Placed on Academic LOA

[FarmerToDoctor]

I am a 2nd year medical student. This past semester I failed OPP/OMM/OMT and did not pass the remediation exam over winter break. Because of this I was placed on an Academic Leave of Absence for the spring 2023 semester and was given the opportunity to return in Fall 2023 and repeat my 2nd year of medical school over again, in its entirety. Basically I am getting held back a year.

I was in a similar situation in Spring 2022 but was able to pass the OPP and Anatomy remediation exams for that semester and continue on with my class.

I don't have an issue passing the practical portion of OPP or the systems courses (GI, Cardio, Pulm, Derm, etc.), but I have always had an issue with passing the written OPP exams at my program. I am really unsure of the implications that this LOA will have on my residency application and if it is even worth it to go back. I wanted to go into IM and become a cardiologist but I think the chances of that being a possibility have gone down, especially with it now being more competitive than EM.

After undergrad I worked for a year as a lab manager at a college. After that I went to grad school to do a MS in biology, ended up switching grad programs and finished with a MBA. It took me 5 years of work after undergrad to get into medical school. I made it 3 semesters into medical school and this hiccup happened. I do not think I am willing to give up on this dream yet, because the option is still there, but I just don't know if it's worth it anymore or if I will have a chance of getting a residency spot.

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[Goro]

Very sorry to hear this, but your career plans are not dead yet. Focus on figuring out why you're having trouble with that exam.

 

[deleted1079620]

You can match IM with a repeat year, I know lots of students who have repeated & successfully matched. Ive also repeated a year, feel free to DM me if you’d like.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

As already mentioned above, it's critical you figure out why you keep failing these exams. After a repeat year, they may not allow you to retake exams again -- this will be school specific.

 

[deleted1150906]

You can match IM with a repeat year, I know lots of students who have repeated & successfully matched. Ive also repeated a year, feel free to DM me if you’d like.

community programs?

 

[deleted1079620]

community programs?

Some matched community, some academic. I’m not claiming anyone repeated a year then matched at Harvard IM, but that you can redeem yourself academically & still match at decent programs.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Agree, you can recover from this. Whether or not you can become a cardiologist is unclear at this point, but a medical degree is very flexible and I suspect you could find a specialty that you would enjoy and where you could earn a comfortable living. The grass is probably not greener on the other side outside of medicine.

Rather than worrying about your eventual specialty, focus on why your are struggling on your exams. As highlighted above, you might not get to retake exams if you fail again.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

You can match IM easily, but to make it into cardiology, you'll likely have to do one of those in between gimmick fellowships like vascular medicine. I wouldn't quit medicine over repeating a year

 

[Osminog]

Three pre-clinical course failures would have led to immediate dismissal at many schools, including mine. It's nice that your administrators were willing to give you another chance. You're not out of the running for IM—but I imagine you are on thin ice when it comes to progressing within your program.

Based on what you've said in your post history, you've been neglecting OMM during your studies. After your LOA, I hope you start taking it very seriously. The written aspect of OMM is just a collection of random factoids and simple algorithms that you need to memorize. It's not supposed to be difficult, and it shouldn't be the factor that keeps you from graduating. If you want to become a physician, you need to put more time and effort into preparing for OMM exams.

 

[Goro]

Based on what you've said in your post history, you've been neglecting OMM during your studies. After your LOA, I hope you start taking it very seriously. The written aspect on OMM is just a collection of random factoids and simple algorithms that you need to memorize. It's not supposed to be difficult, and it shouldn't be the factor that keeps you from graduating. If you want to become a physician, you need to put more time and effort into preparing for OMM exams.

Indeed! At my school, one has to actually work at failing OMM/OMT.

 

[Mad Jack]

You can match IM easily, but to make it into cardiology, you'll likely have to do one of those in between gimmick fellowships like vascular medicine. I wouldn't quit medicine over repeating a year

Might not even need to do that if you're at a place with an internal fellowship