Failed EMT course

[meepleep62]

I feel so dumb for this happening, and this has been bothering me for a while now. I've been volunteering with my local EMS squad for nearly two years now, but not as a certified EMT. However last summer, I took up an EMT course, but ultimately failed one of the practicals...twice. How does this affect me and my position as an applicant. This is so frustrating because the entire course was a breeze and I never had any trouble with it at all except for that one practical. I feel so stupid and unworthy of even applying to med school if I can't even do an EMT course designed for high schoolers. I don't know how to prove that I am not dumb and not incapable. I have a 3.95 gpa and I'm not saying that just to show off but to explain how frustrating this whole situation is. If anyone can advise I'd really appreciate it. Should I mention this as a failure at all? I feel like that would make adcoms think I'm stupid.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Your WAMC.

What are my chances (GPA 3.949)

N/A

forums.studentdoctor.net

Fortunately, a common question on the Interview trail is, "Tell me about a time when you failed/disappointed yourself/etc." Own it and develop your talking points.

 

[NOLZAOINK]

One way I suggest is to write about all your frustrations, feelings of unworthiness, etc. in a diary (written or typed or even audio). Do that how many times you feel the need to, and after a while, you will not only be keeping a "record" but might also see how much you can reflect from this experience as time goes on.

You may seek "postmortem examinations" too from your EMT peers and coaches that might still be worthwhile even if you can't repeat the practical again (not sure if that is the case) when you are more comfortable.

 

[jhmmd]

One way I suggest is to write about all your frustrations, feelings of unworthiness, etc. in a diary (written or typed or even audio). Do that how many times you feel the need to, and after a while, you will not only be keeping a "record" but might also see how much you can reflect from this experience as time goes on.

You may seek "postmortem examinations" too from your EMT peers and coaches that might still be worthwhile even if you can't repeat the practical again (not sure if that is the case) when you are more comfortable.

Worthy advice. Noteworthy.

 

[Serendipitykitcat]

Failing a practical has nothing to do with your ability to be a successful physician. Sometimes, we as humans make mistakes in judgment. Maybe you underestimated the situation, maybe the overall material was too easy that you failed to prepare properly. Whatever the reason, you couldn't bypass that obstacle that day. That failure was only a single timepoint in the long trajectory of your life. The most successful people I interacted with, were people who were able to pick themselves up after a setback, reflect on what let to it, learn from it, forgive themselves for being human and move on! I promise you, that if you use this setback as a motivation to improve how you tackle these situation, it might be the best thing that happened to you. You want to make your mistakes when the stakes are low and you have the opportunity to pick yourself up and try again. Be kind to yourself!

 

[meepleep62]

Go ask Grammarly.

What do you mean?

 

[candbgirl]

Didn’t you ask this last week or a couple of weeks ago?
Just checked and you did. Oh and I see @Mr.Smile12 linked it. What advice are you really looking for this time?

 

[meepleep62]

Didn’t you ask this last week or a couple of weeks ago?
Just checked and you did. Oh and I see @Mr.Smile12 linked it. What advice are you really looking for this time?

I want to know whether or not I should mention this at all? I know a user told me to mention this as a time I failed, but I am afraid they will see this as me being inadequate or too dumb for medical school.

 

[meepleep62]

Failing a practical has nothing to do with your ability to be a successful physician. Sometimes, we as humans make mistakes in judgment. Maybe you underestimated the situation, maybe the overall material was too easy that you failed to prepare properly. Whatever the reason, you couldn't bypass that obstacle that day. That failure was only a single timepoint in the long trajectory of your life. The most successful people I interacted with, were people who were able to pick themselves up after a setback, reflect on what let to it, learn from it, forgive themselves for being human and move on! I promise you, that if you use this setback as a motivation to improve how you tackle these situation, it might be the best thing that happened to you. You want to make your mistakes when the stakes are low and you have the opportunity to pick yourself up and try again. Be kind to yourself!

Thank you so much for this reply! I really hope you are right and medical schools can be as forgiving and kind as you!

 

[meepleep62]

Your WAMC.

What are my chances (GPA 3.949)

N/A

forums.studentdoctor.net

Fortunately, a common question on the Interview trail is, "Tell me about a time when you failed/disappointed yourself/etc." Own it and develop your talking points.

Will med schools not see this as inadequacy or that I'm too dumb?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Will med schools not see this as inadequacy or that I'm too dumb?

My interviewers want to see how you handle failure. If you think it's an inadequacy, they'll agree. If you think it was a learning moment, they'll also agree.

 

[LizzyM]

Did this EMT course carry college credit? If so, you must report having taken it even if you did not apply the credits toward your degree. If not, you need not report it.

When you say "practical" do you mean that you were assessed on your ability to perform a specific procedure or task and that you were unable to do to the satisfaction of the instructor? Did you ask for feedback and take that into account when making a second attempt? If not, you should do so before making a third attempt. Looking back on the performance, assess it yourself? Were you overly confident? too nervous? clumsy? inattentive? forgetful of key steps or out of step with the sequence of steps? What went wrong? Why?

You may be a good candidate for medical school but you need to be able to assess your own performance, identify weaknesses, and remediate them. That is a very important aspect to success in medical school.

