answering extenuating circumstances questions

[tina837]

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sophomore year of college i had a huge dip in my gpa due to a diagnosis of depression/anxiety....i tried a whole bunch of different medications with various side effects that negatively effected my studies....ANYWAYS my question is should i address this in secondaries asking about extenuating circumstances/explaining poor grades or will this send up a huge flag....i know that my committee letter mentions it briefly so it is noted elsewhere in my application....i am completely fine now.....anyone have any advice on how to proceed?

 

[zayka]

I think most schools would want you to explain bad semesters/grades. The mental illness thing, however, is a little iffy, because it, especially depression, is known to relapse.

 

[BlueElmo]

I think it's something I would address only in interviews.

 

[tina837]

I think most schools would want you to explain bad semesters/grades. The mental illness thing, however, is a little iffy, because, especially depression, is known to relapse.

thanks for responding....besides 2 random Cs all of my bad grades came over the course of my sophomore year....how do you think i should explain these bad grades? insomnia (severe, as in i wouldn't sleep for a few days and walked around like a zombie) was a major problem that affected my studies....i really just don't know how to explain these grades without bringing up the illness/medications issue

thank you everyone in advance, i really appreciate it as my secondaries are finally now rolling in

 

[zayka]

thanks for responding....besides 2 random Cs all of my bad grades came over the course of my sophomore year....how do you think i should explain these bad grades? insomnia (severe, as in i wouldn't sleep for a few days and walked around like a zombie) was a major problem that affected my studies....i really just don't know how to explain these grades without bringing up the illness/medications issue

thank you everyone in advance, i really appreciate it as my secondaries are finally now rolling in

You should definitely tell the truth. As the problem would be adcoms worrying that you may relapse in med school/later, I think you should try to get a LOR from a psychiatrist, assuring the adcom that you are doing very well and have recovered.

 

[LizzyM]

You were ill. Now it shouldn't matter if you had major depression or leukemia but we aren't in a perfect world and there is sometimes a stigma associated with psychiatric conditions. Tell the truth, but be vague. You got sick, it was a struggle to find a treatment regime that worked for you but you and the doctors were successful, you've recovered, and you have done well subsequently. The school shouldn't ask you disclose your medical record-- all they can ask is if you are able to meet the technical standards for admission

 

[TopSecret]

Any history of psychiatric illness is a yellow flag. Questions related to any sort of psychiatric illness will likely appear on applications for medical licensure.

http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/49/2/202

 

[TopSecret]

You should definitely tell the truth. As the problem would be adcoms worrying that you may relapse in med school/later, I think you should try to get a LOR from a psychiatrist, assuring the adcom that you are doing very well and have recovered.

When I was a resident, I had a medical student who claimed that she had relapsed during her rotation with me. Of course, she said this only after being rebuked for going home early without notifying anyone and for taking with her original hospital records, which I needed to review that day. I was waiting patiently for her even though it was already past 8 pm on a normal ward day that was supposed to end at 5 pm. However, she told the clerkship director that I was being mean and not understanding of her psychiatric illness (schizophrenia). 😱

 

[LizzyM]

Any history of psychiatric illness is a yellow flag. Questions related to any sort of psychiatric illness will likely appear on applications for medical licensure.

http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/49/2/202

Note from the link that states may ask if you have a condition that would affect your ability to practice medicine.

When I was a resident, I had a medical student who claimed that she had relapsed during her rotation with me. Of course, she said this only after being rebuked for going home early without notifying anyone and for taking with her original hospital records, which I needed to review that day. I was waiting patiently for her even though it was already past 8 pm on a normal ward day that was supposed to end at 5 pm. However, she told the clerkship director that I was being mean and not understanding of her psychiatric illness (schizophrenia).

And would it matter what type of relapsing condition caused a medical student to go AWOL? Would you feel differently about someone passed out somewhere with hypoglycemia? What she did was against all kinds of policies and her attitude was not what I'd hope for in a medical student, but I think that the condition is beside the point. My response would be, "If you've got a health condition that caused you to 1)break the rules, 2)put patients in danger,3) inconvenience other people, and 4)cop an attitude, maybe this isn't the best line of work for you."

 

[tina837]

You were ill. Now it shouldn't matter if you had major depression or leukemia but we aren't in a perfect world and there is sometimes a stigma associated with psychiatric conditions. Tell the truth, but be vague. You got sick, it was a struggle to find a treatment regime that worked for you but you and the doctors were successful, you've recovered, and you have done well subsequently. The school shouldn't ask you disclose your medical record-- all they can ask is if you are able to meet the technical standards for admission

thank you everyone very much for your responses....i think i am going to take the LizzyM approach and explain without mentioning the condition....i am a little nervous what exactly is in my premedical committee letter....they are aware that it was an issue with anxiety/depression however i hope they only noted a "medical issue"....i only know it is in there since in a past cycle at an interview i was asked "i know you had a medical issue, is everything all sorted out now?"

thank you again everyone for your input

 

[TopSecret]

Note from the link that states may ask if you have a condition that would affect your ability to practice medicine.

And would it matter what type of relapsing condition caused a medical student to go AWOL? Would you feel differently about someone passed out somewhere with hypoglycemia? What she did was against all kinds of policies and her attitude was not what I'd hope for in a medical student, but I think that the condition is beside the point. My response would be, "If you've got a health condition that caused you to 1)break the rules, 2)put patients in danger,3) inconvenience other people, and 4)cop an attitude, maybe this isn't the best line of work for you."

She was an M4 and about to graduate.

What made it so upsetting was that she had left probably at around 2 pm when I last saw her. I assumed that she was still in the hospital at around 5 pm, writing up her history and physical. But she was actually at home with the original hospital records that I needed. I paged her and called her but she didn't answer until it was 8 pm, several hours after everyone had left. What made it even more upsetting was that the next day when she had to present to the attending she read my H&P word for word. 😱