I withdrew from medical school, what are my options?

[Bahtx]

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I attended medical school until my third year of medical school. During my third year, I was going through a few tough personal situations, and I was late a few times on a rotation, which led to me having to remediate a rotation. The same problem occurred during remediation, which led to me being seen by a disciplinary committee. Who aside from my unprofessionalism, unanimously thought that it would be best for me to not continue my MD secondary to a prior mental health history, that it was in "the best interest of the patients." I appealed the decision to the dean of medicine, he did not over rule the decision, but offered for me to withdraw from the institution. I took it...

I am unsure of my academic standing with the school, however I did meet the requirements to be brought before a committee for academic reasons.

I'd really like to finish my degree, seeing that I did complete all third year rotations, but one. I also have invested quite a bit of time and money.

After researching things on the Internet, it seems as though applying with advanced academic standing is probably out of the question. One of the student affairs doctors told me that the proceedings, etc would follow me, if I were to try to apply to another academic institution via the AAMC. Is this accurate?

Also, I had a desire to gain admittance to another professional school. Would this prior incident, severely impact my ability to gain admittance?

What other options might I have as a future career? It seems that most jobs don't seem to care about my medical school experience.

 

[Lacktherof]

I have a friend (in his 40's now) who had to drop out of medical school after year two for overwhelming financial/familial responsibilities. He is currently a medical supplies salesman. For some positions, the basic science/clinical knowledge acquired during the 1st two years of medical school will make you stand out amongst other applicants. Try something medically related on the business/supply end of things, you may just find you're not as bad off as you think. I would come up with a better reason for withdrawal than "unprofessionalism and prior mental health history" though, employers don't like to hear that sort of thing during an interview. Medicine is probably out, but then again I know people who have failed twice and are in school again, though I think that is the exception and not the rule. Just find your niche; the professional world isn't all that bad, certainly less liability

 

[VenusinFurs]

One of my friends eventually decided to leave medical school (he had to remediate first year, then decided when he was almost done with 2nd year that it was not for him), and he's now in grad school. It's a good way to keep the loans at bay until you figure stuff out.

 

[Bahtx]

Those are both helpful posts. I was thinking medical sales first thing after the incident, however most of those positions require 2-5 years of strong business to business sales, which is hard to have when you have been a slave to the academic system all your life. It's also hard to get your resume in front of someone seeing how saturated that job market is.

I'm really thinking of trying for a different type of professional school such as: pharmacy, optometry, or dentistry. Seeing that only my transcripts need to be forwarded to those schools.

Let me know what you think!

 

[GalenAgas]

Those are both helpful posts. I was thinking medical sales first thing after the incident, however most of those positions require 2-5 years of strong business to business sales, which is hard to have when you have been a slave to the academic system all your life. It's also hard to get your resume in front of someone seeing how saturated that job market is.

I'm really thinking of trying for a different type of professional school such as: pharmacy, optometry, or dentistry. Seeing that only my transcripts need to be forwarded to those schools.

Let me know what you think!

They would also know about your previous medical school history (that you attended and withdrew but not your grades therein).

 

[Translation]

My co-worker attended med school for a semester, then decided it wasn't for him. Currently he's in grad school, clinical research related degree, and woking part-time.

Before med school he was trying to decided between medicine and dentistry. when he finally went dental, they rejected him, he asked why after the cycle, told him they weren't sure he was committed enough to stay in dental school.

So my point is have a really strong and convincing reason for why you want that "other professional school" over med school.

 

[bala1]

Why cant you transfer to a carribean school? Did you pass step 1? Im sure they would be happy to take your tuition money..... Just tell them you will take a vow to do general peds or family practice. They will buy it.

 

[mkuak1]

Why cant you transfer to a carribean school? Did you pass step 1? Im sure they would be happy to take your tuition money..... Just tell them you will take a vow to do general peds or family practice. They will buy it.

I agree. If you really want to do medicine, go for it. Who the heck r they telling you otherwise just because you messed up on one or two rotations. I wish you all the luck.