Med schools also want to see resilience. You will not get 100% every time and you need to be able to pick yourself up, figure out what went wrong, correct it, and go again. This is a good learning opportunity although it might not feel like it in the moment.

 

[ablanco]

If it's not a college credit/on your transcript, pretty sure it doesn't need to be shown as a failure in transcript. Your activity can be volunteering in an EMS organization as "insert role title".

I assume the practical was a simulated scene where you had to get enough rubric points without hitting any critical fails and you may have messed up on the remediation/2nd attempt on it? If it's not grounds for failure of the program then it's honestly not the biggest of deals. Study up, practice more for the next one and do better. I was heavily involved in running EMT education and proctored many practicals that did sometimes involve repeat failures for a variety of reasons. Everyone's clinical skills start somewhere. Many of those students have gone on to medical school and are now residents (humorously before me lol).

 

[Rachapkis]

Give me a grinder hell bent on improving over a natural who takes his/her talents for granted. Effort will allow you to overcome almost anything. If you are not good at something, taking thoughtful steps to improve (and dedicating the necessary time) will allow you to become an expert down the line.

Keep your chin up and keep working diligently toward your dreams.

 

[meepleep62]

Did this EMT course carry college credit? If so, you must report having taken it even if you did not apply the credits toward your degree. If not, you need not report it.

When you say "practical" do you mean that you were assessed on your ability to perform a specific procedure or task and that you were unable to do to the satisfaction of the instructor? Did you ask for feedback and take that into account when making a second attempt? If not, you should do so before making a third attempt. Looking back on the performance, assess it yourself? Were you overly confident? too nervous? clumsy? inattentive? forgetful of key steps or out of step with the sequence of steps? What went wrong? Why?

You may be a good candidate for medical school but you need to be able to assess your own performance, identify weaknesses, and remediate them. That is a very important aspect to success in medical school.

Med schools also want to see resilience. You will not get 100% every time and you need to be able to pick yourself up, figure out what went wrong, correct it, and go again. This is a good learning opportunity although it might not feel like it in the moment.

It was not for college credit.

It was a practical as you say, strapping a patient onto a backboard in under 10 minutes time. I actually practiced many times before taking the practical, going to my EMS squad building and training on my crew. If anything, I was only slightly nervous, just because I knew our instructor was notorious for picking on students for no reason. I only had two chances to take the practical, so I would have to redo the course all over again to get an EMT certification. In fact, I actually did everything perfectly except for one error in which another instructor believed was not failure criteria but actually vouched for me not to be failed, but the lead instructor was determined to fail me and my partner.

However, I wanted to ask, what do I do now? Should I mention to this to medical schools at all? How would I explain how I have been volunteering for my EMS squad without a certification for two years? Could I possibly mention it as a time I failed and how I handled it, although I haven't actually succeeded on another try?

 

[meepleep62]

If it's not a college credit/on your transcript, pretty sure it doesn't need to be shown as a failure in transcript. Your activity can be volunteering in an EMS organization as "insert role title".

I assume the practical was a simulated scene where you had to get enough rubric points without hitting any critical fails and you may have messed up on the remediation/2nd attempt on it? If it's not grounds for failure of the program then it's honestly not the biggest of deals. Study up, practice more for the next one and do better. I was heavily involved in running EMT education and proctored many practicals that did sometimes involve repeat failures for a variety of reasons. Everyone's clinical skills start somewhere. Many of those students have gone on to medical school and are now residents (humorously before me lol).

It's just as you say!

I failed the practical twice, and that is the limit at the place I took the practical at for , so I would have to retake the entire course again for the certification. I was just really frustrated because 1) I wanted an EMT cert so I could actually lead calls and not just assist on them 2) I am worried about how medical schools would perceive this if they found out

 

[LizzyM]

You are not required to report coursework for which you don't have a college transcript.

People volunteer all the time without credentials... as long as someone with credentials is supervising you, there is a lot of latitude granted, which is how you got away with 2 years of volunteering. I wouldn't even think to ask about EMT credentials.

If you are asked about a time you failed or were disappointed, you could use this anecdote but you'd want to be careful given that you never did pass. If you have any other disappointments or failures, something else might be a better choice.

 

[Serendipitykitcat]

It's just as you say!

I failed the practical twice, and that is the limit at the place I took the practical at for , so I would have to retake the entire course again for the certification. I was just really frustrated because 1) I wanted an EMT cert so I could actually lead calls and not just assist on them 2) I am worried about how medical schools would perceive this if they found out

I am an EMT. You absolutely don't need to disclose it. It's a technical course that doesn't carry any academic credit. I can guarantee no one will ask you about credentials. Most of people on the committee won't even know what are the required credentials to practice as an EMT for that particular locale. As long as the squad you are volunteering with followed all the rules, you are good. You failed because of a technical issue, that you can address by taking the class again, or you can choose to let it go. Lots of students work on their campus squad without ever getting credentialed and go on to be great physicians. If you decide to try again and you succeed in getting certified (which I am certain you will be able to do), that would be a great anecdote to write about in your application about dealing with failure. This instance of momentary failure does not define you. I can guarantee you that almost every MD on that committee had a onetime failure story that puts your story to shame!