Well, I ended up failing a class by a few points and I'm worried about residency prospects, applications, etc... For those who have failed a class, were you asked about it for your clinical rotations or residency interviews?

Can't speak for residency. But for rotations your determining factor is Step 1. How fast you can pass it to secure your spot (and you preferably don't want to take it more than once either!).

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I will have to second what SOE said. You really need to make sure you have a decent score on the USMLE.

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AUC Class of '99
Bored certified
I may be a jerk, but I'm a Jedi jerk like my father.

Some say I look like Buzz Lightyear....
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DISCLAIMER: I have no financial stake in ValueMD, or any medical school.

Gosh, you sound so reluctant to have to agree with me.

But to the OP, have you ever thought about joining some research as well on campus? I heard research really puts the shine on your application for residency. If anything, say you were trying to study on the beach but half naked Hawaiian Tropic girls kept asking you anatomy questions

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Peds2010, you will be down for alittle while, ashamed and asking Why alot????!!! I know b/c I failed neuro by 2 points and will NEVER forget how sick to my stomach I became and how ashamed I was while experiencing the 1st TRUE academic failure in my lifetime!! I stayed the course, got a B, making the class upand now being a semester behind.. If you truly want to be an MD, you will get to the finish line and you will get there!!! I changed careers from being an elem. teacher to being a Family Medicine resident here on Long Island having faced those academic difficulties as well as C4-C5 neck surgery 2 weeks before the end of my 2nd year right before clinicals. I tell you this b/c I am a TRUe believer that no matter what hurdles you face you can achieve your dreams & goals!!

Having said all that, Go & do the very best on your USMLE steps ( Do as many ?s as possible, its a marathon, not a sprint) & you will sercure a residency as long as you are true to yourself and just be yourself!!

Cheers, Doc Todd/SGUSOM 2005/Family Medicine/South Nassau Communties Hospital

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Best wishes to all my classmates, class of 2004!!

One of my friends has to go through something like that. Only I think it's at the C3 level and the docs are telling him there's a significant chance of death. But it's bothering him so much it's getting hard to live with it.

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I am sorry to hear about your friend SOE!! It is very painful condition once the disk has herniated.My surgery was my 3rd as I had my 1st L5-S1 in 1990 as I was graduating Undergrad. I was struck by a ford mustang as I was entering a 7-11 store to get coffee w/ my footbal buddy during finals!! Did not know this idiot, he was on acid and tripped out and decided to drive across the parking lot doing 40mph. Good thing I turned around or i would have been swiss chez under the car, instead i was ejected on the hood, held onto the wiper blades and smashed through the store all the way to the slurpy machines! I can laugh and look backon this w/ no ill effects, except it took me over 5 yrs to be able to go back into a 7-11!! Now I am hooked on there coffee again!! True story all captured on the security camaras!! What a night that was!! Please wish your friend the best from me and know our prayers are w/him!!!!

Cheers, DocTodd

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Best wishes to all my classmates, class of 2004!!

Don't sweat it. Keep the road and don't give up. Persistence is the key to getting to step 1 and beyond!

For residency, it depends on what field you're going into. If it's primary care, failing one class won't kill your chances. Granted, it may keep you from doing your residency at Hopkins, or some big name instituation, but when it's all said and done, it all depends on WHO YOU KNOW. Now if you're thinking about some highly competitive field (surgery, dermatology, etc), then because we already have one strike against us for being IMG's, a failed class might come back to bite you in the butt. You don't want to give them any other reasons to not choose you. To make up for the failed class, do as many clinicals as you can at hospitals where you want to do your residency, get to know the attendings, and work your butt of to show them you are serious about medicine. Step I is important, Step II as well (especially if you don't do well on Step I), but the main factor is to work on your networking.

You are obviously pretty worried about this but I really doubt this will stop you from getting a decent score on step I or obtaining a residency. Keep your head up.

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Director of Anatomy --
Skipper's Medical Univeristy of the Dutch West Indies--SMU-DWI