Accidentally used my patient's real *first* name (first name only) in my personal statement. Is this a big problem?

[true_royal]

Basically what the title says. I wrote about a meaningful patient interaction I had in my personal statement, and I just now realized I accidentally used their real first name and the real first name of their daughter in my personal statement (first names only). I didn't mention the specific condition my patient had in the PS - I just described the general condition. This isn't what they had, but imagine I said someone had cancer instead of mentioning the specific type of cancer - that's essentially how I talked about the condition of my patient. I should also say that I've had a lot of other pre-meds and med students proofread my personal statement and activities section, and no one ever mentioned to me that I was sharing too much about this patient or getting too specific. Everything was pretty in-line for what you'd expect from an applicant writing about a meaningful clinical experience.

I also wrote both the name of my patient and the name of their daughter in quotation marks to indicate that they were fake names. I realized that I accidentally wrote their real first names shortly after I wrote everything, and then I forgot to go back to change them to fake names before submitting (so their real first names were inside quotes). Could this be a problem for my application? As far as I can tell, the only thing that could potentially tip off an adcom that I used the real first name of my patient (instead of the fake names I implied by the quotation marks) was that there's a chance that a letter write of mine for this experience also happened to use that same name when they mentioned them in their letter for me. I ofc haven't read their letter so I don't have any reason to believe that they actually did use their real first name, but there's a chance.

Is this any cause for concern here?

Edit: looking back on this thread 6 months later, I realize now how completely ridiculous this concern was lol.

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[Goro]

Jeeze, take two of these:

 

[true_royal]

Jeeze, take two of these:
View attachment 339522

You're right, I think anything coming from this is extremely unlikely. If an adcom somehow did notice that the name was real, hypothetically, could that be construed in any way as a HIPAA violation? There's a zero percent chance that this specific individual could ever be identified by an adcom unless they called the hospital and asked or something.

 

[deleted1054719]

You're right, I think anything coming from this is extremely unlikely. If an adcom somehow did notice that the name was real, hypothetically, could that be construed in any way as a HIPAA violation? There's a zero percent chance that this specific individual could ever be identified by an adcom unless they called the hospital and asked or something.

Let's have a little thought exercise.

In this hypothetical world a bleary-eyed adcom, after reading 40 apps today, will see your essay and think, "hey this name seems suspiciously like a real person!"

...and then decide to call the contact person listed on your AMCAS during their lunch break between seeing patients

...and then this contact person will need to be able to recall all of their patients from the last few years from a single first name and nonspecific condition

...and suddenly be willing to tell this random caller claiming that they're a member of a medical school admissions committee, "yea John Smith, DOB 1/1/1990 was indeed a patient here May 4th, 2020!"

All of this nonsense hinges on an adcom first thinking a name already in quotation marks is a real name and then both deciding this was important enough/has so much free time to waste on an application to hunt down this patient from a hospital that just happens to be willing to share their patient data with a random caller. You decide how feasible or ridiculous that is.

 

[true_royal]

Let's have a little thought exercise.

In this hypothetical world a bleary-eyed adcom, after reading 40 apps today, will see your essay and think, "hey this name seems suspiciously like a real person!"

...and then decide to call the contact person listed on your AMCAS during their lunch break between seeing patients

...and then this contact person will need to be able to recall all of their patients from the last few years from a single first name and nonspecific condition

...and suddenly be willing to tell this random caller claiming that they're a member of a medical school admissions committee, "yea John Smith, DOB 1/1/1990 was indeed a patient here May 4th, 2020!"

All of this nonsense hinges on an adcom first thinking a name already in quotation marks is a real name and then both deciding this was important enough/has so much free time to waste on an application to hunt down this patient from a hospital that just happens to be willing to share their patient data with a random caller. You decide how feasible or ridiculous that is.

No you're right, but about the "adcom first thinking a name already in quotation marks is a real name" part. The only reason I thought this is because there's a chance my letter writer also mentioned this particular patient by their first name in the LOR they wrote for me (they specifically said they talked about my relationship with this patient in the LOR they wrote for me). If they saw that the name I wrote in quotations in my PS also matched with the real first name my LOR writer used, they'd know it's a real first name. Now the question really depends on whether or not me using the real first name of my patient actually matters at all when I only went into a normal amount of detail for a patient experience.

Also I'm quickly realizing I don't have a good understanding of HIPAA. Do violations of HIPAA typically involve disclosing actual medical records or very easily identifiable things like DOB, SSN, or phone numbers? I was under the impression from the training I got that HIPAA violations could come in the form of disclosing any information that a person could hypothetically use to piece together the identity of a person - not only just disclosing overtly confidential things like medical records or contact info.

