ERAS & misdemeanor arrest

[Frodo7]

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About 5 years ago I received a DUI but because of the circumstances of the arrest I was never convicted. I instead got court supervision for 24 months, however if you do a background check it still pops up as DUI BAC over .08 etc - court supervision.

ERAS has a section questioning about misdemeanor convictions. How should I respond? Technically I never received a conviction so should I leave it blank . Suppose I get accepted to a program and the CBC comes back positive , they could boot me from the program correct? Will I automatically match into the next hospital on my rank list?

Or should I mention the court supervision on the initial ERAS application and apply broad (FM,IM,etc)? Or try to get the records expunged? Any advice?

Thanks

 

[JacobMcCandles]

About 5 years ago I received a DUI but because of the circumstances of the arrest I was never convicted. I instead got court supervision for 24 months, however if you do a background check it still pops up as DUI BAC over .08 etc - court supervision.

ERAS has a section questioning about misdemeanor convictions. How should I respond? Technically I never received a conviction so should I leave it blank . Suppose I get accepted to a program and the CBC comes back positive , they could boot me from the program correct? Will I automatically match into the next hospital on my rank list?

Or should I mention the court supervision on the initial ERAS application and apply broad (FM,IM,etc)? Or try to get the records expunged? Any advice?

Thanks

Something seems strange here. Were you formally charged with anything? If something shows up on your background check then I would think you were ultimately charged and found either guilty or pleaded out. If there were issues surrounding the arrest, shouldn't it have been thrown completely out? I would call the jurisdiction in which this happened and talk with them.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

We see these DUI / MIP's all the time, now that ERAS includes misdemeanors. If it was pre-med school, no one will care. If it shows up on your background check, it's a much better option to list it.

 

[Top Gun]

I think you'd better disclose it and explain what happened, and what you learned from it, and how you'll never do it again. If you don't disclose it, and the program somehow finds out about it later on, then you're screwed.

 

[samsoniter]

Agree with top gun, better to be honest than risk looking shady! However, and I know nothing about law (in fact what I do know scares the hell out of me) but if expunging is an option I would consider it...but only if this COMPLETELY wiped away any sign of this conviction permanently.

 

[45408]

Agree with top gun, better to be honest than risk looking shady! However, and I know nothing about law (in fact what I do know scares the hell out of me) but if expunging is an option I would consider it...but only if this COMPLETELY wiped away any sign of this conviction permanently.

Agreed. This definitely seems like it would be worth retaining a lawyer for. If it can be removed from your record completely, then that would be ideal. Otherwise, I definitely agree that it's better to be forthright and list it rather than waiting for someone to find it. Then it just seems like you were trying to hide it.

 

[gutonc]

Agreed. This definitely seems like it would be worth retaining a lawyer for. If it can be removed from your record completely, then that would be ideal. Otherwise, I definitely agree that it's better to be forthright and list it rather than waiting for someone to find it. Then it just seems like you were trying to hide it.

The only downside to this is what is meant by "removed from your record completely." This is an issue if you go to a program with a VA where they will have the FBI do a background check on you. Trust me...the FBI can find plenty of "expunged" records.

As aPD suggested, just list it. As long as your record is clean now you should be fine.

Perhaps a more relevant question is, since it's now the end of December, why are you just now getting around to filling out ERAS? The interview offer season is essentially over at this point.

 

[VMSmith]

Agree with gutonc and aPD, it's much better to just disclose it, especially if it happened during college. Unless you have other red flags it won't hurt you.

I wouldn't waste time trying to get it expunged. You'll never know it's really expunged, and it'll look bad if it shows up somewhere and a program finds it. And if you get booted from a program for lying on your application, you won't automatically match at your next program - you'll just be without a residency.