This is my
limited understanding of the process. I believe our guidelines and policies are online if you would like to check them out in more detail. If you fail a class, which is usually a result of a failed exam, if you were close enough to passing (I think within 10% typically?) they will usually allow you to retake the exam. If you do not pass the retake, or if your score on the original exam was really low, you can remediate the class. I know of a few people who remediated courses over the summer, and some who just started over the following year with the incoming class - I'm not sure how the summer remediation vs. retake the year decision works. If the course remediation does not go well, I think that's when there's the option for dismissal.
I did fail one exam due to an extenuating circumstance with some family issues I had going on. I made the mistake of not asking for help early enough when I started to fall behind, but the faculty probably would have given me some leeway if I had done so based on experiences some of my friends have had. Regardless, the faculty were very supportive in allowing me to retake, offering me individual tutoring and assistance as needed, etc. My classmates also gave me tons of the study resources they made, offered to talk through material with me, and helped me out in a lot of other ways as I was re-studying. The process was really as painless as it could have been.
I don't know the specific situations of any of the 7 people who are no longer with the M1 class, but in my (again, very limited) understanding, there are several possible scenarios:
- They dropped out for whatever reason
- They took a leave of absence for personal reasons (family responsibilities, health, etc.) and will restart next year with the class of 2021 (this happened with one student who is currently in my class but started with the class of 2018)
- They failed an exam and retake and were offered the chance to redo the year with the class of 2021, and took it
- They failed an exam and retake and were offered the chance to redo the year with the class of 2021, and decided to drop out instead
- They failed multiple exams/retakes and were dismissed
So bottom line: it could have been any number of issues. I don't know exactly what happened, and it sounds like the student that was quoted isn't sure either.
And I do want to emphasize again that losing 7 people in the first semester is
far from typical so far at OUWB. My class only lost 2 people by the end of M1 year, one of whom was already repeating the year and the other of whom joined the current M1 class; I know of 2 from the current M3 class who are either no longer in medical school or deferred to my class.
