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absolutely. should have clarified that it wasnt really meant for OP but more for others reading who may be in a similar situation with previous charges. seemed like some people on here felt that previous charges would be detrimental so i just wanted to throw my situation out there
I would support you and your journey
The real question I believe is will you be able to apply and obtain an intern license through your state?
This can definitely be the case.
First, congratulations on your current path of life and recovery!
Go find another career.
1. As a long-time admissions leader I can say that the answer will vary based on the medical licensure board in each state. You may be able to graduate a medical program but the bigger question is whether you can get licensed to practice. So you will need to understand the requirements for licensure in the state where you hope to practice. Medical school is costly in money, time, and energy; all of that can be lost if that graduate will not be able to obtain licensure. If you have any question you would be best served to contact the Admissions Office about a situation that may not allow you to graduate or be licensed.
I would disagree. IF she can get it expunged My cousin assaulted me and was kept out of nursing school for now. But she is getting her misdemeanor expunged bc she took a plea in abeyance. It might be too late for our friend here. But I would imagine that my cousin will still get into nursing school since she was a dumb 18 yr old. Our friend here was assaulted and probably has a great story to share. Wonder what a lawyer might say.
#3 is a great answer. There's so many variables against you in this case. Even if you get into medical school getting into a residency program could be incredibly difficult because you're essentially beginning the process over again. You'd also be beginning the process over again with your DEA license and state's medical board. Also even if you make it all the way to becoming a physician you still would be competing against other physicians who don't have these records. Most institutions would likely be afraid to hire someone with your record over someone with no record incase there's a lawsuit against you. You would just be the riskier candidate in every scenario. For that reason I don't think the debt of medical school would be worth it there's too many variables where things could not go in your favor. It does suck and people deserve a second chance, but the advice you've gotten from others is solid advice.
Applying to medical school is NOT like shooting hoops. Med schools wont need the donations
What I getting at is if OP doesn’t just apply to med school how will they ever know if they had an actual chance?
The same can be said of gambling away one's life's savings on the 1 in 1,000,000 chance they'll win the lotto. Ill-advised.
I think the adcoms are trying to warn of the risks of doing this, not provide definite answers.
That's a **** load of money you're asking the OP to throw away.
The MCAT is $320 and the application fee to Kentucky’s med school is $50. The OP is pre-neuroscience so the courses are already done. OP knows they have a limited shot given their background so in my opinion $400 is worth the gamble to potentially become a doctor. I’m no legal expert but if charges get expunged by the time they have to apply for a license they may find themselves in the clear. Biggest hurdle will be getting in and if they’re rejected, as said above, take the neuroscience degree and do something else and it’s only $400 gone.
It’s literally $320 for the MCAT and $50 to apply to UK.
That's one school. It's foolish to just apply to one school. Stop with the bad advice already...you're getting into enabling territory.
It may be foolish to apply period with their background but if I were giving it a chance and knew I had a high likelihood of failure i would “bet small” and hope for a big reward. When I applied I had a clean record so I could spend all the money I wanted because I knew the return on investment would be worth it.
I wouldn't be so cavalier about suggesting someone pursue a path that is inexplicably expensive even for the best of students. It's not a $400 gamble. The hurdles don't stop at getting in for OP.
You know. On second reading of the original post and the more I think about it, you guys are right, especially with the up in the air possibility of getting charges expunged. I also started thinking about all the poor students with 3.2s and 3.1s who have otherwise lived non criminal lives and never get into med school who probably deserve a chance more than someone with a record. A bit mean to say but the more I think about it that’s how I feel.
OP is still in college and can pivot still if she chooses. Unfortunately "pre-med" is not a very marketable major and many of things that medical schools love to see aren't really transferable to a real job market.
Getting into medical school and residency isn't a CBS drama where the craziest backstory and redemption arch is the fan favorite. "Being memorable" has been described before in regards to personal statements: 90% will be generic and forgettable, 5% will be incredible, 5% will be horrible. You want to be in the 90% that is forgettable, unless your life story is objectively incredible. Being memorable is not automatically a good thing...
