So I just failed Anatomy

[Mr Avante]

Close but no cigar, Sahlgrenska.

ouch!
lycka till

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[askamsky51]

As someone who is the first person in their entire extended family to not only attend medical school, but also to graduate from college, I find this post to be incredibly presumptuous, ignorant, and pretentious. I went straight from undergrad to medical school and am paving the road to future success with incredible amounts of hard work. If I decide to complain about how frustrating it is to go to school for over twenty years, accumulate over $300,000 in debt, only to have my future earning potential slowly going down the tube, what business is it of yours? I want to start a nest egg for my family down the road. Is that morally reprehensible? We are complaining on a forum for current medical students. If we were walking around the homeless shelters in our respective cities trying to commiserate with the people waiting in line for a meal, then I could understand your panties being in a bunch. Until that happens, get off of your moral high horse, realize that you weren't the only one who took an intro to ethics course in undergrad, and understand that venting on the internet (as I am currently doing) is a much better coping mechanism for dealing with stress and frustration than many of the alternatives.

Well put.

I have years of manual labor and military hardship under my belt, so I guess that makes me qualified to respond to you.

Please leave the medical student forums alone. You have no insight and cannot contribute to the conversation relating to a first year who just failed a course. The end.

 

[mcloaf]

What, calling out a bunch of stereotypical crybabies who went straight from undergrad to med school, who whine and complain about having to study or work so they can make >$200k/year for the rest of their lives? Oh man, what a shame, having to study and know stuff. You guys have it so bad compared to everyone else: post docs and perpetual adjuncts who slave away in research labs and lecture halls for poverty wages; engineers who lose their jobs to outsourcing; lawyers or the elusive "ibankers" who don't make partner and are forced into a hideously saturated job market; or the general American public that wastes away their lives away on inconsequential manual labor or TPS report filing jobs.

edit:

Forgot to mention that you could do any of those awesome jobs and make millions a year. You're only doing medicine out of the goodness of your hearts, and success in academia, law, business, etc. is purely a function of 'hard work' and your ability to take standardized tests and memorize biology factoids is evidence of 'hard work.' Nothing else -- academic pedigree, legacy, connections, business acumen, intelligence, natural aptitude, personality, etc. -- comes into play.

Honestly with your 72 hour swing shifts in the Chinese asbestos mines I'm not sure how you have time to post in here with us crybabies.

Also, take a moment to reflect on the sheer tidal wave of posts you've made complaining about every single aspect of the admissions process before you come in here and complain about people complaining about stuff you don't know anything about.

 

[VisionaryTics]

Honestly with your 72 hour swing shifts in the Chinese asbestos mines I'm not sure how you have time to post in here with us crybabies.

 

[Dires]

Yes. Male stripper.

Did the cucumber pop out?

 

[as1212559]

Meh, blessing in disguise. Being a physician ain't all it's cracked up to be. Quit while you're ahead; you'll thank me later.

ok.jpg

 

[circulus vitios]

Honestly with your 72 hour swing shifts in the Chinese asbestos mines I'm not sure how you have time to post in here with us crybabies.

Also, take a moment to reflect on the sheer tidal wave of posts you've made complaining about every single aspect of the admissions process before you come in here and complain about people complaining about stuff you don't know anything about.

Never said I wouldn't bitch about it. I realize that medicine is an incredible opportunity and I'm very happy to be accepted.

I've never done 72 hour shifts in a Chinese asbetos mine, but I worked in an underground tunnel where I got low-level chemical poisoning.

 

[Brain Bucket]

Never said I wouldn't bitch about it. I realize that medicine is an incredible opportunity and I'm very happy to be accepted.

I've never done 72 hour shifts in a Chinese asbetos mine, but I worked in an underground tunnel where I got low-level chemical poisoning.

I'm not gonna dump on you. Just a heads-up...you're only setting yourself up here.

 

[Arkangeloid]

Sorry for not responding in a few days, totally forgot about this thread. Anyways

@OP: How (exactly) did you prepare for Anatomy?

