Why Students Fail in Medical School.
One of the biggest myths in the medical school process is that once you get into medical school, it is relatively easy to STAY in medical school. Each year, approximately 5% of those who enter fail one or more courses or fail out of medical school entirely. Why does this happen after being subjected to a selection process that is very stringent?
The biggest reason for students failing a course or failing out of medical school is an inability to put in the study time that a very competitive medical school curriculum demands. A sizable proportion of freshman medical students may have been able to get through their undergraduate studies by the “last minute knowledge cram” method, only to find that they are in deep trouble fast.
Most of these students will adjust their time management skills and do well enough to pass their coursework but some are not able to make the transition from undergraduate to medical school. These folks find themselves behind their class very quickly and fail to catch up enough to pass. Courses like Gross Anatomy and Biochemistry quickly knock them out of the freshman class.
Another small proportion of students will have too many personal demands to keep up with their studies. They may be parents or spouses or they may have personal illness that actually prevent them from the mastery of their work. In these cases, a wise Dean of Students will offer a Leave of Absence before the student finds himself/herself in academic difficulty. It pays to alert your Dean of Students at the first sign of personal trouble. Often the Dean can alleviate the problem and get the student back on track. Again, sometimes the problem is so pervasive, that only a Leave of Absence will allow the student to take care of personal matters and return to academics without penalty.
Few medical students are intellectually unable to master the curriculum. While the amount of information to be mastered is massive, the difficulty of the material is fairly average. This means that the key to keeping yourself academically sound is disciplined study habits that enable you to digest this large body of information in a short period of time. Most students study daily and keep a rigorous study schedule even on weekends.
Many students will become caught in the “no one else is struggling so I must be stupid” trap. Every medical student from time to time will struggle with something. Most students figure out what they need, ask for help and get the task accomplished. Some students will become depressed and procrastinate. Procrastination is the enemy of good scholarship and leads to more depression. Again, chatting with a few classmates or the Dean of Students can often put your problems into perspective and give you new ides that get you on your way.
Here are a couple of examples that illustrate my points above:
Janet A. was newly married and entered medical school. Her husband worked as a high school teacher and had a eight-year-old daughter by his previous marrige. Two months into medical school, Janet discovered that she was pregnant. Her pregnancy zapped her energy level and made the demands of medical school more difficult. In addition, she was having difficulty getting along with her new step-daughter who was unhappy that they had moved from another state. She got behind in her studies, especially Gross Anatomy, and struggled with her other courses. She ended up failing both her Gross Anatomy lab and lecture exams and barely passed her Biochemistry exam. On top of her worsening academics, she miscarried and was absent from class for one week.
Solution: The Dean of Students recommended a medical Leave of Absence for Janet. She started with the next year’s class and did very well. She was able to take the time for family counseling and was able to devote full time to her studies.
Chris P had eagerly awaited his medical school acceptance. He had been happy and enthusiastic during orientation week attending all of the social events and developed a lively group of friends and study mates. When classes started, he kept up but partied very hard on the weekends spending Saturday night in the clubs and Sundays recovering from his Saturday night partying. Few people were able to keep up with him. By the second block of exams, Chris found himself just barely passing his coursework yet he continued his active social life. He always said that he “needed to let off steam” in order to concentrate on his studies.
By the end of the first year, Chris found that he needed to take two courses in summer school in order to be promoted with his class. He was able to pass one summer course but failed the other summer course and was dismissed from his class.
Solution: Chris applied for readmission at the end of the summer and was denied. He applied for re-admission after sitting out for a year and was re-admitted. When he returned to school, his discipline and study skills were outstanding. He was able to finish medical school and enter residency.
James P had entered medical school witht he idea of becoming a child psychiatrist. He had extensive experience teaching inner city children (had been a high school teacher) and was the author of several books on innovative teaching methods for children at risk. He embraced his studies and did well on his first block of exams. About halfway through the material for the second block of exams, James decided that he was not interested in medicine at all. He went to the Dean of Students and withdrew from medical school. He later completed his Ph.D in clinical psychology and very happily practices his vocation.
