Future psych applicant, Many red flags :( any advice, encouragement, words of wisdom

[Karen4317]

Hi everyone!
I am attending an osteopathic school and am very interested in psychiatry right now, but I have so many red flags, I don't really know what to do at this point. I had to remediate two preclinical courses during my first two years, which I successfully completed during summer courses. once second year ended, I did not feel prepared to take COMLEX Level 1, so I pushed it off to third year, only to have it pushed back even further due to COVID delays. I just found out today I did not pass COMLEX and will have to take a LOA, which will delay my graduation. What surprised me the most was that I was scoring in the 600s on practice exams and I was even planning on taking step 1 (scoring in 240s), but I got so stressed the night before my exam that I just completely shut down during the test. I am now required to retake my exam and will be taking step 1 for the first time as well. I have been doing well on practice exams (now near mid 240s for step 1) and feel confident I will pass both exams. However, because of this extended leave of absence, I will graduate a year late. I absolutely loved my psychiatry rotation last year and it honestly breaks my heart that I am in this situation because I feel like my chances are completely gone. I just really don't know what to do at this point and could really use any help/advice moving forward. I am from NY and was most interested in looking into smaller programs in my area before all of this, but I don't know if everything is completely out of reach now. During my psych rotation, I felt like I had that aha moment where it was my calling. I know it sounds cheesy, but medical school has been a struggle for me academically (which was why I spent so much time studying for step 1/COMLEX), but when I was on my psych rotation, it was the first time I felt that everything just came so naturally to me and it was something I was truly meant to do. After seeing my fail in COMLEX, my heart literally sank. I felt that everything I worked so hard for is all gone
If you guys have any advice at all on what I should do at this point, I would really appreciate it! I am hoping that my step 1 exam will help mitigate some of my poor academic performance. Also, even though my late graduation will be a red flag, I was hoping to use this time to make more connections in my area?

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[DO2015CA]

It’s certainly an uphill battle. Audition at smaller programs next year. Then apply FM as back up. You can still cater your practice to outpatient psych as fm. I believe there is a 1 year FM fellowship that gets fm docs more comfortable with prescribing psych meds outpatient

 

[Karen4317]

It’s certainly an uphill battle. Audition at smaller programs next year. Then apply FM as back up. You can still cater your practice to outpatient psych as fm. I believe there is a 1 year FM fellowship that gets fm docs more comfortable with prescribing psych meds outpatient

yess of course, thank you! One think that will be somewhat to my advantage will be that I will have a lot more time to network/ find more psychiatry opportunities once I am done with my exams. Would there be anything you would recommend to help strengthen my application besides audition rotations?

 

[ERK123]

You can certainly still get into psych. Psych is overall a more forgiving field than most when it comes to academic red flags, and also likes a good redemption story. I think the most important thing you can do to match psych is to sort out what aspects of yourself need to be addressed to avoid things like this happening in the future. Going from scoring in the 600s/240s to failing is quite a dramatic cliff. I would tell you to take steps to confront your own deficiencies as this will make you a stronger applicant and person. This is something that I did after suffering similar set backs in medical school. I did my best to turn it into a strength for my psych residency applications last year with successful results. If you want to spend a career helping people with their mental health problems then you should start by getting help with your own.

 

[Karen4317]

You can certainly still get into psych. Psych is overall a more forgiving field than most when it comes to academic red flags, and also likes a good redemption story. I think the most important thing you can do to match psych is to sort out what aspects of yourself need to be addressed to avoid things like this happening in the future. Going from scoring in the 600s/240s to failing is quite a dramatic cliff. I would tell you to take steps to confront your own deficiencies as this will make you a stronger applicant and person. This is something that I did after suffering similar set backs in medical school. I did my best to turn it into a strength for my psych residency applications last year with successful results. If you want to spend a career helping people with their mental health problems then you should start by getting help with your own.

I completely agree with you! I feel like after such a drop from my practice exam scores, I almost felt like I need to treat this as a turning point. honestly, I think I just haven't been able to let go of my past failures and that was why I got so anxious, I felt that I needed to make up for it with my exams and just ended up putting too much pressure on myself because of it all. Also, that constant negativity towards myself just made me feel so burnt out all the time, I think having this extra year might actually be a good opportunity to reflect. Like I know I can do much better, but just being positive about it, let go of the past and move forward its all in the mindset

 

[hsk013]

I did not feel prepared to take COMLEX Level 1, so I pushed it off to third year, only to have it pushed back even further due to COVID delays. I just found out today I did not pass COMLEX and will have to take a LOA, which will delay my graduation.

