I am an M1 at an MD school on a coast in the U.S. Midway through this semester I was hit by a drunk driver, and I suffered a concussion and some other minor lingering injuries. However, I did not have any broken bones. As such, I notified my school immediately with proper documentation, a police report, and a call from the hospital. I requested to continue through the rest of the year. This was a bad decision on my part as I ended up failing my block of courses thereafter. My dean of students and her staff were aware of my situation and are letting me repeat the year. Does anyone know how this will affect my chances for match later on down the road? I know that I just need to take it one step at a time right now, but I would really like to know how this may affect me with regards to matching for residency. Any response is appreciated. Thanks.
Incident During M1. How Will It Affect Me Down the Road?
- Thread starter ds2593
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I'm really sorry to hear about your situation! While I can't give you the advice of someone who has matched after a similar situation, I can tell you that I am repeating my second year of medical school, and was given the following advice by residency directors in my school: much like trends in undergrads, trends in med school are huge. If I had started repeating my second year and barely passed everything, that would be a big cause for concern, but now I'm in the top 10% of my class, and just so long as I continue to perform well and especially score well on Step I, I'll be fine when the match comes along. You have a compelling reason to be repeating, so as long as you show you have overcome your incident and score well on Step I, there shouldn't be too much to worry about. Good luck, and I'm really sorry about what happened! Your perseverance is a testament to why you deserve to be in med school!
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Nah, it won't hurt you badly, but it will be brought up at most of your residency interviews. You will need to explain what happened, and since it was due to injuries/trauma/TBI, I doubt it will be an issue. In fact, if you kick major ass next year, it'll make you look even stronger as an applicant.
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Agree with the above posters. It shouldn't be a major obstacle for you since you have a compelling reason to repeat, and it's one of the pre-clinical years.
What I would recommend is making sure you're truly ready to return before you do, however. Take care of your own health issues as much as possible before coming back - take a leave if necessary. It's much better to delay your return if you're not feeling 100% rather than return as quickly as possible and risk failing more classes. If you continue to struggle academically, especially in your third year, that will hurt your chances down the road.
What I would recommend is making sure you're truly ready to return before you do, however. Take care of your own health issues as much as possible before coming back - take a leave if necessary. It's much better to delay your return if you're not feeling 100% rather than return as quickly as possible and risk failing more classes. If you continue to struggle academically, especially in your third year, that will hurt your chances down the road.
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Repeating the entire year seems like overkill, I'd make sure that's your only option. That said, no one is going to care. At all. And if anything maybe you can improve your grades the second time. Use it to your advantage.
