Curriculum Type and Sophomore Students' Preparation Time for the Usmle Step 1 Examination

Abstract

Students in either a problem-based learning (PBL) or traditional lecture-based learning (LBL) curriculum at the same medical school reported the average total time they had spent during their sophomore year studying for the 1992 USMLE Step 1 exam. They also estimated (a) the time taken away from regular curricular studies to preparefor Step 1 and (b) how they had divided their study between learning concepts and memorizing facts. On average, sophomore PBL students (n = 17) spent nearly twice as much time preparingfor Step I as did the LBL students (n = 52). Compared to LBL students, PBL students reported taking more time away from regular curricular studies and focusing more of their studying on learning concepts when classes were in session and on memorizing facts once classes had ended. These findings exemplify how PBL students use different learning approaches in their curricular studies than in their Step I exam preparation.