Brain tumor

[djmonk]

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Constant lurker but needed someone to answer a few questions. I'm applying to medical school this June, but I am not sure if I should include a detail: I have a benign growth (neurosurgeon calls it a growth, not a tumor) in my midbrain. It's size has changed only once, when I hit puberty. It has not affected me intelligence wise (cGPA 3.79/sGPA 3.76) and it really isn't that big a deal. I have an MRI every year to check its growth (none since age 12). I've incorporated my experience into my personal statement b/c I've seen patients much worse than me since I was little (some of the patients of a pediatrics neurosurgeon are pretty heartbreaking).

My dad (a doctor) doesn't want me to include this into my personal statement because he feels its too risky. A medical school might feel I am a poor investment because they might consider me a ticking time bomb, so to speak.

Is it really that risky? Or is my dad being cynical? Wouldn't find a few ADCOMS speaking their minds...
AND
Would it be unethical NOT to include this detail?

 

[Elpenor]

Don't include it (unless you really want to, but don't feel obligated to include it)

I wouldn't.

It is none of their business anyways.

 

[CaliGirl14]

Be vague.

Just imply that you have a chronic condition, blah blah blah.

I have a chronic illness, so that's what I'll put.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[flip26]

Don't disclose this - it is none of their business.

You have no ethical obligation whatsoever. Listen to your dad.

Good luck.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I think you can include the experiences that did influence you (seeing the pediatric neurosurgical patients) while being intentionally vague about your own condition.

For instance,

"In junior high, while under the care of a neurosurgeon for a fortunately benign lesion, I encountered many other children who..."

I don't think anyone would worry about your future health if you note that it was stable or hint that it has resolved, and leave out any mention of getting ongoing follow-up.

If you are worried, you could be even more vague...

"While hospitalized as a child, I encountered..."

 

[tremulousNeedle]

Let me keep it simple:
Any personal statement that leaves the reader questioning whether or not the applicant will be a responsible and capable physician is a bad personal statement. I know your intentions are not to put yourself in a negative light, but you also have to ensure that the reader cannot misinterpret you written words.

-admissions committee interviewer / senior medical student (17 day left)

 

[specter]

unrelated to the thread and out of curiosity (only if you are comfortable sharing): how did they end up figuring out you had a growth? brain scans aren't part of a routine check-up.

 

[djmonk]

I also have nystagmus and a hearing loss, so they did an MRI at age 2 and found the little bugger. But I'm agreeing with most of you after some thought. A single doubt is a good excuse to reject an applicant.

 

[Bacchus]

Don't include it. You can be vague like others have said. However, I think you should not include it because of questioning, not to appease your dad.

 

[Jihad]

When I becums famoos neurosergun i fix you rite up

 

[caveat87]

I agree with most of the above posters. Sharing this information probably is not worth it bc adcoms may consciously or subconsciously take it into consideration. I really don't know if it is legal for them to do so, but its not worth the risk of it having a negative impact on your application.

Withholding this information is definitely not unethical. I know some medical schools make applicants sign a statement acknowledging that they can meet certain technical standards (ie: possessing sufficient fine motor skills, reasonable social skills, etc.) but I don't see a benign tumor interfering with meeting these standards.

 

[riss1084]

in cancer biology, we learned that any lesion in the brain is considered "malignant" purely because of location. it is the only organ that has this type of categorization so i do not think it is scientifically correct for you to call it benign even though it has not grown in size since age 12 (congrats that is great news). for that reason i think it is risky to include it, but if you think that this condition has been a really large part of who you are and that you absolutely must have it in your personal statement, then i say go for it! good luck no matter what you choose.

 

[djmonk]

Thank you for all your kind replies. I'll be witholding this detail because, in the end, it hasn't affected me that greatly. I barely think about it until I have to get the annual MRI. It doesn't belong in the personal statement because its not really that significant to my decision to pursue medicine. Plus, it seems it can potentially hurt a lot more than help.

Good luck to all the applicants.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

in cancer biology, we learned that any lesion in the brain is considered "malignant" purely because of location. it is the only organ that has this type of categorization so i do not think it is scientifically correct for you to call it benign even though it has not grown in size since age 12 (congrats that is great news). for that reason i think it is risky to include it, but if you think that this condition has been a really large part of who you are and that you absolutely must have it in your personal statement, then i say go for it! good luck no matter what you choose.

This is not really relevant to the thread, but for all the budding clinicians out there I add it for educational purposes:
I'm going to go out on a limb here are presume that this class was taught by a scientist and not a MD/DO clinician. This is probably just a semantics issue, but when communicating with other clinicians it is very important to all be on the same page and all be using the same language. Malignancy is defined as having the condition or property of locally invasive and destructive growth as well as the potential for metastasis. I get what you're saying regarding benign intracranial neoplasia still being potentially harmful secondary to it being placed within a fixed structure (the cranium); however, claiming that all intracranial neoplasia are "malignant" is most definitely incorrect. There are benign intracranial neoplasms recognized by mainstream medicine. Semantics aside, there are also intracranial neoplasms that do not cause a clinically significant mass effect and are therefore asymptomatic.



Sorry to riss, I'm not trying to call you out or anything; I just can stand the perpetuation of misinformation (intentional or otherwise) most likely started by your instructor. I was always bothered by my non-clinician science instructors who thought they were experts on clinical medicine and terminology.

 

[amine2086]

Constant lurker but needed someone to answer a few questions. I'm applying to medical school this June, but I am not sure if I should include a detail: I have a benign growth (neurosurgeon calls it a growth, not a tumor) in my midbrain. It's size has changed only once, when I hit puberty. It has not affected me intelligence wise (cGPA 3.79/sGPA 3.76) and it really isn't that big a deal. I have an MRI every year to check its growth (none since age 12). I've incorporated my experience into my personal statement b/c I've seen patients much worse than me since I was little (some of the patients of a pediatrics neurosurgeon are pretty heartbreaking).

My dad (a doctor) doesn't want me to include this into my personal statement because he feels its too risky. A medical school might feel I am a poor investment because they might consider me a ticking time bomb, so to speak.

Is it really that risky? Or is my dad being cynical? Wouldn't find a few ADCOMS speaking their minds...
AND
Would it be unethical NOT to include this detail?

Your personal struggle probably gives you great motivation to go into medicine. But I think it would be too much of a risk to mention cancer (even vaguely) in a PS. You never know what is going through the mind of the ADCOM member that will read your PS.

 

[chman]

I think you can include the experiences that did influence you (seeing the pediatric neurosurgical patients) while being intentionally vague about your own condition.

For instance,

"In junior high, while under the care of a neurosurgeon for a fortunately benign lesion, I encountered many other children who..."

I don't think anyone would worry about your future health if you note that it was stable or hint that it has resolved, and leave out any mention of getting ongoing follow-up.

If you are worried, you could be even more vague...

"While hospitalized as a child, I encountered..."

👍👍

Seriously, you can use this to your advantage, still be honest, and leave the risky parts out, leaving you with an awesome PS.