Failed SMP now what? Advice needed.

[iqe2010]

A little over a year ago I was at my wit’s end. Working a dead end job that I lost because of COVID and was rejected from a slew of SMPs. Then I got a call that I thought would change my life, I was accepted into an SMP and I was so excited to get another chance at medicine.

Now I’m nearing the end of my SMP and while I worked very hard I still came up short in one of my classes. Even though I have two more final exams to take I know I will not be passing one of my classes and therefore won’t be walking nor getting my degree.

I’m crushed. I don’t know what to do anymore. I uprooted my life and moved to a new state for this SMP. I was determined that this was it. I’ve learned so much and met such awesome people. But I failed at the main goal, which was to prove I was medical school ready.

I feel I should stop pursuing medicine. I’m 29, I’ve never had a real career. I’ve spent most of my 20s in school studying for mcat and in post-bacc classes. I feel like such a failure.

I’ve thought about nursing, thats another 15 months minimum of school if I can get into an accelerated program. I’ve also thought about teaching. My BS is kinda useless (Exercise Science & Biology). I thankfully have no student loan debt.

Any advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

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[operaman]

Sorry to hear that. I think you answered your own question already: this is probably the end of the road as far as becoming a physician. I doubt you get in anywhere at this point and honestly that’s probably for the best. As you said, you have no debt and you don’t want to be one of those people who starts failing medical school classes, repeating years, and then washing out or failing to match.

It’s time to consider other healthcare professions or possibly a different field. You could explore health administration or something along those lines. Then there’s always pharma or device sales. Those guys make some pretty solid money and seem pretty darn happy. Lots of options out there and now is the time to start figuring out which one is right for you. Hopefully these last 10 years have also given you some insight on what your strengths and weaknesses are and what might be a good fit.

 

[iqe2010]

Sorry to hear that. I think you answered your own question already: this is probably the end of the road as far as becoming a physician. I doubt you get in anywhere at this point and honestly that’s probably for the best. As you said, you have no debt and you don’t want to be one of those people who starts failing medical school classes, repeating years, and then washing out or failing to match.

It’s time to consider other healthcare professions or possibly a different field. You could explore health administration or something along those lines. Then there’s always pharma or device sales. Those guys make some pretty solid money and seem pretty darn happy. Lots of options out there and now is the time to start figuring out which one is right for you. Hopefully these last 10 years have also given you some insight on what your strengths and weaknesses are and what might be a good fit.

How does one get into sales?

 

[operaman]

How does one get into sales?

Not sure exactly. The reps I know climbed the ladder but I’m fuzzy on the details. I googled it and found this post from a major device company:

7 ways to break into medical device sales

One of the most common questions the Talent Acquisition team at Stryker receives is, “How can I enter the medical device sales field without prior experience?” Medical device sales is a highly competitive and demanding field, but it is also very rewarding, so it’s no surprise that many people...

www.strykercareersblog.com

I would imagine pharma sales is similar.

 

[Proudfather94]

A little over a year ago I was at my wit’s end. Working a dead end job that I lost because of COVID and was rejected from a slew of SMPs. Then I got a call that I thought would change my life, I was accepted into an SMP and I was so excited to get another chance at medicine.

Now I’m nearing the end of my SMP and while I worked very hard I still came up short in one of my classes. Even though I have two more final exams to take I know I will not be passing one of my classes and therefore won’t be walking nor getting my degree.

I’m crushed. I don’t know what to do anymore. I uprooted my life and moved to a new state for this SMP. I was determined that this was it. I’ve learned so much and met such awesome people. But I failed at the main goal, which was to prove I was medical school ready.

I feel I should stop pursuing medicine. I’m 29, I’ve never had a real career. I’ve spent most of my 20s in school studying for mcat and in post-bacc classes. I feel like such a failure.

I’ve thought about nursing, thats another 15 months minimum of school if I can get into an accelerated program. I’ve also thought about teaching. My BS is kinda useless (Exercise Science & Biology). I thankfully have no student loan debt.

Any advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

With exercise science you could be a personal trainer right? They make decent money.

 

[gramnegative]

Perfusion is really cool. You aren't prescribing but the stuff they do during bypass is sci-fi.

 

[Goro]

A little over a year ago I was at my wit’s end. Working a dead end job that I lost because of COVID and was rejected from a slew of SMPs. Then I got a call that I thought would change my life, I was accepted into an SMP and I was so excited to get another chance at medicine.

Now I’m nearing the end of my SMP and while I worked very hard I still came up short in one of my classes. Even though I have two more final exams to take I know I will not be passing one of my classes and therefore won’t be walking nor getting my degree.

I’m crushed. I don’t know what to do anymore. I uprooted my life and moved to a new state for this SMP. I was determined that this was it. I’ve learned so much and met such awesome people. But I failed at the main goal, which was to prove I was medical school ready.