Did your school let you do 3rd-year rotations without COMLEX 1? I was wondering because my school doesn't allow that (or pull you from rotation if you find out you fail while on a rotation). Just wondering whether that was like that for most DO schools or just my school..

 

[sunshinefl]

Did your school let you do 3rd-year rotations without COMLEX 1? I was wondering because my school doesn't allow that (or pull you from rotation if you find out you fail while on a rotation). Just wondering whether that was like that for most DO schools or just my school..

At our school you’re supposed to take first attempt by end of September (November if you had remediations in summer after M2), and can’t start *4th* year (starts June 1st) without a passing comlex 1 result.

 

[Karen4317]

Did your school let you do 3rd-year rotations without COMLEX 1? I was wondering because my school doesn't allow that (or pull you from rotation if you find out you fail while on a rotation). Just wondering whether that was like that for most DO schools or just my school..

yess so my school just changed this policy recently and honestly, it was for the better for most students! I think we had the highest pass rate since implementing this. I think doing rotations honestly helped me with level 1 prep as well, I'm definitely someone who does better from seeing everything irl and also working with doctors and residents and being in a hospital environment was kind of encouraging too! my poor outcome was honestly just a result of nerves and letting everything get to my head but overall I feel like doing some rotations prior to level 1 actually helps some people

 

[samac]

I know you sent me a message individually with the same info, but I wanted to respond publically if that's ok with you so anyone who may be looking in the future sees this too.

I won't lie to you, you have a steep uphill battle. I know you want to match in NY because it's close to family but that just makes the battle even tougher. If you want psych you're going to have to broaden out your search. I had the red flag of a board failure, had a good reason for it with an unexpected family death and I still applied broadly. I also had an extra year tacked onto my schooling but it was never brought up. My retake and level 2 were >500.
First and foremost don't think about residency programs too much now. Pass level 1 and level 2 first. That is the single most important thing you need right now. Preferably score above 500 on both of them, but don't score less than 450. I have a hard time buying you were scoring 600 on practice tests without using outside resources with 2 class failures. Be honest with yourself, were you checking material as you took them?
So to reiterate for now forget specific residencies, JUST STUDY.

Auditions are what can make you shine. I know so many people like me who've matched at various programs with red flags for shining on an AI. When you're ready for real 4th year submit the AI applications early, figure out your top 2-3 programs and do an AI there. It's the best thing you can hope for. I matched at my top after a killer AI and I'm pretty positive I had my choice of my top 3 after doing AI's at all of them. But I was working my ass off. Coming early, staying late, doing things before being asked, calling families, reading a ridiculous amount every night.
The likely outcome will be applying to family medicine too. I was hard-headed and chose not to do that, but at that point, I'd already had one very good AI and convinced myself I was going to match psych. If i didn't have that I would have applied to family med also.

 

[Dr. Rafiki]

Just throwing out that I know someone who scored 430's with no fails at all and didn't match psych, and someone else who failed Level 1 and then got in the 500's on the retake (also failed PE then passed on retake) who matched psych first try.

Tbh I find it really unfair but it is what it is and as long as your retake is above 500 then you'd be in a better shape than someone with a low first time pass

 

[samac]

Just throwing out that I know someone who scored 430's with no fails at all and didn't match psych, and someone else who failed Level 1 and then got in the 500's on the retake (also failed PE then passed on retake) who matched psych first try.

Tbh I find it really unfair but it is what it is and as long as your retake is above 500 then you'd be in a better shape than someone with a low first time pass

It isn’t unfair. I’m assuming the other person had a better overall application past the scores.

 

[Karen4317]

Just throwing out that I know someone who scored 430's with no fails at all and didn't match psych, and someone else who failed Level 1 and then got in the 500's on the retake (also failed PE then passed on retake) who matched psych first try.

