Think I failed out of Med School

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futuredrpedsed

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So I really just think I failed out of medical school.. I failed histology for 2 points (literal points not percents). And Im pretty sure I failed anatomy and embryology. For background I had a ton of family stuff going on, my dad was admitted to the hospital the first day of class and was in the hospital for the whole first month. I really should have taken LOA. Now I don't know what to do, this whole situation messed me up mentally and I really thought I could pull my grades up but i psyched myself out for the last exam. Im also a 3+4 student so I have an undergrad degree on the line as well, so Im panicing. Anyone lecom specific know anything about how the school will go about this. I feel like a complete idiot. Worked towards this my whole life and now I screwed it all up.

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Usually schools will give you a chance to remediate or repeat the year. They will never just kick you out if you have legitimate reasons for why you failed.
 
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You won't be kicked out. They want you to graduate for the most part. You'll get it figured out sorry you had to go through all of this. Meet with the dean or someone at the school and explain your situation this isn't the caribbean so they will most likely work with you and help you in your case.
 
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Usually schools will give you a chance to remediate or repeat the year. They will never just kick you out if you have legitimate reasons for why you failed.

I know they let you remediate up a major and minor course. But failing 1 major and 2 minor they get to decide if you can retake the year or they just dismiss you completely. Ive also heard they make students do the post bacc to get into SOM again. I just don't want them to be like you knew your situation and should have had the wisdom to take LOA. Idk everything with lecom is so unpredictable.
 
I know they let you remediate up a major and minor course. But failing 1 major and 2 minor they get to decide if you can retake the year or they just dismiss you completely. Ive also heard they make students do the post bacc to get into SOM again. I just don't want them to be like you knew your situation and should have had the wisdom to take LOA. Idk everything with lecom is so unpredictable.
I'm not LECOM but I literally highly doubt they will just kick you out like that. It is pretty difficult to get legitimately kicked out of med school after you were accepted especially if you have things going on outside of school like illness or illness in the family etc.
 
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It's possible they will place you in the masters program, and pending success will readmit you to the medical school. I've heard of a few students getting placed in the old "post-bacc" which is now a masters.
 
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I know they let you remediate up a major and minor course. But failing 1 major and 2 minor they get to decide if you can retake the year or they just dismiss you completely. Ive also heard they make students do the post bacc to get into SOM again. I just don't want them to be like you knew your situation and should have had the wisdom to take LOA. Idk everything with lecom is so unpredictable.
I don't know how LECOM do things, but I know that schools will do everything to keep you in the program unless they know there's no way you can succeed (like failing horribly) because attrition is never a good thing for medical schools in the U.S. In your case, you were really close to passing, and you had legitimate issues holding you back. In hindsight, people always think they should have the wisdom to take a LOA, but in reality you always think you can make it work while actually being in the situation because who wants to lose a year of 200K attending salary? So I don't think they can blame you for that. If you end up having to go in their master program, which I doubt, then go in motivated to work your butt off to get readmitted.
 
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You should refer to the student's handbook and look under promotions to next semester/year. At some programs, if you fail a course, you get remediate and move on. But, if you fail multiple classes, then that can lead to academic dismissal.
No idea how LECOM works, but looking over the handbook can be helpful. I'm sure you have contacted the admins regarding your situation and hope it works for you, but you should have taken that loa.

I hope they give you another chance. Good luck!
 
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I know they let you remediate up a major and minor course. But failing 1 major and 2 minor they get to decide if you can retake the year or they just dismiss you completely. Ive also heard they make students do the post bacc to get into SOM again. I just don't want them to be like you knew your situation and should have had the wisdom to take LOA. Idk everything with lecom is so unpredictable.
Very sorry to hear of your situation. But I sense that you're beating yourself up too much.

Go talk to your Deans right now. There's no reason for them to be punitive in the way you;re imagining. We Faculty understand that life happens.
 
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LECOM decides what you can do based on how many courses were failed, and by how much. If it is a significant failure, or multiple courses were failed, they have dismissed people in the past from that alone in October as they have those 3 courses predominate until then with PBL lite before PBL is in full swing. If it is a single failure, or barely failed, I believe there is a chance to remediated at the end of the year for a single course or 2. Nothing else can be failed if this is the option they allow. Also depending on how the failing went, there is a chance they simply allow you to remediate the entire year over, or they have you go to their masters program for the remainder of the year, and then repeat first year again.
 
