ERAS explanation for multiple LOAs

[deleted735882]

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[NeurologyHopeful2018]

Very few people can offer you decent advice since very few people take more than 1 LoA and took 6 years to graduate..

What does your associate dean tell you about your chances?

My advice is as follows:

1) Do not mention Mental Illness - stigma exists and I don't see you ranked high with this label

2) Focus on what you did during your time off that helps you grow as physician

3) Elaborate more to ensure PD this won't happen again...

 

[deleted735882]

Very few people can offer you decent advice since very few people take more than 1 LoA and took 6 years to graduate..

What does your associate dean tell you about your chances?

My advice is as follows:

1) Do not mention Mental Illness - stigma exists and I don't see you ranked high with this label

2) Focus on what you did during your time off that helps you grow as physician

3) Elaborate more to ensure PD this won't happen again...

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[ACSurgeon]

I don’t think anyone is entitled to your medical history. If your deans letter is vague, I’d keep it vague. I’d describe the leave as occurig due to acute medical illnesses that have been addressed as demonstrated by your success since getting your career back on track

 

[NeurologyHopeful2018]

Thank you for the advice. I know it is a rare case but my dean's letter lists both my leaves for health reasons, so I'm not sure I can avoid the mental health label. I totally agree the stigma is very real.

It's frustrating that even though my condition has been stable for a long time students who have worse grades or have even failed boards but managed to graduate in four years have an advantage over me...

What if someone got into two very serious but spaced out car accidents while in medical school? I guess that would be a different situation but it's still six years.

If it just lists as medical leave - how would they guess its due to mental health?

Alot of people take medical leaves for Surgery, Pregnancy, various physicial illness...etc etc

My friend took LoA to extend his Step 1 study period due to having mono...

 

[deleted735882]

If it just lists as medical leave - how would they guess its due to mental health?

Alot of people take medical leaves for Surgery, Pregnancy, various physicial illness...etc etc

My friend took LoA to extend his Step 1 study period due to having mono...

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[NeurologyHopeful2018]

Well pregnancy would be a bit of a stretch for me lol, but I guess the double nature of it heavily implies that it was some recurring medical condition of which mental illness might come to mind first. I know lightning does sometimes hit the same spot twice but I'm afraid that being too vague will make PDs suspect that I had two stints at a psychiatric hospital after some breakups. The reality is there were also major triggers for both leaves - parents literally being on the verge of being homeless for one and the big divorce for two. I know if it wasn't for those factors I probably could have handled just my depression without taking any time off at all.

I suggest you talk to your dean about doing the following:

1) State the actual triggers for your leave instead of health issues. Taking a LOA to prevent your parents from being homeless is pretty reasonable..

2) Tell your dean to clarify that you had a PHYSICAL medical illness...

 

[Rekt]

Absolutely in no way should you mention depression anywhere. I agree with resolved acute medical illness instead.

 

[deleted735882]

So I guess my plan is to just be as vague in my ERAS gap section as in my dean's letter so that I am not screened out before I get a chance to explain what happened during the interview. I figured if I can get myself before an interview committee I could have a much better chance of explaining my situation w/o lying and convincing PDs I've grown since then and it won't happen again more than the 510 characters I'm allotted on the ERAS form. Avoid mental illness explanation as much as possible.

 

[DokterMom]

I'm going to take the opposite tack here -- If you're vague, they're likely to assume. Two LOAs + vague seems "shaky" to me, but two LOAs with a short but frank spin seems more pro-active.

But the people to ask are going to be the program directors like @aProgDirector . Maybe he'll chime in here --

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I'm going to agree. If you're vague about the details in your app, I'm likely to decline to interview you figuring that there's some disaster behind all of this and I don't want to waste my time and your money.

I'd recommend avoiding the mention of depression (for all the reasons mentioned), and instead say that the first leave was to address your parent's financial collapse, and the second for divorce (I'm assuming it was your divorce). And I'd recommend using your personal statement to talk about how both of these experiences has helped you grow. That way, when reviewing your application, I'll see what the story is and be less inclined to think you're hiding something.

 

[deleted735882]

I'm going to agree. If you're vague about the details in your app, I'm likely to decline to interview you figuring that there's some disaster behind all of this and I don't want to waste my time and your money.

I'd recommend avoiding the mention of depression (for all the reasons mentioned), and instead say that the first leave was to address your parent's financial collapse, and the second for divorce (I'm assuming it was your divorce). And I'd recommend using your personal statement to talk about how both of these experiences has helped you grow. That way, when reviewing your application, I'll see what the story is and be less inclined to think you're hiding something.

@aProgDirector

Thank you! I was hoping you would chime in on this thread (didn't know about the @ function) (Thank you dokterMom as well). I am torn because of the conflicting advice although the clear consensus is not to disclose the mental illness. Unfortunately I think it is highly unlikely my school is willing to change my leaves as anything other than for "medical reasons" so I will probably have to address the mental illness head-on. I know there is that stigma factor but given my performance since coming back (i.e. first post) I feel I can make a convincing argument that my mental illness has been addressed, under control, and unlikely to recur come doomsday during residency. If there is going to be any chance in fighting the stigma of mental illness it has to start from somewhere right?

As a PD, what would you need to see before you get the "warm and fuzzy" about an applicant who took a leave for a mental illness early in their medical school career? Thank you in advance.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

The best thing you can do is move forward with a good performance. You want to show that this is in the past, won't a problem moving forward. That's why highlighting the social issues that created the problems in the first place might be helpful.