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- Mar 7, 2006
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Dear SDN,
Boy, I wish I'd known about this site years ago. It would have saved me a lot of heartache and would have helped me study in class. Now I need you guys' advice.
I was dismissed from a US medical school in September 2005 because I failed a class I was repeating from last year. (I was repeating 2 courses along with taking one M2 course, I passed all my other classes) but unfortunately our school, like most med schools, does not let you fail a class twice despite giving many, many chances. (When I say chances, I mean if you fail like 12 classes a year they will let you repeat all 12 over the summer and next year, but the thing is you just can't fail any of them again...well ok not 12 but more like 4...you know what I mean)
I had gotten 68.9% in the class and you need 70% to pass. So I came close but not close enough. They said if I had 0.5% higher I would have passed that course and not been kicked out since I passed everything else with pretty good grades. This is obviously very frustrating.
I know the reasons why I did bad first year, I had many personal circumstances and I have grown and learned a lot from it. The second time around (although not an excuse) was kind of bad luck. But I have learned a lot from the experience.
I talked to all my professors and the deans before I left, and they all told me despite doing decently in the classes I had passed, to give up medicine and find a new career because obviously med school just wasn't working out for me since I had failed a class twice. I said no, this is really what I want to do with my life, and they just shook their heads and said "no, it's a big world, you're a lovely young woman, so go find something else to do." I was like, ummm that didn't really help 😕
Now I know once you get kicked out of med school, it is impossible to get back into med school again. Or is it? I have heard of many people getting kicked out of med schools because they failed too many classes, and then going to Caribbean schools and being successful because they learned from the experience, but that is just hearsay and I don't know if that's true. I have called up all the caribs and St. George's, Ross, and SABA have sent me applications and they said I would just have to explain the reasons why I had not passed the first time around in my essay. So I am definitely doing the caribbean schools as an option.
The other thing is there are many 1-year master's programs that gaurantee you a spot in the medical school for the next year if you can meet the requirements. I am applying to all of those as well and have already talked to them about going to med school before, they said I would just have to explain the reasons in my essay. So that is another definite option.
I would apply to US med schools just as a regular applicant, but that is too improbable since I've already been kicked out of one, so I'm assuming my chances are zero to none.
I don't want to rush anything, so I've done some soul searching. It has been many months since I've been kicked out and I still really want to be a doctor. I still have the drive and the motivation. The only other profession that I love is law, so in worst case scenario I don't get any med schools I can apply for law school, and not just as a backup plan but as something I really want to do - in fact the reason I went to med school is because I didn't get into any MD/JD programs - but at this point I just want to apply for med school, either the masters programs or the caribbean schools first.
Also I was really young when I started med school, I was 20 because I graduated college really early...now I am 24 and a little older and wiser and able to handle my life a lot better.
I am sorry for the long post but I would like to get your responses. Good, bad, etc. Thank you.
Boy, I wish I'd known about this site years ago. It would have saved me a lot of heartache and would have helped me study in class. Now I need you guys' advice.
I was dismissed from a US medical school in September 2005 because I failed a class I was repeating from last year. (I was repeating 2 courses along with taking one M2 course, I passed all my other classes) but unfortunately our school, like most med schools, does not let you fail a class twice despite giving many, many chances. (When I say chances, I mean if you fail like 12 classes a year they will let you repeat all 12 over the summer and next year, but the thing is you just can't fail any of them again...well ok not 12 but more like 4...you know what I mean)
I had gotten 68.9% in the class and you need 70% to pass. So I came close but not close enough. They said if I had 0.5% higher I would have passed that course and not been kicked out since I passed everything else with pretty good grades. This is obviously very frustrating.
I know the reasons why I did bad first year, I had many personal circumstances and I have grown and learned a lot from it. The second time around (although not an excuse) was kind of bad luck. But I have learned a lot from the experience.
I talked to all my professors and the deans before I left, and they all told me despite doing decently in the classes I had passed, to give up medicine and find a new career because obviously med school just wasn't working out for me since I had failed a class twice. I said no, this is really what I want to do with my life, and they just shook their heads and said "no, it's a big world, you're a lovely young woman, so go find something else to do." I was like, ummm that didn't really help 😕
Now I know once you get kicked out of med school, it is impossible to get back into med school again. Or is it? I have heard of many people getting kicked out of med schools because they failed too many classes, and then going to Caribbean schools and being successful because they learned from the experience, but that is just hearsay and I don't know if that's true. I have called up all the caribs and St. George's, Ross, and SABA have sent me applications and they said I would just have to explain the reasons why I had not passed the first time around in my essay. So I am definitely doing the caribbean schools as an option.
The other thing is there are many 1-year master's programs that gaurantee you a spot in the medical school for the next year if you can meet the requirements. I am applying to all of those as well and have already talked to them about going to med school before, they said I would just have to explain the reasons in my essay. So that is another definite option.
I would apply to US med schools just as a regular applicant, but that is too improbable since I've already been kicked out of one, so I'm assuming my chances are zero to none.
I don't want to rush anything, so I've done some soul searching. It has been many months since I've been kicked out and I still really want to be a doctor. I still have the drive and the motivation. The only other profession that I love is law, so in worst case scenario I don't get any med schools I can apply for law school, and not just as a backup plan but as something I really want to do - in fact the reason I went to med school is because I didn't get into any MD/JD programs - but at this point I just want to apply for med school, either the masters programs or the caribbean schools first.
Also I was really young when I started med school, I was 20 because I graduated college really early...now I am 24 and a little older and wiser and able to handle my life a lot better.
I am sorry for the long post but I would like to get your responses. Good, bad, etc. Thank you.
