Time is a limited commodity for most medical students –one that grows more difficult to grasp and churn into dedicated study & learning time.
And instead of juggling heaps of tasks a day, students are pruning what they deem as excess weight to get maximum results, causing decreased lecture attendance.
According to an AAMC report, nearly 25% of medical students almost never attend lectures and that behavior has exacerbated since the pandemic.
But they’re not simply skipping out on learning opportunities –lectures are supplanted by either virtual lecture options or supplemental learning platforms and the latter is profusely helping them learn, retain & apply complex topics & concepts in ways that become second nature.
And with the USMLE Step 1 Exam transitioning to pass/fail, residency programs will heavily rely on Step 2 scores as a factor in their selections, making those scores more important for students --and learning platforms are helping them weather the turbulence.
The draw to these learning platforms is that students are able to shape their education experience to fit their unique preferences while improving their mastery of foundational and clinical material –often times within the comfort of their home or in study groups.
Problem: Lecture Absence = Risky Business
The strong faculty-student bonds that are often fortified by in-person classroom activities are at risk and this may present the following set of issues:
- Students' outcomes suffer as supplemental learning platforms can never effectively replace the value of learning in a classroom setting where questions & areas of struggle are addressed in real-time, by expert educators.
- Professors are unable to spot their students' place on the learning curve and therefore aren't able to intervene accordingly.
This only counters their goals for enhanced performance and, most importantly, positions them to miss out on passing or performing well on their board exams.
Solution: Adaptation is Key To Shared Success
The entire world has gone digital -- a movement that will most likely never reverse but has multiple benefits in tow.
One of the most applied and useful responses to this trend is for faculty to adapt instruction to include the use of digital learning resources to enhance in-person & virtual classroom experiences.
Doing so can enable educators to:
- Transform the classroom experience by using the content in digital learning products to develop custom lesson plans that bring about more memorable & interactive education
- Be data-driven instructors who can leverage student performance/usage analytics to spot check & correct learning weaknesses at scale (individual & aggregate)
- Give students the opportunity of flexibility by offering various teaching formats –flipped classroom & self-directed learning –ensuring that students co-create their learning journey alongside their professors
Boards & Beyond is one of the many learning tools 110,000+ students worldwide rely on to supplement their classroom experience and covers a robust array of both foundational and clinical topics –don’t let your students use it in a silo.
Learn more today by clicking here.
