MS1 and I'm pretty sure I'm going to fail my first block exam in a week. Should I just drop out?

[IntoTheNight]

I am struggling a lot in med school. There is much material to cover and our school has so much school specific stuff that doing Anki alone isn't helping much. I am pretty sure I am going to fail the exam next week and feel like no matter what I do I will not have enough time. I have been at or near the minimum pass level for all of our quizzes. It is going to take a miracle for me to pass and I just feel like I don't have enough time.

At our school, failing an exam requires retaking it and also takes you out of the running for AOA

A part of me wants to just drop out entirely. Thoughts? Insights?

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[Esmolol]

First, reach out to your school. Find out what resources does your school have to seek help. If in need - seek help early!

One step at a time - don't think of AOA yet...

 

[NotAProgDirector]

The first thing to do is get support. Your school should have an academic office which can help. They may help with tutoring, study skills, etc. They might also find a way to decrease your courseload -- would take longer to graduate but perhaps give you a better experience. They may recommend being evaluated for depression or some other issue which may be impacting your performance. Don't face this alone. And don't worry about AOA -- you'll have plenty of career options no matter what.

EDIT: I see I was post ninja'ed, nice to see we agree!

 

[IntoTheNight]

First, reach out to your school. Find out what resources does your school have to seek help. If in need - seek help early!

One step at a time - don't think of AOA yet...

I have already reached out for help. This is more of a timing issue. I just don't have enough time to review the material at this point. And am bad at cramming.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I have already reached out for help. This is more of a timing issue. I just don't have enough time to review the material at this point. And am bad at cramming.

That's a good step. You need to talk to someone who can advise you of your options at your school. Each school is different. Perhaps they will tell you to try and power through and see how it goes. Perhaps they will tell you to withdraw, and that they will let you re-enroll next year. Then you can use the rest of this year working to learn some of the material so you can have an easier run at it next year. Always better to explore these options before you have a poor performance -- but perhaps they will tell you to take the exam, and then they will review options afterwards. We can't tell you -- you need to talk to your school. Someone high up -- probably an associate dean.

 

[operaman]

Agreeing with the others - keep asking for help.

The flip side is that you may actually be doing ok. You said you’re passing the quizzes so you seem on track so far. I don’t think I ever felt truly ready for any exam in Med school; I just studied all day every day and eventually a test happened. Then I studied new stuff and the process repeated itself.

Definitely seek help to look for any modifiable factors that can help, and any strategies or extra tutoring help that can help set you on the right path. But in the end part of the grind of Med school is wrestling with massive amounts of info and doing your best to retain as much as possible.

Not sure if applicable to you, but probably the most common issue that people have is focusing too much on the minutiae that doesn’t matter. This is where tutors can help - you need to make sure to prioritize the high yield points that will give you 80% of any exam. Too many students obsess over that other 20% at the expense of the other 80.

 

[Kierkegaard's Bud]

I remember talking to an M4 tutor the first week of med school; he boiled down a 60-slide pptx into 15 in 5 minutes. I think you need someone like this to show you what's important.

Our tutor coordinator says the people who don't need them use tutors more often.

 

[Goro]

I am struggling a lot in med school. There is much material to cover and our school has so much school specific stuff that doing Anki alone isn't helping much. I am pretty sure I am going to fail the exam next week and feel like no matter what I do I will not have enough time. I have been at or near the minimum pass level for all of our quizzes. It is going to take a miracle for me to pass and I just feel like I don't have enough time.

At our school, failing an exam requires retaking it and also takes you out of the running for AOA

A part of me wants to just drop out entirely. Thoughts? Insights?

Read this:

• Goro's Guide to Success in Medical School (2019 edition)

 

[MedBoardTutors]

I am struggling a lot in med school. There is much material to cover and our school has so much school specific stuff that doing Anki alone isn't helping much. I am pretty sure I am going to fail the exam next week and feel like no matter what I do I will not have enough time. I have been at or near the minimum pass level for all of our quizzes. It is going to take a miracle for me to pass and I just feel like I don't have enough time.

At our school, failing an exam requires retaking it and also takes you out of the running for AOA

A part of me wants to just drop out entirely. Thoughts? Insights?

You are 100% not alone, and you definitely don't need to drop out. Agree with the above--your school should have some resources to help point you in the right direction. Tutor programs, mentors, stipends for extra review materials...something. You're not alone. Hope everything went okay!

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

1) You're not alone. My first year was pretty damn hard and I almost failed! After that, I was in the middle or bottom of the pack, but always comfortably passing.

2) It doesn't make sense to drop out now! Maybe after you've failed the test...if you are absolutely sure that you would rather never practice medicine than be whatever hotshot highly competitive specialty you want. Neurosurgery, maybe? Even then, consider your options carefully; don't do anything rash!

 

[IntoTheNight]

Wow I hate to be so dramatic, but I ended up doing above the mean (slightly). Thanks everyone for the support! I think a large part of it is that coming from an institution with essentially the opposite of "Stanford Duck Syndrome", I had no experience with that phenomenon. Let this be a lesson to all that you are never as far down as you think!

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Wow I hate to be so dramatic, but I ended up doing above the mean (slightly). Thanks everyone for the support! I think a large part of it is that coming from an institution with essentially the opposite of "Stanford Duck Syndrome", I had no experience with that phenomenon. Let this be a lesson to all that you are never as far down as you think!

Glad to hear you did OK. Keep up the good work. First year really does lay a foundation for the rest of medical school; middle of the pack can be fine if you're not set on a competitive specialty or you're OK with how you're doing. You can potentially try and improve from here if you feel that it's something you want or need. Good luck with everything.

Also: there's no shame in seeking help for any anxiety issues that you might have; Goro likes to say medical school is a furnace and he's seen it break even healthy people.

 

[Obnoxious Dad]

Wow I hate to be so dramatic, but I ended up doing above the mean (slightly). Thanks everyone for the support! I think a large part of it is that coming from an institution with essentially the opposite of "Stanford Duck Syndrome", I had no experience with that phenomenon. Let this be a lesson to all that you are never as far down as you think!

In the immortal words of my late father-in-law, "You never eat your soup as hot as you boil it!" Congratulations to you.

 

[yeetus]

M1 here and I felt the exact same thing and got the exact same result lol