Impact of retake/remediation

[autolifefire]

I posted a while back about having 2 preclinical fails. I have more information now and just wanted a follow up regarding speciality choice and competetiveness.

Currently going to a mid-low tier md school and ended up with failing 2 preclinical finals, Endo and Cardio. I missed passing the final by a few points both times and had to retake the finals over winter break. I got in touch with my advisor and this will go in my MSPE in the academic history section. It will say something like. "auto was required to retake endo & cardio exam after failing on first attempt. Succesfully passed on second attempt"

Transcript will not say fail but rather passed on second attempt.

Since last time I've narrowed my choice to academic IM. I know what went wrong and not planning on repeating it again. I was wondering though if this is considered in the same categories as a full course failure. Do I need to explain this in my personal statement? And what are the chances of academic IM if everything else is painfully average?

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[NotAProgDirector]

Won't have much of an impact. Top places will care, but many academic places will not. Pass S1 on your first attempt. Clerkship performance will be important, and if your school uses shelf exams you'll want to focus on those.

 

[AnonymousPD]

It is important to remember that the bulk of what you will be evaluated on is still in front of you. Your clerkship grades, how you look on any away rotations you do, your exam scores, all the subjective stuff in an application, etc. How these issues look and what strategy you use to address them will largely depend on what you do from here on out.

There is a vast gulf between the options available if the rest of your medical school experience is a glittering array of excellence vs. consistent mediocrity. Don't worry about it too much...everything is still ahead of you.