Background Check

[Prozach]

Hello All,

I'm a junior in college and seriously considering applying to USUHS. One thing that I have been reading about is the background check and physical exam that occurs after one's 'conditional acceptance.' I notice repeated references to drugs and drinking. I noticed that one girl in a thread failed the physical because she admitted to smoking pot many years ago. My question is, are they really this strict? Is the fact that I may have had a few drinks under the age of 21 going to force me out of the opportunity of going to USU? I would never lie in an interview, so if asked about something like that, I would have no choice but to be honest. And while the fact that I even have to ask this shocks me, the idea that a girl got rejected because of a joint she smoked a decade earlier seems just shocking to me!

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[orbitsurgMD]

Hello All,

I'm a junior in college and seriously considering applying to USUHS. One thing that I have been reading about is the background check and physical exam that occurs after one's 'conditional acceptance.' I notice repeated references to drugs and drinking. I noticed that one girl in a thread failed the physical because she admitted to smoking pot many years ago. My question is, are they really this strict? Is the fact that I may have had a few drinks under the age of 21 going to force me out of the opportunity of going to USU? I would never lie in an interview, so if asked about something like that, I would have no choice but to be honest. And while the fact that I even have to ask this shocks me, the idea that a girl got rejected because of a joint she smoked a decade earlier seems just shocking to me!

You shouldn't be shocked to be asked about your personal experience with drug use. The same should apply to your use of alcohol. You are being screened for a career where personal habits are more important to your being qualified to work than they would be in some other field. Think airline pilot or nuclear reactor operator. At a minimum, you will be asked those questions on every application to every hospital staff and on every application and every renewal of your state professional license.

I suggest you be open and honest with the interviewers. If you have experimented, say so, and say that is was just that, experimentation. Expect them to ask a few questions--e.g., frequency and duration of your experimentation, association with people who smoke pot habitually, other drug use. No one can guarantee you that you won't be rejected, but if your application is strong and you are not defensive about your past behavior, then it shouldn't cause you a problem. Stories of applicants being rejected for distant experimentation are nearly always unsubstantiated. If your use is current, then that is another matter.

The interviewers don't live in a social vacuum. While there is zero tolerance for illicit drug use in the military, anyone with responsibility for screening for applicants knows that experimentation with pot is a common experience for young people in the United States. That isn't to imply an endorsement, but merely a recognition of the realities of our society.

 

[USAF MD '05]

I admitted to a little experimentation in my youth to the doc doing my physical, and he asked only if I still used. I said no (honestly) and it never came up again.
Steve

 

[backrow]

I've heard that if you say "but I didn't inhale" then it's okay.

 

[Mirror Form]

I admitted to a little experimentation in my youth to the doc doing my physical, and he asked only if I still used. I said no (honestly) and it never came up again.
Steve

Same here, but I had to sign a whole bunch of paperwork and write an essay as to why I would never do it again.

Although honesty is the best policy, this is one of those cases where reading b/w the lines won't hurt. You're better off just denying it.

 

[Pemberley]

Leaving aside the question of honor in a future officer, lying about that is a BAD IDEA. I've seen security investigations for people who experimented once in their youth. As long as they admit it up front, and the offense was fairly distant in the past and never repeated in the future, their security clearances are (usually) eventually approved. Don't worry about the delay -- everybody's clearance takes forever, even people with spotless records. 😴

They WILL go talk to people from your past. They will talk not only to the people that you give them, but also ask those people for other people to talk to. If any of those people brings up something you claimed hadn't happened, you will be prosecutable for lying under oath. If you've already been commissioned, you can be courts-martialled. NOT good.

There are never guarantees, of course, but even given the uncertainty, I strongly recommend up-front disclosure.

-Pemberley

 

[RichL025]

Hello All,

I'm a junior in college and seriously considering applying to USUHS. One thing that I have been reading about is the background check and physical exam that occurs after one's 'conditional acceptance.' I notice repeated references to drugs and drinking. I noticed that one girl in a thread failed the physical because she admitted to smoking pot many years ago....

Not to impugn that young lady's integrity, but she must have had something else going on that caused her rejection. I, and many other people I know in my class, have admitted to the level of previous drug use referred to as "experimentation", and it did not affect our entry into USUHS.

 

[dry dre]

Not to impugn that young lady's integrity, but she must have had something else going on that caused her rejection....

Agreed. I doubt that even having used pot regularly while hanging with the wrong croud at age 15 would stop a 24yo medical student from getting in.

I previously held a TS clearance and agree with complete disclosure. I never even experimented with any drugs. I did disclose that I drank my fair share in high school. I also disclosed that I was questioned by security on one of a few trips siteseeing adjacent to Area 51 (Groom Lake facility) while on active duty. We had nightvision, infared cameras, the whole bit. That place is about as protected as any installation that I know of in the US...it was ~embarrasing to talk about/disclose, but so what. I subsequently received my TS and was assigned for a year as an embassy guard in Russia (in addition to Germany and Canada).

In short, tell the complete truth and don't worry. The only thing to worry about is someone not willing to tell the whole truth.

Addendum: I should mention that years later I ran into someone from my high school who told me that a friendly person with an interesting ID went to my school asking questions about me...in other words, at least in my case, they really did go knocking on doors. My guard class was told that the govt spends on average about 15K investigating a TS application (this is early 90s). I think that the security levels for medical officers is secret to start...