 

[Goopy]

This probably won't affect you. You've at least put the name in quotes, so most adcoms should just assume that it's a fake name. However, there was a recent thread (you might find it if you look back in the past month or so) about an applicant who said they got feedback from a program. They said that one of the reviewers withheld an interview because the applicant didn't use quotes around the name, so they thought it might have been a real name.

As for HIPAA, well technically I think you've disclosed PHI with their name, so yeah I think it's a violation even though it's unlikely to piece it together. But what's done is done so just move on.

Edit: found the thread

PSA: Put pseudonyms in quotes in your essays!

Hey everyone! Maybe this is common knowledge and I was just dumb. However, I had no idea about this when I applied the first time. It's apparently convention that when you are using a false name in your PS or other essays, that you put the fake name in quotes! I had never heard of this....not...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[Med Ed]

However, there was a recent thread (you might find it if you look back in the past month or so) about an applicant who said they got feedback from a program. They said that one of the reviewers withheld an interview because the applicant didn't use quotes around the name, so they thought it might have been a real name.

If true, that reviewer was an idiot. Applicants use patient names in their personal statements all the time. Sometimes they are in quotations, sometimes they aren't. No one with any sense cares either way.

 

[true_royal]

If true, that reviewer was an idiot. Applicants use patient names in their personal statements all the time. Sometimes they are in quotations, sometimes they aren't. No one with any sense cares either way.

Since you're a physician you must be pretty familiar with HIPAA. Would giving a real first name, real first name of the person's daughter, and their general, non-specific condition be a HIPAA violation? Like imagine if I said: "Ellen" has cancer. Ellen's daughter, "Sarah,"... - would that be enough for a violation?

 

[Goro]

Since you're a physician you must be pretty familiar with HIPAA. Would giving a real first name, real first name of the person's daughter, and their general, non-specific condition be a HIPAA violation? Like imagine if I said: "Ellen" has cancer. Ellen's daughter, "Sarah,"... - would that be enough for a violation?

Technically to the point of you being the only person aware of it..

I assume that being a good pre-med you have taken statistics. So let's do an exercise.

Out of a nation of 330 million individuals, what are the odds that a reviewer at a single medical school would know a person named Ellen, who has cancer, and who also has a daughter named Sarah????

 

[true_royal]

Technically to the point of you being the only person aware of it..

I assume that being a good pre-med you have taken statistics. So let's do an exercise.

Out of a nation of 330 million individuals, what are the odds that a reviewer at a single medical school would know a person named Ellen, who has cancer, and who also has a daughter named Sarah????

Well no there's a zero percent chance that an adcom will ever recognize this person. I'm only worried that they'll be able to figure out that the first name I gave was real in the event that my hospital administrator (who wrote me an LOR) also happened to use that patient's same first name. The adcom would be able to go "hmm the fake name they gave in their PS is the same as the real first name their LOR writer used." I realize how neurotic this all sounds lol, but pretend hypothetically that an adcom somehow did know that I used the real first names. Would anyone care?

 

[Goro]

Well no there's a zero percent chance that an adcom will ever recognize this person. I'm only worried that they'll be able to figure out that the first name I gave was real in the event that my hospital administrator (who wrote me an LOR) also happened to use that patient's same first name. The adcom would be able to go "hmm the fake name they gave in their PS is the same as the real first name their LOR writer used." I realize how neurotic this all sounds lol, but pretend hypothetically that an adcom somehow did know that I used the real first names. Would anyone care?

I'm worried about you, Royal. I know that this is an anxiety-producing process, but you need to have the grit to be able to survive it. Medical school is a furnace and I have seen it break even healthy students.

So chill.

 

[Fano]

Since you're a physician you must be pretty familiar with HIPAA. Would giving a real first name, real first name of the person's daughter, and their general, non-specific condition be a HIPAA violation? Like imagine if I said: "Ellen" has cancer. Ellen's daughter, "Sarah,"... - would that be enough for a violation?

Just pointing out that HIPAA violations can only be committed by HIPAA-covered entities. The essay writer must be subject to HIPAA to violate it. For example, were they working for or under a HIPAA-covered entity? If not, it wasn't a violation. Of course, this doesn't mean they shouldn't have used an alias. I'm just addressing the question.

 

[true_royal]

Just pointing out that HIPAA violations can only be committed by HIPAA-covered entities. The essay writer must be subject to HIPAA to violate it. For example, were they working for or under a HIPAA-covered entity? If not, it wasn't a violation. Of course, this doesn't mean they shouldn't have used an alias. I'm just addressing the question.