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Very sorry to hear of your situation. But I sense that you're beating yourself up too much.

Go talk to your Deans right now. There's no reason for them to be punitive in the way you;re imagining. We Faculty understand that life happens.

Thank you so much for your input, it feels reassuring to have input of faculty.. I honestly am more stressed that not only did I most likely fail my first year but I also have no degree now since I was banking on transferring back credits to my UG for my bachelors. Its honestly such a messy situation.
 
LECOM decides what you can do based on how many courses were failed, and by how much. If it is a significant failure, or multiple courses were failed, they have dismissed people in the past from that alone in October as they have those 3 courses predominate until then with PBL lite before PBL is in full swing. If it is a single failure, or barely failed, I believe there is a chance to remediated at the end of the year for a single course or 2. Nothing else can be failed if this is the option they allow. Also depending on how the failing went, there is a chance they simply allow you to remediate the entire year over, or they have you go to their masters program for the remainder of the year, and then repeat first year again.

From what I hear this is what they usually do. I how no clue how it will go for me as I dont have a bachelors degree yet. It just sucks that it was all for a couple points but it is what it is. Im an LDP in erie.
 
I'm not LECOM but I literally highly doubt they will just kick you out like that. It is pretty difficult to get legitimately kicked out of med school after you were accepted especially if you have things going on outside of school like illness or illness in the family etc.

Some schools will kick you out just like that. Happened to me. Fortunately, I mounted a strong appeal and had the dismissal overturned by the appeal committee, but had to go through the whole process with the appeal letter, appeal hearing, etc. Was told my case was unusual and that's why I was able to get it overturned, which "never" happened at my school according to people I turned to for advice during the process.

But in the OP's case, even if he/she is dismissed, there are options. Consult the handbook and start working on your appeal. A bit of advice: it never ends well if your appeal reads like an excuse. What you need to do is take responsibility and offer your circumstances as one of several reasons, not an excuse. You also need to offer a solution to the problem (study methods from now, check ins with faculty, etc).
 
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Every school that is accredited in the US (by an US DoE approved accrediting agency) is required to have a student handbook that details policy and procedures (such as expectations for promotion, remediation, and the process of probation, removal, etc), whether for academic or non-academic reasons.

Here is LECOM's Student Handbook

Start at page 59 - Probation. Page 61 deals with Remediation. Page 67 deals with Dismissal.


As a side note - I noticed LECOM refers to their osteopathic medical school as College of Medicine instead of College of Osteopathic Medicine? Interesting. (I guess the name of the school gives it away so calling it Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine may be a bit redundant)
 
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Every school that is accredited in the US (by an US DoE approved accrediting agency) is required to have a student handbook that details policy and procedures (such as expectations for promotion, remediation, and the process of probation, removal, etc), whether for academic or non-academic reasons.

Here is LECOM's Student Handbook

Start at page 59 - Probation. Page 61 deals with Remediation. Page 67 deals with Dismissal.


As a side note - I noticed LECOM refers to their osteopathic medical school as College of Medicine instead of College of Osteopathic Medicine? Interesting. (I guess the name of the school gives it away so calling it Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine may be a bit redundant)

Yeah Ive read the handbook and they have the option to dissmiss me or let me redo the year.

Yeah I think its more the redundancy of it, plus they have dental and pharm; so they just refer to it as the college of medicine sometimes.
 
Some schools will kick you out just like that. Happened to me. Fortunately, I mounted a strong appeal and had the dismissal overturned by the appeal committee, but had to go through the whole process with the appeal letter, appeal hearing, etc. Was told my case was unusual and that's why I was able to get it overturned, which "never" happened at my school according to people I turned to for advice during the process.

But in the OP's case, even if he/she is dismissed, there are options. Consult the handbook and start working on your appeal. A bit of advice: it never ends well if your appeal reads like an excuse. What you need to do is take responsibility and offer your circumstances as one of several reasons, not an excuse. You also need to offer a solution to the problem (study methods from now, check ins with faculty, etc).
I am so sorry you had to go through that. But Im glad it worked out for you. I really hope this doesn't happen with me, but thank you for the warning. I know there are about 10-12 repeaters in our class all repeating for various reasons ranging from illnesses to failing classes. So I know that I do stand a chance. I just feel as if they are going to tell me I should have known better :/

Was your original dismissal due to academics as well? I am sorry if this is too personal of a question, you don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable.
 
