Failing Step

[gensurghopeful]

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Is it really possible to go thru med school, study hard for COMLEX/USMLE, and end up not being a doctor?

I'm entering my 4th block as a OMS1 and just thinking about that situation makes me cringe...

 

[AMEHigh]

Yes, people fail out of school or drop out and don’t become a doctor.

 

[Wjldenver]

If you don't secure a residency, you don't become a doctor. And with more med schools (MD & DO) opening every year, the competition is escalating. Your main take away is don't have any red flags. Make sure you do not fail any board exams, and don't find yourself in a position where you need to repeat a year due to a board failure or course remediation.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

Is it really possible to go thru med school, study hard for COMLEX/USMLE, and end up not being a doctor?

I'm entering my 4th block as a OMS1 and just thinking about that situation makes me cringe...

Focus on doing what you can to prevent this rather than on it. It is tough, but the people who fail out are not (usually) the ones who are worried about it, but haven't failed anything.

The formula I have observed there are two types of people that fail:
1. someone who got in thru linkage or was a rather weak applicant who have multiple remediation's after the first year. I had a wonderful classmate who fell into this category and was tossed during our third semester. Really great person, hated to see them go. They failed a 3rd class by a point and the school tossed them. It sucked, I understood why the school did what it did, but it still stinks.
2. The person that does just enough to get 'by' and is superfocused on boards, but is always downplaying class. These people are the greatest surprise to me, cause they are all over sketchy and pathoma, then suddenly they fail a board exam and their not in my class anymore.

And then theres people that worry too much about failing that actually aren't really at risk (guilty). In my experience you tend to make it through. 🙂
Chin up, focus on what you can control.

 

[Crayola227]

If you don't secure a residency, you don't become a doctor. And with more med schools (MD & DO) opening every year, the competition is escalating. Your main take away is don't have any red flags. Make sure you do not fail any board exams, and don't find yourself in a position where you need to repeat a year due to a board failure or course remediation.

This is not true. If you graduate medical school, you will be a physician. You just won't be able to become a licensed and practicing one in this country.

 

[Goro]

Is it really possible to go thru med school, study hard for COMLEX/USMLE, and end up not being a doctor?

I'm entering my 4th block as a OMS1 and just thinking about that situation makes me cringe...

Yes.

But this is a fraction of all med students. And it's not merely about failing Steps. It's about not matching and/or failing Steps. Most schools have a "fail 2-3x" and you're gone policy.

Other people fail to match due to red flags that happen in the clinical years, like failing a rotation, and even getting kicked out of a rotation. We call these people "site killers"

 

[libertyyne]

Real attrition rates are probably 2-10%.
Many people fail or repeat years, few people advertise this, and it may be hard to know if you have a large class. This is why the vetting process for medical school is tough.

 

[CoomassieBlue57]

Started with 208, one left first week to go to a MD school, lost several throughout first year, lost a few more after first year, picked up a few from the previous class for second year, lost a couple during second year, lost a few who had to repeat second year, I don't know of any that were lost third year. We're at about mid to upper 190's right now. I don't count the OMM scholars as lost.

 

[Sardonix]

Started with 208, one left first week to go to a MD school, lost several throughout first year, lost a few more after first year, picked up a few from the previous class for second year, lost a couple during second year, lost a few who had to repeat second year, I don't know of any that were lost third year. We're at about mid to upper 190's right now. I don't count the OMM scholars as lost.

April 10th of the Second Year of the Medical School,

It was all fun and games during orientation, but then we lost Steve to biochem. Charlie got wolloped in the face as a Christmas gift from the anatomy final. We weren't laughing when second semester started. By the time the snow melted 4 of us had our bags packed.

We all thought Alice was gonna do the best out of all of us, but then she made a snide comment during OMM lab about "as if this will cure someone's cancer!" in front of the OMM department secret police and we haven't seen her since.

Morale really took a hit after that, so no one was ready for neuroanatomy. By that time we were so dead from the terrible lectures and oblivious clinician speakers 5 more of us didn't survive.

Now, our days before Step are numbered. No one speaks anymore. No one jokes. Those bright-eyed and in-shape Facebook photos of the white coat ceremony are a distant memory.

No time to dwell on that though. Step is coming. Step is coming. Step is coming.

 

[gensurghopeful]

I guess my thing is I'd like to believe that if you put in the work and study for Step you will do well... I know that really isn't true but I'd at elast like to think and hope it is true that if you DO put in the work for boards, you WILL pass, and you will be a doctor, wether that's FM or Plastics is a diff story.

 

[libertyyne]

I guess my thing is I'd like to believe that if you put in the work and study for Step you will do well... I know that really isn't true but I'd at elast like to think and hope it is true that if you DO put in the work for boards, you WILL pass, and you will be a doctor, wether that's FM or Plastics is a diff story.

