Disclosure of Past Mental Illness in Medical School Interview/Application

[soaring-eagle]

In order to understand where I am coming from with this, I need to explain a little....

Growing up, it was very clear to me that my mother had some form of anxiety ordepression. She would get angry over the littlest of things. My brother also struggled in high school with Asperger's syndrome, and as a result was on a multitude of medications in his younger life. I never had issues until senior year of high school, when a few insulting comments from my mom about my appearance and self worth threw me over the edge and I had a meltdown. It was at this point they feared I'd be just like my brother, and both my parents immediately insisted I go on medication. I told them I had reservations about it, but complied. Seven medications later, and nothing is working. Parents keep insisting on meds, while I find myself sleeping less and having more headaches while taking the prescribed drugs. I gradually took myself off and insisted something else was the problem. They refused to believe that. Fast forward another six months, I'm sleeping 12-14hrs a day and have constant headaches. Another meltdown during my senior year of college. After some blood tests, they found out my thyroid was under active. I've have been sleeping much better and no longer have migraines or headaches. My stress levels are down and I can function normally.

Should I even mention this experience in interviews, personal statements, etc. Frankly, it has been a defining series of evening in my life and ultimately affected my college experience, but I also am concerned how a board would view this. Hypothyroidism is know to cause mood changes, but usually not to the extreme I experienced. I am afraid despite knowing I am better, they will still take into account my life's history against me. Thoughts on what I should do??? THANK YOU!

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[Rumor13]

Personal medical illness stories often come across as sob stories unless they caused more than just self-betterment. Personal experiences, especially like yours obviously have very profound effects on one's life, but if the end effect of the illness was no different than someone who didn't have the illness to begin with, it's not worth mentioning. If the person didn't overcome the illness AND then go above and beyond a normal person's abilities despite the illness getting in the way, then it's not worth mentioning professionally.

Example of personal illness worth mentioning: Girl has Type 1 diabetes and goes on to start charity promoting education about diabetes and raises research funds.

Example of personal illness not worth mentioning: Girl has Type 1 diabetes which taught her to be responsible from a young age, always to be mindful of one's health, and to never give up.

Your issues need not, and more importantly I think *should* not, be mentioned. You were suspected of having a psychiatric disorder but the final diagnosis was hypothyroidism (which quite honestly, any even semi-competent physician should have checked before even entertaining the notion of a psychiatric issue). A differential diagnosis means nothing once the final diagnosis is made if it is correct You have a clear cut physiological disorder. Unless you require workplace or school accommodations to function and will be seeking them out while in school/residency, you legally don't have to disclose your current diagnosis and certainly not your past medical history. And even then, you would make the disclosure and requests AFTER acceptance when you fill out your matriculation health forms.

Now if your grades suffered as a direct result of your condition and they clearly improved afterwards and you are asked "can you explain why your sophomore year GPA was much lower than in every other year", it is appropriate to mention you had an illness that impaired your ability to do well during that time. With that said, you AREN'T required to explain it or go into any detail whatsoever if you don't want to. You can simply say "I was dealing with health issues that year, but luckily I was treated and all is well now". That gives an explanation and legally, an interviewer CANNOT compel or even ask you about your medical history. You are free to explain or go into as much detail as you want, but you don't have to, they won't expect you to, and they can't ask you to.

 

[Goro]

This best goes under Greatest Challenge overcome prompts.

And it sounds like an endocrine issue, rather than a mental health issue

 

[Teddy.KGB]

Judging by several of my classmates, its apparently pretty common for people to withhold major psychiatric diagnoses from med school admissions committees.

 

[NickNaylor]

No, I would not mention this on your application.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Definitely no! Huge potential to hurt you really not much potential to help, not worth the risk

 

[Smurfette]

Moving to PreAll0 where this is more relevant

 

[familyaerospace]

I agree with it being under challenges but unless they ask, don't say anything.

I did not mention anything about my Aspergers or my epilepsy or anything else. Well I shouldn't say that. I did at first, then got no interviews, I removed it, reapplied, I ended up with interviews even to the same exact schools.

