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Has anyone ever heard of a medical school that required students to be drug tested?
data-ram said:Has anyone ever heard of a medical school that required students to be drug tested?
med2008 said:Many (most) schools require drug tests before you enter clinics...simple urine test at end of second year. Even nursing student must go through this...I believe it is a requirement by most state governments.
But, I don't know of any that require testing before matriculation. But, its possible.
logos said:Unfortunately, the bastards are making us pay for the tests....
Panda Bear said:I will have to get drug tested before I start my new residency in Lansing, Michigan (Emergency Medicine, baby!). QUOTE]
Congrats!!! EM is what I'm hoping to do eventually, but I'm just entering M1 in August, so it's a ways off for me yet. But good for you! I wish you all the best
Panda Bear said:I had to get drug tested before I started my residency at Duke. I will have to get drug tested before I start my new residency in Lansing, Michigan (Emergency Medicine, baby!). I had a drug test before I started medical school at LSU.
You decide if you want to risk it.
shiraz84 said:Yeah, what is up with that? I thought they would at least be crafty about the charge and surreptitiously add it to our fees.
If they're having a third party do the drug testing it may just be so no one can say the school was out to get them if they fail.logos said:Yeah ...who knows...that whole thing just kinda came out of the blue. I'm not aware of anything that would have precipitated the change. It just seems kinda rediculus to have the medical school, which has two of its own hospitals, not be able to provide a free tox screen...probably costs them cents on the dollar to do. But, no big deal, just kinda strange and out of character.
zek said:If they're having a third party do the drug testing it may just be so no one can say the school was out to get them if they fail.
logos said:Yeah...most probably. I think the labs that do formal drug testing are rather different than those that do drug testing for medical purposes.
BooMed said:This makes me wonder, what are the consequences for failing? Do they kick you out of school or... ?
Drug testing before the clinical years makes a lot more sense to me. Who cares if you want to get stoned for a coupld of years while you study? Good luck with that.
I'm doing research at a VA facility this summer (not even working for the VA, just in their building) and had to fill out FBI background check paperwork. So far, no drug test, but the application asked if I had used any illicit drugs in the past year. More significant in some ways than a urine screen, since it would be pretty dumb to lie on the thing and it goes back a whole year.Wrigleyville said:I thought I read somewhere that schools that worked with VA programs had to have it, or at least the students who worked at the VA did. I may be starting a crazy rumor though.
BooMed said:This makes me wonder, what are the consequences for failing? Do they kick you out of school or... ?
data-ram said:Has anyone ever heard of a medical school that required students to be drug tested?
caroladybelle said:And why would that pose a problem?
Seriously, virtually everyone that works as a paid employee in a hospital, from the janitors and cafeteria personnel, gets drug tested these days. Why should you be any different?
If you expect to have a career in health care, you have to expect to follow certain rules in your private life. It is the sacrifice that you make for the career choice.
Keep in mind that I bear you know ill will. With that said, your argument is absurd.logos said:It poses a problem because it is an unreasonable and unnecessary intrusion into my privacy. It is no more reasonable than the school deciding to anally probe everyone before 3rd year.
We should be different because we are paying to go to school. We should be different because we are not hospital employees like the janitors. But most of all, we should be afforded respect and be trusted by our institution. As future physicians they should take our word.
Intruding into someones privacy is something that should be justified. While I admit that we make certain sacrifices with our career choice, such as long hours, privacy and bodily fluids are not something one one should have to give up for a career. They certainly werent sacrifices I expected when I signed up.
Fundamentally, its rediculus. But alas, I lack the balls and the will to try to get it changed. Its simply easier to take their degrading test like a common criminal and then try to forget about it.
On the bright side...one test in medical school ...then probably one for residency and i'll never have to do it again.
grogdamighty said:Keep in mind that I bear you know ill will. With that said, your argument is absurd.
Unreasonable and unnecessary intrusion? So it is unreasonable to think that doctors might have the same substance abuse problems that "normal" people do? Heck, that surprises me: I thought substance abuse was one of the top reasons for suspension or revocation of a medical license. Oh, and unnecessary? That must be because people baked out of their mind or wasted make great decisions for their patients, which may include whether or not they die. That's almost as bad as comparing an anal probe to a urine or blood test - just like we'd all choose a heart transplant rather than taking a pill every day.
As for the comment about janitors, just who do you think is in greater risk of substance abuse? The guy who can get meds at will or the guy make 8 bucks an hour? Oh, and would you rather have your surgeon wasted or the guy sweeping your room?
My favorite is that you think someone's word is enough to secure their good behavior; if that was the case, we wouldn't have malpractice investigations (not all of which are spurious).
Face it: physicians are given plenty of authority and responsibility already. People with an addiction are sick and need help; better by far that [the general] you get that help in medical school than after you kill a patient.
LADoc00 said:Im calling SHENANIGANS. I was at 4 med schools, have worked and taught at 3 other huge medical centers and NEVER EVER EVER heard of MDs getting drug tested, not even when they showed up obviously baked out of their mind reaking of Caribbean ganja. There is NO state testing for license I have ever heard of certainly not in CA MO MA FL or OR. I have known docs with HUGE epic nasty coke habits, weed addictions etc and they are go out about their merry way without a second thought. Stop scaring people, no no there are no WMDs in my underwear!!
SHEESH.
MossPoh said:I love this...Have at it and do whatever drugs you want kind of post. lol I don't know either way but now I am kind of frightened of whether my doctor has a "HUGE epic nasty coke habit"....Oh well I am going to smoke up now and maybe watch trainspotting.
gimmeabreak said:so just curious, what do you all think? Would the schools use a urine test or hair test?
MossPoh said:I love this...Have at it and do whatever drugs you want kind of post. lol I don't know either way but now I am kind of frightened of whether my doctor has a "HUGE epic nasty coke habit"....Oh well I am going to smoke up now and maybe watch trainspotting.
theaggie07 said:Can I join? That's a good movie!
I just started a job at Texas Health Resources and they drug tested me before I could begin for the top 10 drugs. I guess it is pretty common practice these days.
Hahaha just like listerine makes you fail the breathalyzer (sp?).ixitixl said:And make sure you haven't taken any pseudoephedrine. It shows up as a positive amphetamine test on our ghetto drug tests. Some other fun false-positives we've had:
THC + for someone who was on a huge amount of ibuprofen after workig out too hard.
Cocaine + for someone who was taking Augmentin for strept throat.
if your using that much mouth wash you probably shouldn't be drivingJedix123 said:Hahaha just like listerine makes you fail the breathalyzer (sp?).