Accepted, but need to defend undisclosed background check?

[Neutropix]

Jeez, I got a speeding ticket once and didn't even fully realize the benefits of hiring a lawyer to defend me in court before now. I was going 17 over the speed limit, and my Certiphi background check is completely clean. I'm pretty sure he didn't charge me much more than what the ticket fine would have been.

We need an MD JD in this piece.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Neutropix]

Don't forget saving Johnny and his puppy from the burning orphanage. That one was impressive

Pff, that was my cardio day. I wasn't even sore.

 

[NeuResurgens]

We need an MD JD in this piece.

This raises another question I've long wondered about.. Could you be your own lawyer in malpractice court?

 

[Neutropix]

This raises another question I've long wondered about.. Could you be your own lawyer in malpractice court?

LOL

You see, your honor, my client, myself that is, was taking extra care to handle the surgical equipment, right?

From the same voice: that's correct!

And so on

 

[NeuResurgens]

LOL

You see, your honor, my client, myself that is, was taking extra care to handle the surgical equipment, right?

From the same voice: that's correct!

And so on

You'd need to awkwardly turn in the other direction whenever you switched roles too. It would complete the effect. Maybe run up to the witness stand when you're interviewing yourself.

 

[mehc012]

Was all this necessary. Pretty much every time I read a post from you it sounds like you're using words and analogies that don't really fit into the context or conversation, presumably to sound smarter. It's superfluous and makes for an awkward read.

Speaking of unnecessary... 🙄

Anyways, yeah welcome to the real world. Pretty much everything you do is documented in some way, shape, or form. You may forget something you did four years ago. However, patients don't forget who operated or treated them.

I'm aware of this. I simply feel that the attitudes of some participants in this thread are harsh to the point of being ridiculous. It's not so far-fetched that someone would be unaware that their prior speeding tickets were classified as misdemeanors.

Once again, why would you not run a background check? You realize you could drive through a red light activated camera in the daytime and be billed for a ticket right? That happened to me and I never got the followup paper work. A year later, I found out there was a warrant for my arrest from a ticket I knew nothing about. Anytime information is exchanged with the police it's a good idea to check on that sh** until you're a 100% sure it's gone away.

Running a background check is called covering your ass; it's what adults do.

I don't run background checks on myself because I've literally never interacted with the police other than speeding stops. I've also never run a red light, so I'm not worried about that either 😛

I happen to have had 3 background checks run on me by hospitals I've worked at, so I know I'm clear...but even without that assurance, I would not have paid to run one on myself. The odds of it finding something not easily explicable are miniscule. Even in OP's case, the biggest issue seems to be that he did not fess up to it even after seeing that it popped up on his background check.


I know I'm not the most eloquent writer...I use far too many words on these forums because I am unable to express myself succinctly. However, at least I do not stoop to implying that the people I'm holding discussions with are pompous, unintelligent, and childish without provocation. I often enjoy these discussions on SDN and learn from them. I do not see that happening with you, and I haven't found the conversation the least bit enjoyable, so this is the last I respond to your posts. Odds are, that will make both of us happier.

 

[Neutropix]

Speaking of unnecessary... 🙄
I'm aware of this. I simply feel that the attitudes of some participants in this thread are harsh to the point of being ridiculous. It's not so far-fetched that someone would be unaware that their prior speeding tickets were classified as misdemeanors.

I don't run background checks on myself because I've literally never interacted with the police other than speeding stops. I've also never run a red light, so I'm not worried about that either 😛

I happen to have had 3 background checks run on me by hospitals I've worked at, so I know I'm clear...but even without that assurance, I would not have paid to run one on myself. The odds of it finding something not easily explicable are miniscule. Even in OP's case, the biggest issue seems to be that he did not fess up to it even after seeing that it popped up on his background check.


I know I'm not the most eloquent writer...I use far too many words on these forums because I am unable to express myself succinctly. However, at least I do not stoop to implying that the people I'm holding discussions with are pompous, unintelligent, and childish without provocation. I often enjoy these discussions on SDN and learn from them. I do not see that happening with you, and I haven't found the conversation the least bit enjoyable, so this is the last I respond to your posts. Odds are, that will make both of us happier.

Calm down, you literally sound like a crazy ex.