BRS for Questions, Netter's and Class Lectures for learning crap, Rohen's and the Lab for quizzing on structures. Maybe I spent too much time passively reviewing Netter's though.

@ OP:
Another thing that crossed my mind. How important are the practicals at your school? What percentage of your final mark is identifying structures?
Try to organize it so that the amount of time you spend in the lab is proportional to that.
(i.e if it is 10% than you really shouldn't spend 50% of time in lab, but rather focus on theory; and the other way around)

50% Practical (identifying crap in the lab), 50% Written.

Usually the Written goes a lot better than the Practical for most students, including me. I was rocking some of the most abysmal Practical scores in the school, I think. The Written usually brought up my score, this time it didn't.

I failed anatomy. At the time it seemed like the end of the world.
Maybe it would have been if I had my heart set on derm.

I'm a second year resident now, and I don't think it really mattered.
In a way, it helped.

I failed by a single point, which seemed like a dick move.
Doing the remediation really helped.
I probably learned anatomy better than the majority of people in my class.

Just move on.
You should have time to study during the remediation time.
Use this time well and learn the material cold.
Not just to pass, but to really learn the material.

Part of what I learned is that you have to follow your own learning style.
If I did that the first time, I would have passed with no problem.

Just focus on doing your best moving forward.
That's really the only thing you can do.

I matched into the field I wanted at a very solid program.
The long term impact of failing anatomy was just about zero.

This post makes me feel better

What, calling out a bunch of stereotypical crybabies who went straight from undergrad to med school, who whine and complain about having to study or work so they can make >$200k/year for the rest of their lives? Oh man, what a shame, having to study and know stuff. You guys have it so bad compared to everyone else: post docs and perpetual adjuncts who slave away in research labs and lecture halls for poverty wages; engineers who lose their jobs to outsourcing; lawyers or the elusive "ibankers" who don't make partner and are forced into a hideously saturated job market; or the general American public that wastes away their lives away on inconsequential manual labor or TPS report filing jobs.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Anatomy. Stop derailing the thread. Plenty of nontrad students complain about med school too btw.





As a final note, I have finally discovered and appreciated the wonder of 1.5x Lectures. I feel so much more efficient and driven when I'm doing them.

 

[Brain Bucket]

BRS for Questions, Netter's and Class Lectures for learning crap, Rohen's and the Lab for quizzing on structures. Maybe I spent too much time passively reviewing Netter's though.

BRS is awesome for organizing info in your head, not for Qs, although they're ok too. Hit up Pretest and Lippincott's Q&A for the shelf.

 

[evilbooyaa]

As a final note, I have finally discovered and appreciated the wonder of 1.5x Lectures. I feel so much more efficient and driven when I'm doing them.

Well that should help. Welcome to the dark side.

 

[mcloaf]

Well that should help. Welcome to the dark side.

1.5x is just a gateway drug to 2x.

 

[yehhhboiii]

1.5x is just a gateway drug to 2x.

i've actually pushed it up to 3x for some slow lecturers
made me proud of my decision to skip class

 

[mcloaf]

i've actually pushed it up to 3x for some slow lecturers
made me proud of my decision to skip class

Hmm, my school's web app only goes up to 2x. Do you download the video and speed it up yourself with other software?

I have the need for speed.

 

[Brain Bucket]

i've actually pushed it up to 3x for some slow lecturers
made me proud of my decision to skip class

The trick is to play it at 3.5 for a bit and then slow it down, the 3x suddenly becomes perfectly understandable.

 

[cbrons]

I was passing the course until Head and Neck, and I passed the other concurrent courses (Cell Bio, Histo). I knew Head and Neck would be difficult, so I put in more time, in the lab and out, than I had for prior exams.

It ended in utter disaster, and I failed the lowest score in the entire class. I will have to repeat the course in the summer.


