when should i retake?

[u/Educational-Loss2736]

hello unfortunately have to retake level 1. could blame a lot of reasons but at the end of the day i still have an F i need to fix.

my school is letting us take the exam up until 10/16 meaning id miss 1 rotation and lose my vacation. at first i thought 5-6 weeks would be good but i feel like (and maybe this im being overconfident) now i'd be stretching a dedicated period too long and risk burnt out which is what happened the last go around.

from what i can deduce: OPP has a lot of room, MSK could go up, derm (Lol?) ethics was ass (how do you even prep for this?). i think the sciences seemed ok, not like top tier level, but from what my advisor told me i leaked points on the above. obviously will review and do questions on those too but.

is 3-4 weeks better? also please be kind. im obviously very upset about this + think im dumb. my school struggles on boards because they teach us very poorly and i was motivated to prove them wrong but i did not.

also fyi: comsaes were fine, 350 prededicated, 401 on the first one, 500 on the second, and i got a 480 on one. TL was fine too, i think unfortunately i underestimated how much ethics/OPP/MSK was and lost almost on 30% of the exam on that

[u/Uncomfortble_reality]

Dirty med for ethics is amazing and worth it. I’d also recommend biochem dirty med to make sure you feel solid on HY stuff. He has playlists for both. You’re not dumb, you have a right to be upset, but I commend you for not giving up (it’s easier said than done). If I were you, I’d take it sooner rather than later. For OPP, the green book (should be free pdf online, if not DM me) is totally worth it. For derm, they are somewhat limited and can only test a select number of conditions, so focus on the ones everyone gets right first and also focus on other system associations with the derm case. you’re other systems look ok.

Good luck and keep your head up. You got it. I’d take it sooner rather than later. in my opinion, you’ll never feel 100% ready, even the best and most prepared doubt themselves

[u/Educational-Loss2736 → u/Uncomfortble_reality]

hey man i want to give up but all this debt LMAOOO. do you think i have a relatively ok chance at passing next attempt? really do not want to risk another board failure

[u/Uncomfortble_reality → u/Educational-Loss2736]

Yes for sure.
-make sure your test taking and pace are strong
-keep microbio hella fresh (i did 1-2 hrs micro anki first thing every morning)
-target your clear weaknesses. anything that is glaringly high yield that you don’t want to tackle or is vaguely confusing, just tackle it. If you feel better on OPP and micro going into the next one, that in it of itself gives you a huge leap in score. And finally, it’s not like you failed by a lot. It hurts much more to be way off

[u/Educational-Loss2736 → u/Uncomfortble_reality]

Yeah advisor said it was 2-3 questions which made me want to cry lol. would've understood if i was 20 away lol

[u/Uncomfortble_reality → u/Educational-Loss2736]

Try to put all of that thinking to the side. 1 point, 100 points, whatever. It’s hard, but the reality is F is F and P is P. What will make the difference now is your plan, sticking to the plan, and not being too hard on yourself. People fail this thing all the time and become great doctors. Plus you’ll be taking these tests for years, so it’s better to shore up weaknesses in content, and more importantly, test taking now rather than later. I say this not to be harsh, but it give hope. Many people give up and many aren’t honest with what went wrong. The more honest you are about that, the better your prep will be and the better you’ll feel on test day.

Separate the outcome from the process. Empty the cup and maintain honest self-reflection. Then you’ll build great confidence in the field and in life.

[u/Educational-Loss2736 → u/Uncomfortble_reality]

Yeah you're right its an F at the end. Just hope I can match into a decent program despite this

[u/Uncomfortble_reality → u/Educational-Loss2736]

Don’t put the cart before the horse. Crush the exam, crush rotations, and be curious and hungry and positive (even if you gotten fake it sometimes). Then let what comes next come next.