Failing - what would you do?

[vetstudent57]

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Hey everyone.

I am a first year veterinary student and I am failing. I have done everything after getting less than stellar grades first semester- got my anxiety under control, changed my study habits, talked to my professors, group studies etc. but now, in second semester, I could only bring my grade up a few points - still in D range, and still failing. If I can't bring it back up to C by the end of the year, I will be dismissed from the program.

I have studied ahead throughout the break, and entered that midterm feeling pretty confident. I even left the exam room thinking I've done well. Well, I haven't.

I am not sure what I am doing wrong. In undergrad, I majored in social sciences (but didn't finish since I got accepted early) so I only took minimum number of science classes, just the pre-reqs. At this point, the morale is very low, and I started thinking I am not cut out for this. If I get dismissed, I don't even have a bachelor's degree so I'll be pretty lost. I always wanted to be a vet and still do... They may let me repeat 1st year, but that's up to the Dean apparently. Even if they do let me repeat, I worry that I'll fail again.

Has anyone been in the same situation? What did you do to get your grades up that worked?

Also... if I get dismissed, I will have to apply to undergrads again since I don't have a Bachelor's. Do they take into account your vet school grades? 🙁 I am scared that even an undergrad institution won't accept me after getting D's in vet school.

Help. It's such a bad feeling to think that I put in so much work to get into veterinary school, only to fail miserably at vet school 🙁 The worst part is, I do find everything we are learning interesting, and I was enjoying vet med.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Have you identified at all what the problem is that is leading you to fail?


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[vetstudent57]

Have you identified at all what the problem is that is leading you to fail?


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I wish. I tried to, and from the first semester I thought it was my "passive" way of studying. So I changed that, and started studying more "hands-on" as in, spent more time in anatomy lab with the specimens, participated in group studies where we questioned each other etc. I even explained stuff to people - which made me feel on top of my studies for this midterm. I know the material - maybe I am not a good test taker but I am not sure why. I did fine in undergrad, of course, none of the classes had this much material to study.

The only thing I can think of is English being my second language, and I had problem with wording of the some questions but that's hardly an excuse, especially since I have been here for over 10 years.

Le Sigh. 🙁

 

[Minnerbelle]

I wish. I tried to, and from the first semester I thought it was my "passive" way of studying. So I changed that, and started studying more "hands-on" as in, spent more time in anatomy lab with the specimens, participated in group studies where we questioned each other etc. I even explained stuff to people - which made me feel on top of my studies for this midterm. I know the material - maybe I am not a good test taker but I am not sure why. I did fine in undergrad, of course, none of the classes had this much material to study.

The only thing I can think of is English being my second language, and I had problem with wording of the some questions but that's hardly an excuse, especially since I have been here for over 10 years.

Le Sigh. 🙁

If that's the case, I would ask your vet school (esp if it's associated with a large university)if you could get connected with a learning center or whatever it's called at your school.

Many schools have some sort of system where they can get you in touch with someone who can figure out if you have testing issues (and help you get reasonable accommodations).


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[twelvetigers]

Is it just one class messing you up or is it several? I usually had one class each semester after the first one that was rough for me. As in, I squeaked through with a 70 more times than I care to recall. I probably have grown back all my stomach lining by now, after clinics and then 9 months of practice... I got pretty used to a constant low level stress.

I wish I had some more direct advice about how to study better and things like that, but I mostly just had trouble studying thoroughly enough to know all the info on the exam. Like, my six hours amounted to less than other student's two hours. I just had to exhaust myself, or let it slide in lieu of having a life sometimes.

I hated it a whole lot but I did make it through...

 

[vetstudent57]

Anatomy and histology is worse for me, with physiology and imaging being fine.

It's mostly anatomy that is bringing my grade way, waay down.

I already received testing accommodations 🙁 I think the sad reality that I really don't want to face might be that I am not cut out for it... 🙁

 

[twelvetigers]

Being able to make it through vet school and being able to be a good vet aren't even close to being the same thing. It's pretty stupid.

 

[KCgophervet]

For me the key to anatomy was making stupid mnemonics to help with the rote memorization. That being said, I for sure got a D on my anatomy final second semester first year because there is just so much info (and I was more worried about other finals at the time). I think the key is just finding out what works for you, and since you sound like you're feeling better about the material, it may be testing anxiety that is dragging you down.

Have you gone in for office hours with your professors? I would suggest scheduling an office visit with them to go over your exam. Talk to them about where you went wrong and how to adjust your studying for the future. If they see you making a real effort to learn they might be willing to devote extra time to helping you master the material. If they like to have tricky multiple choice questions that get you with odd word usage, raise your hand during the test and ask them to clarify for you.

