emotional support animal

[readyforMD]

Hello everyone,
I am applying next cycle and I am trying to apply for an emotional support animal. The reason for this is mainly for a larger selection of living availability and I know I could qualify for one using online services because of my anxiety. I do handle it well but I am having a hard time finding a place that will allow my dog and I know my anxiety will go up without having him around. Will getting a need for an emotional support animal be frowned upon by medical school or will it come up on a background check does anyone know. I am not going to say anything about it in my application or in an interview nor will I be bringing him with me to an interview. I just want to weigh my options before I make a definite decision.

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[gyngyn]

Hello everyone,
I am applying next cycle and I am trying to apply for an emotional support animal. The reason for this is mainly for a larger selection of living availability and I know I could qualify for one using online services because of my anxiety. I do handle it well but I am having a hard time finding a place that will allow my dog and I know my anxiety will go up without having him around. Will getting a need for an emotional support animal be frowned upon by medical school or will it come up on a background check does anyone know. I am not going to say anything about it in my application or in an interview nor will I be bringing him with me to an interview. I just want to weigh my options before I make a definite decision.

It will definitely be a first at the interview.

 

[kyamh]

If you pay online to to get your dog registered as an official service dog then landlords cannot prevent you from having your dog live with you. Unlike seeing eye dogs etc who undergo intense training, an emotional service dog just has to prove that he or she follows basic commands like sit, down, come, stay. Companion animals are allowed in rented properties and the landlord is not allowed to charge you extra for that animal, this is a federal law.

Edit: I'm just responding to the living situation part of your post, IDK about interviews

 

[readyforMD]

No I wouldn't be bringing him to anything to do with school I just didn't know if that was something a medical school could find out or look down on an applicant for it. I actually looked at the registration online but you have to have a prescription for it to be legitimate...

 

[deleted480308]

I know a guy who rented a private residence knowing they didn't allow animals and then sprung it on the homeowner that they had a support animal, I totally looked down on them for the way they handled it...not for having a support animal.

Please consider basic courtesy and try to find a residence that allows animals

 

[pandadawn]

Are you planning on bringing your dog to class?

 

[readyforMD]

No I am not going to bring the dog to school in any way he is just a mix with a German Shepard and it is really difficult to find a place to live despite the fact that he has no aggression at all. I am definitely going to tell perspective landlords about the dog though before we even sign a lease.

 

[areserine]

I'm going to preface this with the fact that I know you mention anxiety and a potential medical need. I'm not your doctor, and I don't know your medical situation. However, you are really phrasing this thread and your later response as if the main reason is to make it easier to find a place to live with your dog rather than a medical need.

Is your dog truly an emotional support animal? Do they provide you with needed emotional support and can a physician in good faith vouch for a medical need for this animal? If so, it looks like your questions have been answered, you'll be legally covered.

If not, please please please do not try to game the system with this, because that is exactly what you would be doing. If the dog isn't an emotional support animal (and I mean medically) then using these back roads to classify it as such for the purposes of having an easier time finding a place to live is fraud. Beyond the moral implications and the ways that could impact your standing at the medical school and with the admissions committees (professionalism and judgement concerns), your actions would not only impact you. The landlords and building owners would be severely disadvantaged by any potential damage the animal did and tenants who chose to live in pet free housing could have allergies or phobias associated with dogs. I would also hope, as someone looking to pursue a career in medicine, that you can see the implications that this type of false medical accommodation can have on those who need actual accommodations. With a rise in false service animals the status of real service animals declines, putting unnecessary hardship on those who truly need the assistance of service animals.http://dogtime.com/advocacy-column-fake-service-dogs-are-a-shame-and-a-crime.html

 

[Goro]

We're not omniscient.

No I wouldn't be bringing him to anything to do with school I just didn't know if that was something a medical school could find out or look down on an applicant for it. I actually looked at the registration online but you have to have a prescription for it to be legitimate...

 

[areserine]

We're not omniscient.

Things like this tend to get around though. I doubt anyone at the interview/ adcom stage would hear about it, but I can pretty much guarantee that it'll get out once you matriculate either that you have an emotional support animal (outing a medical diagnosis that you may not want to make public) or that you don't have a medical diagnosis, but have an emotional support animal anyway. Even something as simple as "Oh how'd you get to live here with your dog? I tried but they wouldn't let me" will basically out you.

