MD Probably going to fail a course, feeling pretty down (MS1, first semester)

[Saturnalia17]

Hi everyone,

I'm an MS1 in my first semester at a mid/low tier US MD school (flagship state school, top ~70-85 rank). I narrowly passed our first block (biochem) and I'm now about 2/3 of the way through our second block, which is one course consisting of gross anatomy, histology and ultrasound.

The passing score is 75.0 and I currently have around a 77 average, but in order to pass this particular class you need a 75.0 or higher in each of the three components (gross, histo and ultrasound).

Yesterday, we had our second set of exams and I really bombed the written portions. I was doing some calculations and figured out that it might not be mathematically possible for me to pass the gross anatomy part of the course, possibly histo as well, even assuming 95+ on the last set of exams. I'm not totally sure yet--the lab exams from yesterday still need to be graded and it may also depend on how many questions are on the last written exam.

Failing a particular portion of the class typically means failing the class overall and having to remediate that portion over the summer.

I'm feeling like an anxious mess right now and I'm not sure what to do. I'm really angry at myself for not being more proactive about seeking guidance and improving my study habits after the first block. I realize now how important it is for me to address that. Our thanksgiving break just started, so fortunately I have some time to figure out how to correct my course and put myself on a path to success.

I've been perusing SDN and reddit to see what people say about how a failed MS1 course might affect your residency applications, but haven't been able to find a clear consensus. Are my chances for competitive specialties likely to be hurt by failing and remediating a class? Right now, I'm most interested in diagnostic radiology and ortho.

For additional context, I started medical school 5 years after college and graduated from a top 20 undergrad school with honors in a STEM major. I was always a crammer but I've learned pretty quickly that cramming is not a strategy that works for me in medical school. Having graduated 5 years ago, it's also been a while since I've really had to study at all, so these first two blocks have been a pretty intense adjustment.

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[Lem0nz]

If you're struggling this much now your ability to do all the things to get into ortho is extremely unlikely. A failure and remediation will affect your chances of competitive specialties, you already know that. But you can recover and still get a moderately competitive specialty if you do very well, improve, and make changes early. Ortho - probably not. DR, still possible.

 

[Billiam95]

Thoughts about applying to a competitive specialty in 3 years is a problem for another day. You need to put all of your effort into 1) doing as well as you can in the remainder of your current block and 2) fixing your study habits.

MS2, so take with a grain of salt

 

[calivianya]

Don't sweat researching matching right now. Agree with the above - for all you know, you might like something completely different by the time residency apps roll around. I know I changed my mind, and I was sure I wasn't going to.

I had trouble adjusting, too. I was also out of school for a long time. Once I really got into relying on the board resources and using Anki, that's when I started feeling like I was actually remembering what I needed to know. Reach out and ask your upperclassmen what they did to study for this block - they know exactly what you're dealing with.

I personally used kenhub a lot for anatomy (their cartoon quizzes are super helpful IMO) and I found the histologyguide website (free!!!) incredibly helpful for going over what things look like. Best of luck.

 

[jstwannagraduaaate!!!]

If you're struggling this much now your ability to do all the things to get into ortho is extremely unlikely. A failure and remediation will affect your chances of competitive specialties, you already know that. But you can recover and still get a moderately competitive specialty if you do very well, improve, and make changes early. Ortho - probably not. DR, still possible.

With the current trends, by the time OP applies DR might be one of the most competitive fields. I have seen classmates who struggled first semester M1 turn around and kick a** though

 

[Ganon]

Use the resources your school has to help you salvage this attempt! See Ed support etc as much as necessary. Really grind!

If you still fail, you’ll get it on the redo; plenty of people have to repeat a class. It’s not great, but you’ll still get to be a doctor if you can do all the things you need to! Focus on the next task first

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Failing a particular portion of the class typically means failing the class overall and having to remediate that portion over the summer.

What does this look like? At my school, failing a block means you retake the exams you failed over the summer. If you pass, you get a pass on your transcript with no evidence of any failures. If you fail, you have to repeat the year. Is that how your school works? Or do you have to repeat the whole block over the summer and you get a fail on your transcript regardless?