There is only a risk of success by putting in the work.
Without putting in the work there is a guarantee of failure.

 

[Ho0v-man]

I guess my thing is I'd like to believe that if you put in the work and study for Step you will do well... I know that really isn't true but I'd at elast like to think and hope it is true that if you DO put in the work for boards, you WILL pass, and you will be a doctor, wether that's FM or Plastics is a diff story.

A lot of people in undergrad put in the work and studied for class and the mcat and can’t cobble together an app for a big 4 Caribbean. Most everyone is working hard and doing their best in med school. But not everyone is meant to be a rockstar.

At my school only a handful of people aren’t signed up for step. But going off of the averages from previous years, roughly 2/3 of my class won’t take it. The take away is don’t for a second think you’re even entitled to pass. That’s a head in the sand tactic that bites a lot of people in the butt.

Realistically though, most people neurotic enough to have an sdn are probably fine.

 

[Isoval]

Realistically though, most people neurotic enough to have an sdn are probably fine.

Oh hey I have an SDN account

 

[863168]

Other people fail to match due to red flags that happen in the clinical years, like failing a rotation, and even getting kicked out of a rotation. We call these people "site killers"

Has your school ever lost a rotational site due to a bad student?

 

[Goro]

Has your school ever lost a rotational site due to a bad student?

Yes, sadly, more than once. It's happened at other med schools as well.

 

[Sardonix]

Has your school ever lost a rotational site due to a bad student?

Yes, sadly, more than once. It's happened at other med schools as well.

April 11th of the 3rd Year of the Osteopathic Medical School,

It’s been 8 months since we were deployed to the Non-Year Long Rotation theater. It’s been so long since I launched from the safety of pre-clinical years. Just fresh out of Step-Camp, they threw us right into the War for Rotation Sites.

In New York the IMGs put up a good fight, but we managed to claw back some of the IM sites. In Eastern Seaboard (Operating) Theater the lines between the Osteopaths and Low Tier Allopaths have stabilized—we have an informal truce for now, since no one wants to set off Dr. Baum, the surgeon we’re all pretty sure that has IE Disorder.

But nothing prepared us for them… the Site Killers. The worst of the worst from the drudges of the of the Medical School. No one knows where they really came from or how they passed anything related to Professionalism. But they may be the end of rotations for our school as we know it.

First there was Cancer Girl—she straight up told a patient with a cold his LAD was a sign of cancer. By the time the attending came out of the room we were packing our gear in full retreat from that private UC rotation.

Then there was Late Larry the Liar. Always came to the inpatient neurology rotation 15min behind schedule, always with a different excuse. He fired em off with wanton abandon—traffic, weather, dead grandma, newly diagnosed hernia. When the post-call attending saw him at the bar while the rest of us were in the middle of a CVA we were kicked out before the tPa got popped.

Tinder Tommy was a real piece of work. While we were all hoping to Match into the Sub-I, he was bragging about how many hospital staff he had matched into. The attendings bought the “Oh, I’m just on UptoDate” line for the first week or so, but then a nurse reported him for sending an unsolicited nude in the middle of a case presentation and we knew it was over.

That’s all for now—just got paged at the community EM rotation we’re holed up in. A code red, a good chance to practice our sutures… if Vasovagal Vinny doesn’t faint again and make the attending regret taking us on as a favor to the Dean.

AT Still help us.

 

[863168]

@Sardonix There are not enough likes on SDN to adequately reward this post.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

April 11th of the 3rd Year of the Osteopathic Medical School,

It’s been 8 months since we were deployed to the Non-Year Long Rotation theater. It’s been so long since I launched from the safety of pre-clinical years. Just fresh out of Step-Camp, they threw us right into the War for Rotation Sites.

In New York the IMGs put up a good fight, but we managed to claw back some of the IM sites. In Eastern Seaboard (Operating) Theater the lines between the Osteopaths and Low Tier Allopaths have stabilized—we have an informal truce for now, since no one wants to set off Dr. Baum, the surgeon we’re all pretty sure that has IE Disorder.

But nothing prepared us for them… the Site Killers. The worst of the worst from the drudges of the of the Medical School. No one knows where they really came from or how they passed anything related to Professionalism. But they may be the end of rotations for our school as we know it.

First there was Cancer Girl—she straight up told a patient with a cold his LAD was a sign of cancer. By the time the attending came out of the room we were packing our gear in full retreat from that private UC rotation.

Then there was Late Larry the Liar. Always came to the inpatient neurology rotation 15min behind schedule, always with a different excuse. He fired em off with wanton abandon—traffic, weather, dead grandma, newly diagnosed hernia. When the post-call attending saw him at the bar while the rest of us were in the middle of a CVA we were kicked out before the tPa got popped.

