Master Thread: policies for "failing out" of MD programs, by school

[hummbugg]

The intial reaction was that this thread wasn't going to be useful so it is now locked

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[KnightDoc]

This thread is a noble idea, but I'm not sure it's going to have a lot of relevance to a lot of people. Hopefully, you are doing well and, if not, you will pull through. The vast majority of all students at all us MD schools do.

Beyond that factoid, though, it is worth remembering that under 40% of all applicants get into any school, and only around half of them have any choices at all (meaning more than one A). It is HIGHLY likely that the subset of applicants with more than one A is not the subset that needs to spend a lot of time worrying about being in the roughly 1% of matriculants who withdraw for academic reasons. It just does not seem to be statistically likely that a lot of that 1% were in the 50% of matriculants that had a choice as to where to attend.

Again, just keep in mind that you too are very likely not to find yourself in the 1%. Your school has a vested interest in your success, even if it doesn't always feel that way. Good luck!!

 

[GoSpursGo]

This can't possibly be that important of a differentiator for deciding med schools. You should go where you will have the best chance to succeed, not where they will make it hard for your to fail.

 

[Goro]

One thing that I wish I had known more about when making decisions about medical school was that each school has different policies around "flunking out" of your year, repeating a year, or even getting kicked out altogether. As an applicant with a lowish MCAT score, I knew the preclinical exams were going to be a huge hurdle for me. I did not realize that different schools have wildly different approaches in holding a standard regarding passing/failing/retaking tests, and if I had, I may have applied differently.

So, as a current MD, I am starting a thread for pre-meds that might help them. Here are some basic best practices to keep the thread at least somewhat neat:
1. If you are a premed, put a feeler out for a school or list of schools about these policies. You may also want to find the master thread(s) for that school and see if you can find any info, and post here.
2. If you are a current medical student, or someone who knows these answers, please post the school and any information regarding these policies.
3. General questions (i.e a question that will help 90% of people reading) are welcome, but please refrain from overly specific questions that only relate to your situation.

If I could go back, I may have asked more specific questions about this. However, asking about policies regarding "failing out" isn't a good look, so I think maybe a sdn thread would be a good alternative. This might be specifically relevant to you if you have low/lowish MCAT scores, or even if you are thinking about a school where you fall on the lower quartile of MCAT but may get in, since ultimately, MCAT scores do correlate to performance in preclinical (from what I know).

We are not interested in the possibility of failure
Queen Victoria

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Contrary to rumors, med schools bend over backwards to graduate students. It might be a long process, but the student's success is in everyone's interest. Roughly 2 to 5 % drop out or are asked not to return. IMO, those who decide medicine is not for them are in the majority, rather than those who can't succeed academically. I think this is overthinking things way too much. If you are smart enough to get accepted, you are smart enough to graduate.

 

[LizzyM]

If you are smart enough to get accepted, you are smart enough to graduate.

Piggy-backing on this last comment, I will add that in my experience the reasons that students repeat a year or flunk out is most often due to mental health or professionalism issues and not for lack of "smarts". Read Forgive and Remember (a classic. A sociological study of surgical training programs) for an idea of unprofessional behavior such as not reporting an error one has made immediately -- remember, "no surprises"). Ask for help if you begin to struggle, Don't expect to do well if you keep your head down and try to power through under the radar. Early treatment can prevent long-term consequences.