Manic episode advice M3

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
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kinnencan

kinnencan

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I’m definitely looking for some advice here. I recently failed my OB gun rotation because I had a really bad manic episode. I failed due to professionalism. I showed up late to the rotation once and I ended up walking out of the OR a couple times, but came back. I haven’t had any professionalism lapses in my file before this. But I’m really nervous. Because of how my program works, I have to go to the SRP and present my case. They can decide if I need to go higher. This is my first failure in Med School and the only mistake I’ve had. I had one evaluation that is currently pending a title nine I am currently on a leave of absence, but I’m considering coming back . I was just diagnosed with bipolar after the rotation. What are my chances for a dismissal? Does anybody have experience with us at all?
 
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kinnencan
I got accepted to for a transfer to Ross but I’m nervous to take it. I know I can score >260 on step 2 but I’m worried if that will be enough. My Pysch who knew me well, is willing to write a letter on my behalf matching. I don’t have to start over. I would start with the rest of the M3s so I really only lost a year. I am only shooting for a prelim year
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I just want a new start too. It’s been really hard to around everyone here and I want to start somewhere else. It’s not a great carribean but it’s better than nothing. I’m looking at applying to residency in Europe and moving on. This situation became too much for my mental health
 
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If you are going Caribbean, especially something outside of the big schools (but honestly those too), be really, really cautious—not being able to get a residency could leave you in an even worse situation than you are now, even with a Caribbean MD degree.
 
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I know a lot of people are probably judging me for doing this, but when I was in my manic episode, I was actually held at gunpoint and sexually assaulted. I really just wanna start over somewhere. I don’t wanna live with these memories and can’t deal with the PTSD. I know that going to one of these schools is not the best option but for me, I just really need to start over
 
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kinnencan said:
I know a lot of people are probably judging me for doing this, but when I was in my manic episode, I was actually held at gunpoint and sexually assaulted. I really just wanna start over somewhere. I don’t wanna live with these memories and can’t deal with the PTSD. I know that going to one of these schools is not the best option but for me, I just really need to start over
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I’m sorry that you went through that. Not medical advice, but please consider getting your ptsd treated before starting school. As you know, medical school is very hard to do healthy let alone sick. I’d hate for you to end up in a worse situation down the line, especially with the enhanced risks of a carribean school.
 
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Carribean unfortunately, I had a failure from the OBGYN and they don’t let you redo it till the end of the year. The dean is helping me out and will try me withdraw is due to health reasons.
 
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kinnencan said:
Do you think residency programs will reach out to my old university about what happened?
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Probably not "reach out" since most of us don't have time for that, but we are absolutely going to need an explanation that is truthful and makes sense. Don't try to hide this, last thing you want it to get kicked out of residency for having lied on your application
 
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Do I need to submit MSPE from both schools? My dean stated that withdrawing from med school they would not provide one.
 
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Honestly, OP, I would really, really consider if this plan is a good idea—trying to get a residency from a “not great” Caribbean school is already something with a high risk of not working out, even moreso when you have a previous dismissal to explain and even moreso when you’re trying to jump into this with untreated PTSD.
 
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futureapppsy2 said:
Honestly, OP, I would really, really consider if this plan is a good idea—trying to get a residency from a “not great” Caribbean school is already something with a high risk of not working out, even moreso when you have a previous dismissal to explain and even moreso when you’re trying to jump into this with untreated PTSD.
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I am not dismissed, I withdrew. I was accepted well before the board meet because I really didn’t want to be here.
 
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Yeah I don't imagine your school you withdraw from would give you an MSPE.

But you can imagine how this is gonna look to someone reviewing your app - oh hey look Kinnencan withdrew from XX school as an MS3 and transferred to a Carib school - that's super weird and something we literally never see. I wonder what happened?

If your description doesn't make total sense we are going to trash your app thinking you are lying - no one just chooses to do this, we are going to know you got kicked out or failed out of your other program. So we are going to need an excellent descriptor.

I have to agree with my colleagues above, this is a risky plan of getting another year or two of student loans under your belt without ever getting a residency. Is it possible? Absolutely! Is it likely? Probably not
 
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my university has multiple campuses. I have asked multiple times to transfer to one of the other campuses because of the fact of what happened with the PTSD and sexual assault. I was denied that twice. I’m just really tired of fighting the school. Maybe I can go to the appeals committee and win but I still would wanna leave and honestly that’s just not me. Just saying that I really just don’t wanna be here anymore. I don’t feel comfortable here. I don’t feel safe here. I’d rather just move on. I know that I will hurt my chances, but I’m really not hiding anything. I just don’t wanna be here and I don’t feel safe being here. I have all the documents staining that I was trying to transfer to one of the other campuses and I was denied multiple times on the fact of safety.
 