I was wondering, to what extent will this torpedo my chances at becoming a practicing physician? I've already written off any remotely competitive specialty, but at the rate I'm going I won't be a physician at all. So I'm considering dropping out of medical school, because things certainly aren't looking good right now haha.

Remediate and move on, not the end of the world at all. not really sure how it will affect residency, but since it happened 1st year I kind of wonder if after looking at your letters of recs, considering your connections to the residency program (most important), year 4 and 3 grades/evals, and step I, Im not really sure if many programs for a lot of specialties will even care. But maybe Im wrong about that.

 

[yehhhboiii]

Hmm, my school's web app only goes up to 2x. Do you download the video and speed it up yourself with other software?

I have the need for speed.

yea vlc is good
1 hour lecture done in 30 mins with breaks
heaven

 

[cbrons]

Don't feel bad for failing anatomy. It's a bit of a downer when you fail a course but it deosn't define you as a physician. Medicine is so much more than anatomy, other classes you'll probably do fine so get pass this obstacle and try to study different for next exam.

Sidenote: 70% failed anatomy in my girlfriend's class. 55% in my class. It's a hard subject

If 50% are failing your school is doing something really wrong and you should post what school you go to so people can avoid it. Absolutely no reason that should be occurring.

It sounds more like your schools' professors failed the class. Are either of these schools LCME accredited?

If a school has a 50% fail rate for a single class they would very rapidly be put on probation and under investigation by the LCME.

Our school ran a terrible class last year for M1s (lets just say it was one of those early clinical experience classes that got turned into an extrordinarily difficult M3-level clinical knowledge course it was never originally designed to be). 6 people failed it (4% of the class or something). The admins very promptly adjusted the minimum pass level for it and moved people through and I'm pretty damn sure even that had them working all summer on a good explanation for LCME (and complete course workover on the class in question) when they come through here on their visit.

 

[Nephronlearner]

If a school has a 50% fail rate for a single class they would very rapidly be put on probation and under investigation by the LCME.

Our school ran a terrible class last year for M1s (lets just say it was one of those early clinical experience classes that got turned into an extrordinarily difficult M3-level clinical knowledge course it was never originally designed to be). 6 people failed it (4% of the class or something). The admins very promptly adjusted the minimum pass level for it and moved people through and I'm pretty damn sure even that had them working all summer on a good explanation for LCME (and complete course workover on the class in question) when they come through here on their visit.

4% failure rate was investigated by LCME?
Professors over here get agitated when the failure rate is so low in their subject, lol.
For most courses it's ~10%. Constant fear of failing. Lol, jealous of your system

 

[Arkangeloid]

4% failure rate was investigated by LCME?
Professors over here get agitated when the failure rate is so low in their subject, lol.
For most courses it's ~10%. Constant fear of failing. Lol, jealous of your system

Yes but remember that the stakes are different. For us, the government does not subsidize all or nearly all of our medical school. It frequently costs over $300K USD total for each of us. Putting in that sum of money just to end in failure is a life-destroying possibility, fiscally and emotionally.

Fortunately, it's a remote possibility. But if med school failure rates were anywhere close to law school levels, med school would become way less competitive, because nobody wants to take that chance.

 

[cbrons]

4% failure rate was investigated by LCME?
Professors over here get agitated when the failure rate is so low in their subject, lol.
For most courses it's ~10%. Constant fear of failing. Lol, jealous of your system

no, not investigation for 4% but im guessing the survey team would ask about it.

 

[notbobtrustme]

4% failure rate was investigated by LCME?
Professors over here get agitated when the failure rate is so low in their subject, lol.
For most courses it's ~10%. Constant fear of failing. Lol, jealous of your system

ya, but as others said, we aren't playing the same game. As I understand it, EU med schools are direct entry, meaning you go from high school straight into med school. They typically overadmit students which requires attrition for the system to actually be able to cope with the newest generation of physicians.

In the US, med school admission is a very vigorous, very selective process that is secondary entry after undergraduate school. By and large, people who get into medical school have the capacity to pass everything required. We screen at the gate rather than the race.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Hmm, my school's web app only goes up to 2x. Do you download the video and speed it up yourself with other software?

