Failed anatomy?

[brattpitt]

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Has anyone failed anatomy during the 2010-2011 school year?


Is anyone signed up for the Drexel online summer anatomy remediation course? ...or have you taken it last year? What was your experience like?

I'm taking this class in about 3 weeks and just wanted to connect with people who are going through the same thing or have gone through the same thing.

It's always nice to know you're not alone. 🙂

 

[Gabby]

I can promise you you're not alone. In every class, there are people who fail anatomy. When I was a first year, several of my classmates failed. Doesn't mean anything. Look at it like just another med school experience and do well this summer. Best of luck!

I am surprised your school doesn't offer its own remediation.

 

[caffeined]

I'm also signed-up for the Drexel online anatomy course this summer, so you're definitely not alone!

Have you received any info from them yet about how to login to their academic blackboard? (Not the page where you pay for the course... they were very prompt in collecting my money!) I haven't been able to find any concrete info about the course except for the info on this page http://neurobio.drexelmed.edu/Education/SummerCourse/summergrossanatomy.php Have you received any further info about it?

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

What?

Your school won't remediate you, but expect you to pay $$ for some online course at another program??

 

[haujun]

Has anyone failed anatomy during the 2010-2011 school year?


Is anyone signed up for the Drexel online summer anatomy remediation course? ...or have you taken it last year? What was your experience like?

I'm taking this class in about 3 weeks and just wanted to connect with people who are going through the same thing or have gone through the same thing.

It's always nice to know you're not alone. 🙂

I though PCOM offers remediation exam and give chance to remedial pass it.

 

[brattpitt]

I'm also signed-up for the Drexel online anatomy course this summer, so you're definitely not alone!

Have you received any info from them yet about how to login to their academic blackboard? (Not the page where you pay for the course... they were very prompt in collecting my money!) I haven't been able to find any concrete info about the course except for the info on this page http://neurobio.drexelmed.edu/Education/SummerCourse/summergrossanatomy.php Have you received any further info about it?

I haven't received anything about the course (with the exception of the login for payment).

Let's keep in touch. I'll let you know if I hear anything from Drexel.

I hope the 2 exams are very similar in style to the "practice tests" we have to take before going on to the next unit.

 

[MedStudentWanna]

What?

Your school won't remediate you, but expect you to pay $$ for some online course at another program??

Seriously, what a scam! I think this kind of thing deserves a place on the pro/con thread. Your schools are screwing you guys over!

 

[brattpitt]

Just got an email from the course director.

He sent a link -- login along with password.

Sign in & change your password.

 

[Gheorgia]

Has anyone failed anatomy during the 2010-2011 school year?


Is anyone signed up for the Drexel online summer anatomy remediation course? ...or have you taken it last year? What was your experience like?

I'm taking this class in about 3 weeks and just wanted to connect with people who are going through the same thing or have gone through the same thing.

It's always nice to know you're not alone. 🙂

Is this a medical anatomy course? How can it be an online gross anatomy class if you don't have cadavers to dissect or gross anatomy specimens for practical exams?

 

[tehdude]

How do residency programs view failed courses?

 

[JaggerPlate]

How do residency programs view failed courses?

Poorly?? How else would they view a failed course? People fail courses and still match each year, but I don't see how this could be viewed as anything but negative ... even though I've heard pre-clinical grades are far less important compared to board scores.

 

[ShyRem]

Most people fail at least one course or exam during med school. It was actually commented on during my interviews that I had never failed an exam or had to remediate a class in my entire med school adventure.

 

[tehdude]

Poorly?? How else would they view a failed course?

What I was asking was just how poorly. I know preclinical grades aren't that important, but repeating an entire year is a death sentence. I'm just curious if remediating is somewhere between the two or if it is equally as unimportant as preclinical grades. Since so many people remediate, I would assume it's not so big of a deal, but I've never heard one way or the other.

 

[JaggerPlate]

Most people fail at least one course or exam during med school. It was actually commented on during my interviews that I had never failed an exam or had to remediate a class in my entire med school adventure.

They put all of your exam scores on your transcripts??? How did they know you never failed an exam? In my book, failing an exam is NOT the same thing as failing a course, and I'm going to guess that big chunk (majority) of med students haven't failed a course in their first two years ... obviously this is something residency programs are going to prefer.