Finally, don't lose hope. Once you start the spiral of "I'm just not good enough" you only help bury yourself and your self esteem deeper and deeper. Instead, recognize that okay, maybe this isn't working right now, but I am going to do my damnedest to figure out why and try to fix it. Even if it ends up not working out, you'll know you put a real effort into it and it has no bearing on who you are as a person. Good luck and I hope you can figure out what's holding you back from your full potential.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Another random suggestion here. If it seems like you're "getting it" when studying in groups, and you have that good peer support network, maybe do what you normally do, but once you think you all got it, try setting up the end of each study session as though it was a mock exam?

My friends and I would bring numbered flags on dissection pins and would pin structures and ask questions similar to a test.
With the 4 of us, we would all pin like 20 structures with numbered flags. Once we had like 80 flags going, we would go in numerical order asking questions (verbally as to not waste time. If I'm responsible for numbers 1-20, I would just write down the answers on a piece of paper, and come up with questions on the spot). You can vary the difficulty of the questions from "what is this?" To more involved questions which make it so you need to do more than just identify the pinned structure.

1.) what is the insertion of this muscle?

2.) this structure receives blood supply from what major aortic branch, and what is the name of the branch that actually supplies the structure?

You can do a similar thing with histo. Set up like 10 microscopes and make up questions just like a test.

That will step it up quite a bit in terms of active learning, and maybe it'll prepare you better for the actual exams because you're practicing with the output end of things, and not just altering how you input info. Both are important for doing well on the exams.


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[Minnerbelle]

Also, in the beginning of the session, we would make each of us take turns pointing out and naming every single structure we need to know, with the most confident person going first. If you miss even a single one, you get in back of the line and do it again. We go around and around and around until every person can do it without a mistake so no one is left behind. Even if you walked in not knowing anything, it was fine. By the time the third person was done verbally struggling through it (with their crazy mnemonics as well), you would have picked up a lot. And the first go around might be tough, but then you watch another round as you actively try to learn as everyone else goes, and by the second go around, you might have picked up 60% of everything.

There was no "ok I think I got it guys, I just need to digest it a little at home" cause like there's just not enough hours in the day and it won't happen without sacrificing studying for something else. You could walk into this not knowing much at all, there was no shame in it, and we didn't expect any prior studying of anyone. We set a time a couple times a week (as many sessions as we needed), and we all just had to commit to being there. "I haven't had time to go over it myself yet so I'm going to have to bail, maybe I'll come next session when I'm more prepared" was not allowed. If you aren't prepared, then we all help get you up to speed.


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[Lab Vet]

To the OP: I struggled massively with Anatomy, and first semester just about killed my veterinary career. During winter break of my first year, I completed Ryan Orwig's STAT Program. Orwig is a learning specialist who has devoted his career to assisting smart students in medical curricula who are struggling to perform in their coursework. STAT completely changed the way I view preparation, and I have Orwig to thank for helping me to turn the tide on my performance. Check out the STAT program here: https://www.thestatprogram.com/

Once I had reached breaking point, I sat in my anatomy prof's office and, through sobs, told her that I didn't think I had it in me to be successful in the course. I'll never forget what she said: 'My grade in anatomy has nothing to do with the quality of practitioner I'll become. There are many successful veterinarians who struggled in anatomy. If we sampled 100 clinicians from the teaching hospital, how many do you think would remember the level of detail we're expecting you to recount- none.' She was pleased as punch when I walked away with a B in the class second semester. Given my performance first semester, I didn't think that sort of turnaround was possible. The tragedy of veterinary school is believing that your grades define you as a person, or predict your future success as a clinician. That simply isn't true. It's a huge task to overcome this impediment to success, and for that you have my empathy. I understand where you're at, and my heart goes out to you.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[vetstudent57]

You guys, thank you so much. A part of me was also really afraid that my peers (and professors) will think that I am not qualified to be a doctor. Since vet med community is pretty small, I was afraid that that might even affect opportunities in the future. If failed, my school gives a chance to petition to repeat the year. As embarrassing as that is, I would take it over dismissal. There is a good amount of gossiping in vet school and sometimes it even seems like people take joy in other people's failures. But I am glad to think people think a person can still be a good veterinarian even if not an A student (especially in anatomy).

For now, I am not the lowest ranked person in my class, and I am close to C, so there is a glimmer of hope. Sometimes it seems very slim, but I am giving it all I got. First semester was just really, really bad and I didn't get the turn around that I hoped to get in second semester, but oh well.

Thank you so much, your replies made me hopeful that I can still be a good veterinarian even if I barely pass. I even enjoy everything we are learning and I feel I have a good grasp of the subjects. Why it doesn't show in the tests is beyond me.

P.S. : I started making colorful flow charts and taking more organized notes. I have bad note-taking skills since that's not how I studied before (I really just read the book and listened to the lectures). My hand writing is really bad, and I never bothered to make anything "pretty" before lol. But I am trying to switch to a more "active-studying" which I hope will help...

 

[dyachei]

Glad that you have some hope again 🙂

Remember, if it doesn't work, find something that does.