Applying to medical school with a brain injury?

[KayD]

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3 years ago I was in a car accident that resulted in a severe traumatic brain injury. After starting back at school I began to discover a big interest in medicine,
I am doing well in school, and am almost done my second year with a 3.8 GPA doing a double major in psychology and criminology.
I know there are pre reqs that I need to take outside my degree to make it possible, and I will be taking 2 starting in September.

My problems:
Currently I am still in rehabilitation for my brain injury, and only am able to handle about 3 courses a semester (I take 3 semesters a year)
I had to start school at a community college because large class sizes make it difficult for me for multiple reasons because of my injury - but I am transferring to a university in September.
I have next to no work experience after the age of 19 because my car accident has left me unable to work. But I have volunteered at a crisis centre for two years now, although in comparison to being able to prove you can work it doesn't look good I'm sure.
I will have a lack of documented achievements that would show other areas of success in my life because I am currently confined to being able to do only certain things at the moment, although I still horseback ride (don't judge me, I wear a helmet!)
I also have a lot of problems stemming from my brain injury it's self, that I am working really hard on to compensate for.

Assuming I am able to get my sciences done and continue keeping a decent GPA, do I honestly even have a shot trying to go to medical school with my brain injury and lack of outside experience because of it?
I really want to become a psychiatrist, and I'm having doubts that because of my injury and documented difficulties that I will be faced with failure.

Thanks to anyone who chose to read my long and worried post.

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[MedPR]

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3 years ago I was in a car accident that resulted in a severe traumatic brain injury. After starting back at school I began to discover a big interest in medicine,
I am doing well in school, and am almost done my second year with a 3.8 GPA doing a double major in psychology and criminology.
I know there are pre reqs that I need to take outside my degree to make it possible, and I will be taking 2 starting in September.

My problems:
Currently I am still in rehabilitation for my brain injury, and only am able to handle about 3 courses a semester (I take 3 semesters a year)
I had to start school at a community college because large class sizes make it difficult for me for multiple reasons because of my injury - but I am transferring to a university in September.
I have next to no work experience after the age of 19 because my car accident has left me unable to work. But I have volunteered at a crisis centre for two years now, although in comparison to being able to prove you can work it doesn't look good I'm sure.
I will have a lack of documented achievements that would show other areas of success in my life because I am currently confined to being able to do only certain things at the moment, although I still horseback ride (don't judge me, I wear a helmet!)
I also have a lot of problems stemming from my brain injury it's self, that I am working really hard on to compensate for.

Assuming I am able to get my sciences done and continue keeping a decent GPA, do I honestly even have a shot trying to go to medical school with my brain injury and lack of outside experience because of it?
I really want to become a psychiatrist, and I'm having doubts that because of my injury and documented difficulties that I will be faced with failure.

Thanks to anyone who chose to read my long and worried post.

Can you meet the following requirements (general for all schools):

http://hms.harvard.edu/departments/admissions/applying/policies#TechStandards

Technical Standards for Medical School Admission
A candidate for the MD degree must have abilities and skills in five varieties, including observation; communication; motor; conceptual, integrative, and quantitative; and behavioral and social. Technological compensation can be made for some handicaps in certain of these areas, but a candidate should be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner. The use of a trained intermediary means that a candidate's judgment must be mediated by someone else's power of selection and observation.

I. Observation: The candidate must be able to observe demonstrations and experiments in the basic sciences, including but not limited to physiologic and pharmacologic demonstrations in animals, microbiologic cultures, and microscopic studies of microorganisms and tissues in normal and pathologic states. A candidate must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand. Observation necessitates the functional use of the sense of vision and somatic sensation. It is enhanced by the functional use of the sense of smell.

II. Communication: A candidate should be able to speak, to hear, and to observe patients in order to elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity, and posture, and perceive nonverbal communications. A candidate must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients. Communication includes not only speech but reading and writing. The candidate must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written form with all members of the health care team.

III. Motor: Candidates should have sufficient motor function to elicit information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers. A candidate should be able to do basic laboratory tests (urinalysis, CBC, etc.), carry out diagnostic procedures (proctoscopy, paracentesis, etc.), and read EKGs and x-rays. A candidate should be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general care and emergency treatment to patients. Examples of emergency treatment reasonably required of physicians are cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the administration of intravenous medication, the application of pressure to stop bleeding, the opening of obstructed airways, the suturing of simple wounds, and the performance of simple obstetrical maneuvers. Such actions require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium, and functional use of the senses of touch and vision.

IV. Intellectual-Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities: These abilities include measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis, and synthesis. Problem solving, the critical skill demanded of physicians, requires all of these intellectual abilities. In addition, the candidate should be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationships of structures.

V. Behavioral and Social Attributes: A candidate must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of his intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients. Candidates must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and to function effectively under stress. They must be able to adapt to changing environments, to display flexibility, and to learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many patients. Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest, and motivation are all personal qualities that are assessed during the admissions and education processes.

Included in the deliberations of the Panel on Technical Standards were the following considerations:

The medical education process, which focuses so largely on patients, differs markedly from postsecondary education in fields outside of the health sciences.

The primary responsibility for the selection of students and for the content of the curriculum rests with the medical school and its faculty.

The M.D. degree is, and must remain, a broad, undifferentiated degree attesting to the acquisition of general knowledge in all fields of medicine and the basic skills requisite for the practice of medicine (our emphasis).