What I was asking was just how poorly. I know preclinical grades aren't that important, but repeating an entire year is a death sentence. I'm just curious if remediating is somewhere between the two or if it is equally as unimportant as preclinical grades. Since so many people remediate, I would assume it's not so big of a deal, but I've never heard one way or the other.

A friend told me she talked to a PD one time who said that he looks at the pre-clinical grades and just makes sure you passed everything. Obviously he doesn't put a lot of emphasis, but still wants to see that 70 ... I also read in the Anesthesiology forums (if I remember correctly) that another PD was giving an applicant a hard time for having a few C's on his transcript and was asking for explanations.

My guess is that it's going to be highly variable depending on the program, the PD, and the field in general. Additionally, I haven't applied to residency yet, so I'm not going to spout off about things I don't know, but my GUESS is that repeating a year is a huge deal and they will still ask/put some weight on failed courses. Again though, other residents will probably give their .02 and it's worth more than mine.

 

[Regal Regan]

I know preclinical grades aren't that important, but repeating an entire year is a death sentence.

Melodramatic much?

 

[tehdude]

Melodramatic much?

Not all DO students want to match family medicine in West Virginia.

 

[brattpitt]

Is this a medical anatomy course? How can it be an online gross anatomy class if you don't have cadavers to dissect or gross anatomy specimens for practical exams?

Yes, it's a medical school anatomy course -- that's why it's called a remediation course. There are videos that go along with the course. My school had to give me permission to take the online course vs. going to one of the schools AAMC lists for gross anatomy remediation (for example, Nebraska, Alabama). So it all depends upon your school's rules.

The reason I made this thread is to give hope to the folks out there who had a rough academic year (like I did). I did not acclimate well to med school my first year.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it's not a good thing to fail a course, but it's not the end of the world and it's certainly NOT THE END OF YOUR FUTURE CAREER.

Time will tell. I'll see how this affects me as I go on i.e. apply to residencies. I'm sure I'll have to explain the elephant in the room -- the F in anatomy. And if the program director doesn't want me, so be it e.g. I don't get the interview, I don't match with the program. I don't want to be where I'm not wanted. It's a 2 way street.

 

[Regal Regan]

Not all DO students want to match family medicine in West Virginia.

Fortunately, people who repeat first year match into all kinds of programs/locations, not just FM in WV.

 

[Rickettsia]

I'm just curious which schools make you find you own anatomy class for the summer. Mine teaches the entire course again (new first years can take it, too). There are also people taking remediation exams for many different systems.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Most people fail at least one course or exam during med school. It was actually commented on during my interviews that I had never failed an exam or had to remediate a class in my entire med school adventure.

Wait, what?

I don't think many would disagree with me in saying that 99%+ of people never fail a class. As far as how important a failed exam is...I suppose it varies by your school's curriculum structure. At a school where a failed exam can essentially halt your progress until you've remediated it, I guess it would be a somewhat bigger deal to never have had to do that (although, again, I doubt the majority of the students in any graduating class would have had to do this).

At schools where an individual failing exam grade gets rolled into a test average for a given class, you'll find that many very good students have failed multiple exams. It's not reported anywhere because their averages in each class are quite good and they've passed everything.

 

[JaggerPlate]

Wait, what?

I don't think many would disagree with me in saying that 99%+ of people never fail a class. As far as how important a failed exam is...I suppose it varies by your school's curriculum structure. At a school where a failed exam can essentially halt your progress until you've remediated it, I guess it would be a somewhat bigger deal to never have had to do that (although, again, I doubt the majority of the students in any graduating class would have had to do this).

At schools where an individual failing exam grade gets rolled into a test average for a given class, you'll find that many very good students have failed multiple exams. It's not reported anywhere because their averages in each class are quite good and they've passed everything.

Agreed. I think the overwhelming majority of students never fail a class. Failing an exam is a different story, and I've heard most people refer to the "everybody fails one" thing many times. However, unless you went to a school that put EVERY single exam you ever took on your transcripts instead of simply putting the grade you earned in the course, I don't see how failing an exam but passing the class overall matters ... i.e. they are definitely not the same thing.

 

[patel2]

Most people fail at least one course or exam during med school. It was actually commented on during my interviews that I had never failed an exam or had to remediate a class in my entire med school adventure.

How would they know you never failed an exam? Does ur deans letter actually comment on that?

