Succeeding surrounded by med institution?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rote_learni...
Answer:
I think that most serious med students prefer thinking, because it's more applicable to real-life practice to work out something, rather than to only know a list. That self said, much of the basic science years of med college is consumed with memorizing, because there's zilch to understand contained by some subjects, such as pathology.
For example, they'll give you 50 different kidney pathologies, which are adjectives VERY similar, and only really differ within what 7 characteristics (out of 15 common characteristics that could apply to any of them) are applied to respectively of the 50 pathologies. Like pathology 1 has A, C, D, E, F, H, and P characteristics associated beside it, while pathology 2 has A, B, D, F, G, L, and K associated beside it, and so on. So, how are you going to keep adjectives 50 straight? You memorize it. There's nothing to dream up about, zilch to understand -- one and only details to remember. So, in that defence, it's only something like memorization, because you're not really being tested in relation to your understanding, a short time ago whether you can remember it all.
It get better when you get to 3rd year though, because next it's not much book-learning, as you spend most of your time in the clinics, in reality practicing some medicine.
Some of it...such as anatomy/pharmaceutical work etc. etc. is base on rote. When you are called upon to put things into PRACTICE..consequently 'thinking' enters the equation. I would articulate for the first two years of med school it be about a 65/35 split.