Disclosing a Failed Experience to Med Schools?

[dohopeful13]

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[Soccer171983]

Obviously you need to put this down as one of your jobs work experiences that is a gap year coverage. I do not know how much will be asked about it by med school but if they call for references you need to make sure you have stellar ones because that will not fair well in your application if there are bad things to say about you. If you have a reasonable gpa, mcat, research, job experiences and then the teaching may make you look more well rounded but I do not think i would bring more attention to this than needs to be.

 

[Lannister]

This is a hard one, I would definitely be confused if I saw half a year of teaching on an application, that makes it pretty obvious that you quit halfway through the year. On the other hand, it was probably a super valuable experience that could really add to your application. Personally, I think I would include it, but like the above poster said, try not to draw too much attention to the fact that you quit. And have a good and honest explanation ready in case you get asked during interviews. I think if you say a student assaulted you, people would understand (or at least I would understand).

And what a sad situation for those kids. 🙁

 

[Catalystik]

So I graduated back in May and my plan is to apply for the 18-19 cycle. To fill my gap years, I decided to become a teacher as it's something I've always wanted to try. I knew this wouldn't be easy since I was hired at a very low performing, Title 1 middle school, but 4 months in and it's very obvious I am not cut out for this. Several of my students are disruptive and disrespectful (been cussed out several times by kids and even a parent) to the point where teaching comes second to babysitting most of the time.

Morale is low across the faculty as due to admin being unsupportive in regards to discipline (the district applies high pressure to keep suspension numbers down), and the kids are often given free reign with little consequence (most of the parents do not care either). In addition many of my students lack basic reading comprehension and remedial math skills, and I would say 15-20% are functionally illiterate. We’re also being asked to get test scores up to a nearly impossible number in order to keep the school from being closed. To add to this, I was recently assaulted by a (thankfully pre-pubescent) student who charged me unprovoked in the hallway and ran into me. I did not provoke this student – he’s one of our worst behavior problems and he was upset about a conflict with another student. The student was initially given a 45 day suspension, but his mother threatened to sue because he has ADHD and he was back in school after only 4 days.

In short, I’m done with this place and plan to give notice and leave at the end of the semester in December because I'm miserable. I have no teaching experience or education degree and am just not cut out for this. I genuinely do care for many of my students, but I’m not a miracle worker and if there’s no accountability for problem students what can I do? I hate it, and I don't want to do them a disservice by just showing up to collect a check (although many of my fellow teachers have told me this is what they do). It’s also soaking up nearly all of my free time to the point where improving my app is impossible. My main issue is whether or not to cite this experience on my med school app. On one hand, it was a negative experience and I risk being labeled a quitter for breaking my contract. On the other hand, the experience has been incredibly eye opening, has allowed me to be a leader in my classroom, and will have taken up 6 months of my life. I have kept my part-time hospital gig during this time, so there’s no employment gap to explain. I also have a fairly well-paying scribe job lined up to start after the semester, so I could always say I left to refocus on medicine, which is partly true.

TL;DR: I plan to leave teaching after only one semester instead of finishing the year. Should I mention this job to medical schools or is it better to leave it off completely?

You're not obliged to list the experience. Many grads from your class are still looking for a job, so not having been (apparently) employed won't look fishy since you've been otherwise engaged in activities. But if you do elect to mention it, keep in mind that if a contact is made to verify the employment, it won't be to ask for a reference, but to validate your claimed timeframe and hours. You can use someone from the payroll office to do that, as opposed to a superior who knows you well.

 

[dohopeful13]

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[LizzyM]

You would not be the first teacher/medical school applicant who bailed after the first semester. The reason I've seen at least once or twice was safety issues in the school and lack of social support by school administration. Sounds like you are singing the same song. No shame in that. You can list it if you wish and we would not think poorly of you for it -- it is a difficult job in many circumstances and there is no shame in not getting through the year.

That said, if you leave it off the application, it would be okay, too, as you are not obligated to list every single experience you've ever had.

