Failed first year. Should I keep going?

[SillyGenius]

I failed my first semester of M1 year and I have to remediate the year. I'm at a low tier US MD school.

I was hoping for anesthesiology. I've been reading some stuff online and I had a friend tell me that failing the first semester of med school is the kiss of death for any future residency.

I'm currently on a leave of absence. If I have a very poor chance, or no chance at all of getting into a residency, is there any point in me going back?

I'm confident I can turn things around and get my grades back on track. I've reflected on what happened and I think I can fix it.

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[Med Ed]

Repeating first year isn't as uncommon as you may think. It will limit your residency options, but they certainly aren't dead.

The big question is what you will do differently.

 

[SillyGenius]

Repeating first year isn't as uncommon as you may think. It will limit your residency options, but they certainly aren't dead.

The big question is what you will do differently.

Well, I know what I need to fix. I didn't study as much as I should have and was not as productive as I would have liked. I met with my academic support team at my school and have plans to follow up regularly. I know I can fix my studying issues and get back on track.

I just want to know what my options are for residency, realistically.

I'm at a low tier US MD school. My home program only has FM, IM, and general surgery. Are there any chances at competitive specialties like anesthesiology? What would it take to match anesthesiology at this point? Honors in most of my rotations 3rd and 4th year with a 260 Step 2?

I want to be realistic. If I have little to no chance at anesthesiology, then I don't mind going for another specialty.

 

[Med Ed]

Well, I know what I need to fix. I didn't study as much as I should have and was not as productive as I would have liked. I met with my academic support team at my school and have plans to follow up regularly. I know I can fix my studying issues and get back on track.

I just want to know what my options are for residency, realistically.

I'm at a low tier US MD school. My home program only has FM, IM, and general surgery. Are there any chances at competitive specialties like anesthesiology? What would it take to match anesthesiology at this point? Honors in most of my rotations 3rd and 4th year with a 260 Step 2?

I want to be realistic. If I have little to no chance at anesthesiology, then I don't mind going for another specialty.

All that can be said with certainty is that hyper-competitive fields like ortho and derm are toast.

Whether or not you could land something mid-competitive will depend on your performance going forward. If you come back and glide through the rest of the pre-clinical, do above average on clerkships, and stick Step 2, then it's possible to write off your repeat.

That said, my experience with year-repeaters is that half of them never make it to graduation, and those that do usually continue to be below average, ultimately landing in FM, IM, peds, etc. The ones who miraculously start killing it are few and far between.

In other words, right now you just need to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and fixing your immediate problems. Worry about the rest later.

 

[Esmolol]

Just out of curiosity - why anesthesia?

 

[mrbreakfast]

I've been reading some stuff online and I had a friend tell me that failing the first semester of med school is the kiss of death for any future residency.

The harsh truth is that failing the first semester of med school, anecdotally, is a very strong predictor for not successfully completing medical school. Students fail the first semester, repeat M1 year and pass the first semester, but then fail the second semester. At that point, it's over.

First things first, break that trend. Start worrying again about residency when you're doing OK in second year.

The bright side is that, from a perspective of residency, the best year to repeat is M1 year.

 

[Goro]

The harsh truth is that failing the first semester of med school, anecdotally, is a very strong predictor for not successfully completing medical school. Students fail the first semester, repeat M1 year and pass the first semester, but then fail the second semester. At that point, it's over.

First things first, break that trend. Start worrying again about residency when you're doing OK in second year.

The bright side is that, from a perspective of residency, the best year to repeat is M1 year.

Well, it depends on why they failed.

Most med students who fail are having some type of life problem, especially mental health issues. Second to that will be family issues or physical health issues.

If the op can A, figure out why they failed and fix that or B, take a year off and heal, then they may be able to come back stronger.

In our experience these are not going to be Rockstar students, but they can graduate and make it into Primary Care fields.

 

[GoSpursGo]

So, getting back to the question at hand—it is conceivable you could make it into anesthesia, but I may be unlikely. So to answer your question of whether you should continue, you should ask whether you would be happy with winding up in a primary care field.

I think the answer SHOULD be yes, because that job is probably better than whatever you would do outside of medicine. But only you can answer that question for yourself.

 

[Billiam95]

I think the answer SHOULD be yes, because that job is probably better than whatever you would do outside of medicine.

What most people in medicine who have never worked a day outside of medicine will never understand.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Agree you should worry about identifying the reasons you weren't successful 1st semester . Once rectified, you can attack next year fresh. Your residency chances will depend on your achievements from there on. I also agree that competitive residencies are likely out of reach. Anesthesia is a little different as there are uni affiliates that have good programs. With a strong showing, which most folks who fail 1st yr aren't able to produce, you could match. But that is 3 yrs away and many things can change for you, your interests and the residency match game is constantly evolving. First things first. Good luck and best wishes!

