Advice Please (Failed 5 times)

[M123]

I'm trying to give advice to a close friend of mine who has failed the USMLE 5 times. Becoming a doctor is his dream. His results on his 5th try were 172. He needed 180 to pass.

Can he try a 6th time?
How will this impact his chances of getting a clerkship?

If he can't try a 6th time, what other careers should he look into?

I really appreciate everyone's advice!!

Thank you!!!!

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by M123

I'm trying to give advice to a close friend of mine who has failed the USMLE 5 times. Becoming a doctor is his dream. His results on his 5th try were 172. He needed 180 to pass.

Can he try a 6th time?
How will this impact his chances of getting a clerkship?

If he can't try a 6th time, what other careers should he look into?

I really appreciate everyone's advice!!

Thank you!!!!

182 is passing, it was raised a couple of years ago. your friend should try something different, like a review course or something. if he studies the same way, he'll probably get the same results.

other options might be PA school, research, teaching, or something along those lines. best of luck to your friend.

[FoxTrot]

Umm..Maybe you, I mean your "friend" needs to find a new profession. That would be scary to have a physician take care of patients who've failed the board 5 times.

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by M123

I'm trying to give advice to a close friend of mine who has failed the USMLE 5 times. Becoming a doctor is his dream. His results on his 5th try were 172. He needed 180 to pass.

Can he try a 6th time?
How will this impact his chances of getting a clerkship?

If he can't try a 6th time, what other careers should he look into?

I really appreciate everyone's advice!!

Thank you!!!!

Your friend can try the PASS program in Champaign, IL. i have heard of students who failed many times and passed after taking that coarse. I took it before my first attempt which was just a couple of days ago, so i dont know how well it helped me but it was great sometimes one just cant understand some of the basic physio of medicine. this man how teaches the coarse fits all the pieces of the puzzle together. I hope this will help ur friend if still wishes to become a Dr.
best of luck

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of exellent doctor out there practicing ,that took the board 6,7 8 times Passing the boards has a little relationship with Real Practice there is too many poeple out there very envious of other people don't listen to them The great people in this world are those that never give up. Well I believe that there is all classes of persons in this earth just take the good and continue.
good luck

[Anonymous]

I totally agree with you Guest2.Passing the board has nothing to do with what you will be confronted with in real practice.Like you said some doctors have failed the board many times before passing and are excellent doctors;on the other hand some have passed at the first attempt and are the worst doctors ever.

If your fiend's dream is to become a doctor then he should go for it no matter what.Don't listen to people trying to discourage you.the only authority capable of stopping your friend to take the exam again and again is the NBME if they vote a law not allowing students to take the exam after a certain number of attempts.Other then that:TELL YOUR FRIEND TO KEEP TRYING,because nothing beats a FAILURE but a TRY and FAILURE is never an OPTION.

Originally Posted by Guest2

There is a lot of exellent doctor out there practicing ,that took the board 6,7 8 times Passing the boards has a little relationship with Real Practice there is too many poeple out there very envious of other people don't listen to them The great people in this world are those that never give up. Well I believe that there is all classes of persons in this earth just take the good and continue.
good luck

[Anonymous]

You obviously don't know what you talking about!!!

Originally Posted by FoxTrot

Umm..Maybe you, I mean your "friend" needs to find a new profession. That would be scary to have a physician take care of patients who've failed the board 5 times.

[Anonymous]

Please people, to say that the board is irrelevant to medical practice is wrong. As stated in the USMLE website, USMLE step 1 tests your understanding of the basic sciences so that you can apply them to safe clinical practice. Failing 5 times means that you don"t understand the concepts.

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by M123

I'm trying to give advice to a close friend of mine who has failed the USMLE 5 times. Becoming a doctor is his dream. His results on his 5th try were 172. He needed 180 to pass.

Can he try a 6th time?
How will this impact his chances of getting a clerkship?

If he can't try a 6th time, what other careers should he look into?

I really appreciate everyone's advice!!

Thank you!!!!

He is very close. Tell him to keep his spirit up. He will get there.

Hanson

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by Another guest

Please people, to say that the board is irrelevant to medical practice is wrong. As stated in the USMLE website, USMLE step 1 tests your understanding of the basic sciences so that you can apply them to safe clinical practice. Failing 5 times means that you don"t understand the concepts.

I'm sorry Another guest you did not understand. We are not saying that the board is irrelevant of course not, but I guess you have no experience in real life I know practicing physicians that ace the exam. Believe I worked with them they are very very bad clinicians(I mean Doctors) ,so understanding concepts is one thing to apply to USMLE that to apply those in real life The practice of Medicine is ART requieres too many qualities in order to be good, not just how to pass usmle. I'm agree with you . It's also true that you need to understand concepts in order to pass the exam but that and practice medicine believe me it's 2 differents worlds,e ven though everyone need to pass the exam in order to get to the next stage. I still believe that there is always hope for people that try hard.
There is too many people in this world the diversity is amazing and the opportunities are also great ,so I just saying that 5 7 8 12 times it's not the times that you try but the persistence and the learning experience from each one that gives you motivation. Of course it's not the ideal thing would be nice to pass at the first try , but we did not study in this country ,English is a second language for a lot of us, besides we start thinking about usmle kind of late in life so I believe that there is fair and real excuses if you want to find an answer for the question WHY DID YOU TOOK IT 5 TIMES? There is powerfull and real excuses and not just because it's hard . I really believe that the exam is do-able is just too many little barries add to it that makes the exam almost impossible for a lot a people to pass. Well I already wrote too much.
Bye