how to mention people's names in secondary essays?

[BionicOne]

Hey all,
Do you guys know whats ethical regarding mentioning people's names in essays? Are we supposed to say Mr. X. or can we mention the person's real name? In many of the "essays that will get you into medical school" books, I have seen that all the names are Mr. X, etc. But then I was thinking maybe the publishers changed the names because now the essays were going to become public info. How are you guys going about this?

Thanks for your help.

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[el.harpo]

You could always say that you'll call the person John or Jane and continue to call them that for the rest of the secondary essay. I think Mr. X sounds really stupid.

 

[LizzyM]

I like the "a man I'll call Mr. Green" way of introducing a pseudonym.

 

[LJoo83]

would HIPPA rules come into play if it's a clincially related story?
i'm actually curious because one of my reasons for wanting to un doctoro is because of an inspirational oncology patient i met about a year ago.
i would venture to say yes.

 

[LizzyM]

would HIPPA rules come into play if it's a clincially related story?
i'm actually curious because one of my reasons for wanting to un doctoro is because of an inspirational oncology patient i met about a year ago.
i would venture to say yes.

The following are considered identifiers and can be pertain to the individual or to relatives, employers, or household members of the individual:

Names;
All geographic subdivisions smaller than a State, including street address, city, county, precinct, zip code, and their equivalent geocodes, except for the initial three digits of a zip code if, according to the current publicly available data from the Bureau of the Census:
The geographic unit formed by combining all zip codes with the same three initial digits contains more than 20,000 people; and
The initial three digits of a zip code for all such geographic units containing 20,000 or fewer people is changed to 000.
All elements of dates (except year) for dates directly related to an individual, including birth date, admission date, discharge date, date of death; and all ages over 89 and all elements of dates (including year) indicative of such age, except that such ages and elements may be aggregated into a single category of age 90 or older;
Telephone numbers;
Fax numbers;
Electronic mail addresses;
Social security numbers;
Medical record numbers;
Health plan beneficiary numbers;
Account numbers;
Certificate/license numbers;
Vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers;
Device identifiers and serial numbers;
Web Universal Resource Locators (URLs);
Internet Protocol (IP) address numbers;
Biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints;
Full face photographic images and any comparable images; and
Any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code

So, without using his name you could violate HIPAA by saying, for example, that a 90 year old man from Brooklyn who arrived at the emergency room in the wee hours of New Year's Day 2005 set you on the path to a career in medicine.

 

[DoctorPardi]

Take Lizzy's advice. Do not use patient's names, or just use names without explaining that they are pseudonyms. For example if you say, "Dr. Pardi treated John Harris for pneumonia." Then adcoms will probably assume you're talking about a real doctor and a real patient with those names.

Say instead, "A doctor I'll call Dr. Smith treated a patient I'll refer to as Mr. Jones for pneumonia." Then it is explicit you have changed the names without a disclaimer before or after the PS, that takes away from the story.

 

[sunflwr85]

All geographic subdivisions smaller than a State, including street address, city, county, precinct, zip code, and their equivalent geocodes, except for the initial three digits of a zip code if, according to the current publicly available data from the Bureau of the Census:
The geographic unit formed by combining all zip codes with the same three initial digits contains more than 20,000 people; and
The initial three digits of a zip code for all such geographic units containing 20,000 or fewer people is changed to 000.

Does this restriction apply to only to the address of the patient, or the location of the hopsital as well?

 

[DoctorPardi]

Also, I will second what Lizzy said again. Do not use specific dates, specific hospitals, etc. Describe hospitals, cities, doctors, and patients with made up names and no specific ages.

 

[DoctorPardi]

Does this restriction apply to only to the address of the patient, or the location of the hopsital as well?

Why does it matter? The location of the hospital is unimportant to the story, so don't take the risk, make it up. Call the hospital "University Hospital" or "County/Public Hospital". You could possibly mention the city, like, "In a hospital in New England..."

Again, the location, specific names, etc are unimportant in telling the story. So if you think, "is this against the rules?" assume it is and change the name.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

I used a (fake) patient name, and only used a first name at that. I didn't waste any time or space explaining or noting that it was a fake / cover name.

If in doubt, write "Jane Doe" or "John Q." etc.

 

[sunflwr85]

Why does it matter? The location of the hospital is unimportant to the story, so don't take the risk, make it up. Call the hospital "University Hospital" or "County/Public Hospital". You could possibly mention the city, like, "In a hospital in New England..."

Again, the location, specific names, etc are unimportant in telling the story. So if you think, "is this against the rules?" assume it is and change the name.

Thanks, I'm actually curious just because I've been told by another adcom to be very specific about that kind of thing. Obviously not about a patient or their personal information, but about where you were - don't just say "at the hospital where I volunteer" or whatever, give the actual name and location. I was just wondering what others had to say about this.