The guidelines for admission of students and for the education of students as set forth by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) must continue to govern the decisions of medical school faculties.

All students of medicine must possess those intellectual, ethical, physical and emotional capabilities required to undertake the full curriculum and to achieve the levels of competence required by the faculty.

Although certain handicaps or combinations of handicaps will prevent some candidates from meeting minimum technical standards, individual schools should take all necessary steps to prevent unjustified discrimination against the handicapped.

 

[KayD]

I feel like I can meet all of them personally, although I worry that section V might be questioned by others. Mostly with work load stress, but I feel that I can manage well enough. As well as be able to explain it.
But although they don't discriminate, will my lack of outside achievements due to my brain injury potentially still affect how I am viewed? I try really hard to do well, but my rehabilitation is 30 hours a week then adding in school and the extra effort I have to place on getting good grades, I am a little limited with time availability to gain any real, documentable achievements.
Maybe I am just overly worried about how people will judge me due to my doctors telling me I shouldn't be in school yet because of the stress it puts on me. I am scared that people viewing my application will feel the same way.

 

[EmergencyMonkey]

I feel that if you are able to meet the guidelines set forth, then why not! The experience that you have recovering from a severe traumatic brain injury and persevering against all odds to make it into medical school gives you an edge that very few have. The ability to sympathize and empathize with patients goes far beyond the ability to treat them. Learning how to treat patients medically comes through books, learning how to treat patients emotionally comes only with personal growth through experience which you seem to have a tremendous amount of. Use your experience to propel you, not keep you back.

___________
visit the monkey at EmergencyMonkey.com!

 

[Geebeejay]

I don't see why not if you meet the expectations. Have you shadowed a doctor/psychiatrist yet? If you feel you can do/are capable of doing what he does every day for the rest of your life, and as long as you are emotionally pretty healthy, then I'd say you definitely can do it.

 

[armybound]

 

[kami333]

Maybe I am just overly worried about how people will judge me due to my doctors telling me I shouldn't be in school yet because of the stress it puts on me. I am scared that people viewing my application will feel the same way.

I think that's going to be the key.

I think eventually you'll get there but until the rehab is done and you've put some time in to show that you have learned to compensate and can handle it I can see how some may have reservations.

 

[Barcu]

My problems:
Currently I am still in rehabilitation for my brain injury, and only am able to handle about 3 courses a semester (I take 3 semesters a year)
I had to start school at a community college because large class sizes make it difficult for me for multiple reasons because of my injury - but I am transferring to a university in September.
I have next to no work experience after the age of 19 because my car accident has left me unable to work. But I have volunteered at a crisis centre for two years now, although in comparison to being able to prove you can work it doesn't look good I'm sure.
I will have a lack of documented achievements that would show other areas of success in my life because I am currently confined to being able to do only certain things at the moment, although I still horseback ride (don't judge me, I wear a helmet!)
I also have a lot of problems stemming from my brain injury it's self, that I am working really hard on to compensate for.

OP, these problems are still major problems. Medical school is a fast-paced, busy environment. You will not be able to slow it down or take fewer classes. Once you are in the clinic, you will not be able to take a rest during a long shift. Those are the realities, and until you prove you can do those things, you will not get into med school.

Stick with the rehab, and see how you progress. If you stick with it and improve, medical school is an option that will be waiting for you. Your experiences and dedication will really help you get into med school. But you have to prove you can do it first, and it still seems like you need to do that.

Best of luck to you OP. Stick with it and don't give up.

 

[image187]

coming back from your accident and doing what you've done is certainly an achievement if I've ever heard of one, and way more important than the cookie- cutter "documented achievements" of people spending summers in research labs and other cliche things that propel them into medical school. When Inwas younger I had a doctor that had no legs and I thought to myself "how in the world did he manage to accomplish what he has?". His disability was a misfortune he probably had to work hard to overcome to get what he wanted out of life, but in the end it certainly made him a better caring doctor, as this will make you.

p.s. I am also going into psychiatry. While probably grossly under appreciated, it is a great specialty with a great lifestyle where you get to help those in need of what most other medical patients take for granted every day. It sounds like you'll make a great psychiatrist

 

[KayD]

Oh wow, thank you for all of your amazing responses.
I definitely agree with the posters who have stated that my current problems do not make me ready for medical school at this exact time - but this partially makes me feel fortunate that it happened before I finish my under graduate degree. I plan to continue with rehabilitation and work really hard towards becoming as independent as possible.
I hope that in two years time that I will be in a place that makes me for medical school, but I want to thank you all for all your positive and honest feedback. It really means a lot and reminds me that I shouldn't give up!

Wishing all of you the best in your own pathways towards med school. I am glad I joined this forum.

 

[Barcu]

Oh wow, thank you for all of your amazing responses.
I definitely agree with the posters who have stated that my current problems do not make me ready for medical school at this exact time - but this partially makes me feel fortunate that it happened before I finish my under graduate degree. I plan to continue with rehabilitation and work really hard towards becoming as independent as possible.
I hope that in two years time that I will be in a place that makes me for medical school, but I want to thank you all for all your positive and honest feedback. It really means a lot and reminds me that I shouldn't give up!

Wishing all of you the best in your own pathways towards med school. I am glad I joined this forum.

You have a good attitude. It will serve you well. Best of luck and keep us updated.

 

[ToldYouSo]

I have to place on getting good grades, I am a little limited with time availability to gain any real

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