Felonies

[Jonesy]

Curiously i wonder how well they check the backgrounds of the metriculating class each year...
let's say you were easily influenced by your peers in high school.
Picture this,Sophmore year of high school, your Mom has bought you a new car for your sixteenth birthday and you find yourself becoming one of the most popular guys in the school(Hey! with a new car at sixteen is kinda like being the quarterback of a winning team,except better, you can drive the car). Let's say you kinda enjoyed the status. You find yourself in the car one day with one of your so-called friend when someone pulled beside of you that obviously has problems with the dirt-bag in your side seat...
Pap! Pap! It all seemed sureal

Your "friend" had pulled a gun and attempted to shoot it out...
Your charged with the same crime and thrust before the judge; guilt by association...

You were tried as an adult,received a sentence of probation and community service when the secong round of trouble knocked at the door...
Knock! Knock! Mr. @#$!% your under arrest for the sale of controled substance... you have the right to remain...

There you were, back before the same judge and this time he wasn't so nice... "Mr. @#$%, i'm sentencing you to nine years in a correctinal facility... I might have granted you a suspended sentence but i think some jail time will do you some good."
You were hauled off to jail where you sat and watched months peel from the calender; and your life change with every one of them... You became a Christian again and realized your life was going nowhere, and you voued to change that.
You rode for six months and came back in front of the judge a new man, a man with dreams and goals...
You begin a free life, and you begin to watch as God's plan is mapped out in front of you; realizing all you have to do is follow it.

<This is my life, I am now in my Junior year of college. I've taken all the hardcore sciences and am receiving a degree in Chemistry next year. I took the MCAT Saturday and hope to apply to Med-Schools next year. I have a cummulative GPA of 3.0, and seriously want to attend D.O. school. I have over 160 hours of volunteer work at my local red-cross and over 75 hours of paramedic ride-along hours.

My question is easy, do i have a shot with this backgroung?

<Thanks for reading such a long message, but your feedback will be greatly apprectated>

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[Snoopy]

Congratulations on turning your life around. I'm sure it's been a lot of hard work. I don't have a whole lot of information for you but your post raises several questions which I think you need to seriously address with an attorney or someone well-versed in the law. Here goes:

1. You need to be 100% honest on all of your applications to professional school. Some applications will ask you about convictions. You have to answer these questions truthfully. If you do not and it is later discovered, most schools reserve the right to dismiss you immediately (on the grounds of lying on your application) no matter how far along you are in your education.

2. The FAFSA (application for federal student aid) specifically asks about drug convictions and I believe individuals who have drug convictions (especially since we are talking sale rather than possession) are ineligible for federal aid. This will make paying for school extremely difficult unless you are independently wealthy.

3. You need to find out whether individuals with felony convictions can be licensed to practice medicine where you live. There is no point in investing four years of your time into school and lots of money only to find out you can't get a license.

4. You also need to find out if you will be eligible for a DEA# which will allow you to write prescriptions.

I'm not an attorney and unfortunately I don't know the answer to all of these questions, but I think it's critical that you get answers before you move too much further. Good luck to you.

 

[japhy]

As far as I understood was that with a felony you were unable to practice medicine. However, that may not be true in all states. Again, congratulations for changing your life around. After high school I was heavily involved in drugs, even getting arrested twice. Several colleges (Pritzker) ask about a difficult situation you have encountered and how you resolved it. I choose to use these experiences. Best of luck

[This message has been edited by japhy (edited 08-22-2000).]

 

[Socceroo4ever]

I've no idea really what the medical schools will say about all this, and whether or not practicing will be allowed in your state or anywhere, but I should certainly hope so... my opinion is that everyone makes a few mistakes in their lifetime, but one shouldn't have to pay for the rest of one's life for some of the more minor ones. I'm not talking jail time... the previous poster noted that s/he has already served the six months. However, s/he will be still serving the penalty if in the future s/he cannot get a decent job anywhere because of one conviction many years ago.

In any case, I wish you luck in your endeavours!