Can Mental Illness Affect getting your Medical License.

[kratosis]

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will being diagnosed with a mental illness such as bipolar disorder affect obtaining an MD license in New York? even if i am stable fore years with medication and therapy? also should mental health/diagnosis be mentioned in the personal statement when applying to med school? because i had an erratic first two years of college due to my health issues. how should i explain my first 2 yr GPA to the adcoms w/out relating my diagnosis? should i just state that i was going through health issues (keeping it ambiguous) and not state my actual diagnosis? thank u for ur input!

 

[AntiHouseMD]

I'm not a lawyer or anything, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. If you are stable and can operate without having major issues right now, I see no reason why it would affect you obtaining a MD license. If you were to have a major breakdown at some point, I could see how it may affect you. However, if you are fine now, I doubt that they can do anything as it could be seen as discrimination. But, if you want to be sure, a lawyer could probably answer it better.

EDIT: If you don't have to report it, go with Eric01's advice and keep it private. Probably the best way to avoid any trouble.

 

[Eric01]

Personally I wouldn't report any mental illness whatsoever. I'm not sure with regulations or laws, but if it's possible to remain in patient confidentiality, then don't say anything.

 

[Tapepsi]

Personally I wouldn't report any mental illness whatsoever. I'm not sure with regulations or laws, but if it's possible to remain in patient confidentiality, then don't say anything.

+1 Mentioning it will never help, and in some cases, can actually hurt your chances of acceptance.

 

[alwaysaangel]

You don't have to mention it unless you want to for med school apps.

For licensing its a different story, every state is different, but I know of several that ask about prior/current mental illness. It is not something that will prevent you from getting a license but you will probably have to jump through a couple extra hoops for the rest of your life.

 

[tabascosauce]

i think it could help you get your medical license. theyll see you overcame a significant challenge in your life and can manage it well.

 

[alwaysaangel]

i think it could help you get your medical license. theyll see you overcame a significant challenge in your life and can manage it well.

For medical licensing all they care about is whether your competent, they don't care about overcoming challenges. For that reason it will be a liability in getting his/her license and they will likely have to frequently explain that the disease is stable on medication.

 

[tabascosauce]

wait. so..a mental illness will not help me get a medical license?

 

[styphon]

Having applied for a medical license in NY, the license committee will have no way of knowning you have a mental illness unless such an illness caused you to face "disciplinary" action in medical school or residency. There is actually no place you'd put it in the license application besides that area! Not only that, they only care about you providing proof of your college grades/graduation/your residency status/and your identity/STEP scores PLUS your money.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

i'm going out on a limb here, but to deny someone solely based on mental illness is probably in violation of ADA in some way..

 

[alwaysaangel]

i'm going out on a limb here, but to deny someone solely based on mental illness is probably in violation of ADA in some way..

They won't deny it. But some apps do ask (apparently NY doesn't, but Cali, TX and MN do) and if you answer in the affirmative, I'm guessing you have to prove you are stable and it won't affect your practice.
(I don't know anyone who's said yes to those sections of the application, so I'm not sure what the next step would be).

 

[jdh71]

Having applied for a medical license in NY, the license committee will have no way of knowning you have a mental illness unless such an illness caused you to face "disciplinary" action in medical school or residency. There is actually no place you'd put it in the license application besides that area! Not only that, they only care about you providing proof of your college grades/graduation/your residency status/and your identity/STEP scores PLUS your money.

New York is unique in this respect. Both states for which I've filled out paper work for a license ask about it specifically, regardless of disciplinary action. And in California where I got sober and sat in on groups of docs, dentists, vets, and pharmacists, let me know the state asks about it specifically there too.

So, OP, if you finish medical school without issue, you will fill out paper work for your initial training license, and it is almost surely going to include a question as to any psychiatric illness. You have a choice to make, because if you've not had any problems and it is under control, you can simply not respond honestly, but . . . if anything were to occur, and the state found out you lied . . . don't pass go, don't collect $200, go straight to "professional jail". State boards frown upon this kind of stuff and frown upon it BIG time, industry standard "cooling off time" at least a year (that means NO work), and then 3-5 years on some sort of probationary license, and it will follow you around forever - your dishonesty on an application for licensing. Your best bet is to be honest. It may delay things. You may need to either see a psychiatrist of the board's choosing or have your psychiatrist write a letter on your behalf stating the stable nature of your disease. But as long as everything is on the up and up, you'll get your license.

 

[kratosis]

thank you guys for your input...it really does put things into perspective...after becoming stable on my medication, i have done well in my courses... received a C- in chem 1 (medical issues) and a C in bio 1 (again..issues)...then after being stable..i received an A in chem 2, an A in bio 2, an A+ in Molecular Bio and Biotechnology, an A in Immunology, a B+ in Histology, an A- in Orgo 1 lecture and lab, a B+ in orgo 2 lecture and lab, still waiting for my microbiology grade. so what i am gathering from the posts is to not disclose my diagnoses given that i am now stable and just mention in my personal statement that i had health issues that i could not overcome at the time which hindered my academic progress. and once i regained my health, my grades went up significantly...i have raised my GPA from 2.4 to a 3.18 in 3 semesters and i still have a year to go hoping to raise it as much as possible before taking the MCAT. thank you all, once again. and best of Luck! 🙂

 

[jdh71]

thank you guys for your input...it really does put things into perspective...after becoming stable on my medication, i have done well in my courses... received a C- in chem 1 (medical issues) and a C in bio 1 (again..issues)...then after being stable..i received an A in chem 2, an A in bio 2, an A+ in Molecular Bio and Biotechnology, an A in Immunology, a B+ in Histology, an A- in Orgo 1 lecture and lab, a B+ in orgo 2 lecture and lab, still waiting for my microbiology grade. so what i am gathering from the posts is to not disclose my diagnoses given that i am now stable and just mention in my personal statement that i had health issues that i could not overcome at the time which hindered my academic progress. and once i regained my health, my grades went up significantly...i have raised my GPA from 2.4 to a 3.18 in 3 semesters and i still have a year to go hoping to raise it as much as possible before taking the MCAT. thank you all, once again. and best of Luck! 🙂

This wasn't what I was saying.

 

[kratosis]

I understand what u are saying bro... When the time comes I will be honest about my condition and won't mind going through some extra hoops to get licensed... If the state licensing committee asks for psychiatric illness, I'd rather be honest from the outset than risk it later and get a bad reputation and deff don't wanna end up in a professional jail. Lol

 

[jdh71]

I understand what u are saying bro... When the time comes I will be honest about my condition and won't mind going through some extra hoops to get licensed... If the state licensing committee asks for psychiatric illness, I'd rather be honest from the outset than risk it later and get a bad reputation and deff don't wanna end up in a professional jail. Lol

Cool.

I just wanted to underline that AMCAS and applying for a state medical license are very different things, and I'm now convinced you realize that.

Carry on then.