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.:Buddros:.

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do they ask if you were ever caught, or whether you've taken illegal drugs in secrecy? what about psychedelic drugs that are not illegal?
 
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.:Buddros:. said:
So, my dilemma is that I do not want to lie to the ad coms, and I want to voice my opinion on medical marijuana usage, but I do not want to compromise an acceptance. I should probably keep my mouth shut until I get in, but, as doctors, we need to keep open minds, and that may be what this school is looking for in the first place.
What would, or did, most of you guys do in this situation? Should I swallow my tongue and keep quiet or tell the truth, voice my opinion, and risk throwing away a shot at my dreams.
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Are your views on medical marijuana more important than your desire to become a doctor? Med school applications are NOT the place to go on sociopolitical tangents.

I agree that this question is not appropriate for an application. If your illegal drug usage resulted in you getting arrested, then yes, it's relevant, but your personal habits are your personal habits.
 
by all means, tell about it, especially in the context of self-medicating. It will be fascinating for them.
 
When I looked at the title of this thread, I thought it was going to ask whether or not we've snorted lines of cocaine literally off of application paperwork, or maybe cut up & rolled a blunt on a secondary. Oops.
 
Meatwad said:
When I looked at the title of this thread, I thought it was going to ask whether or not we've snorted lines of cocaine literally off of application paperwork, or maybe cut up & rolled a blunt on a secondary. Oops.
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meee tooooooooooooo :laugh:

stop reading my mind
 
I think you're in a pickle, and have two options here. But first off, which school is this? I don't remember seeing that question on any of my 20+ apps, and I don't recall anyone bringing this issue up on SDN this application cycle yet, so I'm a little dubious. If I were feeling proactive I'd do a search to see if this came up last year. You're more than welcome to do that too....
 
I have been through security clearance checks for a number of jobs and the best thing you can do is be honest. If they ask if you have ever used, tell them. If they ask if you were ever caught, tell them. And be sure to answer the same each time you are asked the question. If you start changing you answers to make yourself look better you will get caught. People understand that students experiment and make mistakes, learn from them and move on. But, do not offer any information if you aren't asked.
 
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Personally I wouldn't admit to anything on SDN and then ask about it, but I think that it is definitely a little odd that they are asking. I would think that there has to be some sort of conviction in order for them to ask. I think in this case honesty might not be the best choice but it is definitely a difficult decision.
 
Gnugs2130 said:
I have been through security clearance checks for a number of jobs and the best thing you can do is be honest. If they ask if you have ever used, tell them. If they ask if you were ever caught, tell them. And be sure to answer the same each time you are asked the question. If you start changing you answers to make yourself look better you will get caught. People understand that students experiment and make mistakes, learn from them and move on. But, do not offer any information if you aren't asked.
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That's nuts. Admitting you've puffed on ganja occasionally is fine if you are trying to score a part-time gig at Best Buy, but not if you are trying to get into med school. Is your conscience that active where you can't just bend the truth for one day, a day that could decide the rest of your life (getting in vs. not getting in, medical career vs. non-medical career, US school vs. going to the Caribbean, etc.) and tell them you're clean & sober and always have been? If it is, I feel for you. As long as it's not showing up on a criminal or school record somewhere that you've toked/done blow/shot up/etc., I wouldn't mention it.
 
You will soooooo be rejected by Best Buy if you tell them that you ever smoked. Back when I was in high school, a friend of mine tried to get a job at Payless Shoe Source and answered this question honestly. She did not get the job.
 
Lshapley said:
You will soooooo be rejected by Best Buy if you tell them that you ever smoked. Back when I was in high school, a friend of mine tried to get a job at Payless Shoe Source and answered this question honestly. She did not get the job.
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OK, Domino's then. My friend is a deliveryman there, and his younger brother made pizzas in the kitchen in the summers. They both smoked weed almost daily at work with their manager. I assume he'd embrace the fact you are a pothead when applying.
 
