Failed a rotation after ERAS - Requesting Advice

[jdent909]

I'm a 4th-year student and up until this point I haven't had any red flags on my resume. I submitted ERAS a few days before it opened and all was going well. Right afterwards I failed a 4th-year core IM rotation by missing the deadline to submit the required assignments (aquifer cases, patient logs, etc.) (Note: this is not the IM clerkship from 3rd year, it is one of the required IM rotations in 4th year). The grade for the course is 50% preceptor evaluation, 50% assignments. I received a 91% on the preceptor eval with great remarks (the rotation itself went really well). However, I got distracted with application season and general life stuff and I forgot to submit the assignments on time. After submitting the assignments a day late, I was informed that there are no exceptions for late assignments and I would be receiving a 0% for that portion of my grade. Overall, this resulted in failure of the rotation. I take full responsibility for this failure. I've never made a mistake like this in the past, and all I can chalk it up to is my whole-hearted distractedness surrounding application season. In the end, the school decided that I will need to remediate the rotation in January. I've been told that the "F" will remain on my transcript, and beneath that it will show the remediated course with a final grade of "C" upon successful completion of the remediated rotation. There is an extra block built into our schedules that I can retake it in, so this will not affect my ability to graduate on time.

So now I am requesting advice on how/when/if I should disclose this information to programs. I've heard transcripts don't usually get updated between ERAS submission and match day. I'm wondering if I should wait until I've successfully remediated the rotation and then reach out to programs prior to the date rank lists are due to disclose the F on my transcript and explain it. My biggest fear is that if I don't disclose it there is potential for a program to "unmatch" me after match day by citing dishonesty. However, I also fear that disclosing a failed rotation prior to match day will really hurt my chances of matching. I fear that most people will see the words "failed rotation" and immediately see red flags indicative of misconduct. I never thought in a million years that after all of the hard work, research, volunteering, studying, sacrificed sleep, etc. I would be taken down by missing a deadline on something SO EASY. Any and all advice on how I should proceed from here is much appreciated.

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[DrStephenStrange]

Unless this failure is going to show up on your dean's letter or anywhere else on your application, do not, I repeat DO NOT disclose this info on your interviews if you wanna match. Most schools I know send grades up to when applications were submitted, with no update until after match/graduation (when you have to send your full transcript to the program you matched at). As long you make it through medical school and graduate, no program will care whether you failed that rotation or not after match. Just my 2 cents from my own experience.

 

[HopelessMS]

@NotAProgDirector

 

[NotAProgDirector]

This is a tough situation and I'm not certain what the "right" answer is. There may not be a right answer -- you'll need to pick the option you can best live with.

I am certain that in the past, there was an ERAS requirement that schools disclose to programs any new issues of "major import" to programs that occur after transcripts and MSPE's are uploaded. Professionalism issues, and failure of courses, would certainly count. But now I hunt through the ERAS website and I can't find this at all, so perhaps it was removed. Or my search skills have atrophied.

The school would have the full right to update your MSPE to include this if they wanted to. You should probably ask what they plan to do. If they do update it, the new one simply replaces the old one. If your application has already been reviewed, no one may notice at all. There isn't a flag or anything.

If not, then it will be your choice whether you disclose this now, after interviews, after match, or not at all. If you disclose it pre-match, then for certain it will have some effect. Some programs will simply remove you from their rank list. Perhaps others won't care. I can't tell you what the results will be, but it certainly can't be good.

If you wait until post-match, your program may be very disappointed. They probably can't "unmatch" you -- they would need a legally acceptable reason to do so, and as long as your application was accurate as-of the day you signed it. There's nothing in the signed certification in the application that requires you to disclose new information. It would be unlikely you would fail onboarding over this. But your program may be very unhappy with you, and you could start with some sort of remediation / warning that if similar stuff happens you could be in trouble quickly.

If you don't tell them at all, they may never even notice. Or, they may notice and now be even angrier than in the above paragraph, since now you have this fail and tried to hide it.

You could also call ERAS and ask them if they have a policy on this.

 

[GoSpursGo]

This is a tough situation and I'm not certain what the "right" answer is. There may not be a right answer -- you'll need to pick the option you can best live with.

