Just failed med school Anatomy course...thoughts on Neo down the road?

[mediumbuddy]

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I'm a first year DO student who just failed the second block of Anatomy (out of 4 for the year). I ended up with a 69.4, which rounded down to a 69. I've been struggling to figure out how to study in med school thus far, but after speaking with professors have come up with several ways to alter my study habits moving forward, and I'm confident this was a one-time deal. The grade with show up on my transcript as a C*, with the asterisk denoting passed on remediation. My other pre-clincal science grades have been mostly C's with a smattering of B's.

To the point: assuming I don't fail anything else, and do fine on the COMLEX (and USMLE, if I need to take it), what are my chances for peds, and specifically neonatology? Just looking for some words to know that all is not lost if I do well from here on. @oldbearprofessor , got any thoughts? Thanks! 🙂

 

[mvenus929]

You should be able to get into a Peds program. My impression is that fellowships care far more about how residency went than med school, so your ability to get into a neo fellowship are yet to be determined.

 

[BigRedBeta]

I failed my first exam of med school in anatomy (we had a block schedule so we started the first year with 10 weeks of anatomy/embryology). I had to remediate a second year course - again block schedule so it was pathophys of just the respiratory system. I had only one High Pass during third year in family medicine, a mere pass in peds and everything else. I had to retake the my internal medicine OSCE in a similar 69.4 rounds down sort of situation (just ordering an echo and not specifying transesophageal on a patient with suspected aortic dissection lost me the points I needed to pass).

In sum, I was an entirely mediocre medical student, one that had a myriad of struggles and exemplified that C=MD (or in your case DO). I wasn't last in my class but was definitely bottom quartile.

I went on to find a great residency spot at a big (26 interns a year), residency program that is extremely strong clinically, a place that checks off most of the boxes most people want in a peds program (free-standing children's hospital, full subspecialty representation, had fellowships but resident driven, etc. The location is not a draw for anyone though so it's very overlooked). I then followed that up by going to a PICU fellowship at a hospital consistently in the top 10 of USNWR and Parents magazine listings in a world class city that is desirable for many people. In a tight PICU job market, I found a job in another major city that is an extremely good fit for me and my interests.

So in other words, you're fine. It's one exam, you're going to learn from it. You'll be able to find a peds residency and fellowships won't really care about how you did in one anatomy test. It's a snapshot of one period of time, and doesn't mean you won't learn the truly relevant information you'll need in the future.

 

[mediumbuddy]

Thanks you both for the advice. I think I've figured out what I need to do in terms of study habits to be successful moving on, and I will just crush this remediation week and move forward with the next block. @BigRedBeta , mind PMing me where you did residency? If not that's totally cool, just curious. Thanks again, I'm definitely feeling more hopeful after the responses!

 

[oldbearprofessor]

I didn't flunk anatomy but gave it a try. Failing a course would be a bit of a red flag, but hardly fatal for residency or fellowship with good clinical performance and step scores. If you want to do neo, you really should plan on doing USMLE although some folks do get in fellowships without it.

 

[mediumbuddy]

I didn't flunk anatomy but gave it a try. Failing a course would be a bit of a red flag, but hardly fatal for residency or fellowship with good clinical performance and step scores. If you want to do neo, you really should plan on doing USMLE although some folks do get in fellowships without it.

Thanks for the advice about USMLE; however, our school (like several DO schools) actively discourages you from taking the USMLE if you're not in the top quintile or quarter or so of the class, and from what I hear, definitely doesn't give us enough time to properly prepare for it since we have a required COMLEX prep course, etc. So, we'll see if USMLE is an option. But, I will plan on taking it, and we'll see what happens as that gets closer next year, I guess.

 

[NurWollen]

Thanks for the advice about USMLE; however, our school (like several DO schools) actively discourages you from taking the USMLE if you're not in the top quintile or quarter or so of the class, and from what I hear, definitely doesn't give us enough time to properly prepare for it since we have a required COMLEX prep course, etc. So, we'll see if USMLE is an option. But, I will plan on taking it, and we'll see what happens as that gets closer next year, I guess.

You're a 1st year, right? You have so much time to put yourself in a good position to take the USMLE. 2nd year material is waaay more important for boards than 1st year material. Do well from here in out, prepare for boards with each 2nd year exam, and you'll be in a great position to take the USMLE.