Özet:

Pursuing a medical degree and becoming a doctor is a dream for most of the pre-medical students, but it does not always come true. The failure to get admission to a medical college brings pain, frustration and disappointment, and students seek alternative degree programs to satisfy their unfulfilled wish of becoming a doctor. The present study aims to examine pre-medical students' lived experiences of failure to get admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) program in medical colleges and universities of Pakistan and their choices for degree programs after the failure. Phenomenology was employed to examine the lived experiences of ten Pre-Medical students who were studying in different fields of professional degrees after failure to get admission to MBBS/BDS. They were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide consisting of open-ended questions. The transcripts were analyzed through line by line and selective approach to extract themes from the participants' experiences. The emergent themes include experiencing failure, causes of failure, choosing an alternative field, perspectives on the admission process and getting things better. The results imply for providing guidance and counselling to the students, facilitating them in seeking alternative degree programs and opening new medical institutes.

Anahtar Kelimeler: