Failed NBME. Need advice asap.

[Peekatchu]

Hello,

I'll make it short and simple. I was in a Caribbean med school. Failed my last chance at the NBME comp exam. I have been dismissed from my college.

Would it be possible to reapply to another med school?
And if yes what are my chances of getting in?

Side note - I never applied to med school in the US. So as a drop out from a Caribbean med school what are my chances of getting accepted into a US med program after taking the MCAT?

Any options / advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

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[Promethean]

Is medical school really where you need to be right now?

Applications to medical school are going to ask you to disclose that you attended a medical school before. If you've been dismissed for academic failure, you are going to have to disclose that. I'm not saying that it is impossible, but you have not put yourself into a great position for going right into another medical school. Schools are going to ask themselves, why should they give you a second chance when there are so many people who didn't try to cut corners and are trying for their first chance? That is going to be a hard sell, and one that you aren't prepared to make right now.

Maybe if you kill the MCAT (what were you doing in medical school without having taken that exam?) or if you go and get some clinical experience as a PA or nurse or something, before you apply again, maybe someone will take a chance on you. But the fact that you bumped up against this exam and bounced off it should tell you that you need to reconsider a few things before you try to jump into the next snake pit and do it all over again.

 

[Promethean]

I take it that the exam that you failed was not actually Step 1, but was a school-based exam to assess your readiness to take Step 1. It is one of the hurdles that Caribbean schools use to winnow out their lower performers who are least likely to do well on the USMLE exams. They don't have rotation sites for all of you, so their business model depends on a certain number of people that they bilked for tuition failing out at this point in the process.

That said, your best bet if you do want to continue your medical education would be to appeal to your school to give you yet another chance. Maybe you could request a leave of absence to study. Maybe you can come up with an extenuating circumstance or find someone on the faculty to champion your case. Appeal if you can.

 

[Promethean]

If you have the money to burn, you can always apply to a different Caribbean school. One accepted you. Another one probably will as well.

 

[Promethean]

If you are paying for this with loans, though, get out while you can.

 

[bedevilled ben]

Hello,

I'll make it short and simple. I was in a Caribbean med school. Failed my last chance at the NBME comp exam.

Probably not the advice you want to hear, but you've been given multiple opportunities to move on in your medical education and you've been unable to do so. Your desire to continue on is commendable, but at this point you should consider cutting your loses, or at the very least, pause to re-evaluate where you should go next. At least for me, the NBME comp exams were decidedly less-rigorous than the Step exams. A dismissal from a Caribbean school makes you a non-starter for any US or Canadian school, and starting over or transferring into a low-tier Caribbean school is a foolhardy death-wish. Swallow your pride and consider alternative career choices.

 

[Cuenta Secreta]

Just don't apply to UNIBE school of medicine. Its a scam

 

[hallowmann]

Any way you can turn your dismissal into a voluntary withdrawal? Contact your school and see if this is possible. Don't give up on doing that, because even if you don't do medicine, it might be worth it.

With that, a high MCAT, extracurriculars and a good story, it might be possible to get into a US school (possibly DO). I knew a few people on the interview trail that essentially did that. That was 4 years ago though. If that fails though, I would really move on and look into another career.

 

[spudbunny]

If you still want to continue on the MD path - take a look at this company to help you with the NBME / Step 1 exam. http://www.boardsready.com

 

[KingD]

Drive with uber.
www.uber.com/apply

 

[npappasan]

I love these threads!!! You can't unring the bell my man. Unfortunately, your attempt at a career in medicine as a physician, at least in the US and Canada, is most likely over...

 

[aformerstudent]

This might be a little late but have you asked what the passing score is at every other Caribbean school? Some schools have a higher passing score than others. Lets say your school has a pass of 69 and you got a 65 and another school has a pass of 62 then you can take that score and present it to that school. I can't offer you specifics but I've heard of med 5's at my old school doing just that because our school has a higher minimum pass than others. Don't give up unless you absolutely must give up at this point.

 

[Major procrastinator]

Caribbean schools have no legit system, except SGU, Ross..no one will ever know you went to these schools if you have not ap. plied for any usmle exams. You have no loans and there is no record in the USA. Go apply to a European medical school and START OVER, you cannot afford to transfer or have any connection with a school you have left/kicked out off. Starting over means you will only have one medical school transcript for ERAS.

Having said all this. If you have failed numerous times to pass an NBME, you are never going to pass step 1. Why did you not take an online NBME exam for practice????, until you can at the very least get a 200 on that your not going to pass a school given NBME or step 1.

Sorry to be blunt but even starting over is pointless because you're going to be in the same situation with more debt and wasted years of potential experience and income in a different career. If your heart and dreams is set on giving medicine one more chance. Go do a proper step 1 course and work your ass off. if after 3-4 months you can score 220+ on NBME 17, 18 and 19 then continue. If you still fail to even pass, it's time to move on man. Sometimes no matter how bad you want it, its just not meant to be.