How Much is Enough, or Rather, How Much is Too Much?- Assigned Reading for Medical Students

Although I am no longer the internal medicine clerkship director at my institution, the topic of medical education still interests me. During my tenure, I recall modifying assignments, changing textbooks and pairing down assigned reading in response to student feedback.

A recent publication in Academic Medicine explores the dilemma of assigned readings in the medical school curriculum.

The authors calculated the total amount of reading assigned during the basic science curriculum at an American medical school for the 2009–2010 academic year. In September 2010, they surveyed the 351 enrolled students, asking them to estimate their reading rates, number of hours spent reading each day, and the amount of the assigned reading they had completed. The authors then estimated the time required to complete the reading assignments and compared these rates with previously published reading rates.

During the academic year,  29,239 pages of reading were assigned. The 104 respondents (30% response rate) reported they could read an average of 6 hours per day. The authors calculated that 17% of the students read no faster than 150 words per minute, whereas another 66% did not exceed 100 WPM. At this rate students would need to read 496 pages per week, which would require 28 to 41 hours per week to complete the assigned reading only once.

So the time commitment for reading is significant, at least when assessed in this fashion. 

Yes, faculty should take into account time constraints when assigning reading. However, many students do not complete the reading assignments but, rather, choose to rely on lecture notes and recordings. This too should be taken into account in the curriculum planning.

A mature learner must learn how to effectively study and prioritize assignments.

No one ever said that medical school was going to be easy.