I feel I should stop pursuing medicine. I’m 29, I’ve never had a real career. I’ve spent most of my 20s in school studying for mcat and in post-bacc classes. I feel like such a failure.

I’ve thought about nursing, thats another 15 months minimum of school if I can get into an accelerated program. I’ve also thought about teaching. My BS is kinda useless (Exercise Science & Biology). I thankfully have no student loan debt.

Any advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

Very sorry to hear this. You gave it your best shot and that's all you can do.

Does your school have a career counseling center? If so, talk to them.

Will you be able to remediate failed classes and get your MS? If so, that degree will always be useful Teaching science classes come to mind. Was there any research component to your SMP? If so, that allows a springboard into research as lab tech/lab mgr or clinical tech

 

[Osteosaur]

Really sorry to hear man. I think you are right to shift gears. An SMP or medicine isn't going to determine your worth as a person, its just one specific skillset and one specific type of learning (rote memorization).

1) If you can see yourself doing nursing, and don't mind more classes, a 15 month program might not be all bad.

2) Some SMPs have some lab research. Could do that if you like it as Goro said. Worked with a few students who did research as part of an SMP and some stuck with it.

3) What jobs did you work during the post-bacc? It may seem like you wasted time since your head was in MCAt and post-bacc the whole time, but you probably changed and learned more than you think in the working world and have more skills than you realize.

4) There are plenty of people in the 25-35 bracket who kind of bounced around due to the 2010's depression and still haven't launched into a career. You're hardly alone in this.

 

[fluorescent colors]

A little over a year ago I was at my wit’s end. Working a dead end job that I lost because of COVID and was rejected from a slew of SMPs. Then I got a call that I thought would change my life, I was accepted into an SMP and I was so excited to get another chance at medicine.

Now I’m nearing the end of my SMP and while I worked very hard I still came up short in one of my classes. Even though I have two more final exams to take I know I will not be passing one of my classes and therefore won’t be walking nor getting my degree.

I’m crushed. I don’t know what to do anymore. I uprooted my life and moved to a new state for this SMP. I was determined that this was it. I’ve learned so much and met such awesome people. But I failed at the main goal, which was to prove I was medical school ready.

I feel I should stop pursuing medicine. I’m 29, I’ve never had a real career. I’ve spent most of my 20s in school studying for mcat and in post-bacc classes. I feel like such a failure.

I’ve thought about nursing, thats another 15 months minimum of school if I can get into an accelerated program. I’ve also thought about teaching. My BS is kinda useless (Exercise Science & Biology). I thankfully have no student loan debt.

Any advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

Since you have an Exercise Science degree, you could probably work as a Cardiac exercise physiologist at a hospital or cardiology clinic. And your knowledge from the SMP program would give you a really strong background in order to do this type of work.

Also as Goro states, it might be a good possibility of gaining a position in a research or science lab.

 

[iqe2010]

With exercise science you could be a personal trainer right? They make decent money.

I’m actually very into the gym/lifting but I detest the idea of training other people lol. Power lifting is a goal of mine.

Very sorry to hear this. You gave it your best shot and that's all you can do.

Does your school have a career counseling center? If so, talk to them.

Will you be able to remediate failed classes and get your MS? If so, that degree will always be useful Teaching science classes come to mind. Was there any research component to your SMP? If so, that allows a springboard into research as lab tech/lab mgr or clinical tech

I have the option to remediate next spring but I don’t think I will. I’m moving back to my home state and it would be difficult moving back. There was no research in my SMP.

 

[iqe2010]

Really sorry to hear man. I think you are right to shift gears. An SMP or medicine isn't going to determine your worth as a person, its just one specific skillset and one specific type of learning (rote memorization).

1) If you can see yourself doing nursing, and don't mind more classes, a 15 month program might not be all bad.

2) Some SMPs have some lab research. Could do that if you like it as Goro said. Worked with a few students who did research as part of an SMP and some stuck with it.

3) What jobs did you work during the post-bacc? It may seem like you wasted time since your head was in MCAt and post-bacc the whole time, but you probably changed and learned more than you think in the working world and have more skills than you realize.

4) There are plenty of people in the 25-35 bracket who kind of bounced around due to the 2010's depression and still haven't launched into a career. You're hardly alone in this.

After college I primarily worked with developmentally delayed adults. I also worked as a substitute teacher and a Lyft driver.

Nurses can make bank, however I’m kind of burned out from school. I just want to work at this point. I think teaching is the best decision. Some districts in my area pay upwards of 60k. I’ve never made close to that lol.

My SMP didn’t have any research, only classes like anatomy and biochem.

