Background Checks

[Unnamedperson]

Hello everyone,

Before I post my questions, I would like to address that people make mistakes in life. I'm no exception to this rule nor is anyone else. So, I do ask that each that respond to keep in mind that I do understand the mistakes I have made in my life and have taken steps to prevent me from making the same mistakes again.
This is very sensitive issue to me and I'm not proud of my history.
Yet, despite all my accomplishments, no one seems to care that I have redirected my life for the good.

With that said, I have a blimish on my record that occured over 5yrs ago. By the time I finish my undergraduate work, this blimish will be behind me by 8yrs. Because of this blimish, I have been turned down for a lot of positions in the medical field. However, I was able to complete training to become a medical assistant and have worked in the medical field for 2yrs before I decided that I wanted to become a doctor.

So I called the AMA and discussed this issue with them in depth. Iwas told that my blimish would not keep me from becoming licensed, however, it is up to schools to allow me to be admitted.
I began my long quest of calling med schools and one by one was told I would not be allowed to attend. My heart was shattered until I started to research International medical schools. The directors of these schools said to me that they take into consideration the time since the blimish and that as long as I am able to prove myself that my blimish was behind me, I would stand a chance to be admitted.

My question is, Once one goes into clinical rotation, is there a background check which would prevent me from completing my clinical rotations? If background checks are used, do they take into consideration the time when it occured? Meaning do they look at how far back it occured and your accomplishment since the negative?

Some of you may have the same feeling that alot of the US medical schools and Americans have. But, I ask that you set your feeling aside and be honest. Americans do not truely believe in rehablitation which is a shame. If they did believe in rehabilitation, then I would have no need to post this in a open forum. Nevertheless, please just keep an open mind.

Thanks,

UnNamedperson

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[kcrd]

I doubt that background checks are done when you do clinical rotations. (No one did one on me, as far as I know.) If you get into and finish medical school, your criminal record will likely come up again when you apply for residencies. I think the nature of the crime will matter. I would think program directors would have a difficult time accepting someone with a drug felony or (god forbid) murder on his record.

Good luck with everything.

 

[Scrubbs]

Some hospitals require background checks for rotations, even for US students. I'm sure that IMG's would have more red tape to deal with... As for residency and licensure, state licenses require a background check (or most do), as do a lot of programs. No clue as to whether they look at things objectively. As kcrd said, I'm sure that the nature of the offense would have an impact. Good luck!

 

[doepug]

Some hospitals will conduct background checks on medical students before letting them loose on the wards. My institution started a new policy this year which requires background checks on anyone who has patient care responsibilities.

I'm not sure how serious the blemish on your record is, but medical schools will want to know the nature of any incident other than a traffic ticket. I imagine that they go over these applications on a case-by-case basis rather than establishing hard and fast rules.

For now, I would focus on kicking butt in college. Do as well as you can academically, work your tail off for the MCAT, get involved in some extracurriculars or research that interests you. It will be easy for med schools to reject an applicant with a tarnished past if their college record is less than stellar. Make it so that this single incident is the one and only component of your application that would keep them from accepting you outright.

Good luck,
doepug

 

[Dr_sax]

My school, LECOM(an osteo school) REQUIRES background checks from first year students....pretty dumb if you ask me. But they do.

Dr_sax

 

[Bananahammock]

Ross will require you to submit a police check before matriculating. It is also required for a Dominican visa.

 

[southerndoc]

Psychiatric facilities usually conduct background investigations on you, especially state facilities. I had to sign a form to allow a background check on me when I did my psych rotation.

So yes, the chances are likely that you will have a background check performed on you if the school requires a rotation at a state psychiatric facility and/or a VA hospital.

 

[maxheadroom]

Had to have a background check & urine drug screen to start residency.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Was checked before working at the VA - probably the same for any government employment.

 

[rubyness]

For my rotation at the VA they wanted to know my past employment history, where I lived for the past 5 years, who knew me at each address, three personal references, any felony or drug related offenses, my social security number on every page of every document, I was fingerprinted, they needed to know my hair color, eye color and weight. By the end of the first day I sure felt like a criminal!