The three medical students above, illustrate the most common reasons that medical students fail. It becomes very difficult to catch up with your studies if you get behind. Many people are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of material to be mastered but make the adjustments necessary to do what is needed. A small proportion of medical students do fail and fail out of school. An even smaller proportion decide that medicine is not what they thought it would be and elect to leave.
The bottom line is that medical school demands a student with good study skills and a strong work ethic. While having a photographic memory will help with pre-clinical materials, the strong work ethic will get the student through the clinical years and through residency.
In a previous post you mentioned your engagement. If I may ask, what has been your experience in balancing med school & a surgical residency while in a long-term relationship?
Hi,
I am having trouble in school for the exact reason you mentioned. It is difficult balancing the needs of family and the needs of school.
I was wondering if you had any inspirational stories to tell of people repeating a year and doing well.
I am in the dummps and would like to have something to hope for.
To Jacqueline & Anonymous:
I am going to post a couple of stories, one about my best friend who struggled at a couple of points and made it through.
I am will also write about balancing my homelife with a very demanding professional life. I am still making adjustments (it’s life after all) but the longer I do this, the better I get at adjusting.
Hi there – just found your website and really inspired… You have an amazing amount of discipline – but you work hard at it. I was one of those undergrads who could wing reasonably good results w very little work and consistency. Now I am at the end of my 2nd year of med school (Australia) and am going to fail, in fact, WANT to fail as I know I don’t know any of the material. I realised a couple of months back that my procrastination wasn’t to do with ‘laziness’ – because I’m not a lazy person, but my drive for perfection and being overwhelmed because my selfesteem (my own personal tyrant) told me I couldn’t do it.
Now that I realise this, I’m much better prepared for next year – - and thank you for your encouraging article.
I came across your site and this post in particular while doing a search… do you know of any students that have flunked out of medical school ( been dismissed) and were able to reapply and finish??? You can email me at hattie.york@gmail.com….. Thanks.
A couple of students that I remember being dismissed from medical school applied for readmission and went on to finish medical school. The two folks that I remember being successful here stayed out a couple of years; worked on their study skills and came back stronger.
hi I came across your site, while in my search for a light of inspiration for an incoming pre-med undergraduate, such as myself. I am well aware of an arduous experience ahead of me. Everone around me seems to be very supportive, though very threatning in their advice.
I have always had a passion to help those in need, and a dream to be in this field of work have been inspired significantly from exposure to the ER and hospital a lot and as well as ill family members.
in my first two years of college, I have jumped from one prospective mojor to another. At first I opted to work on getting into the nursing program,but dropped that and went on working towards psychology (all this time my declared major was general studies),but all this time psychology just never felt right to me, I have great interest in how an individual’s mind work and how it affects the overall health,But not on the heavily theoretical background of it.
Becoming a doctor have always been in the back of my head but my own self esteem has always suppressed that thought. After two years of exposure to different branches of science i have come to this recollection that I can push myself and try really hard and aknowledge all the difficulty i will be going through (which i have been prepering myself) that I can succeed in pre-med, then in the MCAT exams and then into Medical school.
I really feel that this is right for me and i can do it if i set my mind and goal in to it.(since in the past i have always procrastinated but did fairly well in my studies, but now I have found myself wanting to do more, and have felt a certain drive in myself that I can reach my goal, i have never felt anything so important to me in me educational career )But I constantly run into people who gives such a threatning advice to me in regarding this decision. could this be a sign?? that im not going to succeed? or is it a normal feeling for an undergrad like me? do others go through this feeling as well?
To Hopefulbutconfused:
There will always be people who will attempt to “talk you out of” something. Yes, becoming a physician is a long and difficult road but most of the great things in life are long and difficult to obtain. One good thing is that you can opt out at any stage before medical school acceptance and move into something else.
Once you have been accepted into medical school, you can opt out but it’s an expensive option with the costs of a medical education escalating even at state schools. A way to avoid this is to be sure that this is what you want and that you can’t imagine yourself doing anything else. If this is true, then pursue your goal with all of your passion and don’t allow anyone to “talk you out” of what what you want. It is your life to live as you see fit. Good luck.
