will repeating first year kill me?

[sh6ootingstar]

Obviously it isn't ideal...but it looks to be reality for me. I could offer a lot of ideas about what went wrong...but I generally think that I was so overwhelmed...so anxiety-ridden that I never managed to improve.

What I'm wondering is...how bad is it that I am repeating the year? I never had any aspirations of becoming a dermatologist...but am I somehow marked for life?

I never had academic problems before med school...but I'm not sure what that means now...

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[DrMom]

There are numerous physicians who had to repeat a year. It isn't ideal, but it does happen and they do go on to practice. Re-do the year & don't let it worry you too much.

You may very well be asked to explain why you had to repeat, but it certainly won't keep you out of the average residency.

 

[Jalby]

Umm. Yeah, I would have to say you will probably have to set your sights lower than dermatology.

 

[southerndoc]

You're marked for life if you don't repeat (i.e., drop out with $40,000 in debt or whatever loans you took out).

Repeat the year and study hard!

 

[sh6ootingstar]

drmom--thanks--that's what i was wondering.

jalby--no offense--but i could do without the sarcasm. i obviously feel badly enough. and i'm obviously aware that i would be out of the running for any competitive specialty.

 

[Discobolus]

I could be very wrong here, but I think if you want to do something bad enough it still might be a possibility. What you have to do is kill your M1 classes the second time around, same thing during M2, do well on the boards, and do a good job during your 3rd year rotations and you might open some doors you thought were closed.

Our Dean talks about a guy that was basically ranked at the very bottom of his class at the end of his 3rd year who got an orthopedic surgery residency by applying to a huge number of residencies and then bugging them until one of them took him.

 

[Jalby]

MY bad. I totally misread your post and I thought you said did you still have a chance at Dermatology. No, you are fine repeating the year. It happens to plenty of people. I wouldn't worry about it to much.

 

[sh6ootingstar]

Thanks. Sorry if I seem sensitive; my ego is bruised.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

[daisygirl]

As others have already said, work your butt off and don't look back. Also, make sure to get help if anxiety becomes a major issue. Good luck

 

[slim shanie]

I thought you could use a post from someone who actually failed the first year of medical school and just repeated it. I went through a lot of what you're going through right now and if you want to talk about it I'm more than happy to.

For me the big thing was relocating and having to explain to my new classmates what I had been doing the year before. You're always afraid to be accepted into the new group of people. But I found having a sense of humor about the matter really really helped me get through having to explain things. My lab partner said something along the lines of "Last year I thought it would be a good idea to prepare myself for medical school by taking a graduate level anatomy course." My response was, "Yeah, I did pretty much the same thing... except instead of anatomy, I thought I would take all of the classes." So if you want to talk more about this, pm me and we'll talk.

I got through the first year the second time at a different campus (it's a state school so they do that), without the personal and family problems that caused me to not care about school anymore, and I've done very well for myself after strongly considering trying to get out of med school after everything that happened. I'm interested to know what you want to go into though. I want to do sports medicine which is pretty competitive but I don't even worry about interviewing for it. Anyone here who tells you you can't get a residency by repeating the first year is full of crap. Confidence goes a long way and if you're sure this is what you want to do with your life, kick ass next year, take some names, and aim high. Don't let it get you down. Use it as a motivation to do better. Show everyone what you're really made of. And PM me if you want to talk more. Good luck!

Shane