Medical How do I navigate this IA?

[Mr.Smile12]

3-4 years ago, my ex-girlfriend called the police and said that I had hit her. Since I live in a state with a zero-tolerance domestic violence policy, I was arrested even though this was a completely false and baseless accusation. My university found out, and unfortunately it was decided that her accusation alone constituted a preponderance of evidence. I was suspended for 2 years (they told me that was actually the minimum suspension if you can believe it). Thankfully, the district attorney later dropped all criminal charges for lack of evidence. I have no misdemeanors, felonies, or any other criminal record. My background check is clean.

I am incredibly confident that I wish to become a doctor, and I will definitely be applying to medical school in spite of the fact that the odds may be against me. What thoughts do you have on how I should write about/approach this event?

1. Although I know I must disclose the university policy violation and the suspension, does it make sense for me to take a bigger step and willfully disclose that I was arrested? If I disclose that, it gives me the opportunity to state favorably that the criminal charges were all dropped since there was no evidence that I committed a crime, and that the university was wrong to suspend me for an unsubstantiated accusation. I'm teeter-tottering because there is no verbiage which requires me to disclose the arrest. I want to be honest while also painting myself in the best light that I can. Presumably if I get an interview I will have to talk about it anyways--any suggestions on how to make this decision?

2. I have grown significantly as a person due to this event. After a few months of feeling delirious and angry when everything happened, I learned that I needed to make the choice to move on, and stop allowing myself to be consumed by hatred and hopelessness. It logically followed that, for me, being happy is a choice, and this has guided the way I approach work, school, relationships, my goals as a future physician, and life now. This seems a good foundation for a personal statement...but I don't want to make the IA the focus of my application.

3. I plan to ask the writers of my letters of recommendation to reflect on my honesty, conscientiousness, and gentle demeanor.

4. Guess I'll throw a few Caribbean schools in there for good measure?

First, we cant comment on your school choices but we will plead with you not to consider Caribbean programs. We have written extensively on this topic.

If it still exists as an institutional action, then you just need to tell the truth about what happened, how the criminal charges were dropped (and thus won't appear on a background check), and anything you did to remediate (if that's the appropriate term).

Get some help with writing your response. Practice in case you get interviewed and asked.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

The experts on here (and almost everyone else) will say the same thing when it comes to the Caribbean schools.

...DON’T.

With the new USMLE scoring systems and the way things are going, Caribbean students are going to be even more disadvantaged as they are now.

The number one thing you can do is just be honest. I don’t think this will hurt you much. If your background is clean and you are able to explain fluently what happened in an interview, I think they will understand your situation.