I will be repeating my second year of medical school this August. Right now I’m freaking out because I barely made it through first year. Now I find myself trying to read every book from beginning to end before school starts just so that I can bring myself up to where I need to be. First year was a disaster for me, my adviser suggested that I repeat year while other faculty members told me to just push forward. My advice to anyone reading this is to trust your gut. If first year is shit*y take a break and restart so you’re not crying everyday during your second year wondering what the future holds.
To Second Year Student:
Stop freaking out (or just tone it down a bit) because medical school is professional school. This means that it’s a bit like Marine boot camp in that you have to go over the wall. You haven’t cleared this obstacle so you are going to get another try. This means that you will have plenty of time to really hone your second year courses which are well-represented on the boards.
The benefit here is that you are likely going to “ace” your Step I and do something that plenty of folks would love to do, have a second-shot at the stuff that is most important for Step I.
Another benefit is that you are going to move forward. You always learn more from your failures than from your successes. Sure, this hurts now but in the end, when you are standing at your patient’s beside, you are going to be thankful that you really KNOW your stuff.
Repeating second year is not about you being “inadequate” but about something preventing you from getting this important material mastered which is why you came to medical school in the first place. You are human and you will be a great physician.
Set your mind up to thorough mastery next year. Meshing with your new class and congratulating your previous class. When class starts in the fall, you know that you will be about the “business” of getting your work done. You can be a huge resource for your new classmates and they can be a great resource for you in terms of being closer to that first year stuff.
Things like Gross Anatomy and histology are not well-represented on Step I but things like Path and Pharm are. You can fine-tune your learning and build upon the foundation that you have (make no mistake, you HAVE a foundation).
Forgive yourself, chalk this up to more experience and look forward. Make the most of this opportunity and remember, you can’t go back and “do over” first year and you don’t need to. Second year has enough stuff built in that you can review anything and concentrate on adding to your foundation over the summer and into next year. By the time board exam rolls around, you will be pretty thoroughly set.
Practice over and over in your mind that you care totally capable of moving forward and being an excellent physician. Relax because you know what to expect. Be patient with yourself and work on getting yourself organized so that you can start the year off strong.
Finally, look over anything that is a learning problem and correct it now. Do an objective and through inventory of your organizational skills and your study skills. Make any weakness a strength.
You will be fine and don’t, I repeat DON’T beat up on yourself. The past is gone and the future is bright. None of your patients will ask you how many times you took your second year classes. They will only see you as their doctor,who is well-qualified to help them. Good luck!
Hi drnjbmd,
You are a darling. Thanks much for the advice. I’m aging faster by the minute, with a new wrinkle appearing every second, but I’m going to push forward. Thanks.
-Second Year Student-
Great Site. I had to retake 2 second year courses this year (Pathophys & Pathology). I guess I fit the profile of family and personal problems compounded with poor study habits.
Just want to know if I do well in my Step 1and the subsequent clerkships this year what impact will my having to repeat second year have on Residency directors.
Doesn anyone know of someone who was successful in getting into a competitive program after failing.
Any i/p is greatly appreciated.
To PK:
It depends on what you mean by “competitive”. You are going to face an uphill battle if you have have your heart set on Derm/Optho/Ortho in locations like Hopkins, Brigham etc. Are these specialties out of reach for you? Practically and probably, yes, they are but you can have a solid third year, ace USMLE Step 1 and get some political pull from your Department chair and be back in the running. Still, you will face an uphill battle because your competition will be AOA, upper 10% of medical students etc. Derm/Optho/Ortho are difficult matches for any medical student.
Can you match in a good residency program in something like Internal Medicine, Peds, General Surgery, Anesthesia? Yes, with a solid third year and good board scores, you will be in the hunt. Just be sure that you prepare well and do well on USMLE (all steps).
Residency program directors want good and solid clinical performers. Make sure that you work ethic is unquestionable and that you grab a few honors during third year especially in the specialty that you desire to enter.
