Residency options after Failing a class

[Katelyn777]

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Hello,

I am an OMS-II with a 3.11 GPA. Out of the 33 classes I have taken thus far, the lowest grade I have gotten is a C+ on 4 classes (2 of those were a 79). That is until last Block (5). I failed my Standardized patient because I ran out of time during a 14 minute exam (the shortest time we've been given so far) where I had to complete a CardioPulm exam and Abdominal exam. I do struggle with my SP encounters because they are video-recorded and then presented a week later with a physician and 5 -7 of our random classmates. This process is very intimidating to me and I have allowed my nerves to get the best of me at times. I have been having some problems within my marriage that has made school a little more difficult and my SP encounter is the grade that took the heat, if you will.

Our school attaches our SP grade to the Principles of Primary Care/OMM class and we must pass both the class and the SP encounter to get a passing grade for the class.

So......I am wondering how this will look for future residency program directors. I know that I must do everything I can to make sure that this doesn't happen again and to do the best that I can on my boards and during rotations, but will I be totally exempt from moderately competitive positions? I do not want to go into Family Medicine and at this point am leaning toward OB/GYN or even radiology.

 

[costales]

Well, you haven't taken boards yet. Remediate the exam over a school break if your school allows it, and study hard for boards.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

If we fail a patient encounter, they make us do it again. That is crappy you can fail the entire class if you fail one standardized patient along the way. But just really practice your skills and get your physical in an order that is really efficient. And I ran out of time (which i never do) on our cardio standardized patient as well, but we had 20 minutes. 14 minutes for a full history and physical is booking.

 

[Oo Cipher oO]

Did you fail the class or one patient encounter? I've failed my end of year patient last year for bad time management skills and I had to just repeat it and pass. When I passed I automatically got the lowest passing score (70) but other then that my transcript is unaffected. Are you a first year? I'm sure you are not the first to fail a patient encounter. Ask other students and also ask the administration how this will even be reflected in your transcripts.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Need to take the board exam that's what counts and what you need to pass on the first try. Most people in medical school fail at something along the way. I wouldn't freak too much about it. It's more common than you think.

 

[hallowmann]

... It's more common than you think.

To give you an idea OP, last year at my school, 12% of the first years failed a course worth almost half of their first semester grades (about half the number of credits that semester). I talked to a few (current second years) and they said most of them successfully remediated (got >75% on a remediation exam) and it wasn't an issue.

The good thing at my school (and some of the other schools that friends are going to) an F doesn't show up on a transcript unless you fail to remediate it. If you pass the remediation, you pass the course with a 70%.

I would check out your school's policy, and see what will ultimately be on your transcript. If it will show a failure, while that's unfortunate, I doubt its the end of the world, provided you do well on boards. Pre-clinical grades, unlike clinical ones, aren't very important for residency. Board scores, clinical grades, experience in the field, and general likability tends to trump preclinical grades in terms of importance in almost every field.