 

[Mr. Saigon]

So I graduated back in May and my plan is to apply for the 18-19 cycle. To fill my gap years, I decided to become a teacher as it's something I've always wanted to try. I knew this wouldn't be easy since I was hired at a very low performing, Title 1 middle school, but 4 months in and it's very obvious I am not cut out for this. Several of my students are disruptive and disrespectful (been cussed out several times by kids and even a parent) to the point where teaching comes second to babysitting most of the time.

Morale is low across the faculty as due to admin being unsupportive in regards to discipline (the district applies high pressure to keep suspension numbers down), and the kids are often given free reign with little consequence (most of the parents do not care either). In addition many of my students lack basic reading comprehension and remedial math skills, and I would say 15-20% are functionally illiterate. We’re also being asked to get test scores up to a nearly impossible number in order to keep the school from being closed. To add to this, I was recently assaulted by a (thankfully pre-pubescent) student who charged me unprovoked in the hallway and ran into me. I did not provoke this student – he’s one of our worst behavior problems and he was upset about a conflict with another student. The student was initially given a 45 day suspension, but his mother threatened to sue because he has ADHD and he was back in school after only 4 days.

In short, I’m done with this place and plan to give notice and leave at the end of the semester in December because I'm miserable. I have no teaching experience or education degree and am just not cut out for this. I genuinely do care for many of my students, but I’m not a miracle worker and if there’s no accountability for problem students what can I do? I hate it, and I don't want to do them a disservice by just showing up to collect a check (although many of my fellow teachers have told me this is what they do). It’s also soaking up nearly all of my free time to the point where improving my app is impossible. My main issue is whether or not to cite this experience on my med school app. On one hand, it was a negative experience and I risk being labeled a quitter for breaking my contract. On the other hand, the experience has been incredibly eye opening, has allowed me to be a leader in my classroom, and will have taken up 6 months of my life. I have kept my part-time hospital gig during this time, so there’s no employment gap to explain. I also have a fairly well-paying scribe job lined up to start after the semester, so I could always say I left to refocus on medicine, which is partly true.

TL;DR: I plan to leave teaching after only one semester instead of finishing the year. Should I mention this job to medical schools or is it better to leave it off completely?

Sounds like a crappy situation. You mentioned that you don't have a teaching background - if you're TFA-affiliated (you don't have to answer this), you can reach out to your regional team and possibly get another school placement.

 

[deleted804295]

Schools like these are the reason why we need to bring back the age where teachers had paddlesticks in their drawers.

In my parents home country, kids like these would get major butt whoopings and fix up immediately. Suspensions only make kids dumber and is a poor form of punishment.

Honestly I'm conflicted because this is such a strong part of your application but at the same time you haven't stated the effect you had on the students. If you were to change even one and have a good story to back it up I'd keep it on the application.

 

[dohopeful13]

Sounds like a crappy situation. You mentioned that you don't have a teaching background - if you're TFA-affiliated (you don't have to answer this), you can reach out to your regional team and possibly get another school placement.

I'm not TFA, although the school is on that level and has TFA teachers. They let you teach high need areas with only a bachelor's due to the shortage. At the end of the day, I feel like I'd just be doing a disservice to the kids by staying any longer when my heart isn't in it and I'd rather be building my app. Everyone here has been incredibly helpful taking the time to give me advice, and I really appreciate it. I definitely feel less worried about mentioning it now. It's been such an eye-opening experience for me that I'll probably list it but I guess I won't explicitly mention the negative aspects/quitting in the activity section. If it comes up during secondaries/interviews, I certainly have plenty of reasons to explain why I left.

 

[Mr. Saigon]

Schools like these are the reason why we need to bring back the age where teachers had paddlesticks in their drawers.

In my parents home country, kids like these would get major butt whoopings and fix up immediately. Suspensions only make kids dumber and is a poor form of punishment.

Honestly I'm conflicted because this is such a strong part of your application but at the same time you haven't stated the effect you had on the students. If you were to change even one and have a good story to back it up I'd keep it on the application.

Schools “like these” are not the students fault. This is a systemic issue.