You may have to explain that repeat of second year in an interview but having a strong finish of medical school is better than having a slow start. You may not even be asked about a repeat of second year.
I had a classmate (who ended up sitting out two years) because of personal problems/poor academics who came back, did well on Step I and matched into a very good anesthesia residency. Again, he really worked hard after getting his “second chance” and it paid off.
Take one thing at a time. First, be prepared to do well in your repeat of second year. Second, prepare and do well on USMLE Step I. Third, be prepared to really do well during third year. After that, decide on what you really want to do with the rest of your career (you may not want to enter a competitive specialty after third year but keep an open mind).
I am sitting my third year exams and failing fast. I scraped through years one and two, and now my shortfall in my knowledge is overwhelming. In the previous years I have sufferered from feeling of inadequacy, not feeling good enough, and consistent failure to address my problems accurately. I did approach seniors for help, but somehow I fell through the net. My exams start next week, and I am so behind I dont know how I am going to make it through. Th ironic thing is that now I really feel confident that I will make a good doctor. I have a strong work ethic, and a real drive for success. I have enjoyed revising, and love learning the material. I dont have a network of friends within the course to turn to. The atmosphere is extremely competive. I am wondering, aftr my exams, I presume I will have many retakes, what is the best course of action to take?
cheers,
jacqueline
To Jacqueline:
Are you anticipating that you will fail your clinical “shelf” exams or are you in danger of failing board exams? Course exams? The reason that I ask is that you may want to speak with your Dean of Students/Education about your situation. You may be able to get some things unloaded for you so that you can take a bit of time, organize and catch up.
By the time you get to third year, you have such an investment in this process. See if your Dean can help you on this so that you can just get some decompression. Good luck and I sincerely hope that this works out for you.
thanks for the advice. I was thinking of contacting my Dean of Medicine. However now you have suggested it, I shall take this as a sign to really get on with it and initiate contact. The exams were my Intermediate MB exams, with failure of resits resulting in expulsion from the school.
Hello everyone,
It’s me second year student,I posted an entry earlier this year in January. I was freaking out but I am doing much better now. I have about 2 and a half months left before I restart my second year. I am feeling extremely grateful at the moment. Grateful for the wonderful faculty who always ask how I am and are always available to talk about anything. I’m in a strictly PBL curriculum which is one of the reasons I had a problem, it was just hard for me to learn without lectures. I’m smart, I just didn’t like pretending to know something in PBL without the certainty that comes from a professors lecture. I was basically feeling very uncertain about everything. I still don’t feel 100% prepared but I’ve had some much needed time to reassess and recuperate. My mind is clearer now. My old class has been great they have given me video and audio lectures that have helpd them, along with other pointers. They are an amazing group of people. So just another word of advice from a much more calm version of myself, if you are having difficulties take time off it really does wonders for the mind, body and spirit. About 3 months before I left school I was really sick but I still came to school everyday, never took the time to go to a doc and when I left school it took me another month to recover. What I have learned is that you must nourish your mind and body. Stress will eat you alive and can destroy you. Realizing when you can no longer push forward and then doing something about it is not such a bad thing. Sometimes you have to take a couple of steps back to get on the right path. :O) God Bless
However trying to avoid taking a few steps back wouldn’t be that bad either :O).
I failed 2nd year ,,In myanmar we hav to do 6 yrs for med school, so,,now i failed one year..i m going through 7 years of total n it sucks..
The reason is i failed is because, i dn’t hav much attention on my studies..
N i hate to be a repeator, but i made myself strong n now 2nd year is almost over, i hope i can do the best till i graduate.
i hope my dreams won’t fade away.
To Angelina,
You do the best you can. If you can learn from your failures and have a long memory of them along with a short memory of your successes, then you will be fine. Everyone comes up short at one point or another. Put it behind you and make the best of it. Your patient’s do not care if you spent 6 or 7 years in medical school. They only care if you know how to treat them.