Meatwad said:
That's nuts. Admitting you've puffed on ganja occasionally is fine if you are trying to score a part-time gig at Best Buy, but not if you are trying to get into med school. Is your conscience that active where you can't just bend the truth for one day, a day that could decide the rest of your life (getting in vs. not getting in, medical career vs. non-medical career, US school vs. going to the Caribbean, etc.) and tell them you're clean & sober and always have been? If it is, I feel for you. As long as it's not showing up on a criminal or school record somewhere that you've toked/done blow/shot up/etc., I wouldn't mention it.
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Meatwad is right. This is something you don't want to be explicit about even though you agree with it (which I completely understand) because it really helped you. Smoking weed is fine if it doesn't impair your abilities but not something you want to tell some old white dude reading your app. He will only think of the negatives!
 
Just pointing something out here -

Is the question really phrased: "Have you ever taken drugs illegally?" If so, and everyone were to answer it honestly, there is no doubt that >90% of answers shoould be yes. Alcohol is a drug, and anyone who has used it before age 21 has done so illegally (by the letter of the law).

Perhaps the school knows this, and they are looking to see who will be honest enough to 'fess up to underage drinking, when they know that basically all their applicants have done so? Damnit, I hate these mind games they put you guys through.

Do you really want to go to this school? If not, I think tossing this secondary in the trash for asking such a stupid question might be warranted.



EDIT: I see now that the OP said that this secondary was from his/her top-choice school. Well, good luck, buddy.
 
Phoenix. said:
But first off, which school is this? I don't remember seeing that question on any of my 20+ apps, and I don't recall anyone bringing this issue up on SDN this application cycle yet, so I'm a little dubious. If I were feeling proactive I'd do a search to see if this came up last year. You're more than welcome to do that too....
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I'm not buying it either. They might ask about convictions (as you are no longer in jeopardy with respect to those acts), but to ask otherwise basically is asking you to incriminate yourself.
 
IMO, I would be honest in answering the question and make it clear that's it's something you did that's behind you and that it never interfered in your life or schoolwork.

I've gone through security checks for a few jobs (have a DOD secret clearance) and was honest about the fact that I smoked pot a few times in college.

I do think that it is an inappropriate question for an application, though. I understand asking if you've ever been convicted of a crime, or even if you have ever been accused of a crime, but it is really personal.
 
ugh, if its true, thats an awful secondary!!

i have no advice for you =( I only know that my gut reaction would be to say "no"
 
Law2Doc said:
I'm not buying it either. They might ask about convictions (as you are no longer in jeopardy with respect to those acts), but to ask otherwise basically is asking you to incriminate yourself.
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UT-Memphis asks about illegal drug use on their secondary...interestingly enough I know a good number of individuals who go there that smoked their share of the peace leaf. I'm sure they lied about such activities, why would you admit that?
 
i would say no. first of all, if you weren't charged or convicted or w/e, then why the h*ll would they ask that?
 
Lie, lie, lie. Don't ever admit to doing anything illegal. Some people will say, they'll never believe it. I know plenty of people who've never done any illegal drugs, so there's no way they can ever separate what you tell them from the truth. But, if you say no, say no for the rest of your life to every question about it.
 
If you were convicted, you should definitely tell them, because they'll find out when you're applying for your federal security clearance to do rotations at the VA. They actually contacted a number of my references.
 
TheProwler said:
If you were convicted, you should definitely tell them, because they'll find out when you're applying for your federal security clearance to do rotations at the VA. They actually contacted a number of my references.
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What in the world? A security clearance to work at the VA? What's going on there?!

But seriously. Are patients' histories classified? Or research going on that is?
 
This is a dubious question...

Actually, it would sort've make sense to see this question on a secondary from Loma Linda, but other than that, are they just curious how many students will lie on an application? Or do honestly want to toss out a good 10-20 percent of applications? Or do they just want fodder for a stressful interview interrogation? I would potentially direct this question to current students at the university your applying to, check out their thread in the Allo Student Forum.

Me? I'd answer it honestly just to see how they react. If I'm not invited because of it... well who needs that school anyways. But then again, I don't really have any far and away "top-choice" yet and I'm pretty laid back about things in general.
 
If you've been convicted, obviously the answer is yes.
If you've never been caught, obviously the answer is no.

I don't care about the "truth" enough to affect the REST of your life. Since there are way more applicants than spots, I don't think I would ever recommend volunteering information that would give adcoms second thoughts. We have enough hoops to jump through without needing to add more.

