General Do I have to disclose expunged records?

[Question]

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When I was in junior high I was expelled for having a pocket knife while on campus. My record was expunged when I turned 18. I know that for medical school we are sometimes asked to disclose any prior charges. Mine was a misdemeanor at the time.

I have run background checks on myself through one of the background check programs schools often use and nothing came up. I also did a background check on myself with SLED and FBI (fingerprints and all) and nothing came up. A law in my state says that I do not have to acknowledge the charges.

What options do I have?

— Experts please respond to this post —

 

[GoSpursGo]

I do not think you have to report something from junior high. I also don’t think it would negatively impact you if you did disclose

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I would always ask the schools in general terms before deciding on what to do. That said, you have done your due diligence, and AAMC does give you a chance to pay for your own preliminary background check. If it does not appear, you should be fine not disclosing. If it might appear, you can highlight the fact this happened as a juvenile, and usually such cases may be expunged after you become 18 years old. I think the policy for AMCAS notes that you need not disclose any expunged items, but you need to be attentive whether schools themselves (or their clinical partners) conduct their own background checks through a different vendor will adhere to a similar policy.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Run your record and if doesnt show, I wouldnt say anything. That was so long ago.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

The other argument is this: No one is going to care about this at all, and if you do disclose it then you won't worry that it somehow will show up somewhere.

Bottom line is it doesn't matter what you do now. Pick the option that worries you the least - not disclosing and worrying later that there may be a problem, or disclosing and worrying that someone will still consider it a problem. In both cases, you're worrying about nothing. But it's your worry.

 

[PerioDont]

Run your record and if doesnt show, I wouldnt say anything. That was so long ago.

this is what I would do

 

[Dral]

I had a record for underage (I was 17 at the time). I never reported it throughout the whole process (I actually forgot about it).

When it came to state license, I thought through everything and remembered it. I contacted the state board. They said report it and it shouldn't be an issue.

I wrote like three sentences about it on a separate sheet. I had my license in a few weeks (faster than what I expected even if I didn't report anything).

I will say this though: Back in my day, there were no electronic records of things. When I called the courthouse in the county I grew up in, they said that police station didn't even exist anymore and if a record of it did exist, it was just some paper in some dust covered box sitting in a corner somewhere.

However, like notaprogramdirector said; I think you could go either way on this and it shouldn't make a difference.

 

[Med Ed]

Just answer the question(s) as asked.

If the form specifies that you don't have to disclose expunged incidents, then you don't have to disclose.

Some forms may require disclosure of expunged incidents. Disclose there.

Some forms do not specify. In those cases you can either disclose or seek clarification from the relevant body (which will likely tell you to disclose).