Institutional Action- "destroyed"

[arj234]

Will one's undergrad institution disclose details of the case to medical schools upon request, or will they just be informed that an Institutional action occurred?

After the period where IA records are destroyed, will a Dean be able to inform medical schools that an IA occurred, or will all information related to the incident be destroyed?

*Disclaimer: These are simply questions out of curiosity, and I certainly do not condone trying to hide an IA whether destroyed or not.

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[efle]

I dont know how the questions on the AMCAS primary as well as the secondaries are specifically worded at all schools, but some certainly say things like "report all actions, expunged, dismissed or otherwise cleared." A dean or LOR writer could mention something they remember.

How bizarre, asking to hear about expunged IAs goes against the very aim of expunging it.

 

[puglet]

How bizarre, asking to hear about expunged IAs goes against the very aim of expunging it.

I'm not surprised that medical schools want to know about any actions, even those that have been expunged, as they are not the ones expunging these actions. This also puts everyone on even footing, as specifics for things like expungement likely vary from college to college. If you were an adcom, wouldn't you want to know about any institutional actions taken against your applicants? It doesn't matter if the action isn't on the official record anymore, it still happened and tells you something about who the person used to be.

My school's pre-health committee reports and explains all past disciplinary actions, even if they are no longer on the student's transcripts or official record. My understanding as to why they do this is:

1. They want their students to be mature and honest.
2. Some professional schools ask for any and all actions to be reported on their secondaries. I have also heard that some professional schools require a letter from a dean that's supposed to specify any institutional actions that have ever been against the student.

Other universities may function differently. My school has a pretty good reputation and we also have a pretty good acceptance rate to medical school from what I've heard.

 

[Goro]

Let's put it this way: When you see the prompt in the application, you answer, and you take your chances, depending upon how bad the IA was. Beer in your dorm room? Smoking pot on campus? Those are forgivable. Cheating? Theft? Assault? Lethal.


Now suppose you leave the prompt blank. There are two possibilities as to what can happen.

1) nothing
2) Somehow, the school finds out about this (maybe from a slip from a LOR writer). Maybe from someone in your adminisitration who has a grudge.

Then what do you think will happen?????

Will one's undergrad institution disclose details of the case to medical schools upon request, or will they just be informed that an Institutional action occurred?

After the period where IA records are destroyed, will a Dean be able to inform medical schools that an IA occurred, or will all information related to the incident be destroyed?

*Disclaimer: These are simply questions out of curiosity, and I certainly do not condone trying to hide an IA whether destroyed or not.

 

[cerno]

FWIW, close friend of mine had a public urination that was expunged and would not appear on a background check (supposedly). He chose to disclose it anyways. He had multiple MD interviews and will be matriculating this fall.

 

[NeuResurgens]

I think it depends on which schools you're applying to, but I think AAMCAS asks you for all IAs regardless of status at the issuing university. Better to list the thing if it's asked for, rather than not list it and hope it doesn't come up. It does depend on what the IA was actually for when it comes to its effect on your med school chances.

 

[ChrisMack390]

I am curious about this myself. I actually don't have anything to hide (really) BUT, what would happen if I got into a school that wanted a dean's certification? My undergrad institution destroys all records upon graduation, so the best they could report would be that they have no record of anything....

Is that good enough?

 

[LizzyM]

I am curious about this myself. I actually don't have anything to hide (really) BUT, what would happen if I got into a school that wanted a dean's certification? My undergrad institution destroys all records upon graduation, so the best they could report would be that they have no record of anything....

Is that good enough?

If you report that you were sanctioned for wrongdoing and the school says it has no record of it, do you think that the medical school would be mad at you? Get real.

If you have committed an infraction for which you were subject to an institutional action, you must report it. No ifs, ands or buts. Report it. If you are honest, you will have done the best you can do under the circumstances and it can't come back to bite you in the butt.

 

[ChrisMack390]

Hahaha well I never had an IA. I guess what I am thinking is this:

Med School: Did this student ever have an institutional action against him while enrolled at your institution?
Undergrad: That students records have been destroyed.

That is not really answering the question...

 

[missmd123]

Just out of curiosity, has there ever been a case anyone knows about where med schools found out about someone's IA that they didn't report and that had been expunged? That must suck, but also it's their own damn fault for not just being honest.

 

[NeuResurgens]

Just out of curiosity, has there ever been a case anyone knows about where med schools found out about someone's IA that they didn't report and that had been expunged? That must suck, but also it's their own damn fault for not just being honest.

Just do a search for it. Probably way more common than you'd think, especially considering the recent onslaught of "help with my IA" type threads. I swear there have been 2 new ones a day for weeks.