What Do You Do If You Fail The Medical Boards?

[kylek044]

Ok - I haven't failed anything (I'm not far enough to have failed anything important), but I want to know that, if you fail the boards, what do you do?
Can you get registered as a nurse or a lesser-physician? Any advice would be nice.

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[Law2Doc]

Ok - I haven't failed anything (I'm not far enough to have failed anything important), but I want to know that, if you fail the boards, what do you do?
Can you get registered as a nurse or a lesser-physician? Any advice would be nice.

If we are talking about Step 1, you retake it. I've never heard of anyone becoming a nurse due to failing the boards (I doubt that you even would automatically qualify to get registered as a nurse by virtue of your med school classes), and I have no clue what you consider to be a "lesser-physician".

 

[DrMom]

if you fail any stage of the USMLE, you retake it. If you repeatedly fail & max out your school's retake policy, then you'll likely get kicked out of school. If you're kicked out of medical school you're not qualified to be a nurse or any supposedly "lesser" medical professional.

Keep in mind that this whole scenario affects very few people in medical school.

 

[Biscuit799]

Although the OP brings up a good point. I'm currently a second year, and it'd be nice if you at least got a Master's of Biomedical Sciences after the first two years, or something...
At least it'd be something to show for the hell that is preclinical years.

 

[indo]

Although the OP brings up a good point. I'm currently a second year, and it'd be nice if you at least got a Master's of Biomedical Sciences after the first two years, or something...
At least it'd be something to show for the hell that is preclinical years.

What will you have mastered after 1st and 2nd years?

 

[AmoryBlaine]

if you fail any stage of the USMLE, you retake it. If you repeatedly fail & max out your school's retake policy, then you'll likely get kicked out of school. If you're kicked out of medical school you're not qualified to be a nurse or any supposedly "lesser" medical professional.

Keep in mind that this whole scenario affects very few people in medical school.

Agreed. If you are in med school in America and you speak English, the chances of your failing Step1 three times is exceedingly low.

Rocking Step1 is hard, but passing it shouldn't be too difficult for an average student who puts in some time. Does that mean everone passes? No. But does that mean the person who fails probably won't be you? Almost certainly.

 

[f-series]

What will you have mastered after 1st and 2nd years?

Memorization!

 

[dynx]

if you fail any stage of the USMLE, you retake it. If you repeatedly fail & max out your school's retake policy, then you'll likely get kicked out of school. If you're kicked out of medical school you're not qualified to be a nurse or any supposedly "lesser" medical professional.

Keep in mind that this whole scenario affects very few people in medical school.

He brings up a good point though. If you fail the USMLE shouldnt you automatically get to be a PA or a nurse or something. Maybe they could let you be a DO or a chiropracter or some other sort of MD booby prize. Thoughts?

Wait...I've got it:
score outcome
>182 MD
172-182 DO
162-171 Chiropracter (spelling?)
152-161 PA
142-151 Nurse
132-141 medical school administration

this seems like the most fair way to do it

 

[Wizard of Oz]

He brings up a good point though. If you fail the USMLE shouldnt you automatically get to be a PA or a nurse or something. Maybe they could let you be a DO or a chiropracter or some other sort of MD booby prize. Thoughts?

Wait...I've got it:
score outcome
>182 MD
172-182 DO
162-171 Chiropracter (spelling?)
152-161 PA
142-151 Nurse
132-141 medical school administration

this seems like the most fair way to do it

Um, no. Our health care system is intended to be multidisciplinary. There is no "ranking." Nursing and chiropractic are intended to be separate fields. A nursing care plan is not the same thing as a differential diagnosis, and osteopathic manipulation is not the same thing as allopathic medicine. PA's at my school have much better physical exam skills and ability to diagnose than MS2's. I was easily given a slot in med school with a scholarship after being rejected by the same school's PA program in previous application cycles.

Now if it really was a step-ladder field in which you actually get some clinical experience and applied sciences (pharm, path, neuro, etc.) instead of focusing on organic chemistry during undergrad, then your argument would have some weight.

You can graduate with a bachelor's in biomedical science and have taken all of your medical pre-req's and still not be qualified to be a nurse's aide in the hospital. Why shadowing docs and doing bench research is more important than learning how to draw blood or spike an IV will always be a mystery to me, but it is the system that we chose. It is a system that is disparate from most of the rest of the planet.

There's nothing stopping you from getting an undergrad degree in nursing or medical technology before medical school. Then you wouldn't have to worry about a door prize diploma. It might also be said that you'd have a better shot at step 1 if you actually had some clinical experience with disease processes instead of merely reading about them in a book.

 

[45408]

142-151 Nurse
132-141 medical school administration

this seems like the most fair way to do it

Yeah, man, cuz all the nurses are way dumber.

 

[fatman41]

Don't worry about failing. You have to keep in mind that not just US MDs take this test. You have all the FMG and DO in the pool as well, which accounts for a large portion of the failures. If you come from a decent US MD med school and take care of business during the preclinical years, you will be fine.

 

[Dr. McDreamy]

nah. all the above posters are wrong. if you fail you must committ hara-kiri to prevent dishonoring your medical school. they make you sign a form to this effect before you take step 1. actually, the reason you never hear about this happening is b/c all the people who failed are dead.

 

[surrender903]

Wait...I've got it:
score outcome
>182 MD
172-182 DO
162-171 Chiropracter (spelling?)
152-161 PA
142-151 Nurse
132-141 medical school administration

this seems like the most fair way to do it

 

[razmataz]

Wait...I've got it:
score outcome
>182 MD
172-182 DO
162-171 Chiropracter (spelling?)
152-161 PA
142-151 Nurse
132-141 medical school administration

this seems like the most fair way to do it

i like how everyone takes this so seriously.

 

[wiryMD]

Wait...I've got it:
score outcome
>182 MD
172-182 DO
162-171 Chiropracter (spelling?)
152-161 PA
142-151 Nurse
132-141 medical school administration

this seems like the most fair way to do it

Excellent idea, unfortunately the humor is lost on this crowd

 

[indo]

Actually, if you score below 200 you're only really qualified to do infomercials.

 

[Law2Doc]

Actually, if you score below 200 you're only really qualified to do infomercials.

But the jokes on the high scorers, as there's probably more money and better hours shilling snake oil on TV.

 

[indo]

haha, its true.