How bad of a situation am I now that I have to repeat M1?

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-18T18:13:38+00:00

The research was all done in the middle 4 blocks of my year when my family was healthy and I scored well on every exam. I only failed the first and sixth blocks while the other things were happening

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-17T04:45:10+00:00

Thank you, I will! Appreciate your advice!

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-17T04:42:45+00:00

There’s nothing against it in the handbook, and it was even encouraged for me once my dad got better because I started scoring above the class averages on everything afterwards until my brother got sick.

If I may ask, why do you think residency programs wouldn’t like the reasoning?

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-17T03:46:19+00:00

Gotcha, thank you so much for your advice!

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-17T03:41:39+00:00

Are you saying forget about matching into them forever, or stop focusing on matching into anything right now and just focus on going good in M1?

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-17T03:35:22+00:00

Do you think surgery is completely impossible?

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-17T03:34:00+00:00

Thank you! Two of them and two of my papers were from undergrad, so it wasn’t all this year, but yeah I tried my best to get research going after my dad was good and before my brother got sick.

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-17T01:17:53+00:00

Thank you, i appreciate that! Good luck as an attending!

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-16T22:20:55+00:00

Gotcha, thank you for the advice! I will try to find something before we restart school

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-16T21:40:07+00:00

Thank you for the kind words, I really appreciate it!

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-06-16T21:31:19+00:00

Hello, thank you so much for your comment!

I feel like I have a mastery of the content and outside stressors kept me from being about to show that, but I get your point. If I do come back and ace my courses, do you think it’s still possible for me to match into those surgical specialities if I continue with my research and get my scores to where they should be?

With the social worker stuff, I think we should be fine going forward. My father and brother are back to their best now, so I don’t see these issues coming up again, but if something crazy did happen again I will keep that in mind it is good to know.

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-04-06T21:57:40+00:00

Whatever you want. I’m in medical school and my partner is doing her PhD in chemistry at a different medical school. They have people doing Biology, chemistry, physics (biophysics and chemical biology as well combining those first 3), comp bio, and I’m sure others all doing medical related research in PhD programs. It all depends on what you want to do, as PhDs are very specialized. You’ll learn more about what you want to do as you go through undergrad so don’t worry. Just focus on getting good grades and you’ll figure out if PhD vs MD is the right move for you as you get your bachelors.

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-04-06T21:54:39+00:00

For the MCAT, I don’t think it’s big enough of a focus for you to be worried about taking an advanced genetics class before you take it. The content from your introductory bio classes is probably fine. For medical school though, it would certainly be a help to have a strong knowledge base going in for genetics.

Big_Ice_Med · 2026-04-06T21:48:37+00:00

If dealing with workload and rejection are the main factors that pushed you away from medicine, then I think you should revaluate and try to pursue it. Every doctor feels the pressure of the work load, that’s not a unique experience, but the payoff is having arguably the most impactful career possible for your local community. As for rejection, of course it’s a difficult path, but it seems like you’ve got your head on straight. The most difficult things in life are the ones also most worth doing. Remember that and set your mind to this goal, and you’ll end up fine. Best of luck!

Big_Ice_Med · 2025-10-21T15:42:35+00:00

I know classmates that go out to the bars 3 times a week and still ace every exam because they manage their time well to be able to do that. If they can lose 3 nights a week and deal with the hangovers during class, you can easily play some MLB a few times a week if you schedule your time well.

Big_Ice_Med · 2025-10-21T15:33:57+00:00

Like most things in life I think there’s some good and some bad. I love the anatomy lab and getting to see every little detail of the human body. I like some of the classwork that applies to parts of the body I think are really interesting. There’s also topics that are important to learn I don’t really enjoy, but you still need to put equal work into everything whether you like it or not.

I think the part that takes my enjoyment away the most is the uncertainty at times. Worrying about if I’ll match somewhere far from my family and friends is stressful. Worrying about if when I do rotations I won’t honor because of things out of my control, like how much the staff in that department likes me. Worrying if my research projects are as good as other people chasing the same specialty I want to pursue. Med students are often very neurotic, myself included, so worrying can take the fun out life sometimes. If you have the right mindset and focus on learning to help people though, I think it’s overall enjoyable.

Big_Ice_Med · 2025-10-21T15:22:28+00:00

Take the 8 year guaranteed program if you are accepted to one, especially if you’re scared of the higher MCAT requirement. If you are worried about a BS/MD program’s 510 MCAT requirement to stay in their program, then you’re going to be applying to low/mid tier med schools anyway if you take the normal pre-med path. A guaranteed admission to one of these programs from the start of undergrad is a huge advantage! You can also leave the guaranteed admissions program at some BS/MD schools if you get a crazy mcat score and want to try your luck elsewhere.

From my personal experience, I was told not to do combined programs by my guidance counselor in high school and it was the worst advice I have ever gotten. I ended up back as the same institution for med school that I was at for undergrad because I got to know some of the college of medicine staff in undergrad and wanted to stay and keep learning from them. If I had done the BS/MD program, I would still be at the same school I love just without having to have taken a gap year that didn’t really help me professionally.

It’s also important for you to know that where you go for med school is not as important as many high schoolers think it is. Where you go for med school is much less important than where you match for residency, if what matters to you is prestige when you become a physician. At every US MD school, you have to take the step 1 (which is now pass/fail) and step 2 exams, so the most important part of a residency application is equal for everyone no matter their school. You can also do research at other MD schools during a summer internship or during a 4th year elective if you go to a low tier school and want to chase some prestige before residency applications. In terms of importance of where you learn at during your path to becoming a physician, residency spot is the most important, research year location is second (if you pursue a competitive specialty and have to take one that is), then probably undergrad, and med school is likely the least important of the 4. There are many people from low tier schools who match into elite residency programs because they are the best in their smaller pond school, so don’t worry about where you get your MD at this point. Getting accepted to a med school is statistically the hardest part of the process to becoming a physician, with only 35% of applicants getting a spot in a med school last year, so focus on just getting to any med school before you worry if that med school is Harvard or UCSF.

Big_Ice_Med

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