maybe you guys can clear this up for me...

[ubigal]

OK, I posted this on another board. But this one might be a better board to post it on. Here it goes...My friends and I are debating about this. Please help me win this bet. When you apply to residency programs are you required to tell them if you have a mental illness or physical disability/condition? For example, if you are HIV or Hep positive, do you have to tell them, or does everyone have a blood test before they start? I know for medical school you have to show that you are not hep + and/or have received the vaccinations before beginning clinical rotations.

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[Hypersomniac]

I'm sure not all residencies require this info at the time you apply or even after interviews. But I'm definitely sure those questions will be asked and yes, a full set of tests will be done on your blood (including HIV and Hep profile) on your pre-employment PE after you sign your contract.
Does this make you win the bet?

 

[NuMD97]

Excuse me, but HIV is NOT tested at all institutions prior to starting a residency program.

 

[ubigal]

Um... not sure if I'm gonna win this bet after the last post. My money is on the fact that you do get tested for everything -- just think of the liability of the institution if you don't get tested.

But its funny -- in trying to find answers for this question, all I could find about residency requirements were "USMLE" this and that but nothing about the actual physical health/requirements and or tests of the applicant. Are they afraid of discrimination so they just don't mention it?

Medical students are like everyone else -- some have physical and/or mental illnesses, don't they? We're not invincible.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Other than testing for TB, we were NOT tested for Hep or HIV. We were required to show that we had completed the Hep B series or start it before employment.

 

[UCMonkey]

I'm just applying to med school now, but I know that med schools require you to have had certain immunizations (hep being one of them) and be tested for TB, so I imagine they would probably be safe in assuming that since you came from a med school (in the US at least, I don't know about FMG's) then you have had the above tests / shots.

Also, with regard to HIV, isn't there a big legal / consent issue involved in testing people?