Addressing class failure in personal statement for residency (ERAS)

[bugsterizer83]

I failed anatomy during my M1 year, and had to retake the class the year after, which was possible because I was a part-time student. The background to the story is in this thread here. Though this failure is obviously a red flag, I haven't had any academic or professionalism issues or any other red flags since. I am a US M.D. student and received a 225 on Step and honors in my M3 I.M. clerkship.

Should I be addressing this class failure in my personal statement when I apply for an Internal medicine residency? Any tips on how to address it? (i.e. just one or two lines or detailed explanation, etc.)

Thanks for your time

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[bc65]

No. Don't draw attention to it. If asked about it in an interview, be prepared to answer succinctly. "I had family/medical problems at the time, but I recovered and did well in my clinical years. " I doubt that anyone will care.

 

[operaman]

I failed anatomy during my M1 year, and had to retake the class the year after, which was possible because I was a part-time student. The background to the story is in this thread here. Though this failure is obviously a red flag, I haven't had any academic or professionalism issues or any other red flags since. I am a US M.D. student and received a 225 on Step and honors in my M3 I.M. clerkship.

Should I be addressing this class failure in my personal statement when I apply for an Internal medicine residency? Any tips on how to address it? (i.e. just one or two lines or detailed explanation, etc.)

Thanks for your time

You should absolutely address it regardless of what residency you apply to. Sounds like it was an isolated incident and something you managed to correct going forward. You have a good step 1 score and have done well on your clerkships so far, so you are otherwise a good solid applicant. A strong Step 2CK score would be a nice addition to further demonstrate that your previous failure was merely a bump on an otherwise smooth road.

I would address it but make it brief and make sure you have multiple people read it to rid it of any whiff of excuse-making. A big factor will be what the "health" reasons were for choosing it. If they are mental health reasons, then best not to mention it; anything physical you should definitely mention. Ditto for maybe some specifics about your family situation at the time as well. If non-mental health issues, start with saying you took the part time track and give the specific reasons; if mental, just keep it a bit more vague and focus soley on the family stuff and omit your personal health reasons. Basically 1-2 sentences laying the groundwork that you entered medical school intending to do 5 years.

Follow that part with a line about the anatomy failure, say that you took measures to adjust your study approach and repeated it the next year along with the other half of your M1 courses. Then go on to talk about how your new and improved approach to your classwork worked well in M2, led to a good step 1, lots of good wards stuff, etc. Keep the bulk of your statement about all the other positive things about you and what you love about IM.

The biggest thing people worry about with a story like yours - a random blip of failure on an otherwise solid record - is the it suggests underlying mental health or substance abuse problems. I'm not implying this is the case here since I obviously don't know you, but that is why my spidey sense always jumps to with stories like this. It's what every PD's sense will jump to as well. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of understanding for mental health issues in medicine despite so many people in the field personally afflicted by it.

Another important factor will be getting some solid letter writers and making sure some/all of them know about the earlier failure so they can comment on how awesome you are, how reliable, how professional, etc.

 

[bugsterizer83]

You should absolutely address it regardless of what residency you apply to. Sounds like it was an isolated incident and something you managed to correct going forward. You have a good step 1 score and have done well on your clerkships so far, so you are otherwise a good solid applicant. A strong Step 2CK score would be a nice addition to further demonstrate that your previous failure was merely a bump on an otherwise smooth road.

I would address it but make it brief and make sure you have multiple people read it to rid it of any whiff of excuse-making. A big factor will be what the "health" reasons were for choosing it. If they are mental health reasons, then best not to mention it; anything physical you should definitely mention. Ditto for maybe some specifics about your family situation at the time as well. If non-mental health issues, start with saying you took the part time track and give the specific reasons; if mental, just keep it a bit more vague and focus soley on the family stuff and omit your personal health reasons. Basically 1-2 sentences laying the groundwork that you entered medical school intending to do 5 years.

Follow that part with a line about the anatomy failure, say that you took measures to adjust your study approach and repeated it the next year along with the other half of your M1 courses. Then go on to talk about how your new and improved approach to your classwork worked well in M2, led to a good step 1, lots of good wards stuff, etc. Keep the bulk of your statement about all the other positive things about you and what you love about IM.

The biggest thing people worry about with a story like yours - a random blip of failure on an otherwise solid record - is the it suggests underlying mental health or substance abuse problems. I'm not implying this is the case here since I obviously don't know you, but that is why my spidey sense always jumps to with stories like this. It's what every PD's sense will jump to as well. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of understanding for mental health issues in medicine despite so many people in the field personally afflicted by it.

Another important factor will be getting some solid letter writers and making sure some/all of them know about the earlier failure so they can comment on how awesome you are, how reliable, how professional, etc.

Thanks for your reply. Yes it was mixture of family (marital problems) and mental health issues sadly (I was in voluntary residential treatment over my leave of absence). I've learned to deal with it better, though. Yes I suppose I shouldn't get into detail about it being a mental health issue.

 

[WilliamofOckham]

I can't imagine how this would fit into a PS, unless the experience fueled your interest in IM. If it did, great - work it in. If it didn't, you need to dedicate a meaty paragraph to the explanation of what happened. Now, I don't write long personal statements; I never come anywhere close to the limit. But you may just be pushing it with this, because if you decide to talk about it, you have to go all in - you can't just put in a couple of throwaway lines.