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I appreciate that you understood exactly what I meant, giving a medschool outsider some benefit of the doubt. Yes it was one of the board exams he couldn't pass

I appreciate that you understood exactly what I meant, giving a medschool outsider some benefit of the doubt. Yes it was one of the board exams he couldn't pass. Others instantly assumed I was lying or exaggerating, as if I need some street cred on an anonymous 1 week old throwaway account.

fuckstick 4y ago
This is getting more irrelevant to the thread, but it’s highly unlikely “inability” to pass a step exam was the reason for exiting medicine. The first pass rate for US MDs is 95-97%. American medical school is designed to make it highly unlikely you will not pass those tests. You could also retake it up to 5 times. The real issue is that failing a step exam or passing with a lower score (once passed you can never retake) nearly completely eliminates you from certain specialities - especially the more lucrative surgical subspecialties. Some people may simply decide to give up at that point. It’s much more likely burnout or an overall “fuck this” with the training, or other red flag, eg cheating or egregious behavioral problem then not passing a single exam. Because although there are a ton of exams after entering medical school none are as high stakes as the MCAT for continuing to be a doctor.
- PNWChris 4y ago
  Ah, great points! The person may have said it was an exam to keep the explanation simple for others. Perhaps they didn’t match (entirely didn’t match or couldn’t match where they needed to be for family/some obligation), burnt out, etc. There’s tons of reasons one may not make it all the way through, though it is quite rare if you grind hard enough and are adequately flexible RE residency location and stuff. The system wants you to finish once you’re in med school, since med schools and residencies are measured by completion rates and similar success metics. Medicine is a really tough thing to get in to, and I don’t think people fully grasp that as they apply for med school. It looks prestigious from the outside, but is financially draining for a long time and is extremely inflexible (find out where you match and move with only ~3 months notice?! Who thinks that’s acceptable in the modern world of two working spouses?).
- caminante 4y ago
  >This is getting more irrelevant to the thread Maybe not the thread, but certainly relevant to the top commenter's story, which sounds really embellished. "Failing the MCAT" (?) -> "Failing boards as dropout reason" (?) ... And top commenter is all over the thread, trying to win people back after folks point out these oddities. Seems like a lot of effort. Either top commenter is the car sales messiah or embellishing (along with his "alleged" med school dropout colleague). Both are possible, but one is more likely.
  - fuckstick 4y ago
    I didn’t necessarily think of that as an oddity though. There’s a lot of stigma associated with dropping out of something like medicine combined with very few people out of medicine knowing any details of the training and licensure process. That said, the overwhelming likely scenario is either quitting or getting kicked out and using the “board” failure as a cover (colloquially doctors hardly ever call them boards in the US, they just call them “step”. Boards usually refer to exams taken for specialities after one is licensed and has completed residency). Regardless of the posters possible embellishments I wouldn’t expect them to know any of this. Also some people assume it’s like law where there’s some type of bar exam with a terrible first pass rate. There isn’t. Specialty board exams have lower pass rates, but failing those won’t prevent you from being a licensed practicing physician.
    - caminante 4y ago
      Wayyy off topic, but here are some thoughts. > There’s a lot of stigma associated with dropping out of something like medicine... Sure, there's external stigma, but IMO, the larger driver for stigma is self-imposed. Med school enrollees are filled with "most likely to exceed" personalities who are harder on themselves and catastrophize a minor setback v. peers as "the end of the world." > (colloquially doctors hardly ever call them boards in the US, they just call them “step”. Anecdotally, I've only heard friends in medicine (US) refer to them (the USMLE exam[0] and steps) as "boards," while in med school. I'm sure that some call them steps, too. I'm also aware of post-residency/fellowship specialty boards. Those are usually singular because you only need one and sometimes they're oral, like a thesis defense where you get grilled on a schedule of of your cases over the past couple years. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Medical_Licensing_Examination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Medical_Licensin...

fuckstick 4y ago

This is getting more irrelevant to the thread, but it’s highly unlikely “inability” to pass a step exam was the reason for exiting medicine. The first pass rate for US MDs is 95-97%. American medical school is designed to make it highly unlikely you will not pass those tests. You could also retake it up to 5 times. The real issue is that failing a step exam or passing with a lower score (once passed you can never retake) nearly completely eliminates you from certain specialities - especially the more lucrative surgical subspecialties. Some people may simply decide to give up at that point. It’s much more likely burnout or an overall “fuck this” with the training, or other red flag, eg cheating or egregious behavioral problem then not passing a single exam. Because although there are a ton of exams after entering medical school none are as high stakes as the MCAT for continuing to be a doctor.

PNWChris 4y ago
Ah, great points! The person may have said it was an exam to keep the explanation simple for others. Perhaps they didn’t match (entirely didn’t match or couldn’t match where they needed to be for family/some obligation), burnt out, etc. There’s tons of reasons one may not make it all the way through, though it is quite rare if you grind hard enough and are adequately flexible RE residency location and stuff. The system wants you to finish once you’re in med school, since med schools and residencies are measured by completion rates and similar success metics. Medicine is a really tough thing to get in to, and I don’t think people fully grasp that as they apply for med school. It looks prestigious from the outside, but is financially draining for a long time and is extremely inflexible (find out where you match and move with only ~3 months notice?! Who thinks that’s acceptable in the modern world of two working spouses?).
caminante 4y ago
>This is getting more irrelevant to the thread Maybe not the thread, but certainly relevant to the top commenter's story, which sounds really embellished. "Failing the MCAT" (?) -> "Failing boards as dropout reason" (?) ... And top commenter is all over the thread, trying to win people back after folks point out these oddities. Seems like a lot of effort. Either top commenter is the car sales messiah or embellishing (along with his "alleged" med school dropout colleague). Both are possible, but one is more likely.
- fuckstick 4y ago
  I didn’t necessarily think of that as an oddity though. There’s a lot of stigma associated with dropping out of something like medicine combined with very few people out of medicine knowing any details of the training and licensure process. That said, the overwhelming likely scenario is either quitting or getting kicked out and using the “board” failure as a cover (colloquially doctors hardly ever call them boards in the US, they just call them “step”. Boards usually refer to exams taken for specialities after one is licensed and has completed residency). Regardless of the posters possible embellishments I wouldn’t expect them to know any of this. Also some people assume it’s like law where there’s some type of bar exam with a terrible first pass rate. There isn’t. Specialty board exams have lower pass rates, but failing those won’t prevent you from being a licensed practicing physician.
  - caminante 4y ago
    Wayyy off topic, but here are some thoughts. > There’s a lot of stigma associated with dropping out of something like medicine... Sure, there's external stigma, but IMO, the larger driver for stigma is self-imposed. Med school enrollees are filled with "most likely to exceed" personalities who are harder on themselves and catastrophize a minor setback v. peers as "the end of the world." > (colloquially doctors hardly ever call them boards in the US, they just call them “step”. Anecdotally, I've only heard friends in medicine (US) refer to them (the USMLE exam[0] and steps) as "boards," while in med school. I'm sure that some call them steps, too. I'm also aware of post-residency/fellowship specialty boards. Those are usually singular because you only need one and sometimes they're oral, like a thesis defense where you get grilled on a schedule of of your cases over the past couple years. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Medical_Licensing_Examination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Medical_Licensin...