I am certain that in the past, there was an ERAS requirement that schools disclose to programs any new issues of "major import" to programs that occur after transcripts and MSPE's are uploaded. Professionalism issues, and failure of courses, would certainly count. But now I hunt through the ERAS website and I can't find this at all, so perhaps it was removed. Or my search skills have atrophied.

The school would have the full right to update your MSPE to include this if they wanted to. You should probably ask what they plan to do. If they do update it, the new one simply replaces the old one. If your application has already been reviewed, no one may notice at all. There isn't a flag or anything.

If not, then it will be your choice whether you disclose this now, after interviews, after match, or not at all. If you disclose it pre-match, then for certain it will have some effect. Some programs will simply remove you from their rank list. Perhaps others won't care. I can't tell you what the results will be, but it certainly can't be good.

If you wait until post-match, your program may be very disappointed. They probably can't "unmatch" you -- they would need a legally acceptable reason to do so, and as long as your application was accurate as-of the day you signed it. There's nothing in the signed certification in the application that requires you to disclose new information. It would be unlikely you would fail onboarding over this. But your program may be very unhappy with you, and you could start with some sort of remediation / warning that if similar stuff happens you could be in trouble quickly.

If you don't tell them at all, they may never even notice. Or, they may notice and now be even angrier than in the above paragraph, since now you have this fail and tried to hide it.

You could also call ERAS and ask them if they have a policy on this.

The closest thing I could find is this from the NRMP: https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/NRMP-Match-Codes-of-Conduct_Applicants_Final.pdf . Second main bullet point, applicants must update with “educational … experiences that could affect their ability to begin training.”

I would imagine the OP would have the grade from remediation back by the time ROL is due, so if that is the case and he remediates successfully he is probably legally fine. The program could still be unhappy for all the reasons outlined above, or they might not care.

This all assumes that this is strictly considered an educational problem. If this was seen as a professionalism issue and you received any sort of warning for professionalism… then I think you are stuck having to disclose as that will come up during onboarding.

 

[jdent909]

Thank you for your input. There is no professionalism issue here. I understand that would be a very different situation.

 

[jdent909]

Unless this failure is going to show up on your dean's letter or anywhere else on your application, do not, I repeat DO NOT disclose this info on your interviews if you wanna match. Most schools I know send grades up to when applications were submitted, with no update until after match/graduation (when you have to send your full transcript to the program you matched at). As long you make it through medical school and graduate, no program will care whether you failed that rotation or not after match. Just my 2 cents from my own experience.

When you say “from my own experience”, did you have something similar like this happen? And it turned out okay?

 

[DrStephenStrange]

When you say “from my own experience”, did you have something similar like this happen? And it turned out okay?

Not the same exact experience, but similar. Failed Level 2 in the middle of interview season last year and had to retake it in December. I didn't report the failure right away on ERAS, so I ended up getting interviews anyway with only Step 1 and Level 1. Although, I did come clean during all my interviews that I did fail and was working on a retake. If I did report that failure, I do think I would have been screened by a lot of programs. The whole process is a numbers game. You want enough interviews to make sure that you'll match, and if you get an interview from a program, you're going somewhere on their rank list. Even if it's at the very last rank list spot, you still have a chance. Also, from my experience with the match, most schools only send their MSPE once.

Edit: and yes, I matched at a really good neurology program.

 

[Kardio]

After submitting the assignments a day late, I was informed that there are no exceptions for late assignments and I would be receiving a 0% for that portion of my grade. Overall, this resulted in failure of the rotation.

Man. That’s rough.

 

[Dantes]

Already good advice here but man, I can't believe your school did you dirty like that. What's the remediation...submitting the assignments?

 

[jdent909]

Already good advice here but man, I can't believe your school did you dirty like that. What's the remediation...submitting the assignments?

I have to repeat the whole rotation. So I’ll be doing another IM rotation that month + the assignments. And yes, I feel very let down by my school. It was an honest mistake, I got distracted, and I’m really paying for it.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Already good advice here but man, I can't believe your school did you dirty like that. What's the remediation...submitting the assignments?

At the risk of being that guy... this is perhaps an unnecessarily harsh penalty, but nobody did anything that was unfair. If the posted penalty for turning in assignments late was to receive a 0, then if the school accepted it late from one student (without advance notice and express permission) it would in fact be unfair to all of the other students who managed to turn the assignment in on time while juggling the same stressors as the OP.

