Med School Admission with Disabilities (Chronic Orthopedic Conditions)

[Fly14]

Hi Everyone,

I am considering applying to medical school but am wondering how physical disabilities affect the admissions process. I have a ruptured/torn L5S1, retrolithesis, and sacroillitis (and a torn hip labrum, internal/external snapping hip and FAI which I hope to resolve with surgery in the next couple of months). Due to these issues I am on skelaxin and celebrex with the occasional need to take Ultram and Wellbutrin to break the pain cycle. I am trying to avoid a disk fusion by doing RF ablation. Will this make me ineligible for med school? I was debating about seeing a psychiatrist to come up with pain management techniques that don't involve medication but am worried about the stigma associated with mental health. :/ Any insight you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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[femmegoblue]

I have no idea about pain management in the med school admissions process, but I just wanted to tell you that I too had FAI on both sides and the the dislocation corrective surgery. Once at 14 and once at 16. Good luck to you, I know how painful it can be!

 

[Fly14]

I have no idea about pain management in the med school admissions process, but I just wanted to tell you that I too had FAI on both sides and the the dislocation corrective surgery. Once at 14 and once at 16. Good luck to you, I know how painful it can be!

Thanks! I'm hoping the surgery will help with a lot of my pain but I know it won't be a cure-all because of my back issues. 🙂

 

[esob]

From my personal reading on SDN, med schools don't really seem to embrace the "overcoming physical/mental adversity" cases. They have "fitness standards" and if you can't meet those standards they won't consider you. Personally I'm a disabled veteran and I don't plan on mentioning anything about my disabilities or asking for any accommodations (partly because they don't typically interfere with my activities and partly out of fear of them being grounds for rejection). The general consensus seems to be, "if you can hide it, do so, and if not, play it down and hope for the best." I'll probably catch some static from some for saying that but again, the general consensus is that med schools don't embrace students with disabilities.

 

[Fly14]

From my personal reading on SDN, med schools don't really seem to embrace the "overcoming physical/mental adversity" cases. They have "fitness standards" and if you can't meet those standards they won't consider you. Personally I'm a disabled veteran and I don't plan on mentioning anything about my disabilities or asking for any accommodations (partly because they don't typically interfere with my activities and partly out of fear of them being grounds for rejection). The general consensus seems to be, "if you can hide it, do so, and if not, play it down and hope for the best." I'll probably catch some static from some for saying that but again, the general consensus is that med schools don't embrace students with disabilities.

Are med schools allowed to ask about disabilities if you don't request accommodations? Can they gain access to your medical records?

 

[DrMikeP]

Most if not all med school secondary apps have a statement you have to indicate your being physically capable to perform the needed tasks. The questions you must ask yourself is can you? Will you need special accommodations? Do you want to be at a school and need such and have to ask for such later to find that they are not supportive? Consider these things if you decide to not disclose.

They can't get past med records if you don't release them, but some like many hospitals/clinics do require physical exams. All med schools require drug testing and if you come up positive you had better have a medical reason. Also in DO programs you participate in learning omm as both practitioner and patient.

ps. If you want to learn nonpharma cognitive behavioral pain management techniques you'll find a pain psychologist to often be much more helpful than a psychiatrist. If you don't tell anyone you've seen a psychologist and don't pay via insurance then no one will ever know.

Best of luck

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[esob]

I posted some links on this before b/c I was pretty horrified when I read this post:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mental-health-past-and-medicine-future.8416/#post-80430

I asked my personal doc, who happens to faculty at UTSW and he said he was pretty sure they didn't do it and he saw no way they could legally do it. He mentioned that even in his private practice he couldn't ask potential employees about medical history.

 

[DrMikeP]

I posted some links on this before b/c I was pretty horrified when I read this post:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mental-health-past-and-medicine-future.8416/#post-80430

I asked my personal doc, who happens to faculty at UTSW and he said he was pretty sure they didn't do it and he saw no way they could legally do it. He mentioned that even in his private practice he couldn't ask potential employees about medical history.

Discrimination against someone with a disability can be very subtle. It may come in the form of not being selected for something, not being offered certain supports/opportunities, not getting a good rec letter, etc. It can also come in the form of just not being selected for interview, but no one would openly admit to such if they have even half a brain. It's a sad part of life, but a real one. Like any other negative on an application you must demonstrate how a problem with xyz will not impact your med school performance. If you do that well then you have a shot.

 

[esob]

Yes, the shortcomings even under a system of a meritocracy it seems. Doctors are supposed to be the brightest and the best and adcoms should be the cream of that crop, yet it seems is that age/race/disability bias still remain an ingrained part of the human experience. Is it biological or are people just jerks (or is that really the same question restated)? I'm ready to start cutting some people open to find out 🙂

 

[Goro]

And how many Adcoms have you served on?

