Barts students: How much PBL?

[elise_h]

Hi to those of you who are already studying at Barts. I'm hoping to come to Barts next year and keen to know: what is the balance between PBL and other learning techniques? I have read elsewhere on this forum that Barts is very heavy on PBL. The prospectus seems to indicate that there is a mix of PBL and lectures. What is the PBL like and how much of the learning is done through PBL?

[cucumber sandwich]

I wouldn't say Barts were heavy on the PBL. Most of the time you spend at uni you will spend in lectures and practicals. At the moment i only have one PBL session a week

[kizdxb]

hey.
like CS said, im having only one PBL session per week ( i think it increases to 2 near the end of the year).
The funny thing is, when your researching schools and interviews, one of the questions is about PBL and your answer is always like 'its the best way i learn'
Since coming to barts, i wouldn't say it would be my favorite way of learning, but i suppose ill get use to it.

[minnako]

PBL seems to take up a lot of our time as students, yet apparently it's only a relatively small part of how we are assessed, so I would say it's not as big a part as it may be in some unis.

@kizdxb: 'only' one session? LOL I think one is enough, and two will be plenty, considering the background work we do!

[minnako]

Yes, that it will be. It differs a lot depending on how it is organised, who your tutor is, and what your group is like. Some people hate it, some love it (maybe love is a bit strong...LOL), but there is this idea amongst a lot of students experiencing it that it's more engaging than lecture learning.

You can't often be sure that you will or won't like it before you start, but if you really like lectures and order rather than having to do a lot of independent learning where you're not always sure what you need to learn or in how much detail, it might be more of a challenge than it will be for some people. Especially the amount of time it takes a lot of students to do the work.

I think how useful it is for life after graduation depends very much on how it is organised, but lots of people find it a positive experience.

[bennett]

I remember more PBL cases than I ever do particular lectures on the wards in 3rd year...

[Moley89]

I wasn't too keen on the idea of PBLs before i started, but it's not that bad really.

To be honest it's just a way of forcing you to do your own research on a topic, and also do some group learning. Both of which are very important skillz.

And yeah you remember a lot more from PBLs than lectures, imo.

[Jhambo]

First year starts with one 2 hour PBL session a weak. This gets increases to two, 2 hour sessions later in your first year. Second year is two, 2 hour sessions straight through.

So you're looking at 4 hours contact time a week, plus however long it takes you to do the work. You'll find that when the med school's got it's shit sorted, your PBLs coincide nicely with your lectures making life simple.

Much love
Jono

[neutral10]

Would you say that if you do pbl cases then u remember them better than lecture stuff? Or is it more of a pain that it takes a longer time?

[Jhambo]

Would you say that if you do pbl cases then u remember them better than lecture stuff? Or is it more of a pain that it takes a longer time?

I think it's mainly down to personal preference and how you learn. When the lectures go hand in hand with the PBLs it's quite a nice way to reinforce what you've done. Also depends heavily on the lecturer, take someone crazy (JH, NY, AF) and people are more likely to listen, someone dull (GM. GH) and all but the most focused are dozing.

I write my own notes on the pathologies we go over, which has the benefit of not being constrained by the learning objectives you've agreed upon.

Jono