careers after failing out of med school

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Hi. What are some career options if someone fails out of med school? Undergrad was in Biology. From what I have gathered, these are some options but I would appreciate your opinions.
1. re-take the MCAT and reapply or reapply to another school without retaking
2. Dental school
3. PHd
Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

Brings back chilling memories from my own medical school experience. Anatomy was my weakest area and I too nearly dropped out.

What turned me around was getting help. I was lucky to find a couple of top students from higher years (who literally came top of the year) to tutor me weekly. They saved my sad a$s.

For you I think option (1) might be the way to go, provided you are happy to keep going and not too nauseated by the idea of medicine.

Dentistry is an option but wouldn't dentistry be even more competitive than medicine?

PhD is also an option but you are racing against time. PhD takes years to finish and you are not that young anymore. It's a long way around. Certainly once you acquired PhD it will make re-applying medicine and specialties easier but PhD itself takes at least 2 years, average 3 - 4 years. That's a long time out of your peak years.

In any case , good luck!

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Don't know about allo but chances for D.O. are okish if you improve EVERYTHING (MCAT, previous weaknesses, science gpa etc). D.O. schools tend to be more forgiving because their admissions offices really do look at the whole applicant. Getting into a carib school is a little easier, if your stats are decent 25+ MCAT 3.4+ gpa you can be accepted down their no questions asked after failing out of DO or MD US schools.

So you are almost graduating?
 
So you are almost graduating?

I think this is his last year, class of 2014 I believe. If I recall, he did pretty well on boards too.

Just because someone fails 1-2 med school classes doesn't mean they aren't cutout for medicine. I hope I never have to experience it, but I know others who are currently worrying about that. A major problem I see is inconsistencies between schools with regards to their support or rules for dismissal. I know schools that have a 2 course policy, so any more than failing 2 courses (regardless of their credit hours) means an automatic dismissal. I also know some schools that allow people to repeat whole years multiple times. The student who fails out of the former school obviously did better than the latter, but they have very different outcomes in life.
 
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i think you should try to at least re take. you may not make in first round, but who knows, you might be qualified in second time. you know, there is always a second time. there is always chances, don't loose hope.try again and again. successful person once failed.you must remember that.
 
i am not good in advising, but i think, try some way out on what really suits you. you must know your capabilities. maybe you got the wrong course?or maybe you have taken the right path. you must answer those questions before deciding any thing. good luck to you..
 
If you're going to fail out of anything, medical school seems to be the best height from which to fall. I've known 3 med. school washouts. 2 became medical laboratory managers and the other got an MBA and does the 0.1%'s bidding as a healthcare consultant for a huge accounting firm. It was an expensive way for those folks to get there but it seems like society is still pretty damned impressed.
 
Certainly once you acquired PhD it will make re-applying medicine and specialties easier but PhD itself takes at least 2 years, average 3 - 4 years. That's a long time out of your peak years.

You mean PhD takes at least 4 years, average 5-6? At least in the U.S. it does! (I think other countries might have longer Masters programs and shorter PhDs?)

I agree that the PhD is not the most direct route if the goal is to become an MD. Unfortunately, I don't have much advice here as I'm just a lowly pre-med; I just wanted to point out this correction.
 
Caribs would be the next option. If the DO doesn't work out that is,
 
I failed out of a D.O. school and am trying to get back in. In my case anatomy was my clear-cut weakness so I've done all I can to improve in this area. I've taken extra coursework, become a TA for AnP and assist in autopsies. Since I needed to make a living I've gotten a research assistant job in public health. Did you have a specific area that was kicking your *****? If so I suggest a similar approach. I know for a fact that 9 US DO schools will look at a previously dismissed medical students who want a second chance. PM me for the list.

What are the schools?
 
Hi. What are some career options if someone fails out of med school? Undergrad was in Biology. From what I have gathered, these are some options but I would appreciate your opinions.

1. re-take the MCAT and reapply or reapply to another school without retaking

2. Dental school

3. PHd

Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

Remove PhD from your list. PhD adcoms look for very different things compared to MD adcoms. You need a serious amount of basic science research to be considered for admission. That's the most important part of your application.
 
bump...i withdrew from med school...i am trying to get back in...Ive recieved a rejetion from the the first carribean school i applied to....i think ppl overestimate the ease with which one can into these carribean schools :(
 
Just a bump here, I am currently going through some rough times at a DO school, I don't want to open up my personal life too much openly, but let's just say I am very burnt out, towards the end of my first year, feel completely empty, and literally passing anatomy by a fraction of a percentage. Other students have figured out I am struggling and have some issues and have put some distance between us, which I can understand, but only makes things worse on my end. Anyone up for re-opening this discussion?
 
2nd year for me was a complete soul-sucking miserable existential fail, barely survived, so I agree. Find an online depression/anxiety screen. See a doctor. Get some time off. Try to get a research year so it doesn't look bad.

And I'd also suggest not trying to get anything accomplished this summer. Part of my problem as an M2 was overloading my M1-M2 summer. I took no time off because I thought I needed stuff for residency. Know what residencies care about more? Scores. Prioritize.

Best of luck to you.
 
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So part of that is I'm not sure if I would want to return after time off, and I don't know what else I would do. I've always been pushed down this route by my parents (traditional indian family), and have carried the burden thus far on smarts, a solid work ethic, and I truly do believe my greatest life asset is interacting, connecting, understanding, and helping people. However, pursuing medicine in particular was never quite 100% my own passion, just something that I was pushed along into and somewhat aligned with my life skills and now the burden has carried me past my breaking point. However this is all I have ever been groomed to do for my entire life, and I would not have the support of my parents in anything but pushing through, no matter how many times I have tried to explain my stance
 
A little tough love then: if you're still hogtied to your parents' approval after you turn 21, that's the real problem. You can care about your family and be a good family member without letting them own your soul.

I suspect what's killing you is the prospect of "failing" at this big fat med school thing. Sure. And if you quit and try another job without being 100% sure it's what you want, you might fail at that too. This all is what happens. It takes cojones to stick with something you hate, and it takes cojones to leave. What you get on the other side, regardless, is the messy collection of experiences you need in order to have real maturity and valuable perspective as you move into a productive adulthood.

If you honestly have no idea what else you might do with your life, then your parents and advisers did you a disservice, and imho you started med school too young. A research year would be an excellent opportunity to exercise curiosity about other fields, and to decide for yourself who you want to be.

Best of luck to you.
 
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Depression is poorly managed on anonymous internet message boards. Please get help right away! seek out your school's counseling center, or ask your clinical faculty for help.

NOW!!!


Just a bump here, I am currently going through some rough times at a DO school, I don't want to open up my personal life too much openly, but let's just say I am very burnt out, towards the end of my first year, feel completely empty, and literally passing anatomy by a fraction of a percentage. Other students have figured out I am struggling and have some issues and have put some distance between us, which I can understand, but only makes things worse on my end. Anyone up for re-opening this discussion?
 
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There are always options in life. Just got to stay positive.
 
There is not always an appropriate support system. And they will kick you out for a bs reason if they feel like it with little concern for the lack of one doctor in the world. Med school admin are not all caring and empathetic like they say in the interview process.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. I'm in a PA program, is on the verge of falling-out and the program offers no assistance of any type.
 
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