Failed SMP - Future?

[DrBuffett]

Hi all -

(Please forgive me if this is discussed elsewhere, but I searched and could not find it in a post or thread)

I'm curious to know - If you or someone you know completed an SMP but did NOT perform well enough to get into any MD or DO school, what career path did you/they ultimately pursue?

I have not done this, but I realize that for those considering SMPs, it is a bit of a gamble. Do really well and you prove your abilities to adcoms; do less-than-great and you may worsen your chances than if you had never done the SMP to begin with. I think this will help with the SMP vs. other masters vs. postbacc decision.

Thanks in advance!

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[southerndoc24]

Plenty of factors can come into play with this scenario. How bad was the failure? Did the person just fall short in one class or was there a struggle in almost all of the courses? Any serious or life-changing events take place while in the SMP? The individual would need to figure out what went wrong and make the necessary changes so that it won't happen again and that the student really learned from the failure. The options will depend on what the individual's goals are. People have done poorly and went on to careers such as medical device sales or working for the CDC. Some are working in research labs. Some are doing a 2nd SMP after retaking MCAT. Some go into fields like podiatry. But whatever the scenario the person needs to fix what went wrong during the failure and make sure that it doesn't happen again along with weighing the potential financial impact that the decision will have on their life.