Good luck!
i have been academically dismissed but i will try to write a letter to the dean how should i wirite the letter i had many probelms at home money family and also some health probelms. also another question if i go to another medical school will my transcript from my old medical school say i have been academically dismissed and will residency coordiantors find out if i do not mention it.
To Faz,
Sorry to hear that you have been dismissed. Your first stop is to schedule a meeting with your Dean. Not only should you write a letter but you should meet and you should bring documentation of the things that caused you not to be able to devote your full attention to your coursework.
In your letter, list your distractors in an objective and chronological order. Be as objective as you can and also list what steps you have taken to solve your problems. Be sure to list everything and their impact on you and your studies. If you were under the care of a physician/counselor, have them write a letter on your behalf too.
Unfortunately, you actually cannot go to another medical school except for possibly offshore. If you attended medical school in this country and applied through AMCAS, you have an AAMC ID that follows you in the medical school application process and through to residency. When you apply, you have to submit your SSN and you will automatically come up in the computer with submission even if you don’t mention that you previously attended medical school.
The AMCAS application asks if you have ever matriculated in medical school too. You definitely have to answer this question truthfully and state that you have. When you do this, the application is going to ask you to explain the circumstances of why you are attempting to reapply.
Most medical schools in this country will not allow you to transfer/apply if you are are not in good standing at the school that you previously attended. Since you were academically dismissed, you are not in good standing.
You should definitely find out from your dean if you can apply for readmission to your present medical school. If this is the case, then it’s your best shot. You may have to sit out for the rest of the year but people who have previously had difficulties are often readmitted to school once those problems have been solved. Work on your health, money problems and investigate the process of readmission.
Certainly you are not in an enviable position but your situation is not hopeless. You definitely need to get your Dean to be an advocate for you even if this takes some time. Also enlist the assistance of your faculty adviser who can help you out too. Good luck!
Your blog is extraordinarily inspiring. I am currently a first-year, and I am finding that I may fall in the third category of students that you discuss in this post – the group that realizes during medical school that it’s just not for them. Amidst some personal problems and such, I’ve done fairly well, about average, in gross anatomy, which is the only class we’ve had so far. It’s only been two months, but I feel like an outcast at my school… I’m not trying to be offensive in any way, but sometimes, I feel like I am too nice and not cutthroat or intense enough for medical school. In addition, I feel rather apathetic when I interview or see patients, although their sadness and pain do have a profound effect on my own emotions. What are some things that you think may be good or important to consider as I make this decision whether to stay or go? I don’t really have a plan B right now. The career I would go to in a heartbeat is something that I gave up years ago that I can’t go back to, without giving too much about myself away. Thanks.
hi, i just failed out of a caribbean school after my 2nd semester. i failed biochem, physiology, and immunology. i’m in that small minority that you describe as ‘people who dont think they are intelligent enough’. i barely got by my first semester. i studied harder than any of my friends and anyone that i knew. i studied as hard as some people who are on the dean’s list. while in school, i studied about 5 different ways for the 5 sets of exams that i took while i was there. this is why i dont feel like i’m intelligent enough to master the material.
the irony is that, when studying with others, i am able to discuss and even explain most of the material to my friends who end up doing better on tests than i do. i really dont know what the problem is. i am currently in the process of transferring to another caribbean medical school to give it one more shot. i dont know if i should be taking this personal, because A LOT of my classmates have already failed out (caribbean medical schools have a MUCH higher failout rate than american schools). if there is any advice you can give me about my 2nd shot, please do so.
To Cee:
It is never about how “hard” you study but about how “efficient” you study. Before you start at your second school, try to get a professional inventory of your study skills and techniques. Sometimes these professional evaluations can point out a possible dyslexia and offer you advice as to how you can overcome your difficulties.
My guess is that if what you describe in your post is true, you have an organic learning disability that can be overcome. At any rate, try to get some help and change some things so that you can achieve success. Good luck!
