Help! I'm Failing Out Of Med School!

[PiccoloPlaya]

Nevermind, I've rectified the situation and am doing well in med school now Thanks for all the responses.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[criminallyinane]

Hello,

I had a really bad first year of medical school, and out of 15 classes I passed 8 but failed 7. I realized what went wrong throughout the school year and am rectifying the situation. I am taking retake exams this summer for those 7 courses I failed. I have taken 2 and passed both, 5 more to go. If I pass all of them, I will enter school as a 2nd year med student, but while not impossible, it won't be easy to pass all of them and I might end up repeating the courses next year and going on decelerated schedule (actually the five-year option really isn't that bad but I'd like to finish in four).

I met with the dean and he said that the SEPAC committee (that's for student promotions etc) is revising their guidelines and might kick me out of school. This dean has nothing to do with the SEPAC decision other than offering minimal feedback to them, and throughout the year he has been incredibly supportive of me because he knew I was having a hard time. He said to go ahead and take all the makeup exams this summer until SEPAC contacts me.

What do you guys think? I hope I'm not going to get kicked out of medical school. There's got to be people in the past that have done even worse than I did...well I don't know but come on, people have had bad years, right?

I just needed to let it out and figured you guys would understand. I'm studying for my exams and staying positive, but I really don't know what to think anymore.

7 courses seems like a lot to fail, but I'm not a med student. If you entered medical school before these guidelines were changed, you should be allowed to rectify your situation in accordance with the old guidelines. You shouldn't be kicked out if that wasn't the protocol when you matriculated. That said, if staying in school is THE most important thing to you, then make it clear to the Committee that you will do anything you need to do to stay in school, including repeating the year. Good luck.

 

[thackl]

They must be hard-asses at your school. Most places let you repeat a yr at least once.

 

[Elysium]

Believe me, I am totally sympathetic to your plight: but why not repeat first year? Then, you could really learn the material and not be playing catch up all the time. I know it sucks to be on the 5 year option, but let's be realistic. Failing that many classes kind sucks (and I'm totally NOT being judgemental). Why don't you take the option of taking first year again and starting over again fresh? If you don't pass one of the 7 classes you failed, chances are they're either going to kick you out or make you re-take the entire year. THe way I look at it: you might as well have a leave of absence on your transcript and then a bunch of good grades on your transcripts than U/C. If not, then by prepared for kicking ASS (like mostly Honors or Near Honors your 3rd year and a 220+ Step 1) for the rest of your medical career if you want to do something besides community med internal med residency. I'm not being a downer, I'm dead serious. I've been there, and it blows.

 

[vigils]

Hello,

I had a really bad first year of medical school, I failed 7[classes].

What do you guys think? QUOTE]

Holy ****, 7 classes is a lot. I can't beleive you're not asking the right question, which is WHY! did you fail 7 classes. I just finished my second year and if there's one thing I can garentee for you it is that the next year will only be harder. If you don't provide a reason for why you failed to the remediating body they won't feel like you are a good candidate to complete medical school. You have to clearly identify to them, not me, why you failed and what you have done to fix the problem. By the way, you are better being sure you are going to pass your make up tests before your take them then just going all hell mary on all seven of them. You need to get some one on one time with your Dean of Student Affairs and lay your case out. You could also take a year off and make sure you pass every make up test. Keep in minde most schools require under any circumstances that you complete medical school within six years regardless of decelling or taking years off. I just have to stress to you that you need to identify why and provide a clear case to your school of how that has been fixed. If you can't do that save yourself the cost of school and a lifetime of pain and suffering and get out now instead of later when you've invested even more. I hope it works out. Good Luck.

 

[Blake]

Just wondering, did you start med school with the ''C= MD'' attitude, or did it develop during the year ?

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

i'd say it's the C=MD attitude.

15 classes is a lot for first year. but still, i hope you didn't fool around much.

med school is all work, no play.

ok. maybe 5% play. 95% work.

 

[ocean11]

I don't think we should be judgemental, sometimes people can have serious personal probs in their first year that can affect many things.

Since you passed 8 courses, you're probably very bright, no course in med school is easy... so This is the question I have: which courses did you fail?

 

[Sweet Tea]

Honestly, I was in a similar position last year. My first semester was fine, and so was the first part of second semester. Then I had a lot of personal stuff happen (uncle was killed the same day my dad was hospitalized, dad was hospitalized 2 more times, my aunt came to live with my folks...bad times), and by the time my personal life was straightened out, my self-confidence was so shot. I was my own worst enemy there for awhile and was completely convinced that I wasn't smart enough for med school. I was failing all but 1 class going into finals. Thanks to all the help I got, I did really well in that test block. Second year, I was back in med school and did just fine. Pretty average student.

During that hellacious time, I had a couple "ST, I know you're getting help now, but you're in danger of getting kicked out of med school" come-to-jeebus type talks with the Dean. Needless to say, this did not help with my overall stress level. But know that you're not the only one who has been through this in med school, and you'll be able to get through it. Congrats on getting those 2 tests down! All you can do now is do your best on your 5 remaining tests, and leave the rest up to the committee. My guess is that if they know what's going on and see that you're making strides now, they're not going to kick you out...my experiences have been that they like to scare people into action. If you have to repeat a year, you repeat it. It's not the best thing ever, but it's not the most awful thing that's ever happened. Just keep going with the exams and let the committee take care of the rest. You can't control what they do, but you can control what you do. Best of luck to you.

