How do you think medical schools percieve learning disabilities

[sunyplatt]

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Just curious on how everyone thinks medical schools would percieve a learning disability. My own thoughts are that medical schools would hold it against an applicant and possibly have the notion that 'not all people are meant to be doctors'. I may be wrong but perhaps they are also medical professionals and can see that bright people can have a ld.

 

[North12]

At one of my interviews the dean was talking about how most of the students who weren't succeeding often had undiagnosed LDs. Once they recognized the deficit these students were given lots of extra help and individualized learning plans which helped to catch them up to their peers.

Therefore they seemed very supportive, with all the necessary systems in place to help students with LDs.

 

[akhan45]

a

 

[el poblano]

'not all people are meant to be doctors'.

+1.
If you can't function in undergrad, don't expect to be able to do Med school.

Sent from my HTC EVO 3D using Tapatalk

 

[Law2Doc]

Just curious on how everyone thinks medical schools would percieve a learning disability. My own thoughts are that medical schools would hold it against an applicant and possibly have the notion that 'not all people are meant to be doctors'. I may be wrong but perhaps they are also medical professionals and can see that bright people can have a ld.

If you can do well without much accommodation, nobody is going to care. If you need more accommodation than the STEPs and typical residency licensing boards are going to allow, med schools are going to have pause, even if they themselves would have given you adequate accommodations during med school. It has nothing to do with how bright you are, med schools all have missions to create more practitioners, and if there's a foreseeable hurdle to you becoming one, they might need to move to the next person on their list.

 

[Digs]

This is harsh, but I think pretty close to the truth. The end goal of the medical school is subverted if they go to all the trouble to teach you how the body works, and then you can't adequately apply that knowledge to patient care. What I'd recommend is a long, hard look at what being a physician means your life and job will be, every day, until you retire. Do some shadowing and try to determine if the mental steps the doctor is making in performing examinations, reaching a diagnosis, and communicating with people is something you think you can manage, every day, until you retire. Ask questions, find resources, and follow your dreams, but be honest and realistic with yourself. If you think you can handle it, make a list of reasons why, and highlight those in your applications and interviews. If not, there are still plenty of other allied health careers where you can make a serious difference in patients' lives. Without being the one strictly determining the course of treatment they receive, being someone who helps administer that care humanely and intelligently, I'm sure, must still be greatly rewarding.

 

[LizzyM]

At one of my interviews the dean was talking about how most of the students who weren't succeeding often had undiagnosed LDs. Once they recognized the deficit these students were given lots of extra help and individualized learning plans which helped to catch them up to their peers.

Therefore they seemed very supportive, with all the necessary systems in place to help students with LDs.

Once you've been admitted to medical school, the powers that be will do all they can to see that you graduate. That said, school turn away the vast majority of applicants and given that they have so many fine choices, why would they knowingly choose someone who is going to struggle or need special help to do what others can do without special help.

 

[Lil Mick]

My advisor, an amazing MD/PhD from a top medical school, has a learning disability and, although she had to work harder, she made it through both degrees and has been very successful despite her LD. It's possible if you're willing to work hard at it.

 

[kryptonian]

I have a question regarding to this topic. Say, one has a learning disability that gave him/her a lot of hard time to understand materials during undergrad years, but worked a lot harder and managed to graduate magna cum laude at a big state school. If he/she reveals this to the adcom, does it make any difference in the admission outcome, i.e. put him/her in more advantage or disadvantage ?

 

[theseeker4]

I have a question regarding to this topic. Say, one has a learning disability that gave him/her a lot of hard time to understand materials during undergrad years, but worked a lot harder and managed to graduate magna cum laude at a big state school. If he/she reveals this to the adcom, does it make any difference in the admission outcome, i.e. put him/her in more advantage or disadvantage ?

If an adcom asks about poor early grades, discussing the LD and how your overcame it would probably be a credit to you as recent undergraduate work shows you overcame your obstacles. This would obviously vary from adcom to adcom, but I would think evidence of strong academic success despite a LD would at least negate any negative impression your having a LD had on the adcom. Some would be more biased than others of course, and needing significant accommodations to succeed would give pause, as noted above.