Being diagnosed with an illness as an explanation

[estradiol9]

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I have frequently heard of individuals explaining any sort of situation (family member got ill, pregnancy/birth, death of a loved one, etc) that may have led to them getting poor grades, taking a semester off, etc or how it may have even affected their decision to pursue a career in medicine.

My gpa dropped a bit this semester to a 3.25. I missed quite a few classes due to feeling sick. I was recently diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Would this be something I should not discuss?

I know admissions committees claim to not be biased about ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, etc but I would hate to discuss this condition and how it affected my performance this past semester or even my reason to become a physician if an adcom will think twice about whether I am capable of handling medical school.

 

[Depakote]

I have frequently heard of individuals explaining any sort of situation (family member got ill, pregnancy/birth, death of a loved one, etc) that may have led to them getting poor grades, taking a semester off, etc or how it may have even affected their decision to pursue a career in medicine.

My gpa dropped a bit this semester to a 3.25. I missed quite a few classes due to feeling sick. I was recently diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Would this be something I should not discuss?

I know admissions committees claim to not be biased about ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, etc but I would hate to discuss this condition and how it affected my performance this past semester or even my reason to become a physician if an adcom will think twice about whether I am capable of handling medical school.

It's tricky. My rule of thumb is to avoid giving them any ammunition that could be used against you.

The issue is that if your illness, which tends to have a chronic course, managed to impact your college grades... some might argue that it could affect your med school grades. Now do people with UC get into med school and succeed? Of course, but you don't want to put yourself in a situation where you're trying to argue that you have extra adversity to overcome on top of the med school adversity.

 

[Fakesmile]

I'm in a similar situation, except in my case it's not ulcerative colitis but rather depression/anxiety. Unfortunately I don't have an answer for you becauase I am struggling with this problem myself. But good luck.

 

[StudyShy]

I would exercise caution especially if it is a chronic condition that would potentially interfere with med school courses unless, of course, you are required to disclose medical information on chronic conditions. That being said, however, you will probably have to explain the situation surrounding the fall in GPA. Try your best during an interview to turn that negative into a positive thing. Explain how your experience being sick influenced how you feel/do things that will make you a wonderful student and future physician.

 

[IlaEm]

I agree that if asked about your drop in GPA you should be honest about it. Plus, you can mention how the drop occurred while your UC was out of control and in the process of being diagnosed. There are plenty of people with IBD who live normal lives when properly treated. Hopefully by the time you begin interviewing, you will be symptom free and be able to talk about how it was a struggle to balance a chronic illness with school but you realized it made you stronger. Now that the illness is under control you can tackle medical school......

 

[ucsfstudents]

Keep it vague. Gastrointestinal illness that is now well managed, or medical illness that is now well managed, or undergoing medical tests for a condition that is now well managed, or nothing. No one is going to ask you what your diagnosis is/was. They care that it is managed to the point that you can do well in medical school. With UC, you shouldn't have many problems in medical school that you can't work around.

 

[estradiol9]

Thanks everyone. I probably won't mention it in my application but if asked at an interview, I'll try to keep it a bit vague and mention that the drop in my gpa was while I was still being diagnosed and not receiving any treatment yet. Hopefully by then everything will be under control. 🙂