Medical training is based on active learning – studying textbooks and articles, listening to experts, seeing patients, setting up procedures and then performing them, reading images, looking at slides. This kind of learning is straightforward – You do the task, get feedback (in a variety of ways), and then adjust to improve. 

I’ve never really thought about passive learning in medicine … until I learned about this recent study from the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon that clearly showed that passive exposure improves active learning (at least in mice).

Based on my experience as a medical educator, that rings true for medical students and residents, too. Watching experts do a procedure over and over won’t ever replace learning to do the same procedure – but it does seem to be a habit embraced by superstar medical students and residents (in addition to their deliberate and very active learning).

“The core insight here is appealing precisely because it’s so easy to act on. Passive exposure costs almost nothing. No extra willpower, no additional scheduled practice time, no special equipment. You just need to put yourself in contact with the material you’re learning.” 

Source

How can you add a little passive learning to your day (in addition to rereading and highlighting notes or listening to a recorded lecture)?

Just listen. The ideal way to take advantage of the didactic courses in the first two years of medical school (and subsequently in clinical rotations and residency) is to engage actively with the material during the lecture. (Yes, I’m serious… and here is how to do it). But if you find yourself unable to really engage it turns out that “just listening” (i.e. being a passive learner) isn’t a complete waste of time. You can also attend departmental Grand Rounds or other interesting lectures as a first year medical student (Most of them are before your classes start or during lunch). You won’t understand much… until you do (which is always exciting!) . You can find a list of these lectures on every hospital and medical school website (Here’s an example from Baylor College of Medicine). These are public lectures so you won’t be out of place. If anything, they will be delighted there are basic science students interested enough to attend. (p.s. there is often food, too…)

Just watch. “Shadow” in the first two years of medical school…ask senior students or residents (who will ask their attendings) if you can watch surgery, follow someone in clinic, or go on rounds with a team. When you are on a rotation, “just watch” surgeries that you aren’t assigned to (which is a lot easier in minimally invasive procedures because you can watch it on a screen). The same goes for “just watching” a pathologist looking at slides, or a radiologist reading images, etc. You can also take advantage of YouTube to “just watch” videos of procedures, how to do a physical exam, etc, etc. 

Passive exposure will never replace active learning (a really important point!) but just watching and just listening aren’t a waste of time… and may help make active learning a bit easier.