I’m an M1 in NY and Basically I screwed up in Cells and Tissues (although I will hopefully pass Gross) and I am going to fail. I have the option of taking a year end exam to remediate, but the failure will go on my transcript. I know why I failed and I’ve taken steps to ensure this will not happen again. But now I’m faced with a choice. I could fail the course and go on to second year through the cumulative year end exam, but I have some telling me that the failure on my record will kill any chance I have of getting a good residency, even if I do well in everything else. I really want to match into a good EM or maybe Gen Surg program. I have others telling me things aren’t quite that bad. I need someone who knows (a resident, 4th year, attending, someone) to basically give it to me straight… what are my chances of a good residency?
I have the option to drop the course before I fail and split my M1 year into 2 years, so I would be graduating in 5 years. This way a failure will never go on my record and I can finish my M1 year at a slower pace. I really don’t want to do this, but if I don’t have a good shot at a good residency otherwise, then what choice do I have?
I just realized you are njbmd on SDN, the other place that I’ve posted my question…. and you’ve already answered it!
I appreciate your advice, I’m gonna remediate and avoid going half time for the next 2 years. I hope I’m making a good decision, and I’m gonna do my best to make up for my mistakes.
What are your option if you fail out of medical school after being in school for 2 years. What is the best step to take knowing that being a doctor is your passion.
Look forward to hear from you,
Thank you
I was attending Ross medical school and i fail the comprehensive exam in my 2 year by 4 points. which might cause me to be dismissed from school. I am not sure what steps to take that will help me in this process. I am thinking of transferring to another Carib Medical school. i really need some advice because i don’t know what to do. My passion is to become a doctor.
To KF,
I am not familiar with offshore schools and the consequences of dismissal from one of these schools. My first thought is to tell you to see if you can get into another school that is offshore as your chances for attending in the U.S. are not going to be very good.
Another course that you might look into is becoming a Physician Assistant. Some P.A. programs will accept your medical school coursework as evidence that you would be a good candidate for admission regardless of your failure to pass exams.
A number of IMG physicians who have not been able to pass USMLE (licensure) exams have opted to apply to P.A. school and have been quite happy with their career. The job outlook for PAs is very good and you would be able to do about 90% of what a physician is able to do. Salary range is from about $73K to start and max out around $108K which is not particularly bad if you have loans to pay off.
My guess is that your chances of entering medicine in this country are pretty slim. You may be able to get into another medical school offshore but I have no information as to the likelihood of this happening for you.
i’m not doing well in med school either. i’m one of the bottom-ranked students in class, and i’ve sort of given up on myself. i studied really hard in my first and second years of med school, but i still end up failing my exams. i’m now in my fourth year, and i don’t study as much, or as hard as i used to, since i feel like i’m going to fail anyway. i still study, but i feel that it’s futile. it’s also really annoying to see the brighter people in med school just sail by without so much as a sleepless night, and top the exams. it sort of makes a mockery of my studying all night just to fail.
finals are coming up, as well as a medical board simulation exam. i’m really worried
i know i should study to at least pass, but i feel that it doesn’t matter what i do, since i’ll be failing and making an ass of myself anyway.
i know i need an attitude adjustment, but i don’t know how to start. help?
To Trina:
Medical school is but a short part of your entire medical career. You are not studying just to pass an exam but you are studying because you need a solid knowledge base in order to help your future patients. It doesn’t matter what others are doing (or not doing) in school. They won’t be there in the middle of the night when a patient looks to you for help and relief of suffering.
A couple of things to think about: First, your knowledge base is likely stronger than your grades would indicate. You still need to keep building upon this. Second: no patient is going to ask you about your medical school grades. They want to know if you can help them and if you care about them. Having the highest grade on a test doesn’t indicate that anyone is a good physician. Having a caring attitude and a desire to help your patients are the characteristics of a good physician.
You can start right this minute to put every test that you have ever taken behind you and approach the upcoming test with the attitude that you will do the best job that you can. You can stop attempting to compare yourself to others and get the job done. Do you think that any of those students who are getting the higher grades are thinking about you and your performance? I don’t think so. Don’t waste your precious time even being concerned with them. The only career that you can impact is your own.
