Tips for a repeat year

[rembestgirl]

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Hello!

I began my first year of medical school in July and unfortunately failed my 4 week Anatomy course. At my school I am not allowed to continue on until I pass each course so I will have to come back and retake it next year. Therefore I have this next year to prep better and set myself up to do well the rest of preclerkship. I am thinking about doing research, completing some of my electives this fall, as well as an undergraduate anatomy lab course in the Spring that was recommended by my professor. I have been meeting with my school's academic advisors, financial aid, and wellness and counseling department. Does anyone have any other advice for me on how I can best utilize this time to make sure this never happens again? How screwed am I for the match? I'm at a US D.O. school and as of now I have interest in psychiatry and PM&R but obviously it's still very early on.

 

[Goro]

Do you know what impeded you to the
extent that you failed Anatomy?

Do you have a cadaver lab or is the course using digital cadaver?

Talk to your Anatomy faculty and ask them for advice on how to do better.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

The more I read about DO schools, the more I'm convinced they hate their students. Forced to repeat a year by August of M1 is insane.

 

[Dorsey DO]

The more I read about DO schools, the more I'm convinced they hate their students. Forced to repeat a year by August of M1 is insane.

Taking their money and spitting in their faces. All for the dollar bill. Just immoral practices, yet they could care less.

 

[Dral]

Understanding that some prospective students do not necessarily have much choice in the matter, I believe that investigating how well a school supports its students is underrated when deciding where to matriculate.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I am confused by a 4 week anatomy class. They can't possibly cover all of anatomy in 4 weeks?

 

[rembestgirl]

Do you know what impeded you to the
extent that you failed Anatomy?

Do you have a cadaver lab or is the course using digital cadaver?

Talk to your Anatomy faculty and ask them for advice on how to do better.

Thank you for the tips! I think it was just a matter of not knowing how to study effectively as I was still figuring out study strategies. Ours is in the cadaver lab. I talked to my anatomy faculty and they suggested taking the undergraduate anatomy lab course as it is taught by the same professors.

 

[rembestgirl]

I am confused by a 4 week anatomy class. They can't possibly cover all of anatomy in 4 weeks?

Not sure how it works at other schools but at mine we do 4 weeks of anatomy at the beginning of first year and then 4 weeks of MSK in the fall

 

[twospadz]

Wow. DO schools really do hate their students. My medical school, you would have to fail 2 classes to not be allowed to go to M2.

 

[Goro]

Wow. DO schools really do hate their students. My medical school, you would have to fail 2 classes to not be allowed to go to M2.

Not all DO schools are pathological

 

[Goro]

Not sure how it works at other schools but at mine we do 4 weeks of anatomy at the beginning of first year and then 4 weeks of MSK in the fall

No remediation offered???

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Wow. DO schools really do hate their students. My medical school, you would have to fail 2 classes to not be allowed to go to M2.

My school allows 2 failed blocks (blocks are 2-6 week long mini classes) for the first semester before you need to remediate, which is done over winter break so you can rejoin the class for spring. You can also remediate one spring class over the summer by basically passing a cumulative class exam. If you remediate in fall and fail another class, or fail 2 spring classes, you have to repeat the year I believe.

 

[Dorsey DO]

My school allows 2 failed blocks (blocks are 2-6 week long mini classes) for the first semester before you need to remediate, which is done over winter break so you can rejoin the class for spring. You can also remediate one spring class over the summer by basically passing a cumulative class exam. If you remediate in fall and fail another class, or fail 2 spring classes, you have to repeat the year I believe.

Is Remediation/Repeating the year/Dismissal a D.O. thing, or the M.D schools use the same system? I would imagine D.O. schools are a sink or swim deal, and MD schools push you along no matter how bad you are.

 

[rembestgirl]

No remediation offered???

I was 2 percent below the threshold needed to be eligible for remediation

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Is Remediation/Repeating the year/Dismissal a D.O. thing, or the M.D schools use the same system? I would imagine D.O. schools are a sink or swim deal, and MD schools push you along no matter how bad you are.

I have no idea but it certainly seems like they're much less forgiving than MD schools. I wouldn't say my school pushes people along, but sometimes people just need time to acclimate especially in the first year. It seems cruel to immediately destroy someone's timeline and match prospects a month into a 4 year program unless they did something really bad tbh.

 

[rembestgirl]

I have no idea but it certainly seems like they're much less forgiving than MD schools. I wouldn't say my school pushes people along, but sometimes people just need time to acclimate especially in the first year. It seems cruel to immediately destroy someone's timeline and match prospects a month into a 4 year program unless they did something really bad tbh.

I take full responsibility for my poor performance in the class, and upon some self-reflection, I know exactly why I failed and how to do better next time. But of course it has been frustrating that after only 4 weeks and 2 exams, I have to sit out this next year which will delay graduation and hurt me in the match. Especially because it's happened right as I was beginning to figure out study strategies.