Some would describe this as "immoral". Frankly, most people would do the same thing if placed in a similar situation. Such is a fact of life.
 
I don't know if this is volunteering information if they asked you point blank if you did illegal drugs.

I suppose a better response than a "yes, I toked three times in Jimmy's house" might be misdirection i.e. "I have no criminal record of drug use" but better... or maybe confess to the lessor crime, such as "yes, but while I consumed alcohol illegally as a minor, as a mature adult I have never and strongly beleive I will never use drugs illegally"

I can't claim to be above anyone else, I can't say I don't lie (I do, after all, have a girlfriend), but I do support honesty even in trivial matters in the application. I just feel weird if people are encouraged to bull**** by the process to enter the medical profession.
 
I think it's funny that SDN automatically edits out when I drop the S**t-bomb. Too bad life can't do that.
 
OP, is this for a school I have applied to as well??

If so, please tell them all about your usage.
 
GeorgeFoster said:
I suppose a better response than a "yes, I toked three times in Jimmy's house" might be misdirection i.e. "I have no criminal record of drug use" but better...
Click to expand...

Hmm... I think that answer's going to get a lot more attention than a simple yes.

Kind of like if they asked about your criminal record and you answered, "I have never been convicted of murder." It's bound to lead to some uncomfortable follow-up questions.
 
pretty soon you'll be explaining what the definition of "is" is. :laugh:
 
MedRower said:
What in the world? A security clearance to work at the VA? What's going on there?!

But seriously. Are patients' histories classified? Or research going on that is?
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No, it's because for some reason, you're classified as a federal employee, so you get a background check like a federal employee.
 
I just think it's a terrible question for a secondary. If students out there are willing to break the law to try cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, etc is the school really thinking that these same students are going to feel guilted into admitting to it on an application? Helllll no.

For most people around here, the only appropriate answer to this is to a) say yes, and talk about your underage drinking (which, while illegal, is pretty much universal and probably shows willingness to be honest while not overtly incriminating yourself with something that will get you blackballed) or b) say no (so long as it's honest).

However, if I were to be staring this question in the face I'd chuck that secondary straight in the shredder. Not because I'm ashamed of what my answer would be, but because I think it's a pretty extranous question. A good chunk of physicians out there are substance abusers, whether legal or otherwise.

OP: you, however, have a very interesting case that just might be worth being honest about. Depending on your level of confidence in your explanations and your willingness to be a little bit risky, it would be a great opportunity to see if the school in question really wants an honest answer in a situation where someone had a very valid reason for drug use. This is the only situation I can imagine where an honest affirmative answer might be to your advantage. Quite the quandary.
 
Another interesting response to this would be the "adderal for studying" situation. Any takes on that one?
 
pagemmapants said:
Another interesting response to this would be the "adderal for studying" situation. Any takes on that one?
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It depends.

1. Is it prescribed?
2. If not, did you get caught?
3. Have you taken it recently and are about to get drug screened?
 
You're basically throwing your app. away in the trash if you say "YES I smoked pot.."

and no, MANY people don't smoke, and many have NEVER tried smoking/pot contrary to what you might think. It's really idiotic logic to try and impress them with your "honesty" about drug usage. DO NO DO IT.

I STRONGLY, STRONGLY agree with this,

"Med school applications are NOT the place to go on sociopolitical tangents."

Do you HONESTLY think just b/c you had cancer and used it to feel better, they're going to place more emphasis on that than your GPA/MCAT. You've got to remember... the adcoms are PARENTs... and GRANDPARENTs even... just use common sense.

If you do decide to try and impress your adcom with your "honesty," some guy WILL get in over you b/c even though he might be a pothead, he wrote a pretty cliche essay about how drugs are absolutely detrimental to health/personal life/relationships etc..

You tell me.. which sounds better?:

Hey I had cancer and used weed to feel better

(Adcom: Damn he had cancer.. how unfortunate.. But Ok.. there are other ways to feel better.. he's just making up excuses for weed usage.. and trying to get on our soft side.. what's to say he won't do it again in the future every time he encounters an obstacle?)

OR

I have never used and never will use drugs because of their detrimental effects to my health/family life/relationships etc
(Adcom: alright, what we expected.. blah blah.. pretty cliche.. BUT.. we DO NOT know whether he is lying or not.. so whatever, typical essay, it'll pass)..

The drug usage part is a SMALL part of the application.. tiny.. so you can get by, by writing something cliche.. what else would you expect a non-weed user to write? BUT, if you draw too much attention to your "honesty," it will very likely end up biting you in the @$$

If even after all this, you decide to write about, 1 extra spot for the rest of us... lol j/k... DON'T DO IT MAN.
 
axp107 said:
Do you HONESTLY think just b/c you had cancer and used it to feel better, they're going to place more emphasis on that than your GPA/MCAT. You've got to remember... the adcoms are PARENTs... and GRANDPARENTs even... just use common sense.
Click to expand...

These adcom members are also doctors; some doctors prescribe marijuana. You could have a doctor on the panel who supports medicinal maryjane, and he might even prescribe it regularly. You're making the OP out to be naive, which I think he's anything but. He's just overly honest and principled.
 
Meatwad said:
These adcom members are also doctors; some doctors prescribe marijuana. You could have a doctor on the panel who supports medicinal maryjane, and he might even prescribe it regularly. You're making the OP out to be naive, which I think he's anything but. He's just overly honest and principled.
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like I said, I think he should tell allllll about self medicating and they will find it FASCINATING
















:laugh:
 
.:Buddros:. said:
So, my dilemma is that I do not want to lie to the ad coms, and I want to voice my opinion on medical marijuana usage, but I do not want to compromise an acceptance. I should probably keep my mouth shut until I get in, but, as doctors, we need to keep open minds, and that may be what this school is looking for in the first place.
What would, or did, most of you guys do in this situation? Should I swallow my tongue and keep quiet or tell the truth, voice my opinion, and risk throwing away a shot at my dreams.
Click to expand...

God I hope you are applying to Texas schools.

In all seriousness - A good rule of thumb is to not take hard core stances on polarizing issues with admissions comittees. Some may give you the ole thumbs up for being willing to take a stand, most will scoff because you don't know what you're talking about (in their eyes). If you are willing to take the risk and put your admission to med school on the line, be my guest (especially if applying in Texas). Otherwise, I would sit on your opinion until someone who cares is ready to hear them - i.e. when you are a doctor. Good luck.
 
PT2MD said:
God I hope you are applying to Texas schools.

In all seriousness - A good rule of thumb is to not take hard core stances on polarizing issues with admissions comittees. Some may give you the ole thumbs up for being willing to take a stand, most will scoff because you don't know what you're talking about (in their eyes). If you are willing to take the risk and put your admission to med school on the line, be my guest (especially if applying in Texas). Otherwise, I would sit on your opinion until someone who cares is ready to hear them - i.e. when you are a doctor. Good luck.
Click to expand...

noooo, he absolutely should tell the adcoms all about how he feels about mj

really

it will be fascinating to them, in a good way, I'm positive
 
axp107 said:
(Adcom: Damn he had cancer.. how unfortunate.. But Ok.. there are other ways to feel better.. he's just making up excuses for weed usage.. and trying to get on our soft side.. what's to say he won't do it again in the future every time he encounters an obstacle?)
Click to expand...

Not to hijack this thread at all but (1) there's been a lot of interesting research on the clinical applications of medical marijuana that demonstrate it as a better treatment for chronic pain than opiates (2) I doubt any ADCOM doctor would see medical marijuana use for CHEMOTHERAPY as an "excuse to get high" and (3) I would imagine any ADCOM doctor would be a little more learned and intelligent than to see an application prompt of that sort and assume "oh, he'll just smoke weed every time he has a problem from now on."

That being said, I second responses about saying "no" to illegal drug use. Yes, it MAY be a fascinating response that will generate intrigue and make you a unique applicant to the ADCOM. But there's also a big risk it will black flag your application and express line it for the shredder. Considering this is your top choice school, I personally wouldn't take the risk. It'd be a little safer to bring it up in an interview once you've felt an interviewer out (but a question of this nature should NEVER come up in an interview anyways)
 
For the love of God...

Why would you admit to smoking pot?

There is no way they will ever find out if you've smoked, so why admit to it?
 
everyone stop contradicting me. He should tell them alllll about it. It will fascinate them, I swear.










:laugh:
 
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