Results of the medical boards are in.
Brittany Lewis, a UC Davis third-year medical student and the single parent of a 5-year-old boy, checked her results Wednesday. She did not pass.
"I'm stunned," said Lewis, 25, who has always done well in school.
Lewis logged on to her computer that morning to see how she did on the United States Medical Licensing Exam, a seven-hour test known as the medical boards. The USMLE is considered the first major step on the journey to becoming a doctor.
"I kept staring at the computer to see if it was right," said Lewis, whose story was chronicled April 17 in a Bee article. Lewis scored three points below passing.
In 2010, about 8 percent of students at medical schools in the United States and Canada failed the test, according to the National Board of Medical Examiners.
Of an average 105 UC Davis medical students who take the test every year, four or five fail, according to Fred Meyer, executive associate dean of the UC Davis Health System.
Lewis is disappointed but is already thinking about what she needs to do next. "I chose an extremely difficult field, and it's even more so for a single parent, because I don't have as much time to study," Lewis said. "But I'm going to keep going. My goals haven't changed."
Later this month, Lewis will travel to Texas to take an intense, three-week test preparation course.
She will focus on hematology, cardiology and embryology. "Those were the subjects I did well on during practice tests but not on the exam," Lewis said. "I think I was worried about time and I just rushed through them." She will take the test again in July.
She has not told her son Santana about the test yet. Right now he is looking forward to an upcoming birthday party.
"That's what I have to focus on now," Lewis said. "And then it's back to the books."
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Jennifer Garza
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.