Medical Readmission after Dismissal from Medical School

[Question]

Hello. I am trying to find some guidance for someone I know who was recently dismissed from an osteopathic medical school.

Some background:
They were dismissed for academic reasons after failing a couple of first-year classes and then failing again during her remediation year. My contact with them has been somewhat limited, so I may be incorrect in my assumptions, but I believe a lack of motivation led to them slowly failing out of school. In college, they were a great student and even used to help me with some classes. After getting a relatively low MCAT score (507?), they were pretty disappointed. They wanted to pursue a particular specialty that is difficult to enter via the DO route, but felt pressured by family and peers to go to a DO school anyways instead of using a gap year to retake the MCAT. I think that settling for a DO school when they felt academically capable of going to an MD school damaged their confidence and decreased their motivation. (I know that was a poor attitude to have since DOs are just as great as MDs, and you could still work hard enough to get into any specialty as a DO. I am just sharing my understanding of the situation.) I hope this doesn't paint a bad picture of them, as they are still smart and compassionate. I am sure that there are other reasons why they failed, aside from what I mentioned.

Moving forward:
I recently had a talk with them, and they told me of their extreme motivation to work hard over the next few years and try to get accepted into a medical school and ultimately become a doctor. How realistic is it for them to get accepted to a single MD or DO school after having previously failed out of a DO school? I know their undergraduate GPA was around 3.75 with good extracurricular activities prior to med school. If even possible, how can they prove to medical schools that they are worth giving another chance?

My suggestions to them so far:

- Relax and take care of yourself for a bit. They do have a strong support group and seemed to be in a healthy state of mind so I didn't explicitly mention anything about mental health. But I can guess how stressful this situation may be.
- Take some time to decide if you really want to become a medical doctor over other health-related professions
- Check websites / call medical schools about their policies regarding admissions for students who previously matriculated into medical school
- Get strong letters of recommendation that can attest to your much-improved work ethic and preparation for medical school
- Strengthen all aspects of your application as much as possible (high MCAT score, extensive volunteering for underserved groups, research proficiency)
- Apply very broadly (2-3 years from now?) to both DO and MD schools

Sorry for the long post, but I hate to see my friend in such an unfortunate situation.

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[PerioDont]

Unfortunate situation. I’ll let the other experts weigh in as well, but I’m gonna say chances are fairly low. Maybe if they give it a few years, perhaps. But they had a chance, and things didn’t work for them. Frankly it’s a huge red flag

 

[GoSpursGo]

I’m sorry this happened. They should take some time off.

But eventually, they need to realize the dream is over. They will not be readmitted to a US MD or DO school. Even if they went to the Caribbean or Europe (and they undoubtedly could find a predatory school willing to admit them), they would not be able to get a residency in the states. Quite simply, it isn't enough to prove that they would be a good doctor, they have to prove that they would be more likely to be a better doctor than every applicant that they reject. There is just no need for a US school to take a risk on someone who has already failed when they could give someone else a chance, and any prospective residency would take an applicant from a US school over someone who was previously dismissed and had to go abroad. I wish I had something more encouraging to share, but that's the reality of their situation, and I would rather be honest about it than see them continue to throw money away pursuing a goal that isn't realistic.

There are many other rewarding careers they could pursue such as PA/NP school.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

My friend also said that they were considering going to medical school outside of the country (in the Caribbean or Europe) if they cannot get into one in the states. Would this be a viable option? Or would their chances of matching into residency be destroyed?

Would highly advise against this. This is a recipe for disaster. Would start looking for Plan B.

 

[lord999]

Your friend is done with the MD/DO route (and potentially for the NP route as well) and the failout is a generous policy (a double failure is usually a dismissal in other schools without retake opportunity). Without any mitigating factors (like a family issue), lack of motivation is not going to work for readmission given the other candidates. A double failure in remediation for 1Y is career-ending. Going to a non-US/Canadian school will not improve their chances given that they were already admitted and attended a US school for two years.

 

[Goro]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

My friend also said that they were considering going to medical school outside of the country (in the Caribbean or Europe) if they cannot get into one in the states. Would this be a viable option? Or would their chances of matching into residency be destroyed?

Your friend has failed out of medical school. They are a prime target for exploitation by the Carib predators, which will fail them out when they start doing poorly again, leaving them with a six-figure debt.

They are in a very vulnerable situation right now, as they are desperate. Their judgment is clouded.

All you can do is point out the multitudes of posts in the Carib and other forums from people who were dismissed from schools outside the US or worse, those who failed to match.

 

[The Med-Peds Dude]

Especially #2. I also wonder about the choice of anticipated specialty. I presume the specialty is competetive for MD's as well; they might need to be outstanding in medical school. Given the average-ish MCAT score, and what happened before failing out, an ultracompetitive specialty may not be realistic.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

My friend also said they were considering going to medical school outside of the country (in the Caribbean or Europe) if they cannot get into one in the states. Would this be a viable option? Or would their chances of matching into residency be destroyed?

Can't practice without a residency. Residencies will look at all transcripts, and not submitting a transcript to a medical school that was attended is dishonest and could lead to termination if it was lied about/omitted. That said, being from an institution outside the US in almost all cases is a red flag. Take what that with a previous matriculation to a US medical school and failing - I'd bet my life savings that interviews would not come for that situation, and your friend would be left with debt, and that's about it.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Seek physician assistant or similar assistant positions (surgery, anesthesiology, pathology assistant) as career paths. Not sure you could have a shot at podiatry programs, but that's possible. I do concede, MD and DO are not viable paths. Stay away from non-US programs unless they never want to practice in the US.