Tbh I find it really unfair but it is what it is and as long as your retake is above 500 then you'd be in a better shape than someone with a low first time pass

oh wow, okay. I feel like that kind of gives me some encouragement to keep going forward a little bit, maybe I still have a chance once I focus on these exams

 

[Goro]

oh wow, okay. I feel like that kind of gives me some encouragement to keep going forward a little bit, maybe I still have a chance once I focus on these exams

Get your anxiety under 100% control before you retake COMLEX.

Focus on programs that have taken your school's grads previously.

Network, network, network.

Shine on rotations.

 

[Karen4317]

Get your anxiety under 100% control before you retake COMLEX.

Focus on programs that have taken your school's grads previously.

Network, network, network.

Shine on rotations.

Thank you for your advice! This is kind of where I was conflicted. I understand NY is competitive, but my school is in NY and most students who matched psych were in the smaller programs/less competitive programs in NY. I know it is hard to say anything right now with my situation, but would I have a better chance with smaller NY programs that have taken our grads versus less competitive programs in other places in the country? I would find it a lot easier to network at places closer to me, but was not sure if it would even be worth the shot?

 

[samac]

Thank you for your advice! This is kind of where I was conflicted. I understand NY is competitive, but my school is in NY and most students who matched psych were in the smaller programs/less competitive programs in NY. I know it is hard to say anything right now with my situation, but would I have a better chance with smaller NY programs that have taken our grads versus less competitive programs in other places in the country? I would find it a lot easier to network at places closer to me, but was not sure if it would even be worth the shot?

Take your shot but be open to other programs. Especially those with a history of taking DOs.

Once again though, right now you need to not worry about which program and getting a program, period. Focus on that test.

 

[Goro]

Take your shot but be open to other programs. Especially those with a history of taking DOs.

Once again though, right now you need to not worry about which program and getting a program, period. Focus on that test.

This this this THIS!!!!

/thread.

 

[Karen4317]

This this this THIS!!!!

/thread.

yess yess, you both are right, I am letting this negativity/overthinking take over me and cannot let that mess up my second chance. Thank you both for the advice, and fingers crossed, I will come out of this stronger and a better applicant! I will keep you updated about what happens

 

[Dr. Rafiki]

It isn’t unfair. I’m assuming the other person had a better overall application past the scores.

I don't want to derail this thread but yes it's 100% unfair. I would score 100 points higher on every single level if I had the chance to repeat in 4-6 weeks. Imagine seeing what you will be tested on and working out your weaknesses RIGHT before taking the exam. Are you kidding me?

But again, it is what it is and this is the system we have. And in this case, the unfair reality benefits OP so I hope they are encouraged by it.

 

[Kr#36]

I don't want to derail this thread but yes it's 100% unfair. I would score 100 points higher on every single level if I had the chance to repeat in 4-6 weeks. Imagine seeing what you will be tested on and working out your weaknesses RIGHT before taking the exam. Are you kidding me?

But again, it is what it is and this is the system we have. And in this case, the unfair reality benefits OP so I hope they are encouraged by it.

I agreed with your overall point initially but I can't get on board with this one. Whether you've already taken the exam or not, you know exactly what you'll be tested on (even broken down by what % each topic makes up on the exam) and you have a million Qbanks and practice tests available to identify your weaknesses and fix them. I don't see how taking the exam gives you any more benefit than a practice exam. It's not like they're going to serve you up the same exam 4 weeks later.

 

[DO2015CA]

I agreed with your overall point initially but I can't get on board with this one. Whether you've already taken the exam or not, you know exactly what you'll be tested on (even broken down by what % each topic makes up on the exam) and you have a million Qbanks and practice tests available to identify your weaknesses and fix them. I don't see how taking the exam gives you any more benefit than a practice exam. It's not like they're going to serve you up the same exam 4 weeks later.

nah fam it’s a huge benefit. Everyone knows that comlex is written poorly and none of the q banks are written the same way. Taking the actual exam under test conditions is way more beneficial. Practice test questions look nothing like the actual thing

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Since it's only been mentioned by Goro so far:

You need to get your anxiety under control. If it's true that your practice tests were 600 (which I am also a bit skeptical on), then the whole point of the LOA is to get your anxiety under control so you can perform to that level.

 

[PhillyDoc24]

As mentioned in another thread, and fortunately applying to you too, Psych is not one of the more competitive residencies. That being said, you should not take this for granted. Make connections now, apply, make more connections.
If fail, then do primary care for a year and try to transfer in the following year.