I have the need for speed.

If it's that Microsoft Silverlight/Mediasite stuff, it only goes up to 2x.

If you want to go faster, you'll have to download it and speed it up with VLC.

 

[Arkangeloid]

Update after meeting with the promotions committee...

I only have to remediate the single exam I failed (Head and Neck), not the other 5 that I passed. However, to qualify for Remediation I will need to pass every course from here on out. If not, I fail the entire year and have to repeat.

Well, Quest Received I guess. May the force be with us.

 

[Nephronlearner]

Yes but remember that the stakes are different. For us, the government does not subsidize all or nearly all of our medical school. It frequently costs over $300K USD total for each of us. Putting in that sum of money just to end in failure is a life-destroying possibility, fiscally and emotionally.

Fortunately, it's a remote possibility. But if med school failure rates were anywhere close to law school levels, med school would become way less competitive, because nobody wants to take that chance.

ya, but as others said, we aren't playing the same game. As I understand it, EU med schools are direct entry, meaning you go from high school straight into med school. They typically overadmit students which requires attrition for the system to actually be able to cope with the newest generation of physicians.

In the US, med school admission is a very vigorous, very selective process that is secondary entry after undergraduate school. By and large, people who get into medical school have the capacity to pass everything required. We screen at the gate rather than the race.

This highly depends on the school you are talking about. Yes I know there are several countries (and programs) where they take pretty much everyone (English language programs in E-EU and programs at most French medical schools come to mind) and then fail a huge percentage of those who enrolled.
At most places it's quite different.
It is true that medicine here is a combined undergraduate + graduate degree, at most places it takes 6 years (1st year would be "pre-med" subjects, 2nd-5th would equal American M1-M4 and 6th year is usually sort of an internship.) And competition for places at medical programs is also extremely fierce (only ~30% of those who apply to medicine get a place anywhere) and the attrition is more like 5%. However, it is common for students to fail the year (not course). Maybe 20%-25% of students have to repeat a course at one time or another.
As for tuition - we pay it in taxes. They take a decent percentage of one's income for "education tax" which is used to fund universities. And since we have to pay it... forever - we also pay quite a lot of money for that degree so the stakes are high as well

So, yes, I completely understand the problem the OP is facing. And yes, anatomy can be terrible but with some extra work and good planning - I'm sure he/she will pass.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Update after meeting with the promotions committee...

I only have to remediate the single exam I failed (Head and Neck), not the other 5 that I passed. However, to qualify for Remediation I will need to pass every course from here on out. If not, I fail the entire year and have to repeat.

Well, Quest Received I guess. May the force be with us.

You said you haven't struggled with any other classes so far, correct? Figure out if there is a practical for remediation, as I imagine if your class is done with anatomy the bodies aren't still going to be there at the end of the year.

If there is no practical and you're not having issues with borderline passing other classes, you should be fine.

 

[Arkangeloid]

You said you haven't struggled with any other classes so far, correct? Figure out if there is a practical for remediation, as I imagine if your class is done with anatomy the bodies aren't still going to be there at the end of the year.

If there is no practical and you're not having issues with borderline passing other classes, you should be fine.

The "practical" is done on powerpoint slides from what older students have told me.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Wow. That blows. The only way I survived anatomy practicals was by seeing what general part of the body was tagged, and looking at it from a few angles.

 

[Arkangeloid]

Major necro, but just wanted to say that I passed Molecular Biology comfortably. Immuno is a nightmare though, so any help with that, any resources you guys recommend, would be appreciated.

 

[Ismet]

Major necro, but just wanted to say that I passed Molecular Biology comfortably. Immuno is a nightmare though, so any help with that, any resources you guys recommend, would be appreciated.

buy the Abbas book. saved my life for Immuno. excellent explanations of everything you need to know.

 

[Anastomoses]

 

[Arkangeloid]

Well, been doing some extra Anatomy stuff, it seems a bit easier now for some reason.