 

[Promethean]

You do really sound like you are gaming the system. Anxiety is a real issue for lots of people... and maybe your dog is very helpful to you with that problem. But you make it clear that this is about convenience for you, not a medical need that can't be met by just finding an apartment that accepts dogs. They exist. Please don't take advantage of a system designed to protect people who genuinely need service animals. If you can go to class without your dog, you aren't all that disabled... just entitled.

 

[Vain Brother]

If you pay online to to get your dog registered as an official service dog then landlords cannot prevent you from having your dog live with you. Unlike seeing eye dogs etc who undergo intense training, an emotional service dog just has to prove that he or she follows basic commands like sit, down, come, stay. Companion animals are allowed in rented properties and the landlord is not allowed to charge you extra for that animal, this is a federal law.

Edit: I'm just responding to the living situation part of your post, IDK about interviews

this actually isn't true; businesses and landlords etc are not legally obligated to accommodate people with ESAs. service animals are a different story -- people who use them are protected under the ADA and can't be discriminated against. there was a (pretty funny, for patricia marx at least) recent NYer article about this issue and how clueless most people are to the difference
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/20/pets-allowed

OP, if i were you i wouldn't go around advertising the fact that your anxiety is so bad that you need an ESA. and as long as it's not mentioned in any of your recommendation letters, there's no way med schools will know

 

[deleted577188]

Why is this even a thread lol

 

[kyamh]

this actually isn't true; businesses and landlords etc are not legally obligated to accommodate people with ESAs. service animals are a different story -- people who use them are protected under the ADA and can't be discriminated against. there was a (pretty funny, for patricia marx at least) recent NYer article about this issue and how clueless most people are to the difference
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/20/pets-allowed

OP, if i were you i wouldn't go around advertising the fact that your anxiety is so bad that you need an ESA. and as long as it's not mentioned in any of your recommendation letters, there's no way med schools will know

Edit: onyisraw is right, this is neither here nor there

 

[hmockingbird]

I'm going to preface this with the fact that I know you mention anxiety and a potential medical need. I'm not your doctor, and I don't know your medical situation. However, you are really phrasing this thread and your later response as if the main reason is to make it easier to find a place to live with your dog rather than a medical need.

Is your dog truly an emotional support animal? Do they provide you with needed emotional support and can a physician in good faith vouch for a medical need for this animal? If so, it looks like your questions have been answered, you'll be legally covered.

If not, please please please do not try to game the system with this, because that is exactly what you would be doing. If the dog isn't an emotional support animal (and I mean medically) then using these back roads to classify it as such for the purposes of having an easier time finding a place to live is fraud. Beyond the moral implications and the ways that could impact your standing at the medical school and with the admissions committees (professionalism and judgement concerns), your actions would not only impact you. The landlords and building owners would be severely disadvantaged by any potential damage the animal did and tenants who chose to live in pet free housing could have allergies or phobias associated with dogs. I would also hope, as someone looking to pursue a career in medicine, that you can see the implications that this type of false medical accommodation can have on those who need actual accommodations. With a rise in false service animals the status of real service animals declines, putting unnecessary hardship on those who truly need the assistance of service animals.http://dogtime.com/advocacy-column-fake-service-dogs-are-a-shame-and-a-crime.html

And while the above may be irrelevant if ESAs are not protected under ADA (IMO, should be changed b/c for some people mental health conditions can be truly disabling), if your intent is the less-honest one, then I would strongly encourage you to do some introspection on empathy for patients who truly do have a need for accommodation. This may seem harsh but as a doctor you are going to be serving patients, empathy and respect for your future patients is something you (generic) need to develop.

 

[WingedOx]

You're abusing an already heavily abused system.

 

[Funke]

this actually isn't true; businesses and landlords etc are not legally obligated to accommodate people with ESAs. service animals are a different story -- people who use them are protected under the ADA and can't be discriminated against. there was a (pretty funny, for patricia marx at least) recent NYer article about this issue and how clueless most people are to the difference
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/20/pets-allowed

OP, if i were you i wouldn't go around advertising the fact that your anxiety is so bad that you need an ESA. and as long as it's not mentioned in any of your recommendation letters, there's no way med schools will know

That article was fantastic.