If we think a candidate do well in our school, and admit them, then we are obligated to see them through to graduation by accommodating them.

Technical standards are there for a reason. If paraplegics and blind people can become doctors, then OP has a chance. The real question is fi OP's meds will hinder academic function.

From my personal reading on SDN, med schools don't really seem to embrace the "overcoming physical/mental adversity" cases. They have "fitness standards" and if you can't meet those standards they won't consider you. Personally I'm a disabled veteran and I don't plan on mentioning anything about my disabilities or asking for any accommodations (partly because they don't typically interfere with my activities and partly out of fear of them being grounds for rejection). The general consensus seems to be, "if you can hide it, do so, and if not, play it down and hope for the best." I'll probably catch some static from some for saying that but again, the general consensus is that med schools don't embrace students with disabilities.

 

[esob]

And how many Adcoms have you served on?.

Zero, hence the reason I qualified my answer prior to stating it. As a disabled veteran I've read many posts on SDN regarding the topic of disability and admissions - not because I'm worried my injuries would hinder me, but because I wanted to know if it would be a good overarching theme for my personal statement. The majority of responses I've seen (honestly probably 100%) stated that disclosing a disability was either harmful, or at best neutral. I did state however that my response was based upon posts I had read on SDN, not any "official" policy or personally observed behavior of an adcom.

 

[Goro]

I suspect that most of the cautionary responses are for applicants with mental illness, which is a concern for Adcoms.

Zero, hence the reason I qualified my answer prior to stating it. As a disabled veteran I've read many posts on SDN regarding the topic of disability and admissions - not because I'm worried my injuries would hinder me, but because I wanted to know if it would be a good overarching theme for my personal statement. The majority of responses I've seen (honestly probably 100%) stated that disclosing a disability was either harmful, or at best neutral. I did state however that my response was based upon posts I had read on SDN, not any "official" policy or personally observed behavior of an adcom.

 

[esob]

I do believe a majority of the posts I came across were dealing with some form of illness/disorder (ADD/Bipolar/etc).

 

[Goro]

Many thanks to you for your service to our country!

Teaching moment. mental illness is an issue because med school is a furnace and I've seen it break even healthy students. The #1 reason my school loses students to dismissal, withdrawal or LOA is do to some form of mental illness.

For those applicants who have struggled with mental illness in the past, a long record of academic excellence is always comforting to us.

Getting back to the OP, I've have had students with deafness, severe optical derangement, and a pronounced gait disorder.

I do believe a majority of the posts I came across were dealing with some form of illness/disorder (ADD/Bipolar/etc).

 

[68PGunner]

Hi Everyone,

I am considering applying to medical school but am wondering how physical disabilities affect the admissions process. I have a ruptured/torn L5S1, retrolithesis, and sacroillitis (and a torn hip labrum, internal/external snapping hip and FAI which I hope to resolve with surgery in the next couple of months). Due to these issues I am on skelaxin and celebrex with the occasional need to take Ultram and Wellbutrin to break the pain cycle. I am trying to avoid a disk fusion by doing RF ablation. Will this make me ineligible for med school? I was debating about seeing a psychiatrist to come up with pain management techniques that don't involve medication but am worried about the stigma associated with mental health. :/ Any insight you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Your situation isn't unique. There are a few veterans in medical school with disabilities. Personally, I used to take 3-4 Tramadol a day to help with pain management. I obviously can't do that anymore.

 

[Law2Doc]

And how many Adcoms have you served on?

If we think a candidate do well in our school, and admit them, then we are obligated to see them through to graduation by accommodating them.

Technical standards are there for a reason. If paraplegics and blind people can become doctors, then OP has a chance. The real question is fi OP's meds will hinder academic function.

Bear in mind that even if a med school admits someone that doesn't mean they "can become doctors". You still have the bigger hurdle of completing a residency which also involves being able to do physical tasks, and may put you alone on the wards overnight without help. One of the renowned blind med students discussed on here a few years back who got his MD never managed his way further into residency.

For the OP, med schools will give a litany of tasks and ask you to aver that you are capable of doing these without accommodation. So look through those and that's your answer. If they would present a problem for you, think long and hard about whether this is the right path. It's a myth that medicine (or at least medical training) is mostly cerebral and that you can be a doctor just by book study rather than hands-on.
In terms of back pain, a lot of students and residents are on their feet for long stretches, and thanks to bad table heights often end up with sore backs just from bending over patients in certain procedural rotations. And there are a lot of pain medications you really can't be on if assisting in patient care.

So I'm not saying you (OP) can't do this, just that you should ignore people who flippantly say, "no problem".

 

[deleted367183]

Hello--on the off chance you're still following this thread, I talk a lot about my experience here: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-applicant-in-my-30s-ask-me-anything.1047394/. I hope this is helpful. Best of luck to you!