Preclinical Failures, LOA — IM still possible?

[Underdog_Story_Incoming]

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Hello SDN!

3rd yr DO here. My advisors have been a bit vague, hence this post.

EDIT: I am aiming for community programs in IM and am flexible on location. Just aiming to go a decent program that allows me to serve the community while learning!

Red Flags:

1st Year: 3 failed preclinical courses, and barely passed the rest. It was horrible!

Was sent on an academic LOA (1 yr), remediated courses successfully, then went on a personal LOA (1 yr) — total 2 years! I just wasn’t sure if medicine was right for me.

2nd Year: Came back from LOA motivated, determined, and genuinely excited. Comfortably passed everything (80s - 90s on exams). Volunteered + did some (albeit minimal) research + worked (tutoring).

Boards: Passed COMLEX 1 and STEP 1

3rd Year (So Far...): Rotations off to a great start!

My school is not giving me a straight answer just yet on whether I have a shot at IM, and aren't really saying much more than "do your best this year". I would love some more pointed advice!

Should I play it safer and plan for FM? Is it worth considering IM still? Dual apply? I know I still have Step/Level 2 and auditions ahead of me + LORs matter as well, but with my application as it stands, I suppose it helps to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

Open to any and all constructive criticism!

Hope no one else ever ends up in such a situation, but if they do, perhaps any advice here will help them out as well 🙂

 

[MateoGM416]

I can't speak to whether you're out of the running for IM but there are plenty of unfilled IM spots every year after SOAP.

I will say you need to (and it sounds like you have) come up with a narrative about how you grew from your past struggles and LOA's and be able to talk about that in your personal statement and interviews. I will also say anecdotally I have known students matching tougher specialties with stories similar to yours.

 

[Underdog_Story_Incoming]

I can't speak to whether you're out of the running for IM but there are plenty of unfilled IM spots every year after SOAP.

I will say you need to (and it sounds like you have) come up with a narrative about how you grew from your past struggles and LOA's and be able to talk about that in your personal statement and interviews. I will also say anecdotally I have known students matching tougher specialties with stories similar to yours.

Appreciate the reply, @MateoGM416 ! I was just curious to see if anyone had anything to add, but I suppose the mantra is to keep chugging on and continue the improvements through 3rd year. Will re-evaluate and possibly dual apply (very happy doing FM as well) as of now.

Hope to report back to this post in a couple years with some good news haha. Thank you!!

 

[Just D.O. it]

What is your goal with IM, exactly? Do you mean your goal is to become a general internist?

If so, then you have little to worry about if you're geographically flexible and do ok on clinicals.

On the other hand, if your plan with IM was ending up at an academic program that would give you a shot at matching a competitive subspecialty, that is extremely unlikely to happen with these red flags on your transcript even if you get all honors and a good step 2.

 

[Underdog_Story_Incoming]

What is your goal with IM, exactly? Do you mean your goal is to become a general internist?

If so, then you have little to worry about if you're geographically flexible and do ok on clinicals.

On the other hand, if your plan with IM was ending up at an academic program that would give you a shot at matching a competitive subspecialty, that is extremely unlikely to happen with these red flags on your transcript even if you get all honors and a good step 2.

Appreciate the reply, @Just D.O. it !

I will update my post to clarify, but definitely aiming for community programs, and definitely flexible on location. I certainly agree that anything remotely academic is basically out of the question, and I'm okay with that! If a community program has a fellowship attached that I'm interested in, all the merrier, but that's far from a requirement for me.

That said, I'm still going to try and get all honors on rotations (why not aspire to it?) and get a strong STEP 2 score.

Just trying to be a friendly neigborhood doc, and glad to know it's not out of the question. 🙂

 

[Goro]

You should be okay with a community IM residency.

Make sure to shine on rotations

 

[group_theory]

Academic IM programs are basically out of the pictures. University-affiliated community programs are possibilities, as well as community programs.

Your best bet is to do audition rotations at IM programs that you are interested in (and have a realistic shot at matching), show them that you are more than what you appear on paper.

Your preclinical (OMS1) will be a barrier to getting interview invites - but if you do well on rotations and they know you, then you have a better shot at getting that invite (and being ranked to match during rank meeting). Also, if the attendings on rotations are impressed by you, they may know people in residency that they can call and put in a good word

 

[Underdog_Story_Incoming]

Thank you @Goro and @group_theory for your feedback!

Will aim to do precisely that this year 🙂 . Hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

 

[Doc2Be10]

Chin up and be proud that you are doing well! Positive talk and don’t think negative! Plenty of students that struggled in their med school journey with a year off yet matched into competitive residencies. Keep working hard and it will pay off!