This is some Tumblr motivational meme BS and I see it constantly spouted by premeds. A "cool" life story is military service or the Peace Corp, not doing heroin and being violent your significant other. Even then, there is nothing wrong with getting good greats, going to a good school, doing good EC's (including EC's). That is how >90% of people get into medical school and for good reason.
Someone with a 3.1 or 3.2 does not deserve a second chance without crushing the MCAT and a true SMP, but that is just my semi-biased opinion, but also based on the statistics about predictors for failing out of medical school (not just correlation between undergrad grades plus MCAT and medical school grades and Step scores which is less dire). I agree someone without a criminal record should always have preference over someone with a criminal record who otherwise has similar stats and EC's.
That doesnt take into account:
Whew. I must’ve gotten lucky. I applied to 4 schools and got into my first choice. That was also 20 yrs ago so who knows.
Very few people apply to just 4 schools now and get in. People apply to way more than that, spend much more money, and still don't get in. It's extremely competitive now
Recently accepted med students, let’s just pray to the GODS that no one plants drugs in our cars. Or our careers are over forever! What a merciless and unforgiving society we live in.
Grats on getting sober, but yeah you should probably look elsewhere. If you had a 4.0 and 528 on the MCAT, maybe and only maybe, would a school consider giving you an interview. If you wait to apply until charges are off your record that’s a different story. If you attempt to apply with heroin and domestic violence there is practically 0 chance. You have to think, most people applying have stellar resumes, which they’ve been contributing to for years. Some might have a drinking charge that they have to explain, and even that makes it difficult to get in. A friend of mine had a stellar resume (NIH research post bac), strong GPA and MCAT, and he had a honor code violation. He didn’t get in anywhere. N=1 but the point is small things can hurt you. If it were just domestic violence or just heroin, you probably don’t get any interviews, with both, the chance is practically 0. Sorry to be blunt, but the fact is this process is extremely time consuming and expensive. You shouldn’t waste your time and money.
Hmm…0 posts in 5 years until today, then you start talking about imperialist wars and complaining that realists like me exist in medicine....I think there is a saying for this...don't feed the...what is it again?
I'm white and middle class. That means I'll get in with heroin and domestic violence charges then, right?
Do you have any suggestions? Thank you for mentioning "neurophysiology technician!" I just Googled it and it actually sounds interesting to me. I am clueless as to what other careers in the medical field I would enjoy because I don't even know of many career titles that aren't MD/DO/NP/PA/RN! Please let me know if you know if any other careers I'd be interested in--I haven't heard of much!
Thank you for your reply! In response to your last comment: That is definitely not what I want to do. I do not want to sit around for years--forgetting everything I learned in my bachelor's degree--only to have to re-learn it all and struggle to take the MCAT years after I finished my BS. At that point, I think I should definitely give up on my dreams.
Thanks for your reply!
Thanks for your reply!
Thanks for your reply!
Do you have any suggestions (which are not psychologist/therapist/counselor)?
Thanks so much for your reply! Congratulations on getting sober!
Psychiatry for someone who loves brains is kind of a head-scratcher to me. It's not like you can LOOK at people's brains as a psychiatrist. A neuropathologist, on the other hand, literally looks at brains. Gross brains; brain sections on microscope slides. If you love the brain, you would love being a neuropathologist. The ones where I work are MD/PhD's who do research to discover the molecular basis of cancer and treatments that target those mutations or molecular oddities. I know there are some dual-degree programs, but I would recommend you get your PhD in neuroscience while you get distance from your misdemeanors and then you can apply to medical school. If you don't get in, you will still be able to work in research. Residency in pathology, fellowship in neuropathology, I think. Additional fellowship in molecular pathology would also be a savvy move.
From what I know - or what little I know, medical schools are not likely to accept candidates with public records. The probable reason is to avoid receiving potentially negative publicity. Even if you get enrolled into one, the bar is higher for affiliated residency institutions. Therefore, you options to practice as a inpatient physician is pretty grim in my opinion. In western societies, standards are becoming increasingly lenient, so the supply of more formerly underqualified candidates would arguably create more competition for you.
