherwise you’ll have to choose to either stick it out or transfer. Keep in mind too that transferring medical schools is not nearly as easy as transferring majors or even transferring undergraduate colleges or universities.
I recall one student who selected a school based on the city where she believed her significant other would have an easier time finding work. She was a college graduate with impeccable academic credentials and forward-thinking ideas. Finding herself in a traditional schedule with up to eight hours in the classroom each day, she quickly became disillusioned — and more so when her significant other could not find work.
At school, she was not encouraged to think beyond the structured lecture, and she felt stymied when she wanted to ask more complex questions. She and her significant other were both disappointed, and she wished she had selected another program more to her liking. This student tried unsuccessfully to transfer. In the end she persevered and moved on to clerkships.
[Learn to navigate transferring from one medical school to another.]
I remember another student who thought of himself as progressive — someone who could handle a nontraditional track. But as time went on, he realized that he underestimated the comfort he took from traditional lectures with outlines and quizzes. A student like this may be able to adjust, or he or she may continue to struggle throughout the first two years.
Just as I tell my senior students to pick the residency program where they will be happiest, I suggest the same thing to applicants when choosing medical schools. It may be tempting to use the school’s status such as rank, reputation, history or ascribed value that someone else has given to the institution as the deciding factor. But know that a happy learner leads to a happy student, which in turn leads to a happy resident and ultimately to a happy doctor.
Understanding how you learn, what you find inspiring and how you make decisions that are consistent with your personality will lead you to the right place.
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Tips for Selecting the Right Medical School Curriculum originally appeared on usnews.com
