Leave of Absence looks bad for residency?

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koala37

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Hi everyone,

So I am currently an M1, didnt do too well on my first section ( we have a systems based curriculum at my school). anyways, I was .8% from passing, and then into the second section, I scored a 61% (need a 70 to pass). My final is in a couple days. I am trying to think positive, but with three failed exams, I am starting to have doubts. I lived at home with my parents all four years of undergrad and now i am far way from home, 8 hrs away. I dont know if I was unable to cope with all the changes of living on my own with the stresses of med school. I think being on my own & the stressful workload of med school led to the build up of even more anxiety and now I dont know if I am undergoing mild depression. I made an appt with a counselor too after my exams are done this week and plan on seeing a therapy to see if it is an underlying med condition. I dont wanna think about it, but how bad will it look to take a LOA for this reason? At my school, if you fail three sections, u are automatically kicked out, so it would be wise to take a LOA and defer a yr. I know medicine is for me. I love the material, but I have had major time managemnt issues, was always behind the material along with living alone and being out of the house for the first time. Did I just ruin my career and aspirations of becoming a succesful physican?

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You are failing exams. If it is due to homesickness, then I think you should go home and get your **** together and come back next year. If it is due to study skills, and the failures have made you homesick, then you need to keep adjusting and see what works for you.
 
take advantage of an loa and come back.
if you get kicked out, there is no coming back, anywhere, ever.
 
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Hi everyone,

So I am currently an M1, didnt do too well on my first section ( we have a systems based curriculum at my school). anyways, I was .8% from passing, and then into the second section, I scored a 61% (need a 70 to pass). My final is in a couple days. I am trying to think positive, but with three failed exams, I am starting to have doubts. I lived at home with my parents all four years of undergrad and now i am far way from home, 8 hrs away. I dont know if I was unable to cope with all the changes of living on my own with the stresses of med school. I think being on my own & the stressful workload of med school led to the build up of even more anxiety and now I dont know if I am undergoing mild depression. I made an appt with a counselor too after my exams are done this week and plan on seeing a therapy to see if it is an underlying med condition. I dont wanna think about it, but how bad will it look to take a LOA for this reason? At my school, if you fail three sections, u are automatically kicked out, so it would be wise to take a LOA and defer a yr. I know medicine is for me. I love the material, but I have had major time managemnt issues, was always behind the material along with living alone and being out of the house for the first time. Did I just ruin my career and aspirations of becoming a succesful physican?

First there is a difference in taking a medical LOA vs LOA. They are looked upon differently. Whatever you do, you will have a red flag on your app from now on. You will likely have to depend on board scores and future grades to get yourself looked at on an even playing field with your classmates. That said Oms2 is somewhat correct. I know a couple friends who failed out first year who went to the Carib but we will see next year how that works out for them.
 
i forgot about bones at rvu. i believe he's the only documented instance on sdn of a dismissal given another chance by a u.s. med school.
 
Also stop posting details on SDN. This is going to be a personal issue for you, treat it as such. If you decide to share later it's your choice.
 
Any LOA is a question for applicants to our residency. So is failing grades. That said, people still get interviews here that have gone through that either because they look impressive on paper otherwise, or they have done an audition rotation and wow'ed us. A couple of years ago we ranked a candidate in our top ten who repeated a year becasue of grades and failed a step the first time. But he really, really rocked during his audition and was like a art f the team from day one. It CAN be done. Can it be done at all residencies? No, because some of them are more strict with giving out offers. There loss, IMHO.
 
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