Talk to your advisor. I'm sure there is a student promotion comittee that will review your case. If there are extenuating circumstances, I'm certain they will work with you. Face it, they cant replace you in that class and will lose money if they dismiss you. On the other hand, schools normally accept a couple students above what they are accredited for as they know a few students withdraw every year. I think you can work things out. Good luck and best wishes!
 
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Don’t worry too much.

At my school, failure of any core class allows the student performance committee to decide your fate, which may include dismissal from the school.

But, realistically, the process is usually remediation of the failed class and continuation of the year; fail two classes in a year (we only take one at a time) and you’ll need to repeat the year. Essentially, you need to fail a repeated class for them to dismiss you. I’ve never heard of anyone being dismissed for failing a class for the first time.
 
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But in the OP's case, even if he/she is dismissed, there are options. Consult the handbook and start working on your appeal. A bit of advice: it never ends well if your appeal reads like an excuse. What you need to do is take responsibility and offer your circumstances as one of several reasons, not an excuse. You also need to offer a solution to the problem (study methods from now, check ins with faculty, etc).

Probably the best advice here. This is just my experience in situations where I've messed up (bad medical school exam, work problems) is that people tend to respond better if you identify a problem and come forward with steps to fix it. "In hindsight I should have taken a leave of absence. I've also reached out to the learning center and we discussed trying XYZ to improve my study habbits." A willingness to change and self reflect just looks better than 'oops! I'll try harder.'

Really sorry this happened to you. Medical school really amplifies any real life distractions you may be facing. Hope your other two classes weren't fails.
 
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So I really just think I failed out of medical school.. I failed histology for 2 points (literal points not percents). And Im pretty sure I failed anatomy and embryology. For background I had a ton of family stuff going on, my dad was admitted to the hospital the first day of class and was in the hospital for the whole first month. I really should have taken LOA. Now I don't know what to do, this whole situation messed me up mentally and I really thought I could pull my grades up but i psyched myself out for the last exam. Im also a 3+4 student so I have an undergrad degree on the line as well, so Im panicing. Anyone lecom specific know anything about how the school will go about this. I feel like a complete idiot. Worked towards this my whole life and now I screwed it all up.
Dont talk alot in the meeting and wait for them to ask questions. Also record it. They should let you remediate or repeat. If they dont the recording will give you options. Read your handbook, and bring an advocate with you also. Don't get too emotional and try to do what mass effect said, he knows what hes talking about.
 
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Dont talk alot in the meeting and wait for them to ask questions. Also record it. They should let you remediate or repeat. If they dont the recording will give you options. Read your handbook, and bring an advocate with you also. Don't get too emotional and try to do what mass effect said, he knows what hes talking about.

Thank you for the advice! Im not sure they will grant me permission to record though.
 
I would do it covertly. They will be recording you whether you give them permission or not.
I cannot remember if this is for Erie or Bradenton but at least in Florida you need to notify the other party or it is considered illegal. So just be careful
 
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I cannot remember if this is for Erie or Bradenton but at least in Florida you need to notify the other party or it is considered illegal. So just be careful
Consent laws are usually in regard to having 'an expectation of privacy' I am not going to argue what constitutes an 'expecation of privacy' as I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Someone will be recording the conversation from the schools side in some manner (very likely both written and audio). I suggest that anyone who finds themselves in this situation do the same.
 
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I cannot remember if this is for Erie or Bradenton but at least in Florida you need to notify the other party or it is considered illegal. So just be careful

PA is a two-party consent state as well
 
Recording the audio is an awful idea and thinking that it gives you any advantage shows that you do not have the right mindset to approach this meeting. The school based on mutual guidelines literally owns you and any positive outcome is thanks to their grace. You recording them and attempting to use that in any setting is at best useless. The school can tell you one thing and then retroactively decide on something else, that is within their jurispridence per you failing to honor the academic commitment. Judges have been historically pro-establishment with caveat emptor rulings to students who try to associate their schools with fraud or bait and switch. It is just universally a bad idea to think an audio recording is worth the risk. Because I cannot think of any legal basis where presenting it would help your case.
 