 

[GreatAdviceForPass]

I don't think the speeding ticket it that big of deal, but what I don't get is how did you not know it can lead to a possible misdemeanor?
When I got my speeding ticket in the past, the ticket clearly said that I would be getting a misdemeanor charge unless I contest and win in court. Of course, I just hired a lawyer who made a plea-deal with the county to drop the charge in lieu of my paying a high ticket price and administrative fee. You need to pay more attention to your life

 

[mehc012]

I don't think the speeding ticket it that big of deal, but what I don't get is how did you not know it can lead to a possible misdemeanor?
When I got my speeding ticket, the ticket said I would be getting a misdemeanor unless I contest and win. Of course, I just hired a lawyer who made a plea-deal with the county to drop my charges in lieu of a high ticket price and administrative fee. You need to pay more attention to things

That story is completely relevant as long as OP lives in your state and received the exact same ticket.

 

[eatingcake]

Something similar happened to me. I've had one moving violation (speeding, 72 in a 65--A REBEL IS BORN!) when I was 17 and am now 29. I haven't lived in my home state, where I was ticketed, in 7 years. I had no idea it was a misdemeanor, and like the OP, I missed that fact on my Certiphi check. One of my acceptance schools emailed me about it, I changed my underwear, emailed them back and then preemptively emailed the rest too. They all responded with, "Thanks, this happens, we just need documentation of your explanation. We don't expect further issues." I still live with a tiny fear goblin that feeds on unexpected issues, but I think I'm safe.

My points:
1. This stuff does happen, even to careful, intentional people. Things fall through the cracks, especially when you've convinced yourself that you're safe. In the future, trust that even if I am 100% sure that I know 100% of the information on a document going to a prospective boss/school, I'm going to read it at least twice. Carefully.
2. These threads are GREAT, b/c the more that this stuff gets on the internet, the more likely it is that OP's and my brethren from strict states will read it and go 'hm, I wonder if MY state considers speeding a misdemeanor?'
3. Lastly, I know a lot of people consider their pre-med advising committees to be unhelpful, so I'd take this opportunity to improve their breadth of knowledge. I emailed both my post-bacc advising committee and the advising committee of my undergrad from my home-state university to let them know what happened in the hopes that they'll share the wisdom with their students and hopefully avoid, at best, some stressful days, and at very worst, rescinded acceptances.

 

[samac]

Yep. My speeding ticket was an infraction not a misdemeanor, so it didn't show on the background check.
Sucks to live in your state.

 

[crossfit4lyfe]

They may not be happy, but legally speaking they would have absolutely no standing to punish you if they only asked about convictions.

You would hope so but I have been fighting a two month battle with a school that may rescind my acceptance due to a misdemeanor juvenile charge, when the application says to omit juvenile charges. You would think if it was going to be an issue, they would have asked on the secondary app, but they didn't. Even if they don't ask about it, apparently you should report it because this stuff will come up during licensing. My juvenile charge gets destroyed this july, but some claim hospitals can pull up expunged records? They just worry about future licensing blah blah blah

 

[QUESTIONSSI]

While I'm waiting for a decision to come down, I thought I'd clarify a few things.

1.) Most states don't consider basic speeding tickets to be automatic misdemeanors. I live in one of the few states that disagrees, and just wasn't aware of it.

2.) The misdemeanor designation isn't present on my copy of the tickets (which I still have) or my receipt from paying the fines. I never saw a judge or courtroom, I simply payed the fines at a window for traffic infractions, signed a paper, and left.

3.) Though most don't think to do it, it can be prudent to run a background check on yourself before applying to medical school. The problem however, is that some checks will return results for both minor infractions and misdemeanors, without specifically telling you that one is a misdemeanor. As you might imagine, this kind of defeats the purpose of running a check in the first place.

4.) The results of my CBC-background check did indicate that the ticket was treated as a misdemeanor, there was just one problem. I only gave the report a cursory glance (making sure no random crimes were attributed to me), and didn't register that the speeding ticket was being described as a misdemeanor. Trying to be a student that is, "on top of things", I quickly forwarded the (seemingly good) results to my medical school, instead of waiting for the report to automatically release in a few days, and examining it further.

I'd like to emphasize that none of this amounts to a justified "excuse". Regardless of how confusing the situation was, its the responsibility of the applicant to make sure any previous infractions aren't registered as misdemeanors/felonies. I could have contacted a lawyer/courthouse/statute to make sure all my ducks were in a row, but I didn't. Also, I should have thoroughly read the CBC-report, and not been so hasty to send it off.

I'm currently waiting for a decision to be made, and while I've been told by many that I probably have nothing to worry about, I'm obviously still worried. Will update when I have more info, as this is an interesting topic that I haven't really seen discussed here before.

 

[QUESTIONSSI]

Final Update:

My acceptance has been fully reinstated.

Moral of the Story:

Don't assume, check it yourself.