I'm going to meet with the course coordinator soon and discuss a study plan for my retake in a few months. If I pass, I will become an MS-2.

If I fail, well, let us hope it does not come to that.

 

[fancymylotus]

Well, been doing some extra Anatomy stuff, it seems a bit easier now for some reason.

I'm going to meet with the course coordinator soon and discuss a study plan for my retake in a few months. If I pass, I will become an MS-2.

If I fail, well, let us hope it does not come to that.

good luck im sure youll do great

 

[Priapism4tooLong]

Well, been doing some extra Anatomy stuff, it seems a bit easier now for some reason.

I'm going to meet with the course coordinator soon and discuss a study plan for my retake in a few months. If I pass, I will become an MS-2.

If I fail, well, let us hope it does not come to that.

Dude get of sdn and go study ffs


And stop flirting with mylotus

 

[Arkangeloid]

To all my fans,

I vindicated your faith when I beasted that Gastro exam today, I think I broke 90% lol. Probably because I changed my style up, started reading more, waking up early in the morning just to study and review cases, staying off SDN, etc.

I think I made the right decision to hide from the world. I haven't left my apartment in a while. I've been so inactive on the internet that I've learned that some of my old friends are speculating that I may be dead.

As I said before, to quote Aeron in Clash of Kings,

"And the waters of wrath will rise high, and Ark shall spread his dominion over a dime bish. What is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger!"

This is a game, it's just another game, and I'm Mario fighting to win my princess. But instead of Goombas and Koopas, I'm facing ABGs and histopath slides.



Anyways, haters gonna hate.

 

[FIREitUP]

To all my fans,

I vindicated your faith when I beasted that Gastro exam today, I think I broke 90% lol. Probably because I changed my style up, started reading more, waking up early in the morning just to study and review cases, staying off SDN, etc.

I think I made the right decision to hide from the world. I haven't left my apartment in a while. I've been so inactive on the internet that I've learned that some of my old friends are speculating that I may be dead.

As I said before, to quote Aeron in Clash of Kings,

"And the waters of wrath will rise high, and Ark shall spread his dominion over a dime bish. What is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger!"

This is a game, it's just another game, and I'm Mario fighting to win my princess. But instead of Goombas and Koopas, I'm facing ABGs and histopath slides.



Anyways, haters gonna hate.

so basically it took you over a year to learn the secret to doing well in school is to study more? lol, jk bro. glad it worked out.

 

[Robotman]

So it took you a year to do what most your class did in a few months?

 

[DokterMom]

Congratulations Ark! I'm happy for you --

 

[SlowCodeToChina]

I'm incredibly happy for you Ark. I hope you can continue your success!

 

[AnonymousD.O.]

I was passing the course until Head and Neck, and I passed the other concurrent courses (Cell Bio, Histo). I knew Head and Neck would be difficult, so I put in more time, in the lab and out, than I had for prior exams.

It ended in utter disaster, and I failed the lowest score in the entire class. I will have to repeat the course in the summer.


I was wondering, to what extent will this torpedo my chances at becoming a practicing physician? I've already written off any remotely competitive specialty, but at the rate I'm going I won't be a physician at all. So I'm considering dropping out of medical school, because things certainly aren't looking good right now haha.

By failing head and neck, do you mean you failed the head and neck practical, where you had to go around from body to body and identify tiny muscles, nerves and arteries that often have extremely low yield relevance and that most people forget within 10 mins after leaving the room? - don't worry about it. Pass in the summer and forget it like the rest of us.

:::::::::::::::::::::
just realized this thread is really old. I'll leave my comment above so you can make fun of me

 

[DermViser]

By failing head and neck, do you mean you failed the head and neck practical, where you had to go around from body to body and identify tiny muscles, nerves and arteries that often have extremely low yield relevance and that most people forget within 10 mins after leaving the room? - don't worry about it. Pass in the summer and forget it like the rest of us.