 

[DoctorPardi]

Thanks, I'm actually curious just because I've been told by another adcom to be very specific about that kind of thing. Obviously not about a patient or their personal information, but about where you were - don't just say "at the hospital where I volunteer" or whatever, give the actual name and location. I was just wondering what others had to say about this.

I just don't see how it would matter. If you felt the need to use specific locations, then you need to be more vague with everything else. Maybe not mention an age group, only mention a made up first name, and possibly use a name that could be a man or a woman's name.

 

[DoctorPardi]

I used a (fake) patient name, and only used a first name at that. I didn't waste any time or space explaining or noting that it was a fake / cover name.

If in doubt, write "Jane Doe" or "John Q." etc.

Yeah, that works too. I would just make sure it is obvious, like John Q or Jane Doe if you aren't going to explicitly state that they are fake names.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

I like the "a man I'll call Mr. Green" way of introducing a pseudonym.

Woa Lizzy has an avatar

 

[LizzyM]

Take Lizzy's advice. Do not use patient's names, or just use names without explaining that they are pseudonyms. For example if you say, "Dr. Pardi treated John Harris for pneumonia." Then adcoms will probably assume you're talking about a real doctor and a real patient with those names.

Say instead, "A doctor I'll call Dr. Smith treated a patient I'll refer to as Mr. Jones for pneumonia." Then it is explicit you have changed the names without a disclaimer before or after the PS, that takes away from the story.

If the doc did a great job, I don't have any objection to mentioning the doc by name. Funny thing happened when I read an essay about a positive experience that an applicant had at the university health service as an undergrad. The staff member she mentioned by name as the epitome of a good physician was my brother!

 

[gildas]

Hey all,
Do you guys know whats ethical regarding mentioning people's names in essays? Are we supposed to say Mr. X. or can we mention the person's real name? In many of the "essays that will get you into medical school" books, I have seen that all the names are Mr. X, etc. But then I was thinking maybe the publishers changed the names because now the essays were going to become public info. How are you guys going about this?

Thanks for your help.

IF IT IS A PATIENT, DO NOT USE HIS/HER REAL NAME UNLESS YOU RECEIVED A CONSENT FROM THE PATIENT. THE EASIER WAY IS TO WRITE "PATIENT" INSTEAD OF THE NAME JUST AS YOU WILL WRITE A CASE STUDY. YOU CAN MENTION AGE AND RACE IF IT IS RELEVANT.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MENTIONING THE PLACE (HOSPITAL NAME AND CITY), IN FACT IT GIVES YOU MORE CREDIT. I EVEN MENTIONED DOCTORS' NAME SINCE THEY ARE MY MENTORS AND KNOW THAT I AM APPLYING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL.

 

[LizzyM]

If the patient is 90 or older, mentioning a specific age is a violation of HIPAA. (See above)

Sometimes using a pseudonym labeled as such will make the text flow well. "A patient I'll call Kay" does take up a few characters but after that you can use "Kay" and it is easy to read.

 

[BionicOne]

problem is in my personal statement, which is already submitted to AMCAS long ago, I didnt specify that i changed the name, but I didnt take the patients real name, i made it up. Could that stand in the way of getting an interview and an admission?

 

[LizzyM]

problem is in my personal statement, which is already submitted to AMCAS long ago, I didnt specify that i changed the name, but I didnt take the patients real name, i made it up. Could that stand in the way of getting an interview and an admission?

It could be interpreted as indiscrete. If your stats are really good you may be forgiven. If they are marginal, this could tip the balance and hurt you.

 

[BionicOne]

would it be worth it to send an email to all the schools to make it clear that the names were fake? the reason i didn't mention that they were fake was that i worked with my english professor for 2 weeks to cut the essay down to EXACTLY 5300 characters -- there was no way i could have inserted a reference to the names being fake. Should I e-mail this to the schools?

I think my stats would be considered very competitive, although i haven't received any interviews yet.🙁 Could this have been the reason? (I haven't gotten any rejections either - i have just been under review since forever...)

 

[GreenCenter]

I don't think it's a big deal. Using a real name is a pretty crappy reason to reject someone.

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

I don't think it's a big deal. Using a real name is a pretty crappy reason to reject someone.

Well, it actually shows incredibly bad judgment. From the AdCom side, I can tell you that if it looks like you have used a patient's real name, it is a terrible thing for the applicant. (I have seen people rejected largely because of that.) I think a lot of AdComs expect applicants to have enough common sense and knowledge about the health care system to avoid such a mistake.

I don't know about you, but I would not want my physician to think that patient confidentiality is not "a big deal." 😕

 

[GujuMD]

make up a name...that is what I did.