Why do students get dismissed from DO school?

[radian313]

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Ive been fortunate enough to be granted admission into a DO school. I am 33 years old. Life got in the way, stuff happened, but all thats cleared up. Im good to go, but I have this insecurity my age will come in the way of my performance. To ensure I do well, I am curious why do people get dismissed from DO school? I know mostly everyone isnt "academically challenged", but something triggers it.

1. Do students just become complacent?

2. Homesick?

3. Is it simply hard for some?

I ask because I didnt do all that hot on my MCAT, so this is just a old guy whining about his insecurity maybe. But reassured, I know I will leave no freaking stone unturned to ensure I do well.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Let me begin by saying that everyone is academically challenged by medical school by sheer volume. No one is going through medical school like it's a walk in the park, everyone is making sacrifices in one way or form.

To get to your actual question. People get dismissed for any number of reasons. Some are purely due to the school, i.e they have poor policies regarding remediation and or lack the resources to support programs which decelerate you. I think for the most part many students end up being dismissed because fundamentally they cannot make it through medical school. Whether it's work ethic, intelligent, or simply the inability to adjust to a life where you will need to give up thing you love and enjoy to be successful, we have to acknowledge that the path is not for everyone.

And even then some others struggle, get unlucky, etc. Some people for example are used to living with parents and struggle really to adjust to not only balancing medical school, but also to feeding themselves a diet that doesn't end up making them feel crappy or outright making them unable to study. Others get sick or got sick frequently due to the stress. I know at least one person in both years who ended up having to remediate a year due to illness.

Overall it's valid to be concerned. I personally still worry about it myself. And you being a non-trad will have some struggling to do, namely that you're likely out of the studying game and as such will need to remember or relearn a lot of material that's fresh in younger student's minds along with the lifestyle of being a student. But plenty of people do it and you probably will as well.

But regardless, I think the biggest thing I can recommend for everyone is to learn to live the art and the process behind this all. You're going to live and breathe medicine for the next 4 years. And aside from the few days you'll do things away from medicine, you will need to learn to find pleasure and meaning from learning how to be a doctor and learning about how medicine works. If you can't do that it's simply not going to be the right field for you.

 

[DrMikeP]

Ive been fortunate enough to be granted admission into a DO school. I am 33 years old. Life got in the way, stuff happened, but all thats cleared up. Im good to go, but I have this insecurity my age will come in the way of my performance. To ensure I do well, I am curious why do people get dismissed from DO school? I know mostly everyone isnt "academically challenged", but something triggers it.

1. Do students just become complacent?

2. Homesick?

3. Is it simply hard for some?

I ask because I didnt do all that hot on my MCAT, so this is just a old guy whining about his insecurity maybe. But reassured, I know I will leave no freaking stone unturned to ensure I do well.

It may be a product of my profession, but most med students I see end up behind academically and emotionally overwhelmed (chicken vs egg on which came first) and they don't react until it's too late. Some have previous serious psychiatric or medical issues that were intentionally kept hidden and med school brings those out, but interestingly adcoms often do a decent job at catching those.

Students sometimes after being overwhelmed screw up worse by cheating, screaming at faculty, etc and if they did something really bad (ethical/legal violation/substance/threatening) they go through the process and often get booted. I know a student who was failing a class and threatened to blow up the school, it was not taken well.

Academic issues often at good schools lead to the student being placed in some sort of remediation plan and offered help. If the person either still can't do it or decides to cut bait, after due process it's over. If the student succeeds everyone is happy (well usually).

So if you find yourself slipping ask for help!! The schools/professionals I've worked with offer a ton of supports and some amazingly supportive remediation plans, but too many students don't reach out until they are too far behind. Also don't isolate from fellow students and family. Find yourself a group of supportive friends and family and avoid those people who aren't supportive. Many suicidal students/residents have a hx of isolation. It's in their and your interest for you to make it through successfully.

Somehow you made it into the top 40% and if they didn't think you had what it takes you wouldn't have been admitted. So don't stress it and just do your best.

Best of Luck

 

[Higherprimate]

MS1 soon to be MS2. Started the same age as you and I'm doing more than fine with no chance of failing out. You can do it for sure. Yeah you might be older than everyone but you're also more mature and have more life experience which can only help you. Good luck and keep your head up. If you need any advice or have questions message me.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Wjldenver]

Ive been fortunate enough to be granted admission into a DO school. I am 33 years old. Life got in the way, stuff happened, but all thats cleared up. Im good to go, but I have this insecurity my age will come in the way of my performance. To ensure I do well, I am curious why do people get dismissed from DO school? I know mostly everyone isnt "academically challenged", but something triggers it.

1. Do students just become complacent?

2. Homesick?

3. Is it simply hard for some?

I ask because I didnt do all that hot on my MCAT, so this is just a old guy whining about his insecurity maybe. But reassured, I know I will leave no freaking stone unturned to ensure I do well.

