Well not to get too personal, but my question is does a DUI arrest or two affect getting into a residency program or medical licensure. NO convictions have been given but the outcome is still pending. Even if they get reduced or dropped the two arrests will still be on record. What does this mean to a third year medical student with average scores and hopes of applying to a surgery residency? At this point what should be done, quit school.. spend the next 20 years attempting to pay off loans. Bad choices were made but i cant imagine having to give up on a dream of helping others for those mistakes. Please help. Any advice, recommendations, or helpful comments are greatly appreciated. Also, if you know who is a good person to contact and get advice from beside a lawyer that is just trying to get the charges reduced!
DUI and residency/licensing
- Thread starter jackm11
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Even if you don't have a drinking problem, you would be best served to seek out a treatment program. Most applications will ask you if you had any problems as such and make more allowances if you have sought and received treatment.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
That is a great idea, thank you! Do you think this would be of benefit before applying? I may speak to my counselor since it would be confidential she may have a good recommendation on a program! Thanks again!
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The bolded portion of your post is what concerns me most and I imagine, will concern license bureaus as well. Its hard to chalk up more than 1 DUI as reckless abandonment or youth.
There are lots of threads here regarding the potential impact a DUI or other legal issues have on medical licensure and obtaining residency, but the bottom line is that there are no hard and fast answer. Some states will be more difficult than others and some programs will be. Some states only want to know about convictions, some only about felonies, some only about drug and alcohol problems. I will say that every state I've had a license in (3 now) has asked about the latter, so I would expect that you will be asked about it in some form or another.
The advice above about seeking out treatment may be helpful - if you end up with a DUI or multiple DUIs on your record, I would be willing to bet that most programs and licensing bureaus are going to want to see some evidence that you are attempting to rectify what sounds like substance abuse. The medical community tends to be much more willing to work with physicians who have substance abuse issues than psychological problems, but you must show evidence that you recognize it as a problem and are seeking assistance with it.