Again, I'm not trying to kick the OP while they're down or saying they are a bad person. The OP accepted responsibility, seems genuinely contrite and I believe this was an honest mistake. But I say it more to emphasize that the school's response here is probably typical, and other students should not think that most schools would find this acceptable or allow this to slide.

 

[Dantes]

At the risk of being that guy... this is perhaps an unnecessarily harsh penalty, but nobody did anything that was unfair. If the posted penalty for turning in assignments late was to receive a 0, then if the school accepted it late from one student (without advance notice and express permission) it would in fact be unfair to all of the other students who managed to turn the assignment in on time while juggling the same stressors as the OP.

Again, I'm not trying to kick the OP while they're down or saying they are a bad person. The OP accepted responsibility, seems genuinely contrite and I believe this was an honest mistake. But I say it more to emphasize that the school's response here is probably typical, and other students should not think that most schools would find this acceptable or allow this to slide.

The punishment doesn't fit the crime. The fact that the school has a policy like this is seems overly punitive in nature. My school would give you an incomplete grade until everything was turned in. To outright fail a rotation for something other than clinical deficiencies or professionalism seems a bit much.

 

[GoSpursGo]

The punishment doesn't fit the crime. The fact that the school has a policy like this is seems overly punitive in nature. My school would give you an incomplete grade until everything was turned in. To outright fail a rotation for something other than clinical deficiencies or professionalism seems a bit much.

One could argue that failing to meet a clearly stated deadline for a major course component is a professionalism issue. I'm not sure I would make that argument... but it also sort of doesn't matter what I think.

 

[Dantes]

One could argue that failing to meet a clearly stated deadline for a major course component is a professionalism issue. I'm not sure I would make that argument... but it also sort of doesn't matter what I think.

I meant real professionalism issues...not what med school admins have twisted the word to mean nowadays.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I meant real professionalism issues...not what med school admins have twisted the word to mean nowadays.

In any event, this is all kind of oblique to the bottom line: don't assume that schools will be understanding for slight deviations. If a school sets an expectation, just do it even if you think it's stupid.

 

[Ganon]

And remember that when schools deviate from what is expected of them that you'll have no recourse without a lawyer.

Because they have all the power, and abuse it regularly.

 

[Med Ed]

I And yes, I feel very let down by my school. It was an honest mistake, I got distracted, and I’m really paying for it.

Someday you may thank your school. In 8 months you will be an intern somewhere with the authority to write prescriptions and an awful lot of responsibility. The practice of medicine can be extremely unforgiving, and "I got distracted" isn't going to help should you ever end up deposed or on the stand.

The first thing you need to do is get clarity about what happens to the information regarding your failure. To do that you need to meet with someone in your student affairs office ASAP. If programs are bound to find out during the season then you may want to be proactive in order to mitigate the effects.

If things will stay under wraps then it is probably to your benefit to only disclose if asked. If programs don't have processes in place to suss out the rare student who fails a 4th year rotation then that's on them.

If you ask a program director they will almost always advise that you disclose. That's not because it helps you, but because it helps them. If possible they'd get you to disclose the time you pushed your sister into a wall when you were six. I'm not judging them, btw, they have a tough job sifting through 500 million applications, and landing a bad resident is frequently a traumatic experience for everyone.

 

[jdent909]

I wanted to provide a happy update on this situation! In January I remediated this rotation. In early February I sent out my Letter of Intent to my top program and my "love letters" to the programs near the top of my list. In mid-February, I received full points for the rotation and my transcript was updated so that under the original "F" there is the remediated "C". I then reached out to the programs (two weeks before ROL's were due) and informed them of the failure, the successful remediation, and how this situation has helped me grow as a future physician. I received positive feedback from some of the program directors thanking me for my honesty, while other programs simply didn't reply. I made the decision to disclose in advance of rank order lists being due because my anxiety couldn't handle doing this any other way. Flash forward to this past Friday when I successfully matched at my top program :'). This situation has caused me to lose so much sleep over the past ~6 months, and I am SO happy to be able to put this behind me. Hopefully this doesn't happen to anyone in the future, but I wanted to provide my n=1 experience to whoever may need it someday.