Hello all,
I am currently an M3 at a mid-tier US school, and in need of some serious advice. I have a history of poor exam performance throughout medical school. During my pre-clinical years, I failed two courses which were then successfully remediated. These are recorded on my transcript as such. I have a 198 on Step 1. My clinical year had been going very well, I was getting mostly High Passes in all my courses with great comments. Unfortunately, and I'm still struggling to understand how, I was just informed that I did not pass my most recent shelf exam by 1 point. I will need to remediate this as well. My plans were to apply to IM, and I knew before this most recent development, it would be a challenge... this seems to me that it will be the final blow to my hopes of matching into any residency program. Besides the above, I have otherwise been a successful medical student, however, I don't know if it will be a waste of my time and money to continue. I would've graduated in 1 year from now, but my school will make me postpone graduating by 1 semester, which translates into another semester of tuition and an additional year that I'm not working. I already have well over 100k in debt. I realize my prospects in medicine are dim. What decision I need to make now is whether it is worth still pursuing medicine (will probably now apply to FM if I continue) or cut my losses and seek another career. My third option is to finish my MD and then seek an alternative career. I'd appreciate any advise or insight from anyone who has been in a vaguely similar situation, and I know there aren't many. Thank you.
I am currently an M3 at a mid-tier US school, and in need of some serious advice. I have a history of poor exam performance throughout medical school. During my pre-clinical years, I failed two courses which were then successfully remediated. These are recorded on my transcript as such. I have a 198 on Step 1. My clinical year had been going very well, I was getting mostly High Passes in all my courses with great comments. Unfortunately, and I'm still struggling to understand how, I was just informed that I did not pass my most recent shelf exam by 1 point. I will need to remediate this as well. My plans were to apply to IM, and I knew before this most recent development, it would be a challenge... this seems to me that it will be the final blow to my hopes of matching into any residency program. Besides the above, I have otherwise been a successful medical student, however, I don't know if it will be a waste of my time and money to continue. I would've graduated in 1 year from now, but my school will make me postpone graduating by 1 semester, which translates into another semester of tuition and an additional year that I'm not working. I already have well over 100k in debt. I realize my prospects in medicine are dim. What decision I need to make now is whether it is worth still pursuing medicine (will probably now apply to FM if I continue) or cut my losses and seek another career. My third option is to finish my MD and then seek an alternative career. I'd appreciate any advise or insight from anyone who has been in a vaguely similar situation, and I know there aren't many. Thank you.
