Background checks and med school applications

[thefallout]

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Before anyone tells me to use the search button-- I did and none of the topics answered my specific question.

My question is regarding a criminal case/arrest.

If a person was arrested for a criminal act, however, the case was then dismissed by the prosecutor, what will show up on a background check?

Will the charges that the person was arrested for show up? Or will it just state that the person has previously been arrested.

Also, do the top 15 medical schools run background checks on their applicants? Would a med school completely throw out a person's application if they saw an arrest on their record?

Thank you very much for all your help.

 

[WedgeDawg]

I can't answer your first two questions exactly, but many secondaries will ask about charges even if you weren't prosecuted for them. If you have been charged and you fail to disclose it, even if it was dropped, you are liable to be dismissed from the school should you end up attending.

All medical schools run background checks on applicants through Certiphi (I think), but they generally will not do so unless you are accepted or waitlisted, and even then, generally not until January.

 

[mimelim]

As Wedge said...

If something happened, schools generally want to know. There really isn't much hiding in this realm as it rapidly becomes about dishonesty rather than legality.

Arrests do not show up on background checks as far as I am aware. Depending on the state, jurisdiction, and the point in which the case was dropped, it will or will not show up on a background check. Also, cases in general can't be dismissed by a prosecutor. They can decline to prosecute or drop a case, but cases get dismissed by a judge. If it has gotten into a court room, it will end up on most background checks.

All schools and most jobs run background checks on their future students and employees. In addition, many will ask straight up about convictions, charges and arrests. Even if something is highly unlikely to show up on a background check, you should answer the secondary questions as if it did. Lying about something like this is grounds for dismissal and is far worse than most minor infractions.

I know of a couple of students at my school and others who had arrests on their records. Is it a detriment to your application. Yes, of course. Is it a complete app killer? Depends on what happened, when it happened and what has happened since.

 

[Goro]

Yes

If a person was arrested for a criminal act, however, the case was then dismissed by the prosecutor, what will show up on a background check?

Don't know. Best to ask a lawyer.
Will the charges that the person was arrested for show up? Or will it just state that the person has previously been arrested.

ALL medical schools run background checks. It does them no good if their students can't set foot in t a hospital due to prior transgressions.
Also, do the top 15 medical schools run background checks on their applicants?

Depends upon the charge. A crime of moral turpitude would raise alarms.
Would a med school completely throw out a person's application if they saw an arrest on their record?