Talking about medical problem in PS?

[NotTheBestUSMLE]

Hi all,

Hopefully this is appropriate here--I'm applying into psychiatry and was hoping for perspectives from within the field.

I have a medical problem (not psychiatric) that affected my med school performance through 2nd and sorta 3rd year, as well as my step 1 score. With treatment, it's not an issue, step 2 score was much better and clinical performance in advanced rotations has been excellent (with LOR's to match.)

My dean of students recommend that I talk about it in my personal statement, possibly mentioning exactly what it was, so that there was no speculation regarding psychiatric or substance problems. Something to the tune of "had this problem, now good" and tying it in with another theme.

We were also thinking of mentioning it in a more abstract sense in the dean's letter. Something like "had medical problem, suboptimally treated in year 3 with some improvement, optimally treated year 4 with very strong improvement."

What do you think? Any tips on pulling this off?

Thanks!

I am aware that I'm probably now identified to anyone who reads this and then sees my application in a month.

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[OldPsychDoc]

Nope--you won't be the only one, believe me.

 

[NotTheBestUSMLE]

Nope--you won't be the only one, believe me.

Thanks OPD! Any tips on pulling this off from the PD perspective?

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

I can not tell you to disclose or not because that would depend on how bad the step I is and the nature of the illness....
I can tell you that vague is worse than full disclosure. We probably tend to imagine the worst. OPD is right, there will be a lot of applicants in the same boat.

 

[NotTheBestUSMLE]

I can not tell you to disclose or not because that would depend on how bad the step I is and the nature of the illness....
I can tell you that vague is worse than full disclosure. We probably tend to imagine the worst. OPD is right, there will be a lot of applicants in the same boat.

Step 1 was << 200, Step 2 was mid 230's.

Obstructive sleep apnea would be similar.

Thanks for the advice re: full disclosure.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Sounds non-progressive and treatable. I say disclosure outweighs no explanation. Just my two cents. You may be excluded from some very top places, but you will do fine. Best of luck this year.