 

[dancinjenn]

I agree with sweet tea. I too had some major problems this past year, first block was ok and then medication problems, stress, anxiety killed my second block and some of my third. As I like to say, "I'm taking the cruise ship for another spin," sometimes it is still depressing but I just have to remind myself that I will get through this and that you can't control everything around you to perfection. Even though they want us to be, none of us are Super Humans, and 5hit happens.

As long as you have been meeting with the deans and any other support personnel, which it sounds like you have been doing, then you should have some ground to stand on to remain in school. Appeal if you have to and make sure that your tutors are on hand to give witness to all the hard work you have been doing this summer, and point to the fact that you have passed x number of your remakes. That way if the question of repeating 1st year or getting kicked out comes up, you have some backing. Don't give up though. pm me if you need to.

 

[Sweet Tea]

Good luck, Piccolo!!! You can do this.

Feel free to PM me...I know what you're going through.

 

[ocean11]

Thank you guys, that makes me feel a lot better. Yeah, I was about to say...ok come on, yeah I surely didn't do stellar, but still...there are people that have done waaaay worse than me, there's no way they're expelling me. At least I passed 8...so if I was on a decelerated schedule I would probably do just fine. Plus they know about my mom's accident and her having an epidural hematoma surgery and her brain trauma and all (she recovered extremely well but would have died without the surgery - freaked me out for a while). Plus I had other drama going on, but won't bore you guys.

There are seriously some students who have failed every single course and dropped out without taking a leave of abscence or deferring...but I'm wondering perhaps they never really wanted to be a doctor or eventually decided medicine wasn't for them? Because no matter how badly you do, you'll beg, scream, whine, cry, plead, and at the most desperate, pathetic level, offer enticing incentives to the dean (just kidding) in order to stay in right?

Well, I'm going to take the rest of my retakes this summer if I feel confident that I can pass them (at least they're not all in the same time - praise the lord). Although interestingly, I was NOT confident about the first two and ended up passing, but hey that's life. So perhaps I should quit being confident LOL!!!

Talk to you guys later. Thanks again for all the support.

Hey good luck with the rest of your exams, and I still wondering.... what courses did you fail? and what were the 2 that you just passed?

Regardless, good luck and I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better..

 

[Happy613]

Thank you guys, that makes me feel a lot better. Yeah, I was about to say...ok come on, yeah I surely didn't do stellar, but still...there are people that have done waaaay worse than me, there's no way they're expelling me. At least I passed 8...so if I was on a decelerated schedule I would probably do just fine. Plus they know about my mom's accident and her having an epidural hematoma surgery and her brain trauma and all (she recovered extremely well but would have died without the surgery - freaked me out for a while). Plus I had other drama going on, but won't bore you guys.

There are seriously some students who have failed every single course and dropped out without taking a leave of abscence or deferring...but I'm wondering perhaps they never really wanted to be a doctor or eventually decided medicine wasn't for them? Because no matter how badly you do, you'll beg, scream, whine, cry, plead, and at the most desperate, pathetic level, offer enticing incentives to the dean (just kidding) in order to stay in right?

Well, I'm going to take the rest of my retakes this summer if I feel confident that I can pass them (at least they're not all in the same time - praise the lord). Although interestingly, I was NOT confident about the first two and ended up passing, but hey that's life. So perhaps I should quit being confident LOL!!!

Talk to you guys later. Thanks again for all the support.

Piccolo,

Your Mother had brain surgery, that must have been amazingly taxing on you and our family.

You are going to be fine, it sounds like you had the regular 1st year "I have no idea how to do this" coupled with a really difficult personal situation. Don't doubt yourself, it sounds like you have figured the game out and will do fine.

The tutor thing is key, I was really on the edge my first year, unitl I got a tutor who i met with once a week. It was so helpful to have someone help me organize my study and show me what to focus on. I worked with my tutor through second year, and since I have been studyng with him, I have honored or High passed every class.

It sounds to me like once you get through this rough patch this summer, you are going to do great.

Best of luck

 

[ocean11]

Hey well congrats on passing Genetics and Anatomy! that's good, I hope you pass the other classes, good luck

But hey, even if you take the 5 year track, you'll have plenty of time to study for boards and therefore probably do really well....

wishing you luck

 

[cytoborg]

Well, if it makes you feel any better, a guy in the class ahead of mine failed 6 classes his first year, took an extra year to repeat the classes, and matched with my class in a cushy specialty at a well-known program (I'm sorry I can't give more specifics but I don't want to reveal his identity). Unlike you, he really didn't have a good reason for failing, he just didn't take it seriously enough. He turned himself around though, worked with a tutor, and was able to show residency programs that he had learned from his mistakes. By the time we all graduated together, there were so many people who had done the 5 year track for one reason or another, that nobody blinked an eye. So don't let this get you down, it's just a temporary setback. There is no way they would "kick you out" of med school unless there were other issues involved (academic misconduct, professionalism problems, etc). They have already invested too much in you, and they want to see you graduate.

 

[beanbean]

Hey Piccolo...stay focused and pass those classes. You don't want to date anyone in your class, but if you are an M2 and they are M1s its not a problem!

 

[WillHague007]

Hey just curious, but what med school do you go to? At my school, you actually have to try to fail a class...I think 2 people failed Biochem and I think that's about it. Maybe your school's basic sci years are very very difficult for some reason? Anyways, just curious and I'm sure others, who are deciding on schools now are also.
Goodluck with everyhting!

 

[ocean11]

So how many more classes do you have to pass? and do you think you'll be staying behind a year?