It is not the difficulty of the course work, it is the volume of material which does many people in. While in a graduate science program in most universities you can take 12 credit hours a semester and be considered full-time, many medical programs require you to take 20 to 24 credit hours a semester. And the medical schools I'm familiar with lose perhaps five or more students from every entering class because they simply cannot keep up with the volume of work. But as a 33 year old, I'm sure you can minimize any distractions from being focused and that should allow you to make it through.

 

[radian313]

Thanks to everyone for their meaningful words of support. Yes I do have quite a bit of life experience. I plan on being married later on in medical school but decided to first get year 1 out of the way. I am currently looking at ways to study best. Its often stated that you have to work with whats best for you. So here I am. Am I worried, no, but this is more of someone being cautious like what is it that fails medical students.

 

[Goro]

For the same reasons they get dismissed from MD schools. These include:

Poor academics. But this is much more due to poor work ethic. You get out of med school what you put into it. Only a tiny handful of my students have failed out because they couldn't "get" medical school.

Professionalism issues, including cheating.

They really don't want to be here. Some simply lose interest and find out the grass really isn't greener over here (or commit "suicide by F grade" because they don't have the spine to tell their parents that they don't want to be a doctor).

The #1 reason my school loses students is not because they're stupid, but because they have mental health issues that flare and prevent them from succeeding, even with massive intervention. To this, add poor coping skills. Med school is stressful enough as it is, and when some life event happens, like mom getting cancer, or boyfriend stepping out, it can put people into a death spiral, because they start failing and then have that on their heads as well. Some people hurt themselves because they view seeking help as a weakness or a loss of face.

I think we've only lost one student to homesickness. It will be important for you to either have, or develop support groups.

If you have test taking anxiety, that can be fixed. The real challenge of med school is not the degree of academic difficulty, but the ability to absorb and retain the massive volume of information in such a short period of time.

Also note that some of my all time best students have been in their 30s and a40s. I graduated one last year at 50.

Ive been fortunate enough to be granted admission into a DO school. I am curious why do people get dismissed from DO school? I know mostly everyone isnt "academically challenged", but something triggers it.

1. Do students just become complacent?

2. Homesick?

3. Is it simply hard for some?

I ask because I didnt do all that hot on my MCAT, so this is just a old guy whining about his insecurity maybe. But reassured, I know I will leave no freaking stone unturned to ensure I do well.

 

[radian313]

For the same reasons they get dismissed from MD schools. These include:

Poor academics. But this is much more due to poor work ethic. You get out of med school what you put into it. Only a tiny handful of my students have failed out because they couldn't "get" medical school.

Professionalism issues, including cheating.

They really don't want to be here. Some simply lose interest and find out the grass really isn't greener over here (or commit "suicide by F grade" because they don't have the spine to tell their parents that they don't want to be a doctor).

The #1 reason my school loses students is not because they're stupid, but because they have mental health issues that flare and prevent them from succeeding, even with massive intervention. To this, add poor coping skills. Med school is stressful enough as it is, and when some life event happens, like mom getting cancer, or boyfriend stepping out, it can put people into a death spiral, because they start failing and then have that on their heads as well. Some people hurt themselves because they view seeking help as a weakness or a loss of face.

I think we've only lost one student to homesickness. It will be important for you to either have, or develop support groups.

If you have test taking anxiety, that can be fixed. The real challenge of med school is not the degree of academic difficulty, but the ability to absorb and retain the massive volume of information in such a short period of time.

Also note that some of my all time best students have been in their 30s and a40s. I graduated one last year at 50.

Thank you Goro for your thought provoking commentary. I dont think I have test taking anxiety, but moreso, just the idea I am a bit insecure that I am "old" and have to compete at a higher level. Am I going to throw the kitchen sink? Nope, thats just stupid because I know all too well to study smart and efficiently. I guess my biggest dilemma at the moment is to figure out what study methods to use to ensure maximal retention.

 

[DrMikeP]

Thank you Goro for your thought provoking commentary. I dont think I have test taking anxiety, but moreso, just the idea I am a bit insecure that I am "old" and have to compete at a higher level. Am I going to throw the kitchen sink? Nope, thats just stupid because I know all too well to study smart and efficiently. I guess my biggest dilemma at the moment is to figure out what study methods to use to ensure maximal retention.

There are many 40 and even 50 somethings I know doing med school so don't let age get to you.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[Moose A Moose]

Most of the "dismissed" were cut out due to coursework volume overload, and as for the others: it really wasn't their calling.

 

[perfectskin_1]

For study methods, what works for me is reading the lecture synopsis and visualizing as much of it as possible. Then I'll use a step 1 review type book as a supplement to go over the high-yield things. Do this 3x before each test and you should be fine. Active learning is key--quiz yourself constantly and if you can't actively recall information then keep going over it until you can. Form a study group to help keep yourself motivated and socially engaged. By staying socially invested in your classes you will feel some social pressure to do well and stay on top of the material. Stay healthy: eat healthy foods, exercise and call family members regularly. I think success in med school/getting into the residency of your choice really comes down to living a sustainably healthy lifestyle and dedicating most of your time to studying, research and whatever volunteering/projects that interest you.