I was just wondering if anyone else has had classmates drop out? I am a first year but it just seems like we’ve had more people drop out than I was expecting. I find it to be jarring, especially because I’ve made friends with a lot of the other students.
I’m not really interested in hearing from non-medical students (no offense but I’d like to hear from others who have “been here”) and who have shared this experience.
I’m in second year now. We started with 258 students and we’re now down to about 244. Some failed out which I find distressing because the school really tries to help you not fail out. Quite a few took a leave of absence (so I saw them show up again this year in the 1st year class), and a small number just quit. The latter is quite jarring, especially when you have become good friends with them. I puzzled over how you could get this far and not have some sense of that before committing to med school. Or maybe they did and they chose to ignore it, imagining that things would change once they were actually in med school. I guess it is better they pulled out now versus staying in the profession, getting through and being bitter and jaded by the time they graduate / finish residency. At least they won’t be taking up a very precious residency spot when their heart is not in medicine. I do still find it baffling.
Thanks for the reply! It just seems like after every break, we see 1-2 more empty seats but I never actually hear what the situation was. I keep meeting people who have dropped out at every stage of the process: I met two people who dropped out recently - 1 was after 2nd year (she developed stress triggered migraines that were so incapacitating that she was unable to sit for step one even with meds) and the other was mid-residency. I guess that I just need to be okay with the idea that some people are just not cut out for medicine or unhappy with the sacrifices that we have to make.
Are these primarily non-trads or trads dropping out?
Much success to you LJSimpson on your Endo final today!!!
Actually, I think only 1 was a non-trad and she decided to cut her losses 2 weeks in before we had even had a test.
Thanks for your good wishes on the Endo final. It got snowed out so we are supposed to take it tomorrow now. Can’t wait for it to be done with.
Lynda
I’m M3, and we’ve had some people drop out over the years… some of them weren’t ready yet (came right out of college), some wanted to focus more on family (or find a more “family-friendly” career), and some of them ran into academic difficulties over the two years… you can still remain friends with them as they pursue new avenues in life, though.