Leave of Absence after M1

[BTR41]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi I posted this on confidential consult but put in the general section. I am posting here cause I only have a couple of days to make this decision. Sorry for double posting.

Since starting medical school I have had 6 family and friends die. I have been having very bad mental health and cannot get my emotions under control. I will be receiving my second professional concern for crying inappropriately. If I get three it will go on my MSPE letter. I am thinking maybe taking a leave of absence would be good to get my emotions together. I would take it after M1 year. Can someone please let me know if leaving for mental health and mourning losses is appropriate. What speciality options will be open for me with this red flag.
Thank you

 

[BTR41]

Also my dad has really bad pancreatitis which has only gotten worse. It’s been such a hard time dealing with this I forgot to put it in the original post. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

you get professionalism citations for inappropriate crying???

OP, I'm sorry this is happening to you. I'll let others give more informed advice, but it sounds like some time away to grieve and tend to your mental health would be a good choice.

 

[Banco]

Do what you need to do for your health. If you just want something less stressful, you can alway ls so Research during an LOA and spin it that way. You’re certainly going through hell and I’m really sorry for that. Also “professional concern” for crying in M1?? Ridiculous.

 

[BTR41]

How much would my residency options be limited by an LOA. I am interested in IM, anesthesia, and neurology

 

[BTR41]

LOA's are very common for a multitude of reasons. It won't limit your options at all.

So they aren’t seen as a red flag? Or is it something that’s not great but totally explainable.

 

[Redpancreas]

Hi I posted this on confidential consult but put in the general section. I am posting here cause I only have a couple of days to make this decision. Sorry for double posting.

Since starting medical school I have had 6 family and friends die. I have been having very bad mental health and cannot get my emotions under control. I will be receiving my second professional concern for crying inappropriately. If I get three it will go on my MSPE letter. I am thinking maybe taking a leave of absence would be good to get my emotions together. I would take it after M1 year. Can someone please let me know if leaving for mental health and mourning losses is appropriate. What speciality options will be open for me with this red flag.
Thank you

First I am very sorry to hear this. Unfortunately without hearing your full story (career aspirations, what exactly happened, etc.) we can't really give you much specificity. I know this is the standard/generic response, but this exactly why you have school counselors. Find out who yours is and talk to them about this. They will more than likely refer you to a mental health professional. Undergo their assessment and take their advice. It's as simple as that. All the what-ifs like how this will affect your field of interest are less important. You may not have that field of interest open to you if you can not adhere to professionalism standards.

Speaking broadly, an M1 gap year is a red-flag. That said, you will have an opportunity to explain the rationale in your application and I believe (but am not certain) schools can filter for it. If I'm taking what you are saying at face value that your professionalism citation was strictly due to crying inappropriately in a non-clinical setting I would imagine residencies would sympathize and be OK with the year off assuming you met all their filters. That being said, mental health concerns which often end up being the underlying cause for professionalism citations are generally seen as red flags unfortunately given the demanding nature of our field. Now to your case specifically, I am sorry to be insensitive but I have a very hard time believing you received a professionalism concern (citation) for "crying inappropriately" in an M1 setting (classroom) and feel almost certain there must be something else to the story...but if you haven't given us that I am guessing you don't want to go into details about the context of this citation. I also wanted to suggest that you consider shorter leaves so it's not the full year. The fact that your school has not already offered you a referral or plan is puzzling. This varies by school but if you only miss a block or a course, some places may give you the chance to remediate during the summer.

Tl;Dr: Set up with an appointment with your school counselor and engage with them. Nothing else matters. If it hurts your chances for a field you were interested in, so be it. It's better than risking your career while you seem to be in this precarious state. The school will also appreciate with your addressing this in the established manner.

 

[Redpancreas]

How much would my residency options be limited by an LOA. I am interested in IM, anesthesia, and neurology

An LOA should be fine for these fields.

 

[Redpancreas]

So they aren’t seen as a red flag? Or is it something that’s not great but totally explainable.

OP this highly, highly depends on your unique situation. I am certain there is more to this story than you being cited for crying because of the deaths of 6 family members/friends especially during M1 when you are in a lecture hall or group session. At a vast majority of schools, students/faculty would have witnessed your distress, once the news was out students/faculty alike would arrange for some support effort for you and you would be automatically be resources for grief management and a leave of absence instead of being told this is strike 2/3 without any referral to grief/counseling services. I am sorry if this is insensitive but let's just get to the meat of this or else there's no point discussing it at all and will just get derailed into something else.

If you insist on confidentiality re: the above, the confidential consult people will get to it soon I imagine so have patience. One of the people who answers on there is online right now so have patience.

 

[BTR41]

@BacktotheBasics can I private message you. There is more to the story. My crying was disruptive and went on for a long time. I need to manage my emotions better which is one of the reasons I want to take a LOA.

 

[Redpancreas]

@BacktotheBasics can I private message you. There is more to the story. My crying was disruptive and went on for a long time. I need to manage my emotions better which is one of the reasons I want to take a LOA.

Absolutely! and then anything I write moving forward in this thread will be very generic after I engage in a private discussion so as not to meddle our private convo and what you want to discuss publicly.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

The consequences of trying to "power through" seem much higher than taking an LOA. It won't be a big deal.

 

[hamstergang]

The consequences of trying to "power through" seem much higher than taking an LOA. It won't be a big deal.

This needs to be emphasized more than a "like" would do. With what has been described, not taking a LOA would be far more detrimental to an application (and life) than a LOA could possible be.