 

[Parasiticpremed]

My "**** I failed my SMP" contingency plan is to finish the degree and get an alternate teaching certificate to become a licensed teacher. I'll probably use my license teaching abroad for a couple of years and decide whether or not I want to try the public school/USA route later on. Prospects look a lot better with the MS so I doubt you'll feel it's a waste if this route sounds interesting to you at all.

 

[iqe2010]

My "**** I failed my SMP" contingency plan is to finish the degree and get an alternate teaching certificate to become a licensed teacher. I'll probably use my license teaching abroad for a couple of years and decide whether or not I want to try the public school/USA route later on. Prospects look a lot better with the MS so I doubt you'll feel it's a waste if this route sounds interesting to you at all.

I’d have to remediate next spring, which is too much of a hassle. Unless I could possibly do it virtually or something. I’m moving back to my home state. I’ve already planned to do alternate teaching certification. Going to crash with a buddy of mine and substitute while I work on my certification.

Then there’s the fact that I have two more finals in 10 days that I have zero motivation to study for..

I probably could add 5-10k to my teaching salary with a MS, but my motivation is shot.

 

[Dral]

I'd seriously look into the possibility of online remediation if they will let you.

I'm not trying to patronize you, but 5 to 10k over the course of 15 or so years is a lot of money. That's possibly a full undergrad tuition for a child or a few years of earlier retirement.

The alternative would be to see if your future place of employment would help you get an online MS...but you're already so close.

 

[Dave1980]

As others have said time to move on. No good options right now. Probably need to work for a while , make some money, and recharge.

 

[8YearsLate]

(A) If you DON'T find a way to remediate / still prove you are med-school ready, then my I second the nursing school suggestion (far better money than teaching or personal training, to the point where you will make your seemingly-large time investment of 15 months back in the first 2 years out). Opportunity for advancement via BSN/NP/CRNA/Nurse Education/Admin etc.

(B) If you DO have a passion for teaching in any capacity, I can tell you that with the teacher shortage currently in the US (attrition is VERY high - and for good reason) most states have programs in place where you can land a job WITHOUT a teaching degree if you take the subject area exam for the class(es) you plan to teach. You can pass the high school biology and chemistry exams without studying a lick if the post-bacc stuff is fresh in your mind (I did). I currently teach math but even that I am teaching "out of area" because they will give you time to earn the necessary college credits or equivalent exam, if applicable. Long story short, the US is desperate for K-12 teachers because the job sucks, so yes you can easily transition to teaching but I wouldn't really wish it on anyone unless you are in a Stepford-Wives-Esque district and even that comes with its own special slice of hell. Please revisit (A) 🙂 Good luck!

 

[iqe2010]

(A) If you DON'T find a way to remediate / still prove you are med-school ready, then my I second the nursing school suggestion (far better money than teaching or personal training, to the point where you will make your seemingly-large time investment of 15 months back in the first 2 years out). Opportunity for advancement via BSN/NP/CRNA/Nurse Education/Admin etc.

(B) If you DO have a passion for teaching in any capacity, I can tell you that with the teacher shortage currently in the US (attrition is VERY high - and for good reason) most states have programs in place where you can land a job WITHOUT a teaching degree if you take the subject area exam for the class(es) you plan to teach. You can pass the high school biology and chemistry exams without studying a lick if the post-bacc stuff is fresh in your mind (I did). I currently teach math but even that I am teaching "out of area" because they will give you time to earn the necessary college credits or equivalent exam, if applicable. Long story short, the US is desperate for K-12 teachers because the job sucks, so yes you can easily transition to teaching but I wouldn't really wish it on anyone unless you are in a Stepford-Wives-Esque district and even that comes with its own special slice of hell. Please revisit (A) 🙂 Good luck!

Back when I was a substitute I worked in an “urban” school district that had 16 year olds in 8th grade who could barely read. So I totally get how terrible teaching can be. I’m hoping to land a job in a good district if that’s the route I go.

Nursing is very attractive. A buddy of mine just signed a travel contract for 4500/week for 15 weeks.

 

[8YearsLate]

Back when I was a substitute I worked in an “urban” school district that had 16 year olds in 8th grade who could barely read. So I totally get how terrible teaching can be. I’m hoping to land a job in a good district if that’s the route I go.

Nursing is very attractive. A buddy of mine just signed a travel contract for 4500/week for 15 weeks.

Yes, most of my students are in the same ballpark, but struggling students are not the negative part. We're there FOR the struggling students, and teaching is great. Sadly, the career "teaching" has very little to do with teaching, at least where I'm at. Doesn't matter if you get your masters or PhD or plan brilliant lessons or take 1000 social-emotional learning trainings trying to make a difference. We are glorified babysitters. We know it, the kids know it, the parents know it, the government knows it. But who else would raise these kids if not us? Their parents most certainly aren't interested. But I digress. Hopefully we've settled on remediation or nursing by now. 🙂