 

[SpideyMD]

are you at OUWB? PM if you are I wanna chat!

 

[SillyGenius]

I failed the first year of med school and need to remediate M1 year. I know why I failed and I know I can fix it. I'm get that I'm in a bad spot, but I know that I can do better. My dream is to do anesthesiology. But, I understand that I am very likely to end up in either FM or IM.

I'm at a low tier MD school. I came into med school with 1 first author publication and 2 mid-author publications from a masters I did. The masters was in neuroscience and so that's what those studies are about.

I'm going to pre-study for next year and do some research. I was wondering what field of medicine/ what kind of research studies I should be getting involved in for FM/ IM. Would studies on diabetes be best? Blood pressure control? vaccination rates? Not sure what area I should focus on since FM and IM are very broad fields

 

[Mr.Smile12]

If you failed M1, all your chips should go to passing your repeat and not failing future semesters. Otherwise your dream to even apply for anesthesia is over. Focus on the right things... many experts have told you to.

Talk to your student dean. Follow their directions. Otherwise you risk losing staying in medical school.

 

[SillyGenius]

If you failed M1, all your chips should go to passing your repeat and not failing future semesters. Otherwise your dream to even apply for anesthesia is over. Focus on the right things... many experts have told you to.

Talk to your student dean. Follow their directions. Otherwise you risk losing staying in medical school.

Like I said, I know that I will be able to pass my future semesters. I'd rather not go into detail of why I failed M1, but I know I can fix it.

I have like a year to sit around and study. I would like to get involved in some research as well. Just trying to figure out what kind of research would be best for applying FM and IM (since this is more of a realistic specialty due to the first year failure)

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Like I said, I know that I will be able to pass my future semesters. I'd rather not go into detail of why I failed M1, but I know I can fix it.

I have like a year to sit around and study. I would like to get involved in some research as well. Just trying to figure out what kind of research would be best for applying FM and IM (since this is more of a realistic specialty due to the first year failure)

That's fair. I'm just interested what your student dean presented as options. You know what research is available to you and whether that dean recommended you do this while you are under probation.

 

[SillyGenius]

That's fair. I'm just interested what your student dean presented as options. You know what research is available to you and whether that dean recommended you do this while you are under probation.

Didn't talk to my dean about research during my leave. I'm also out of state, so going back to campus would be kinda hard right now. I live in a big city and can probably get some research near my hometown. I'm just not sure what categories of research IM and FM applicants usually have. Is it a mix of everything since FM and IM are so broad? I mean I could see how peds applicants would have research about peds, but in FM and IM the patient population can be so diverse and the topics of treatment can also be very diverse

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Didn't talk to my dean about research during my leave. I'm also out of state, so going back to campus would be kinda hard right now. I live in a big city and can probably get some research near my hometown.

... Won't you need an approval to do this from this student dean? What did your handbook say? You need input from the student dean who should advocate for you in your promotion out of probation.

 

[SillyGenius]

... Won't you need an approval to do this from this student dean? What did your handbook say? You need input from the student dean who should advocate for you in your promotion out of probation.

I did a masters before med school have access to the institution and the PI whom I did my masters under. Since the institutions are separate, I don't think I would need to let my med school know?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I did a masters before med school have access to the institution and the PI whom I did my masters under. Since the institutions are separate, I don't think I would need to let my med school know?

You were a student enrolled at the other institution before, right? I defer to the other faculty here, but I suspect you need to tell your student dean about it if you were placed on probation.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I did a masters before med school have access to the institution and the PI whom I did my masters under. Since the institutions are separate, I don't think I would need to let my med school know?

I think what @Mr.Smile12 is getting at is that your school may have a policy that doesn't allow students who are under probation to participate in research. Which on its face makes sense--even if you are confident that you know why you failed, as a general policy students who are not meeting academic benchmarks probably shouldn't be spending extra time on other activities.

 

[Med Ed]

I did a masters before med school have access to the institution and the PI whom I did my masters under. Since the institutions are separate, I don't think I would need to let my med school know?

My school wouldn't care, but I can't speak for any others.

Our repeaters go on LOAs to wait for the next academic year to begin, and in the meantime we don't really monitor their activities. Doing research through a personal connection with a PI would be no different than coaching a Little League team.

 

[Med Ed]

I think what @Mr.Smile12 is getting at is that your school may have a policy that doesn't allow students who are under probation to participate in research. Which on its face makes sense--even if you are confident that you know why you failed, as a general policy students who are not meeting academic benchmarks probably shouldn't be spending extra time on other activities.

This would more likely apply if the OP were currently enrolled while on probation. But it sounds like he's treading water back home until fall 2024.

 

[GoSpursGo]

This would more likely apply if the OP were currently enrolled while on probation. But it sounds like he's treading water back home until fall 2024.

Ah fair enough that is a good point since he is on LOA