Bummed about losing M1 summer travel, anything I can do about it?

[bngli]

I'm super bummed because I ****ed up first semester and failed Anatomy by 3%. Now I have to retake it during the summer, including lab - and I hated lab. And it is all in person while first semester it was half-virtual. I mean I'm glad I won't get kicked out of school or have to repeat the entire year, but it still sucks that I will waste my "last summer" on a ****tier version of class I already took. My bad grades were the first two, and I really pulled up my grades by the last two - it just wasn't enough. It was a tough adjustment, it just happened too late. I was so looking forward to using this summer to travel to Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam which has been on my list for years but got derailed due to COVID (it was originally supposed to be my gift to myself before school started).

I'm semi-considering asking the committee if I could take Drexel's online version and then just study while in Thailand, coming back for the midterm. But asking them to take an online version at another school when they recommend taking an on campus one here will piss them off right (not to mention high likelihood of rejection). Our regulations document also has a mention of a "reexamination" being possible, but I don't know what the criteria is and the e-mail didn't mention it. I just fear negotiating with the committee because I'm worried they'll just get pissed and put me on some kind of ****list. Is it worth any sort of try? At this point I'm just resigned to losing my summer.

I'm so bitter about the whole thing. Anatomy isn't even that big of a component of Step 1 from what I hear, and I have no interest in surgery anyway. I did well in my other classes that have a bigger part in Step 1, and now my entire summer is ruined by this one class, which just so happens to have a huge time commitment outside of studying. I'll also have to spend hours with a group of people who are probably taking anatomy for the first time for another profession and will know I am a med student who failed it.

Are there any opportunities to take some time off to travel coming up in later years, maybe 4th? Or was this pretty much it?

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

Weekend trips. As somebody who hates flying and only does it if necessary, these trips and road trips are perfect. I can provide good examples for a given region

 

[ChymeofPassion]

For a huge multi-month trip to SE Asia likely that ship has sailed until attendingship. There are multi-week blocks after you take step 1 before M3 (I had 3 weeks off, but it depends on when you take your exam), and between graduating medical school and residency (a month or so). Not only is requesting another schools online class a horrible idea for the impression you'd give of yourself to important people (eg. Dean writing a letter about you to residency), if you failed your own schools class, what makes you think you'd pass another schools class in Thailand abroad (unless this is somehow easier by reputation)?

It sucks I know, but I'd buckle down, make sure you pass, do weekend trips, and maybe split up SEA into 2 month long trips over the aforementioned periods of time.

I agree about your assessment of anatomy, I did 0 dedicated studying of anatomy and passed Step 1, it's very low yield and if you're not going into surgery, a bummer to memorize.

Good luck!

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

Having to repeat sounds terrible my guy/gal. I wouldn’t have the stamina to take a single one of these tests again. However, it’s clearly lose (temporarily) this vacation or possibly your future career path. You can have your cake and eat it too in a way.

Weekend trips to other cities & places while in med school & residency, get to become a doctor and then take a big trip to Asia or where-tf-ever you want. Or…speed things up…take a 4-6 week research elective in fourth year post-match and buzz off to wherever. Work remotely?

They say delay of gratification is the name of our game, but I prefer picturing it like incremental gratification. Treat yourself in slightly more grand ways over time.

Setbacks happen but you’re future attending self will thank you when you’re finally on that trip in a few years.

 

[Billiam95]

Be thankful you have been given a chance to remediate the class and weren't expelled - some schools would have shown you the door. Think of missing out on your summer as penance for screwing around, and don't let it happen again.

 

[psyspy]

For a huge multi-month trip to SE Asia likely that ship has sailed until attendingship. There are multi-week blocks after you take step 1 before M3 (I had 3 weeks off, but it depends on when you take your exam), and between graduating medical school and residency (a month or so). Not only is requesting another schools online class a horrible idea for the impression you'd give of yourself to important people (eg. Dean writing a letter about you to residency), if you failed your own schools class, what makes you think you'd pass another schools class in Thailand abroad (unless this is somehow easier by reputation)?

It sucks I know, but I'd buckle down, make sure you pass, do weekend trips, and maybe split up SEA into 2 month long trips over the aforementioned periods of time.

I agree about your assessment of anatomy, I did 0 dedicated studying of anatomy and passed Step 1, it's very low yield and if you're not going into surgery, a bummer to memorize.

Good luck!

M4 year?

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Be thankful you have been given a chance to remediate the class and weren't expelled - some schools would have shown you the door. Think of missing out on your summer as penance for screwing around, and don't let it happen again.

This. There are 3 ways this could have played out: summer class, repeat the year, be expelled.

You got the best option by a long shot.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

M4 year?

Not sure, not an M4. But I've heard you have time between graduation and residency.

 

[ortnakas]

This. There are 3 ways this could have played out: summer class, repeat the year, be expelled.

You got the best option by a long shot.

100% this. Losing your trip sucks but OP- you actually got the best scenario considering the circumstances, don’t mess it up asking for special treatment (and don’t be delusional- studying for a remediation while on an adventure 3 month vacation around the world would backfire tremendously)

 

[PTPuser]

SE Asia will always be there. This failure turn into passing might not.

 

[lanzhou_lamian]

I guess every school is different but at ours, there are still several pockets of time to take a big trip. You could start studying for step 1 early so that you only have to study for a few weeks during dedicated, then use the rest for travel. One person at our school took this to the extreme, took step before dedicated even began, then had an 8 week vacation. There will be a similar pocket of time around step 2. You can also possibly frontload your ms4 year so that you have some extra travel time at the end of ms4.

 

[DarkBluMage]

Be grateful you’re not dismissed from med school and focus on making sure you don’t fail any more classes. You could be out of med school right now and your chances of becoming a doctor would have been completely gone. Focus on that instead of not being able travel.

 

[wellbutrin.girlfriend]

Hi comrade, just checking in to say that I'm in a similar position and it really really sucks. I had to cancel a bunch of plans that I was really looking forward to in order to stay and re-take this class. I agree with others suggesting that it would likely be a poor choice/leave a bad impression to ask about taking the online course. But I also just wanted to validate that it's possible to be grateful to be able to retake the class/not get kicked out/not have to repeat the year while ALSO being really bummed about missing out on things that are important to you. Those feelings aren't mutually exclusive. For me, the best remedy is to focus on learning from this experience and committing to find a way to make the best out of a tough situation. Again echoing the above, my partner and I are taking a couple small trips on weekends and I'm planning on rescheduling some of my travel for the time after boards/before rotations.

I'm really sorry for what you're (we're) going through. Medical school sucks. But I don't think it's worth it to jeopardize something you've already sacrificed so much for to travel. Plus if your school is like mine and keeps some form of an F on your transcript (mine keeps the F, reflects that you remediated successfully and doesn't count the F in your GPA, but it's still there), we have an uphill battle for residency and definitely want admin on our side if at all possible. Good luck and feel free to reach out if you need any moral support while you're in the trenches this summer.

 

[psyspy]

You should have time for some travel in M4 year, but yeah if you’re struggling right now don’t even think about it before then