Failing a Preclinical Exam

[fireandice318]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hello, I'm a first year medical student at a TX MD school and barely failed a biochemistry final.

I'm going to have to remediate the final exam after Christmas, but I'm worried that having this remediation on my MSPE will effectively exclude me from a large number of specialties, should I choose to apply to them.

Which fields do you think I still have a shot at, and which ones might the door now be closed?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hello, I'm a first year medical student at a TX MD school and barely failed a biochemistry final.

I'm going to have to remediate the final exam after Christmas, but I'm worried that having this remediation on my MSPE will effectively exclude me from a large number of specialties, should I choose to apply to them.

Which fields do you think I still have a shot at, and which ones might the door now be closed?

What does your student dean say? It would be more productive to know what specialties you were gunning for before answering your question whether you've already killed those chances.

 

[Smurfette]

One remediated exam may not affect you much if you never have any other issues and your grades and performance is good moving forward. It's the overall "package" that programs look at so a stellar application with a single struggle in the first semester of med school with no further problems is something many programs can get past for the right person with otherwise strong LORs, performance moving forward, etc.

However, struggling with an exam now may be a sign of future struggles and may not be a one-off situation. A remediation will limit your options far more if your performance throughout the rest of school is just mediocre or if there are other classes where you struggle and need to remediate. And of course, you will have to talk to your school to find out how many additional classes requiring remediation could put you at jeopardy of getting kicked out or forced to repeat a year.

Realistically, focus on passing the exam and doing well moving forward. You have to get all the way through med school to get to residency and a lot can happen between now and then. If you are an average student, some fields (derm, ortho, etc.) would be a stretch even if you didn't have this happen. You have to stay focused and see what your residency app looks like moving forward. One exam isn't the end of the world, but since you are a first year, you need to figure out how to study moving forward so you can prevent failing any other exams.

 

[slopes23]

Everything must be taken in context. If its a blip on the radar and you compensate for doing excellently in your shelf exams, rotations, and Step exams, then it can be easily looked past. Fortunately, it was just on biochem which no one likes anyways. But, as others have pointed out, its possible it could point to issues later down the line (which is what everyone will be concerned about) so now, your job for the rest of medical school is to prove them wrong.