Residency Matches after repeating MS 1

[grobble]

Does anyone know where I could find info, articles, anything about residency matches for people who repeated a year. I'm trying to convince a classmates that all is not lost by repeating MS 1. Unfortunately I can't find any info about it and the school won't or can't release issues concerning those who repeated, probably due to privacy isssues. Anyone have info or personal success stories of getting a good residency after repeating a year?

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[Jim Picotte]

I didn't exactly repeat a year but was failing my anatomy class during the first year of medical school and bailed on it so that meant that I had to repeat anatomy the next year. What I did was extend my program making my first year of medical school 2 years instead of 1 with a big vacation during one of the summers (made medical school 5 years instead of 4 but years 2-4 were exactly the same as everyone else). I did fine and no one even questioned me on it during my interviews. Just make sure your friend does well on the boards and doesn't have any trouble during the clinical years. Failing some of the clinical rotations really has a more detrimental affect on the transcript then the first year basic science courses.

 

[Samir Desai]

I can't really refer you and your classmate to any articles but I can give you many examples of students who matched into a competitive residency despite failing one or more courses during the basic science years. Although not all of them had to repeat the year, some were required to do so. One person I know, who had to repeat a year, just completed a residency in dermatology and is now doing a fellowship. Of course, the rest of his credentials were stellar, including a tremendous performance during the third year of medical school.

Samir Desai, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine

 

[cancer_doc]

I know a friend who had to repeat her 1st year of medical school. I think factors outside med school affected her performance, because when she came back, she kicked butt! She is now a urology resident at a top 5 program.

I myself didn't repeat any years, but bombed my MS-2, took a year off to do research and to find a little cranial solace, then came back and did well in my clinical years. Now I'm doing Rad Onc.

So don't worry about slipping a bit, just don't slip twice!

 

[Doc Ivy]

For those of you who have triumphed in the match after stumbling in MS1 or MS2, what are the "other factors" that you attribute to your success? What made your application stellar despite initial problems? Thanks for the responses. Good thread. 🙂

 

[irlandesa]

I know one person who failed Gross Anatomy during his first year of med school at Tufts, he was class president to boot. He matched at Yale-New Haven for Emergency Medicine in 2003. I also know that several people each year get held back for flunking either anatomy and/or physiology at my school and I'd guess that they go on to do just fine.

 

[grobble]

Thanks for the responses. I think I've almost convinced them to come back and do MS1 again. The failure was due to personal issues and not effort or motivation. Hopefully reading what people posted helped a bit because our admin. doesn't really seem to care if people leave. Thanks again! Any additional positive stories would be appreciated.

 

[frozenajd]

I just wanted to see if there were any new opinions on this matter ... I'm debating on whether to stop the summer remediation work and just start year 1 over again. I do feel competent in the material, but I have just had a tough time getting used to the timed essay exams at my school. For each of the exams this year, I have come close, usually one question away.
I've changed study style and everything, but I can't seem to overcome the growing pressure of each exam.
Coming into medical school, I was interested in one of the more competitive surgery residencies. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether repeating year 1 will affect my chances of getting to those. (By the way, my school first 2 years are true pass fail, so as long as get those on my transcript I will be OK?)

 

[Blade28]

Coming into medical school, I was interested in one of the more competitive surgery residencies. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether repeating year 1 will affect my chances of getting to those.

Which surgical field?

In general, yes, taking more than four years to graduate from med school (excepting those people who earn another degree, like a PhD/MPH, or those who do research) is a red flag for the more competitive fields...especially if you're repeating a year because of academic reasons.

 

[Brunette1981]

It seemed like a lot of the applicants (my original classmates) to more competitive fields (derm, NS) took 5 years at my school. Of course, it was to do research/publish in their field of interest so that's not quite the same thing as repeating a year. My med school is also research-oriented so a lage % of each class takes longer than 4 years. Just saying sometimes 5 years is a strategy for enhancing an otherwise great application with research (not applicable to OP)...

 

[frozenajd]

please don't laugh at me ... but i came into medical school thinking about ortho or some other more reconstructive type of field like vascular

 

[Blade28]

It seemed like a lot of the applicants (my original classmates) to more competitive fields (derm, NS) took 5 years at my school. Of course, it was to do research/publish in their field of interest so that's not quite the same thing as repeating a year. My med school is also research-oriented so a lage % of each class takes longer than 4 years. Just saying sometimes 5 years is a strategy for enhancing an otherwise great application with research (not applicable to OP)...

Absolutely, if you spend your extra year doing research or pursuing another degree (MPH or MBA), it'll be a plus to your app. But if you have to remediate a year because of failing exams/classes...well that's a red flag.

 

[DOMan79]

I know this is an old thread, but wanted to bring up I failed first year due to 1 class.

I did well for everything else

My mother died 3 days before my Step 1 and I failed it. I was prepared knowledge wise, but not mentally.

In the end its going to take me 6 years to finish a 4 year program. I am a DO student in the US.

Can anyone tell me what my chances of landing ANY residency are? Thank you

 

[Law2Doc]

I know this is an old thread, but wanted to bring up I failed first year due to 1 class.

I did well for everything else

My mother died 3 days before my Step 1 and I failed it. I was prepared knowledge wise, but not mentally.

In the end its going to take me 6 years to finish a 4 year program. I am a DO student in the US.

Can anyone tell me what my chances of landing ANY residency are? Thank you

Dude, you just started a new thread in which you say the same thing, so why clutter up the board with a three year old thread???

This should be closed.

 

[smq123]

I know this is an old thread, but wanted to bring up I failed first year due to 1 class.

I did well for everything else

My mother died 3 days before my Step 1 and I failed it. I was prepared knowledge wise, but not mentally.

In the end its going to take me 6 years to finish a 4 year program. I am a DO student in the US.

Can anyone tell me what my chances of landing ANY residency are? Thank you

Cross-posted in a separate thread (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=13218480#post13218480). Closing.