I volunteer for a hospital and I've been given access to medical records (which I've never looked at) in case I need to write a volunteer clinical note for a patient I've worked with, so I'm sure I fall under HIPAA. I know that under HIPAA, using a patient's real first name only is fine. I wasn't sure though if me mentioning their non-specific condition along with their real first name and the real first name of their daughter changed that and made it non-HIPAA compliant though, since it's a bit more specific.

 

[LizzyM]

If the first name is Madonna, Cher, Prince, or Chance, you might have a problem....otherwise, not likely that someone will recongize someone they know but stranger things have happened.

If the name in the essay matches the name in the LOR, one idea that will pop into someone's mind is that the letter writer read your PS and just used the same pseudonym. Don't sweat it.

 

[true_royal]

If the first name is Madonna, Cher, Prince, or Chance, you might have a problem....otherwise, not likely that someone will recongize someone they know but stranger things have happened.

If the name in the essay matches the name in the LOR, one idea that will pop into someone's mind is that the letter writer read your PS and just used the same pseudonym. Don't sweat it.

"If the name in the essay matches the name in the LOR, one idea that will pop into someone's mind is that the letter writer read your PS and just used the same pseudonym. Don't sweat it."

Wow thank you, you're totally right. I did send my personal statement to this LOR writer beforehand, so that would make total sense. Now I think I owe it to myself to meditate or something for a bit, haha.

 

[Med Ed]

Since you're a physician you must be pretty familiar with HIPAA. Would giving a real first name, real first name of the person's daughter, and their general, non-specific condition be a HIPAA violation? Like imagine if I said: "Ellen" has cancer. Ellen's daughter, "Sarah,"... - would that be enough for a violation?

This was once explained to me thusly: could a person with an internet connection determine, with a high degree of certainty, the identity of these people based on the information you disclosed? I mean without hiring a private investigator, getting the NSA involved, or spending 10,000+ hours cross-indexing old phone books.

No? Then you're good. Also bear in mind that HIPAA does not aim to eliminate all possible violations of privacy. Rather, it dictates standards to reduce the risk of privacy violations down to an acceptable level. It's still possible to run into someone you know in the waiting room at the cancer treatment center or STI clinic. That's just life.

For an amazing experience you can read the Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

 

[true_royal]

This was once explained to me thusly: could a person with an internet connection determine, with a high degree of certainty, the identity of these people are based on the information you disclosed? I mean without hiring a private investigator, getting the NSA involved, or spending 10,000+ hours cross-indexing old phone books.

No? Then you're good. Also bear in mind that HIPAA does not aim to eliminate all possible violations of privacy. Rather, it dictates standards to reduce the risk of privacy violations down to an acceptable level. It's still possible to run into someone you know in the waiting room at the cancer treatment center or STI clinic. That's just life.

For an amazing experience you can read the Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

I should also say I just realized I never actually included her daughter's name in the PS, I mentioned it only once in the activities section. So really all the PS has is their first name and their non-specific condition... so yeah, not identifiable.

 

[Chads2]

If the first name is Madonna, Cher, Prince, or Chance, you might have a problem....

I mean, it’s not that big of a Controversy. You’ll probably find that it’s No Problem. If you could Turn Back Time, you’d probably not want to use those first names, but I think you’ll Live To Tell that everything turned out ok.

 

[Chads2]

Like imagine if I said: "Ellen" has cancer. Ellen's daughter, "Sarah,"... - would that be enough for a violation?

Also, please tell us their names aren’t actually Ellen and Sarah and that you just repeated that same mistake.

 

[true_royal]

Also, please tell us their names aren’t actually Ellen and Sarah and that you just repeated that same mistake.

Haha no

 

[Tenk]

Unless the persons name was Dr. Marijuana Pepsi or something equally as ridiculously rare, you’re fine.

That’s a real person with a real doctorate btw, google it.

 

[LizzyM]

I mean, it’s not that big of a Controversy. You’ll probably find that it’s No Problem. If you could Turn Back Time, you’d probably not want to use those first names, but I think you’ll Live To Tell that everything turned out ok.

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[mdphd123j]

The only reason I thought this is because there's a chance my letter writer also mentioned this particular patient by their first name in the LOR they wrote for me (they specifically said they talked about my relationship with this patient in the LOR they wrote for me). If they saw that the name I wrote in quotations in my PS also matched with the real first name my LOR writer used, they'd know it's a real first name. Now the question really depends on whether or not me using the real first name of my patient actually matters at all when I only went into a normal amount of detail for a patient experience.

Just a thought — if the LOR writer shared this person’s real name in their letter, they would be no less at fault than you for using it in your PS.

overall I am in agreement with the comments to not sweat it