Tinder Tommy was a real piece of work. While we were all hoping to Match into the Sub-I, he was bragging about how many hospital staff he had matched into. The attendings bought the “Oh, I’m just on UptoDate” line for the first week or so, but then a nurse reported him for sending an unsolicited nude in the middle of a case presentation and we knew it was over.

That’s all for now—just got paged at the community EM rotation we’re holed up in. A code red, a good chance to practice our sutures… if Vasovagal Vinny doesn’t faint again and make the attending regret taking us on as a favor to the Dean.

AT Still help us.

There was once a kid that rotated from my school at my core site. He decided that he didn't like the core rotations and was more interested in surgery. So he told the preceptors so and just went to the OR all day to watch a sub-specialty surgeon most days of the rotation. After failing the first rotation he tried this on, he decided it worked so well, he would try again on the next 'superfluous' rotation immediately following. Add in the fact that the few days he would actually show up to rotation he was always very late, and would disappear after lunch. He was kicked out before he was able to complete that second rotation.

Apparently his parents were foreign, and managed to get him into a medical school back home. I have no idea how he made it to rotations. And the preceptors he pissed off where super cool, so I know for sure this was on him.

I used to think my school was just making up nonsense when they would bloviate about how bad people where on rotations. Especially when they would mix in examples with dumb stuff like 'he talked at the nursing station too long instead of following me.' So when they claimed students where tearing up housing and acting really bad, it didn't seem credible.

In my mind I thought 'your probably gonna say that about my class too, nobody would be dumb enough to tear up a free room in medical school.' But now that I have rotated, and heard some of the story's from preceptors that are clearly reliable sources, its clear that not everything said by my school was false about bad behavior. They still get it wrong and stomp on people who don't deserve it, but its amazing how long people who did deserve the hammer got away with it.

 

[Goro]

Why did OP get the hammer? Dude always seemed very cordial..

Either kept on doing something s/he was asked not to do or was a sockpuppet account.

 

[sunshinefl]

Why did OP get the hammer? Dude always seemed very cordial..

I pulled up his post history. It’s probably his last couple posts in a Podiatry dating thread. Take a look yourself.

 

[Goro]

I pulled up his post history. It’s probably his last couple posts in a Podiatry dating thread. Take a look yourself.

Yup, definitely merited a Banhammer smack.

When the mods tell you to play nice, play nice.

 

[DO2015CA]

I pulled up his post history. It’s probably his last couple posts in a Podiatry dating thread. Take a look yourself.

lol can i get a name of the thread?

 

[sunshinefl]

lol can i get a name of the thread?

Dating & Relationships

Any recent thoughts on trying to date and relationships while in Pod school. I was told dating during residency is a nightmare and I should look for something while in school or preferably before school since time permits. Some other forums seem to encourage it during their school years so...

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[Ho0v-man]

Dating & Relationships

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Wow. Gotta say I’m shocked, given the posts I’ve seen from that user. It’s amazing that some are so obsessed with making others feel inferior to get over their own inferiority complexes. Unless I’m confused and thinking of someone else, OP wasn’t even a competitive DO applicant. Sub 500 mcat.

 

[hungrydoc710]

Wow. Gotta say I’m shocked, given the posts I’ve seen from that user. It’s amazing that some are so obsessed with making others feel inferior to get over their own inferiority complexes. Unless I’m confused and thinking of someone else, OP wasn’t even a competitive DO applicant. Sub 500 mcat.

Sub 500 to get into new osteo schools these days? Damn.

 

[QueenJames]

Lmao

some of y'all are real savages.

I love it.

 

[wkabenga]

Is it really possible to go thru med school, study hard for COMLEX/USMLE, and end up not being a doctor?

I'm entering my 4th block as a OMS1 and just thinking about that situation makes me cringe...

Yes this is what happened to me actually.. Long story short, I got the end of third year and took the PE but resigned from med school about 2 months before 4th year. I was a very poor student, I repeated my first year and several courses inspite of studying my hardest all day everyday, and over time I realized I was very unhappy in the field and clincals showed me I would hate being a doctor even after all the training ends.

For me I was lucky though because I was prior military and under the HPSP scholarship, I could essentially change careers without debt from school. About a year out from that decison now, I'm much happier about the direction my life is going now and I don't regret leaving med school. But I do admit it is frustrating at times that all my work in med school didn't really amount to any tangible achievement.

So yes, it does happen.. and sure enough I'm in that 5% or whatever that doesn't graduate med school, but at the same time it was a period of a lot of personal growth for me that made me a better person for having gone through that.