:::::::::::::::::::::
just realized this thread is really old. I'll leave my comment above so you can make fun of me

We're long past Head and Neck. So much has happened since then it ain't even funny.

 

[AnonymousD.O.]

We're long past Head and Neck. So much has happened since then it ain't even funny.

Guess what. I'm a second year and because my school has a curriculum that extends Anatomy up till about 1/3 of the way into 2nd year, I got to dissect Genitalia today. Literally torture (our bodies have been there since....drum roll please...... last october)

 

[DermViser]

Guess what. I'm a second year and because my school has a curriculum that extends Anatomy up till about 1/3 of the way into 2nd year, I got to dissect Genitalia today. Literally torture (our bodies have been there since....drum roll please...... last october)

Yeah, I know many schools that split Anatomy into organ system blocks. I don't know how they well they preserve the bodies for that long though for dissection.

 

[sinombre]

Yeah, I know many schools that split Anatomy into organ system blocks. I don't know how they well they preserve the bodies for that long though for dissection.

If you keep it well-hydrated it will easily last that long. I used mine for the entire year, and the second half of ms1 was way more anatomy-heavy for me than the first half. I loved the way anatomy was taught at my school.

edit: I feel kind of weird referring to a cadaver as "it," but... it is what it is. Also twss.

 

[DermViser]

If you keep it well-hydrated it will easily last that long. I used mine for the entire year, and the second half of ms1 was way more anatomy-heavy for me than the first half. I loved the way anatomy was taught at my school.

edit: I feel kind of weird referring to a cadaver as "it," but... it is what it is. Also twss.

Contrary to what many might think, I think the way Anatomy is taught has a great impact on how well it's appreciated by medical students. The really good schools also incorporate viewing of imaging: X-ray, CT, MRI, etc. in Anatomy or even are able to incorporate Radiology residents into their Anatomy sessions. The ones that I know that teach all of Anatomy in 8 weeks, not surprisingly, tend to hate it the most.

 

[Roxas]

Contrary to what many might think, I think the way Anatomy is taught has a great impact on how well it's appreciated by medical students. The really good schools also incorporate viewing of imaging: X-ray, CT, MRI, etc. in Anatomy or even are able to incorporate Radiology residents into their Anatomy sessions. The ones that I know that teach all of Anatomy in 8 weeks, not surprisingly, tend to hate it the most.

Ours goes all through M1 and I couldn't hate it more

 

[DermViser]

Ours goes all through M1 and I couldn't hate it more

You'd hate it even more if it was all done in 8 weeks. The ones that I know that liked it done in 8 weeks and no more Anatomy teaching ever, were the ones who never really liked it in the first place and saw it more as an obstruction, rather than something to effectively learn.

 

[Robotman]

Contrary to what many might think, I think the way Anatomy is taught has a great impact on how well it's appreciated by medical students. The really good schools also incorporate viewing of imaging: X-ray, CT, MRI, etc. in Anatomy or even are able to incorporate Radiology residents into their Anatomy sessions. The ones that I know that teach all of Anatomy in 8 weeks, not surprisingly, tend to hate it the most.

My school's anatomy class requires knowledge of reading X-Ray, CT and MRI(MRI especially in Neuro). The Final for anatomy there was 35 questions out 135 that were completely images: 90% CT and 10% Xray. I thought reading images were a requirement by all med schools.

 

[Roxas]

You'd hate it even more if it was all done in 8 weeks. The ones that I know that liked it done in 8 weeks and no more Anatomy teaching ever, were the ones who never really liked it in the first place and saw it more as an obstruction, rather than something to effectively learn.

While I see how terrible of an attitude it is for I med student, this is exactly how I feel. I love every single one of my other classes, but there is something about anatomy that I just struggle with.

 

[DermViser]

While I see how terrible of an attitude it is for I med student, this is exactly how I feel. I love every single one of my other classes, but there is something about anatomy that I just struggle with.

Most people either love anatomy or hate it. Very few in betweeners with respect to that basic science subject.