Facing repeating course in second year or repeating second year

[medstudent202]

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Hi.

I'm a second year medical student who has recently failed a pharmacology course by 1%. In other words, I had a 69%, when a 70% was passing.

The main reason why I did dismally was because during my second quarter, I had a concussion (had to go to the ER, get a CT scan and MRI, see a neurologist several months later) and I strongly believe that it affected my performance as I had cognitive issues and I found it much more difficult for me to memorize things than before for a few months.

I'm still waiting for my other grades to come in, but I have two options:

If I don't fail anything else, I remediate with a comprehensive exam. I've already been studying pharmacology for the past week as part of studying for step 1, so in essence I've already been preparing. I need a 70% or above to pass the thing, I'm pretty sure I can do better with 80 or 85%.

If I do fail another course, I have to repeat the year.

Part of the problem was that, during my first year, I had to repeat one course (a two week long course in limbs gross anatomy-failed it the first time) during the summer and successfully remediated with an 89%. I otherwise did well in gross anatomy.

So... what I'm wondering is the prospects for competitive residencies as questions about my recent performance will definitely be asked during interviews. Is a concussion a valid reason for an academic slump? Will they be more forgiving with a great step 1 score?

 

[TBV]

I would think with two remediations and on only one accounted for medically (not that they will likely care why you failed with a stack of people who didn't) that you'd be a long shot. But rock step one and slay third year along with some pubs and maybe I eat my words.

 

[GoldenFish]

First off - don't fail anything else.

Secondly - the concussion, being a medical reason, sounds like a legitimate excuse. That said, it's not the only time you haven't passed something, so understand that it will cast doubts on any use of the concussion as an explanation.

Thirdly - what's going to scare people away is a sustained pattern of subpar academic performance. Failing a course in first year, then again in second year is a red flag, as opposed to two at the very beginning of first year. That said, given that you have an possible explanation for the second one, I don't think it'll hurt you too much.

Here's what you need to do: What's your school's policy on reporting failures that were successfully remediated? Some schools won't report it if you successfully remediate, but others will. Next, you need to rock Step 1, and third year. With everything else in line - Step 1, third year grades, and some research under your belt, you'll match just fine. As of this point, the jury is still out on your academic record - a strong Step 1 and clinical performance will go a long way. I've known people in great programs and/or in very competitive specialties who have remediated. Just do your best from here on out.

 

[bc65]

Your school might want to take the concussion into account, but since you failed a course in your first year, not everyone will find that argument convincing.

I definitely would think long and hard before telling residencies that you failed a course because of a head injury.

 

[Chemdude]

I know of several people who failed pre-clinical courses and matched this year. Preclinical failures are a red flag, but they can be overcome. That said, matching into a competitive specialty is going to be a very uphill battle. The three most important factors in resident selection are board scores, clerkship grades and connections. Given your below-average to average performance in the pre-clinical years, it is unlikely that you will rock the boards and become a clinical superstar. You may have a valid excuse (i.e. concussion) for your poor academic performance in 2nd year, but most programs will view that as a cop out excuse. I am not trying to make you lose hope; it's important to be realistic when choosing prospective specialties.

 

[cbrons]

Be careful to use the head injury excuse if you already failed a class 1st year. I know people with 1st year class failures who also matched, which actually suggests to me that many PDs dont look at or even care about preclinical grades. Mind you these people all did at least OK on step I and got decent 3rd year grades. Those are definitely more important.

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