 

[LizzyM]

Now if your grades suffered as a direct result of your condition and they clearly improved afterwards and you are asked "can you explain why your sophomore year GPA was much lower than in every other year", it is appropriate to mention you had an illness that impaired your ability to do well during that time. With that said, you AREN'T required to explain it or go into any detail whatsoever if you don't want to. You can simply say "I was dealing with a thyroid problem that year, but I have recovered". That gives an explanation and legally, an interviewer CANNOT compel or even ask you about your medical history. You are free to explain or go into as much detail as you want, but you don't have to, they won't expect you to, and they can't ask you to.

If it is a medical problem and you want to throw them a bone that is rather vague, the adcom will rest easy with that sort of information. It is up to you if you feel the need to explain something. If you want to say that you had puzzling medical symptoms that caused you great distress and puzzled your clinicians until further testing revealed an underactive thyroid which was readily remedied and that inspired you to consider a career in medicine.... I think that would be ok, too. As @Goro points out, this is an endocrine disorder, not a psychiatric condition.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Personally, I would rank the "personal medical problem" personal statements below the "sick grandpa" personal statement. Both are common, but caring for a sick grandpa shows altruism, whereas the hypothyroidism does not. It doesn't really show any sort of positive quality about the applicant's motivation and it's not a comeback story in the same way cancer would be.

The place for this is in an interview prompt with a question such as "Tell us about a time in which a physician inspired you."

 

[LizzyM]

Personally, I would rank the "personal medical problem" personal statements below the "sick grandpa" personal statement. Both are common, but caring for a sick grandpa shows altruism, whereas the hypothyroidism does not. It doesn't really show any sort of positive quality about the applicant's motivation and it's not a comeback story in the same way cancer would be.

The place for this is in an interview prompt with a question such as "Tell us about a time in which a physician inspired you."

When an older adolescent or young adult is wondering "what should I do with my life?" sometime a personal illness or injury provides the insights into a profession that had not previously been considered or that was not clear earlier due to lack of exposure. "I was miserable with symptoms that made life difficult and a doctor figured out what was wrong and helped me feel better... maybe I could help other people feel better by becoming a doctor..." I don't know why that is not a reasonable motivation to explore a career in medicine by going on to volunteer and/or work and shadow in clinical settings.

 

[Rumor13]

When an older adolescent or young adult is wondering "what should I do with my life?" sometime a personal illness or injury provides the insights into a profession that had not previously been considered or that was not clear earlier due to lack of exposure. "I was miserable with symptoms that made life difficult and a doctor figured out what was wrong and helped me feel better... maybe I could help other people feel better by becoming a doctor..." I don't know why that is not a reasonable motivation to explore a career in medicine by going on to volunteer and/or work and shadow in clinical settings.

The problem is it's cliche. Essentially everyone has been sick or had sick family members/friends. They didn't choose for it to happen and they had no choice but to work through it; yet not everyone wants to be a physician. The effect on the person such an event has is what an ADCOM will care about and quite frankly, without a creating a clear call to action, it's just a sob story and is seen as a worthless grab for attention and emotion.

Example 1: My grandfather died of heart disease and I had to watch him suffer and that made me want to become a doctor to help people like him. So I tried hard in school, shadowed, and volunteered. I'm sure this is what I want to do with my life!

Example 2: My grandfather died of heart disease and I had to watch him suffer and that made me want to become a doctor to help people like him. So I tried hard in school and I started to do cardiovascular research to try and make a difference for people like him and eventually shadowed and volunteered in clinics with cardiologists. I'm sure this is what I want to with my life.

>95% of pre-meds that I have met fall into Example 1. Problem is, the touching story can be easily separated from the school work, shadowing, and volunteering and does not prove causation over correlation for the desire to be a physician. In Example 2, the same touching story is there, however there is clear evidence that the event created a deep and lasting motivation. The personal story strongly shows evidence for causation vs. correlation in the desire to be a physician due to the specific research, shadowing, and volunteering that followed.