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kinnencan said:
my university has multiple campuses. I have asked multiple times to transfer to one of the other campuses because of the fact of what happened with the PTSD and sexual assault. I was denied that twice. I’m just really tired of fighting the school. Maybe I can go to the appeals committee and win but I still would wanna leave and honestly that’s just not me. Just saying that I really just don’t wanna be here anymore. I don’t feel comfortable here. I don’t feel safe here. I’d rather just move on. I know that I will hurt my chances, but I’m really not hiding anything. I just don’t wanna be here and I don’t feel safe being here. I have all the documents staining that I was trying to transfer to one of the other campuses and I was denied multiple times on the fact of safety.
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I think there’s two separate things going on here—the first is your clerkship failure stemming from being sick in an acute manic episode, the second is your assault and subsequent PTSD (and I’m truly sorry both of those happened). If I had to guess, the school denying your transfer request was probably related to the recommendation for dismissal from the committee (I don’t know enough to about why they recommended dismissal to say if it may be realistically appealable or not), though there very well could have been some stigma against you for the SA in there as well (which is horrible but far from unheard of, sadly. You’ll likely have to explain the failed clerkship regardless, and it’s going to a tough explanation as you’re leaving a USMD program for a Caribbean MD school and a not great one at that. Rightly or wrongly, going from a USMD to a mediocre Caribbean school is likely to be a big red flag with PDs. Just think carefully about whether the risk of going to this new school is worth it—I know that you desperately want to move on and still be a doctor but you don’t want to end up with astronomical debt and no path to residency.
 
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I got accepted to for a transfer to Ross but I’m nervous to take it. I know I can score >260 on step 2 but I’m worried if that will be enough. My Pysch who knew me well, is willing to write a letter on my behalf matching. I don’t have to start over. I would start with the rest of the M3s so I really only lost a year. I am only shooting for a prelim year
 
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Solution
The new congressional spending bill will also negatively impact students who begin their program after July of 2026, so if you are relying on student loans, that also favors beginning at a new program this year if possible.
 
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kinnencan said:
What would be the best way to match or improve my chances?
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-Maintain good control of your psychiatric condition(s)
-Demolish Step 2
-Get great clerkship grades and letters
-Get some research
-Apply to every community FM/EM/peds/IM program in the country (whichever one or two of those you’re most interested in; this is what you’re limited to)
-Be prepared to explain your situation at interviews
 
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HopefulApplicant667 said:
Seems like 20/453 Ross students matched psychiatry this year, down from 30/572 in 2024.
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Not very useful information in this case. OP can expect odds less than this due to the extenuating circumstance of leaving another med school. Even with otherwise good stats, a withdrawal/dismissal is going to look really bad to any residency. If OP is willing to accept some fairly significant risk, dual applying FM/psych could be done. One could probably tailor personal statements and letters for both fairly believably. But you lose the advantage of having a second, more attainable specialty such as EM or peds.
 
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EthylMethylMan said:
Not very useful information in this case. OP can expect odds less than this due to the extenuating circumstance of leaving another med school. Even with otherwise good stats, a withdrawal/dismissal is going to look really bad to any residency. If OP is willing to accept some fairly significant risk, dual applying FM/psych could be done. One could probably tailor personal statements and letters for both fairly believably. But you lose the advantage of having a second, more attainable specialty such as EM or peds.
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Thanks for the advice. I will double with IM and EM. I do have a good connection to a EM program so hopefully that could serve through.
 
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Do you think I should withdrawl and reapply to other US med schools such as DO? Would I have better chance at residency from a DO school? My GPA is still around a 3.6 and I took a pratice AAMC mcat getting around 515 or should not waste my time. I am also consider Ireland or Austrailia instead
 
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kinnencan said:
Do you think I should withdrawl and reapply to other US med schools such as DO? Would I have better chance at residency from a DO school? My GPA is still around a 3.6 and I took a pratice AAMC mcat getting around 515 or should not waste my time. I am also consider Ireland or Austrailia instead
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Honestly, in some respects you just need to pick a path and commit to it and focus on keeping your mental health as strong as possible. Ross is a reasonable option. US DO schools are “better,” but then you’re putting yourself back at square one with applying and likely starting over as MS1. You’ll need to do COMLEX Level 1 as well. Ireland and Australia are uncommon paths that can work out, but you would need to figure it out on your own, and again you likely start from square 1.

I think if you’re committed to trying this one more time, your current transfer acceptance to Ross makes as much sense as anything else, so I would focus on making yourself successful on this path rather than worrying about other paths you could take
 
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