Medical students' personal experience of high-stakes failure: case studies using interpretative phenomenological...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychology

Background:

• Failing high-stakes assessments in medical school significantly impacts students.
• Understanding factors influencing students' experience and sense-making of failure during remediation is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the complex factors surrounding the medical student failure experience from the student's perspective.
• To explore how students make sense of failure within the context of remediation.

Main Methods:

• Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was employed.
• In-depth analysis of three medical students' accounts of failing final re-sit exams.
• Case-by-case analysis to understand participants' subjective experiences.

Main Results:

• Student failure involved a complex interplay of academic, financial, relational, and mental health issues.
• Remediation was perceived as a one-dimensional intervention, focusing solely on exam performance.
• Students required support with clinical skills, social, and emotional well-being.
• Fear of course termination hindered open communication with staff.

Conclusions:

• The experience of failure for medical students is multifaceted.
• Students' sense-making of failure critically influences their remediation experience.
• Generic remediation programs may be inadequate for students with intersecting personal, social, and mental health challenges.