News from the Bay

With a whopping three weeks left to go in my first semester in med school, telling you that things are starting to get hectic is a ridiculous understatement. Now don't get me wrong, it's absolutely nuts and I wouldn't have it any other way. To understand what life down here is like, I think I need to explain the way my school operates.

The vast majority of medical schools operate with the same lecture-oriented style that most undergraduate institutions do. Some professor or clinician sits in the front of the room, drolls on for hours, bores you to tears, etc. Well, we're a bit different down here.

Instead of being lecture-based, our curriculum is based on PBL, Problem Based Learning. Essentially, we use simulated clinical cases to guide and focus our learning of the applicable basic sciences that every med student has to know for their 2nd year boards.

An example: a recent case involved a child who presented with symptoms of cystic fibrosis. My group focused on the biochemistry, physiology, pathology, and genetics involved with the disorder. Other cases have seen us pick topics in anatomy, embryology, histology, and pharmacology. The unique thing is that each PBL group gets to pick their own learning issues (what we're tested on) so you can see, the process grants tons of independence. We have to learn the material ourselves, but for me, I prefer it.

More to come in the following days. I'd say more but my thumbs are getting tired of this tiny thumbpad.