Bottom line: everyone gets sick, everyone knows someone sick, everyone does the same basic stuff (shadowing, volunteering, good grades, etc). Why are you different? Why does your sob story make you more deserving of an acceptance than someone else's sob story?

 

[LizzyM]

The problem is it's cliche. Essentially everyone has been sick or had sick family members/friends. They didn't choose for it to happen and they had no choice but to work through it; yet not everyone wants to be a physician. The effect on the person such an event has is what an ADCOM will care about and quite frankly, without a creating a clear call to action, it's just a sob story and is seen as a worthless grab for attention and emotion.

Example 1: My grandfather died of heart disease and I had to watch him suffer and that made me want to become a doctor to help people like him. So I tried hard in school, shadowed, and volunteered. I'm sure this is what I want to do with my life!

Example 2: My grandfather died of heart disease and I had to watch him suffer and that made me want to become a doctor to help people like him. So I tried hard in school and I started to do cardiovascular research to try and make a difference for people like him and eventually shadowed and volunteered in clinics with cardiologists. I'm sure this is what I want to with my life.

>95% of pre-meds that I have met fall into Example 1. Problem is, the touching story can be easily separated from the school work, shadowing, and volunteering and does not prove causation over correlation for the desire to be a physician. In Example 2, the same touching story is there, however there is clear evidence that the event created a deep and lasting motivation. The personal story strongly shows evidence for causation vs. correlation in the desire to be a physician due to the specific research, shadowing, and volunteering that followed.

Bottom line: everyone gets sick, everyone knows someone sick, everyone does the same basic stuff (shadowing, volunteering, good grades, etc). Why are you different? Why does your sob story make you more deserving of an acceptance than someone else's sob story?

The point of the PS is not to see who has the saddest sob story. The point is, why do you want to be a doctor? Once the interest bubbled up, how did you test that interest? I see nothing wrong with shadowing and volunteering, vs. shadowing and volunteering and doing research. If the initial impetus was someone with cardiac disease but you end up volunteering and becoming interested in Alzheimer's disease, that doesn't make the story of becoming interested through Granny's illness any less valid? They are a cliche and they are boring to read week after week but patients' stories can be strikingly similar and boring too, if you look at it that way. Does that mean that they are unimportant or that they should look for a new angle in telling us about their belly pain?

 

[Rumor13]

The point of the PS is not to see who has the saddest sob story. The point is, why do you want to be a doctor? Once the interest bubbled up, how did you test that interest? I see nothing wrong with shadowing and volunteering, vs. shadowing and volunteering and doing research. If the initial impetus was someone with cardiac disease but you end up volunteering and becoming interested in Alzheimer's disease, that doesn't make the story of becoming interested through Granny's illness any less valid? They are a cliche and they are boring to read week after week but patients' stories can be strikingly similar and boring too, if you look at it that way. Does that mean that they are unimportant or that they should look for a new angle in telling us about their belly pain?

Like I said, there is no problem with a genuine medical tragedy being the spark or motivation to be a physician. However, as I noted, far too many applicants assume their sob story is unique as if no one has ever gone through the same dilemma. I mean if you or a family member were sick, why not be an RN? PA? NP? PT? The problem is many people let their emotions make them think their experience was far more unique, special, and powerful than it really was, which leads, in many cases, to a weak personal statement and sounding uninformed and somewhat shallow.

Also, I see the point of your analogy, but the fatal flaw is that a patient comes to a physician and tells them the story of their symptoms and ailments with the goal of relieving their own suffering. A medical school applicant on the other hand uses stories of pain and ailment as a means of entering a (generally) prestigious profession with a guaranteed sizable paycheck. One is trying to gain relief from a problem in their life, the other is trying to gain an advantage for their life.

 

[hopefulERdoc251]

Most PS are cliche in some way shape or form. Think, most fall within some iteration of:

1. Family member is sick, the exposure to the healing process inspired me.
2. I had some medical problem, seeing the doctors work together and make my life better inspired me
3. Working in an ER or an outpatient office or clinic inspired me
4. Shadowing/working in a foreign country/USA + my interest in science = me want to help + learn medicine/science.