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Recording the audio is an awful idea and thinking that it gives you any advantage shows that you do not have the right mindset to approach this meeting. The school based on mutual guidelines literally owns you and any positive outcome is thanks to their grace. You recording them and attempting to use that in any setting is at best useless. The school can tell you one thing and then retroactively decide on something else, that is within their jurispridence per you failing to honor the academic commitment. Judges have been historically pro-establishment with caveat emptor rulings to students who try to associate their schools with fraud or bait and switch. It is just universally a bad idea to think an audio recording is worth the risk. Because I cannot think of any legal basis where presenting it would help your case.
You sound like you belong in admin. I think I might have a job for you at RPC-COM when the time comes.
 
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You sound like you belong in admin. I think I might have a job for you at RPC-COM when the time comes.
What do they do with the audio recording? Upload it to Youtube? Use it to self-incriminate themselves?
There is 0 practical usage for it. I'm sorry if shooting down your recommendation emotionally hurt you, it doesn't change it from still being a bad idea.
 
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What do they do with the audio recording? Upload it to Youtube? Use it to self-incriminate themselves?
There is 0 practical usage for it. I'm sorry if shooting down your recommendation emotionally hurt you, it doesn't change it from still being a bad idea.
You seem awfully caught up in my recommendation. It was, and remains my personal opinion. I'm sorry if that triggers you, but thats really not my concern. There are always practical uses for those recordings, I am sure you can think of one beyond legal if you try.
 
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You seem awfully caught up in my recommendation. It was, and remains my personal opinion. I'm sorry if that triggers you, but thats really not my concern. There are always practical uses for those recordings, I am sure you can think of one beyond legal if you try.
There's really none. Would be interesting for you to actually write how one would actually help the OP because I feel like you'd rather prefer to just smear B.S. on the topic rather than actually typing whatever you thought the OP could achieve with it. If you do actually manage to force a plausible idea rather than just admitting that it was bad idea, then props to you for actually getting a rationale out in your fourth post. 25% efficacy in some context has to be a laudable output.
 
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There's really none. Would be interesting for you to actually write how one would actually help the OP because I feel like you'd rather prefer to just smear B.S. on the topic rather than actually typing whatever you thought the OP could achieve with it. If you do actually manage to force a plausible idea rather than just admitting that it was bad idea, then props to you for actually getting a rationale out in your fourth post. 25% efficacy in some context has to be a laudable output.
Or I could just opt to leave you to your own devices, and go enjoy my evening.

I would point out to any future students reading that select all that apply is currently listed as a 'non-student' and had quite the violent reaction to even the idea of being recorded. Consider the source when choosing your advice, as a student I have nothing to gain here and you will notice I rather consistently reply to these kinds of threads. Others may have different motives. As always caveat emptor, especially with those who are, as select so gracefully put it, 'pro-establishment.'
 
It’s been a few years since I was pre-clinical at LECOM so I don’t recall the specifics of their remediation rules, but it sounds like you were close to passing, have extenuating circumstances and a decent work ethic. I’d expect them to let you repeat the year, if not remediate the individual classes ( I know one major, one major plus two minor, or two minor could be remediated a few years ago, but I don’t know what happens with a 3rd failure, and my knowledge is rusty and out of date).

I would not recommend recording the meeting. It will make you come across as defensive instead of contrite, not to mention that recording conversations in a two-party-consent state is illegal. Breaking the law in an attempt to stay in school isn’t a great look. Plus, should you try legal action as a last resort, illegal recordings are unlikely to be helpful.
 
Although I am part of "administration", I too think that recording the meeting secretly is a poor idea.

If the school wants to record the meeting, they will do so in the open and will alert you to it. If they do that, you can always get a copy of the meeting if you decide to pursue legal action. If they record it secretly, then they will be violating the law (most likely, depends upon local law).

If you record the meeting secretly, and then try to use it in any way, it will either: 1) be seen as a violation of the honor code and grounds for immediate termination, or 2) be reported to authorities and be investigated as a felony, which will be grounds for immediate termination.

You are absolutely welcome to request to record the meeting, or if it is being recorded ask for a copy of the recording (although you have no legal right to it, they will need to volunteer it).
 
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