There are hundreds of people who would “sell their souls” to be sitting where you are now and have the opportunity to even study for those tests. As much of a pain as they are, testing is a part of medicine. Wait until residency when you have to do those in-training exams every year along with all of the ward work and overnight call. You have to set a reading schedule, check off as you cover material and keep moving forward or you will have trouble with those exams.
Keep positive and believe in yourself. You are the only person who can do what you NEED to do to have a great career in medicine. Applaud those folks for whom learning is easy and applaud yourself because you keep fighting the good fight and doing what you know that your future patients need for you to keep fighting the good fight. Medical school goes by so fast and so does residency. Just keep moving forward.
I am looking for some much needed advice.
I have completed my first year of medical school in the US last year, but i was dismissed at the end of my first year due to my schools academic policy “three failed courses result in automatic dismissal”. My next option was to write a letter of re admittance to the promotions committee to repeat first year…which I did and readmission was denied. The reason that I received for denial was that I should take some time to address exactly what I felt were my academic short comings. I am currently enrolled in a Masters program which I should be done with by the summer. I plan on writing another letter of re admittance in hopes restarting my first year. There is no guarantee that I will be readmitted. Medicine is really what I want to study. I know dwelling on how many things I could have done is not constructive. I am really trying to focus on what is actually feasible. I’m not sure if i should apply to Caribbean medical schools as a plan B…I know that I will be venturing into a whole host of variables doing that. I don’t know if I’m ready for that. Another US medical school is not really an option is it?
To Redbutterfly:
You can’t really do much until you have exhausted your attempts at your former medical school. Perhaps now that you have successfully completed your masters program, you have the tools to return to medical school with a fresh perspective. If I were in your shoes, I would sit down and objectively figure out why you failed those three classes. Be brutally honest with yourself and address those issues that kept you from passing your medical school coursework. Once you have done that, make sure that you articulate the changes in your approach to your academics to your medical school. This is likely to result in your getting readmitted if you have made a good case for yourself.
As for heading to an offshore school, you would actually be facing more of an uphill battle than returning to your school here in the states. Most offshore schools provide little guidance in terms of navigation of coursework and once you find yourself in trouble, you will have few resources. If you mange to get through your coursework, you face an uphill battle to pass boards and get back into this country to practice. Going offshore is an expensive proposition with few guarantees for success at the other end.
If you can’t convince your school to readmit you, then you do what you have to do to practice medicine. Just realize that off shore is a poor route to take. Also, do realize that if you have been dismissed from a medical school in this country, you are likely not going to be able to get into another medical school in this country. Essentially, you get one shot and if that doesn’t work out, offshore becomes an option (a difficult road to travel) but anything worth having is difficult. Good luck with the readmit letter.
Thank You for the advice
thank you.
i think i needed that from someone who’s finished med school already.
my next exam is on friday. i’m starting to read up more, and the things i can’t find in books or online, i ask my roomies and interns for help.
i hope this works.
I have nothing good to say about medical school, they abuse students to no end, lie constantly on student evaluations, violate every form of student confidentiality, abuse patients and teach every form of disrespect for patients, cover up crimes and in many cases medical school administrators and physicians alike are criminals themselves. If you can ignore all this you can become a physician. This however was not possible for me. Hopefully I may be able to address these issues and more publicly than has already been done. It is nearly assured that if one becomes a physician the medical system will imprint every form of compromise in the said individual–of course its to a varying extent and some will deceive the system and ultimately return to their ethical baseline that they had prior to entering this fully captured institution, however as solo practitioners become increasingly rare so is the likelihood of such a reversion.
To None:
Everyone has a right to their opinion. Sorry you had such a bad time and are so damaged.
Hi,
I really wish i had someone to tell me these things when i was in medical school.Its sad that everyone gets into medical school after huge hardships and then after you have entered,there are a million reasons to be lazy and not pursue the dream career for you and almost the rest of the world.I totally repent my laziness and lack of respect i showed for my course.Somehow passed ,and now trying to improve my self esteem by tackling the USMLE in my old original ’studious’ way.Got great score on step1 and slowly working my way to step2.
Thanks a Ton for this blog and the encouraging posts.
Keep it up