These all end up being cliche and I think many adcom's know that. An essay that talks about your "aha" moment is bound to be cliche. It's about the story and how it's written. I've read PS's from my friends who got rejected everywhere and others who have been accepted everywhere and the story may have been simple (i.e volunteering or some clinical setting triggered the epiphany), but how they expressed it, and how it was introspective is what separated the two!

 

[hopefulERdoc251]

Like I said, there is no problem with a genuine medical tragedy being the spark or motivation to be a physician. However, as I noted, far too many applicants assume their sob story is unique as if no one has ever gone through the same dilemma. I mean if you or a family member were sick, why not be an RN? PA? NP? PT? The problem is many people let their emotions make them think their experience was far more unique, special, and powerful than it really was, which leads, in many cases, to a weak personal statement and sounding uninformed and somewhat shallow.

Also, I see the point of your analogy, but the fatal flaw is that a patient comes to a physician and tells them the story of their symptoms and ailments with the goal of relieving their own suffering. A medical school applicant on the other hand uses stories of pain and ailment as a means of entering a (generally) prestigious profession with a guaranteed sizable paycheck. One is trying to gain relief from a problem in their life, the other is trying to gain an advantage for their life.

Maybe true, but to them the experience was defining, and if they are able to elaborate on how and use that as rationale as to why they want to go into medicine, then who are we to say "no that is silly, that isn't your rationale to go into medicine". The same goes with a family member who endured a medical problem. You might extend that the experience was far more unique, special and powerful than it really was b/c of their emotion, but if that's what sparked their interest into medicine, then who are we to judge? If they write it in a compelling manner then I don't see why not!

 

[Rumor13]

Maybe true, but to them the experience was defining, and if they are able to elaborate on how and use that as rationale as to why they want to go into medicine, then who are we to say "no that is silly, that isn't your rationale to go into medicine". The same goes with a family member who endured a medical problem. You might extend that the experience was far more unique, special and powerful than it really was b/c of their emotion, but if that's what sparked their interest into medicine, then who are we to judge? If they write it in a compelling manner then I don't see why not!

"Who are we to judge." Well, the person reading it will be an ADCOM, and it's their job to judge the personal statement. I already said, personal and familial medical illnesses that had a profound personal effect are fine. My point is that MANY, if not most, people think 'I'll write about when I had X' or 'that time my sister was really sick' and it comes off as very cliche. Many applicants cite their earliest encounter with a serious illness and claim it's what makes them want to go into medicine, and usually, it's not true. They say it because they can't think of anything better to say.

Every ADCOM and admissions counselor I talked to when I was applying always said to avoid personal medical stories unless they are truly outstanding because even if they are genuine and greatly affected you, to a person who just read 1000 other stories about other people dealing with their own illnesses that made them want to be a physician, you're not going to make an impactful impression. It's not that there's anything wrong with talking about your personal experiences, it's just that when everyone else talks about theirs too, even a great and passionate essay can get tossed aside if it's the 10th or even 2nd story that day about someone's dying grandparent.

A good analogy is bacon. Bacon is great! I LOVE bacon. But if you feed it to me at every meal, I'm not going to be so impressed by bacon anymore after a while, even if it's gourmet and cooked to perfection.

 

[Goro]

#5: "I've been interested in being a doctor long as I can remember"

Most PS are cliche in some way shape or form. Think, most fall within some iteration of:

1. Family member is sick, the exposure to the healing process inspired me.
2. I had some medical problem, seeing the doctors work together and make my life better inspired me
3. Working in an ER or an outpatient office or clinic inspired me
4. Shadowing/working in a foreign country/USA + my interest in science = me want to help + learn medicine/science.

These all end up being cliche and I think many adcom's know that. An essay that talks about your "aha" moment is bound to be cliche. It's about the story and how it's written. I've read PS's from my friends who got rejected everywhere and others who have been accepted everywhere and the story may have been simple (i.e volunteering or some clinical setting triggered the epiphany), but how they expressed it, and how it was introspective is what separated the two!