MS3 repeated first-year: residency chances

[member3313a]

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First post on SDN, but heard great things about it years ago.

I'm a MS3 who had to repeat MS1 due to low performance caused by mostly health and also family reasons at the time (the Dean's letter will verify this). My med school initially expelled me then decided to revert that decision to allow me to repeat MS1 and start over. I got my health and family issues all sorted out before I restarted med school again, and I learned some MS2 material on my own during MS1 just because I've already done everything once, so I've been doing well since. I know I had a very bad start to med school due to external reasons as well as perhaps immaturity in dealing with matters at the time, but I'm just wondering how my profile would look for residency applications if others on SDN had any insight.

Profile info:
244 step 1
honors thus far in medicine, surgery, family med, and hoping to get honors in other clerkships
med school ranked around 20 (eg. NYU, Mount Sinai, Northwestern)
8 published papers from college and pre-clinical years (but they span across many different specialties)
pretty good relationships with faculty here

I'm looking to do some case reports during the rest of MS3 and into MS4, but I'm still undecided on which specialty to seek opportunities in... (anything from gen surgery to IM subspecialties to radiology to ortho to ophthalmology appeals to me in different ways. But I'm not sure whether I would be competitive for anything other than IM residency (hoping to stay in a larger city in the midwest, east or west coast). If I keep everything up, would I be competitive for something like: gen surgery residency at Rush/BU/Brooklyn/USC? Are radiology/ortho/ophthalmology possible at all, or will my failed MS1 year prevent that? Greatly appreciated!

 

[muhali3]

Apart from the M1 stuff that happened, your app looks golden. Depending on how well your Dean's letter explains the prior situation, I think you have a fairly good chance to match in any specialty.

 

[operaman]

App looks strong otherwise. With the right letters and a ps that explains everything along with the mspe, you should be just fine. The burden will be explaining the failure when you're clearly an extremely capable student. My personal gut reaction to those is substance abuse vs mental illness, but sounds like you've got a good alternate explanation.

For more competitive fields, you may want to do some aways, especially at more competitive places. Your letters will matter greatly for those tougher fields too. But yeah, apply broadly and do aways and you should be just fine.

 

[drzoidbergsgotnothingonme]

Have you spoken to your school about this? What do they say? I'm in the midst of repeating my M1 year, after failing a class due to my father being diagnosed with a fatal illness and me not handling it very well. I've since been getting honors, worked on some research during my time off, etc. I'm obviously hoping that taking everything twice and working my butt off will lead to a good Step 1 score. The Dean's opinion at my school is that if I keep this up, my application accompanied by the explanation in my Dean's letter will mean any residency is open to me, just maybe not the most competitive programs in those residencies. I would imagine it's the same for you. Good luck!

 

[FIREitUP]

Ortho/ophtho might be a reach, but rads should be attainable. I think you'd have a very good shot at gen surg.

 

[evilbooyaa]

I'm looking to do some case reports during the rest of MS3 and into MS4, but I'm still undecided on which specialty to seek opportunities in... (anything from gen surgery to IM subspecialties to radiology to ortho to ophthalmology appeals to me in different ways. But I'm not sure whether I would be competitive for anything other than IM residency (hoping to stay in a larger city in the midwest, east or west coast). If I keep everything up, would I be competitive for something like: gen surgery residency at Rush/BU/Brooklyn/USC? Are radiology/ortho/ophthalmology possible at all, or will my failed MS1 year prevent that? Greatly appreciated!

I think everything you have mentioned besides ortho and ophtho will be easy for you match in SOMEWHERE (although it may not be at a higher level place as you want). Same thing with Gen Surg.

Ortho and Ophtho may also be possible, but is likely a reach given your red flag.

However, you should MATCH somewhere, in something categorical, just fine. Sorry to hear about your MS1 problems, and congrats on turning it all around and rocking the rest of med school.

 

[Samir Desai]

I want to congratulate you on turning things around. It's not easy to overcome the challenges that you've faced, and I believe that says a lot about your perseverance and effort. In addition to strengthening every credential that you can, be sure to develop a strong network of faculty advisors. In my experience working with other students in similar situations, when you have a red flag in your background like a failed medical school year, having the support of faculty advocates can make all the difference in the world. It goes beyond writing letters. Faculty advocates can make phone calls on your behalf, write emails, reach out to other colleagues, etc. These efforts can help you secure more interviews than you might receive otherwise. As soon as you decide on your specialty, make every effort to establish relationships with multiple faculty members in your department. It'll pay off down the road.