Should I drop out or try to finish med school?

[Unsettled]

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[namethatsmell]

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

If you still have the desire to be a doc, then you should definitely give it another go. Assuming you're at a US school you should be able to land an IM spot provided that you don't have any further hiccups. Will you land that spot at MGH? Probably not. But there are tons of quality IM programs that can help you get a fellowship.

However, you should realize that you'll likely only get one "second chance." This means that you need to identify why you had trouble in school and address/correct these issues before you start up again, even if that means taking a year off before starting school again. A classmate of mine failed most of her first year but didn't address her issues before trying to repeat the year...it didn't end well.

Good luck.

 

[VenusinFurs]

I am in the situation where I will have to repeat M1. I failed one class during the first semester and barely passed 2 classes during my second one. The prospect of getting into a good residency seems pretty slim right now. Even if I do well in classes from this point on and get a good Step 1 score, do I stand a chance of getting into a decent residency in Internal Medicine? Or even a fellowship program?

I am wondering if I should drop out of medical school and consider other career path. Any constructive advice will be greatly appreciated!

Are you saying you have to have a swanky fellowship or you don't want to be in medicine at all?

 

[kitten30]

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[AlbinoHawk DO]

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

If you still have the desire to be a doc, then you should definitely give it another go. Assuming you're at a US school you should be able to land an IM spot provided that you don't have any further hiccups. Will you land that spot at MGH? Probably not. But there are tons of quality IM programs that can help you get a fellowship.

However, you should realize that you'll likely only get one "second chance." This means that you need to identify why you had trouble in school and address/correct these issues before you start up again, even if that means taking a year off before starting school again. A classmate of mine failed most of her first year but didn't address her issues before trying to repeat the year...it didn't end well.

Good luck.

There's a kid at my school that failed first year twice. He's getting his third shot.

 

[masaraksh]

There's a kid at my school that failed first year twice. He's getting his third shot.

That just means your DO school is happy taking 2 extra years of tuition (*cough* probably loans or parents dough *cough*) from this poor kid.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

That just means your DO school is happy taking 2 extra years of tuition (*cough* probably loans or parents dough *cough*) from this poor kid.

You'd think that, and while it's true they are taking his extra tuition money for repeating the year, they have lost the income of a student from the years he should have advanced. In the end it'll cost him more money, but really the school now is losing on 6 years of tuition due to his failure.

 

[masaraksh]

You'd think that, and while it's true they are taking his extra tuition money for repeating the year, they have lost the income of a student from the years he should have advanced. In the end it'll cost him more money, but really the school now is losing on 6 years of tuition due to his failure.

That is assuming they are taking 1 less student in the following years class to balance the 1 student falling back. However, I am doubtful that is the case. However, this guy gets taken for a ride for 6yrs. Pretty rough considering DO schools are often as if not more expensive than even the most expensive MD schools.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

That is assuming they are taking 1 less student in the following years class to balance the 1 student falling back. However, I am doubtful that is the case. However, this guy gets taken for a ride for 6yrs. Pretty rough considering DO schools are often as if not more expensive than even the most expensive MD schools.

No, that's assuming he would have passed his classes and paid tuition for 2nd, 3rd and 4th year. Also, the school is capped at a certain number of seats and really doubt the school will take less students than it can.

It is very rough. My school's tuition is 53k, so this guy is definitely in the hole, and I seriously doubt he'll be able to pass his boards.

 

[Life Eternal]

DO schools are capped at a certain number of seats but they can add 8% on to it for people that have to repeat a year.

 

[Roxas]

That is assuming they are taking 1 less student in the following years class to balance the 1 student falling back. However, I am doubtful that is the case. However, this guy gets taken for a ride for 6yrs. Pretty rough considering DO schools are often as if not more expensive than even the most expensive MD schools.

While I agree that DO schools are not cheap, from the majority of MD schools I looked into going anywhere other than your in-state school costs just as much if not more

 

[ortnakas]

I know a couple people repeating first year, and it's a pretty $hitty financial situation; on the other hand, continuing means they should eventually have a doctor's salary and be able to pay it back. With dropping out, that would be a lot more difficult.

I also agree with O Grady-- a couple DO schools are outlandishly expensive, but most are on par with what you'd pay for OOS tuition at an MD school. My DO school is actually the same price as my in-state MD school would have been (other than obviously the costs of moving and whatnot).

 

[J ROD]

might as well take another shot at it. what else you gotta do

 

[NontradCA]

That is assuming they are taking 1 less student in the following years class to balance the 1 student falling back. However, I am doubtful that is the case. However, this guy gets taken for a ride for 6yrs. Pretty rough considering DO schools are often as if not more expensive than even the most expensive MD schools.

My school's the cheapest in the state, and I still think it's rough. 😉