Individual VS. Group Study
The Dilemma
Am I better off alone or in a group? It’s a question as old as time itself. They say decisions are best made by learning from our past, so to find our answer, let’s take a brief tour of the history of individuals vs. groups and how they played a role in where we are today.
100 million B.C. - In a time where dinosaurs ruled the earth, a lone hunter called, ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’ stood atop the food chain. Thousands of years later, however, his reign would be called into questions by a man named Stephen Spielberg, some special effects, and movie called Jurassic Park, which had us fearing the collaborative efforts of a team of Raptors more than the so-called, ‘King of the dinosaurs’. Ok, no answer here.
500 A.D. – King Arthur assembles the ultimate group, the knights of the round table, to govern and protect the kingdom of Camelot. A round table mean no one sits at the head of the table, and hence, everyone is equal! Sadly, however, this system proved that the strength of the whole is only as strong as its weakest link. In the case of the King Arthur legend, he is betrayed by his first knight, Lancelot, which eventually leads to the downfall of the kingdom. No answer here either…..
Fast forward to 1996 – Michael Jordan wins his 4th championship on a Bulls squad many call, The Best Team Ever. Earlier in his career he is called, among other things, a selfish player. Then he learned how to play team ball, which resulted in 6 championships. So it’s all about team play, right? But, then again, when he joined the Washington Wizards, no amount of team play could overcome the fact that the pieces around him were weak…and he didn’t win a damn thing.
So is there a Solution?
Ok, so it seems that we’ve determined that history has no answer for us. On the contrary, within all these examples of history we can find what we’re looking for. Let’s think about it. The raptors were most deadly when they coordinated their efforts, but as an individual, the Tyranasouras had no equal. Imagine if the T-Rex, with all its inherent & developed strengths, learned how to travel in a pack. In the case of King Arthur and his knights, his concept of the round table works…as long as you have the right people sitting at that round table. It was an error in selection more than anything else. And finally, during the years Michael Jordan was more worried about his own stats than the success of the team, wasn’t he making himself BETTER by developing himself into a stronger individual player that his team would look to when they needed someone to take that last 2nd shot?
The Moment of Enlightenment
Aha! I think we’ve found it. The key to a good group lay within the strengths of its individuals. Before Jordan won his championships, he would go to the gym to work on his individual skills – passing. Shooting. Dribbling. Foul shot. His teammates did the same. While some became better than others when it came to certain skills, as a whole, these individual talents complemented each other to create an unbeatable combination.
The same strategy needs to be applied to your USMLE studies. I once had 3 students come up to me, one week into their concentrated Step 1 studies. They all came from different backgrounds – different countries, different languages, and different schools, but the one thing that they had in common was that each of them was weak with their core basic science knowledge. Yet there they were, standing in front of me, announcing proudly that for the past week they had spent 4 hours a day studying together as a group. I almost feel bad about what my response was, because I can picture very vividly their faces – they looked like 4-year olds showing their teacher a cool crayon drawing they just made. As they waited intently for my approval, I stood there quietly for a minute as a calculated numbers in my head. {7 days, multiplied by 4 hours…multiplied by 3…..}. I then said, ‘the bad news is that you just wasted 84 hours of study time, collectively. The good news is that, hey, you did it together!”
It was tough love I had to give. I sat them all down and explained to them that while their efforts were commendable, their theory was flawed. Because they were weak across the board on their subjects, much of their time was spent fixing each other’s flaws. One would be relatively strong in renal physiology, but rather than move on to strengthen another topic, he’d have to turn around and help lift the others up (when they each could have done it on their own faster & more effectively). What’s worse, they were more often than not, offering each other incorrect explanations, magnifying their problems. It was like the blind leading the blind.
The solution I offered them? There are many routes could’ve taken, there always are, but in this case I suggested this: Separate and study as individuals for a few weeks. The goal was to try to learn and understand AS MUCH as each of them could on their own while, along the way, keeping track of the topics that were the most difficult for them. So they wouldn’t feel alone, Each night they would email the other two progress reports, what they covered, as well as citing strengths and weaknesses – and then eventually come together for a group session once a week.
The difference then would be that they could more knowledgably discuss a narrowed range of topics based on TRUE strengths and weaknesses. The mistake they made in the beginning was that they relied on PERCIEVED strengths & weaknesses. By perceived I mean they had no right to call something strength or a weakness because there was no honest effort to try to study that material.
Go Forth Together & Prosper…with Caution
So I advise each of you during the path towards USMLE Success to strongly consider utilizing group study as one of the many TOOLS available to you, but do so only when you feel you are ready as an individual.
When you decide that you’re ready, choose your group members wisely. It doesn’t matter what everyone’s background is. What does matter is if their styles & attitudes COMPLEMENT each other. The best study group I’ve ever seen consisted of this: an anal retentive guy that made sure everyone was on time, a funny guy that was able to lighten the mood when things got too serious, a brain that everyone looked to that was very adept at breaking things down into its simplest units, and a peacemaker that calmed everyone down when debate over a topic became heated. It was like, nerviest medical version of ‘The Breakfast Club’, you’ll ever see. But it worked. They had different talents that contributed to the group and they all pushed each other. They would call one another when one of them was running late and even got to a point where they had an ongoing bet about who would get to their study center first. I’d see them sitting in front of the locked gate before the doors even opened.
When all was said and done, I saw each member evolve, an take on each other’s best characteristics…and each of them took what they learned in group study and used it to their advantage as they prepared for the next chapter in their careers, whether it be studying for Step 2CK or soldering through a 24 hour on-call during residency...
The Torch Will Be Passed to You...
You may not have realized it, but by reading this article you have already joined a group that you can be proud of. As medical students & physicians, we have chosen to become part of an exclusive club whose past members have done great things. Whether it be mapping the human circulatory system, inventing the first artificial heart, or even simply comforting a patient, doctors have always worked hard to earn the privilege to heal. As you move forward as individuals & with your groups, always remember that achieving excellence in medicine is your 1st priority. While we all stand on the shoulders of the giants that came before us, it is our responsibility to learn medicine so that the patients that depend on us can stand on our shoulders.
~ Dr Brian
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