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Agreed. I think the overwhelming majority of students never fail a class. Failing an exam is a different story, and I've heard most people refer to the "everybody fails one" thing many times. However, unless you went to a school that put EVERY single exam you ever took on your transcripts instead of simply putting the grade you earned in the course, I don't see how failing an exam but passing the class overall matters ... i.e. they are definitely not the same thing.

The only thing I'll add to this is that I know some MD schools (Case Med comes to mind) basically force people to remediate every "failing" block exam grade even if their overall average in the program is still passing. In these cases, I believe some sort of notation of this is made on the transcript. However, I don't know how common practices like this are among medical schools - and even then I don't believe the majority of people at schools like Case ever have to remediate an exam.

I agree that it would be absurd if any school posted each and every one of a student's class test scores on a transcript (no school does this, right)?

 

[JaggerPlate]

(no school does this, right)?

Yeah, I mean ... if failing a "test" in one schools curriculum means like failing a big portion of the year (for example, from what I remember from the interview day ... failing a "test" at LECOM-B with PBL would be like failing 1/4 of your semester), then I see how this could go on there ... but I don't think any school would list all your individual test grades.

Not only would this literally entail hundreds upon hundreds of individual numbers on a transcript, but it would also make no sense for a PD to look over an application and say "oh, I see you received an 85% in Anatomy I, but you got a 69% on the second exam ... would you mind explaining that to me?"

I'm 99.9% sure transcripts are your final grades for each course (or percents if your school does it this way) and probably your rank. Maybe someone wiser than me can chime in though.

 

[Everglide]

We were told about 10% of our class will fail a course, 70% will fail an exam. At least that's what our administration told us before starting school.

... our transcripts don't even have percentiles or grades unless 90%+

 

[JaggerPlate]

We were told about 10% of our class will fail a course, 70% will fail an exam. At least that's what our administration told us before starting school.

Makes more sense.

 

[Lil Mick]

A good chunk of people do fail a class at some point during MS1 and MS2 (probably 10-20% at my school). They remediate in the summer, and they have a note on their transcript after the initial grade that they passed with an x% score. If the class as a whole has a lot of people flunking a particular class, they usually curve the class so that they don't have to remediate a third of the class in one subject.

As for failing an exam, it happens to most people during medical school. For our class, it was the first anatomy exam or the last biochemistry exam (most people did fail that--stuff on an exam we didn't cover well)...

 

[brattpitt]

Although this is under the osteopathic folder, my message applies to both allopathic & osteopathic students. It's actually something I wish someone had posted.

If you find yourself failing gross anatomy and your school does not offer a remediation option and you have to pick from this list:
http://services.aamc.org/smc/index.cfm

Out of all those option I picked the Drexel Online gross anatomy remediation, and I am so happy I did. I had to get the OK from my school to take this option. Specifically, my school said that they would let me take the online option only because I was so close to passing. (It also explains why there is no lab portion to the online class...I'm assuming it's because the students allowed to take it were all very close to passing as well.) So make sure to check with your school because you register/pay for anything.

I just finished the class today. The class is very well organized. There are no curve balls. You're given the syllabus from day 1. There are no surprises. It's a very fair class and I would say it's more big picture, clinically oriented anatomy (rather than just memorizing origins, insertions, random facts, etc.)

Let's face it...it's not a good feeling to fail at anything, let alone gross anatomy. I really appreciated the flexibility of an online class. I was able to be at home, rather than travel to another state.

Why I am posting this? Obviously, I'm not getting compensated or trying to advertise for Drexel, I'm just sharing my experience.

 

[ijemed]

Has anyone failed anatomy during the 2010-2011 school year?


Is anyone signed up for the Drexel online summer anatomy remediation course? ...or have you taken it last year? What was your experience like?

I'm taking this class in about 3 weeks and just wanted to connect with people who are going through the same thing or have gone through the same thing.

It's always nice to know you're not alone. 🙂

brattpitt, I was wondering if you could give more details about your experience with Drexel's summer gross anatomy remediation course. I am considering taking it next summer but wanted to know how helpful it is. Do you feel like you gained a solid understanding, especially since the course is only approx. 6 weeks long? Was it taught in such a way that you still remember the information even as you progress further through your medical training? Did you notice a significant difference in your knowledge base before and after the course? Any feedback you could provide would be greatly appreciated.