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Self-reported Learning and Study Strategies in First and Second Year Medical Students

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Abstract

Medical school presents a unique challenge to the average learner as the instructional strategies used in medical curricula are often different than what the student has experienced prior. The large volume of information taught in medical school is delivered with a variety of techniques. After the educational material has been delivered, it is the student’s responsibility to study and learn the information for future exams and for their future patients. The current study aims to explore what learning activities and teaching strategies first (M1) and second year (M2) medical students use and prefer. Additionally, the study aims to determine if there are cohort differences in classroom and study habits. A group of 95 M1 students and 109 M2 students were recruited to participate in this online survey study. The analyses indicated statistical differences between M1 and M2 student cohorts with M1 students preferring group work and small group discussions more than M2 students. Classic didactic lecturing was preferred by 71.6% of students surveyed. M1 students reported a greater tendency for self-testing and group study versus M2 students. GPA and study technique preference were not correlated. These findings indicate that medical students are not using research-based learning and study strategies at the possible detriment of long-term knowledge retention. Modeling of research-based learning and study strategies by medical educators is one possible solution to encourage medical students to change their study practice. Future work should focus on how medical student learning preferences change as they progress through medical school.

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Availability of Data and Material

The dataset generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO, USA

    Marissa Roffler

  2. Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Ryan Sheehy

Authors
  1. Marissa Roffler
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  2. Ryan Sheehy
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Contributions

Study conception and design, material preparation, and data collection and analysis were performed by Marissa Roffler. Substantial contributions to the analysis and interpretation of the data were made by Ryan Sheehy. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Marissa Roffler, and Ryan Sheehy commented, edited, and made substantial contributions to previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marissa Roffler.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Institutional Review Board of Kansas City University under 45 CFR 46.101-Exempt Category b-2 (July 11, 2018, No. 1240094–1).

Consent to Participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Not applicable.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Roffler, M., Sheehy, R. Self-reported Learning and Study Strategies in First and Second Year Medical Students. Med.Sci.Educ. 32, 329–335 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-022-01533-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-022-01533-w

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