Mental Illness and Medical School

[deleted1030570]

So... I have been struggling with mental health issues for a year now. I finally got diagnosed and am on my way to recovery. My only problem is that it's damaged my school. I did really bad last semester prior to my hospitalization. I'm applying for a medical withdrawal, but I'm unsure if it will be granted. Right now I have the same plan whether I get my clean(er) slate or not. I am in the spring of my second year of college. Here's the plan I made in very general terms. It's not done yet, but I wanted a little feedback




Is there anything else I should generally consider for my plan? My MCAT on my last full-length practice was 510. I was actually going to take it this month before my mental health decided to **** right off. Is medical school still a possibility? I don't plan on applying until I am done with recovery. I was diagnosed with DID and my therapist said recovery for most patients is around two years of consistent therapy and work. I do still want to do this. It's my lifelong dream and I want it more than anything in my life. Will I have to explain my condition to med school admissions to explain my medical withdrawal should it be granted? Should I lie? Should I just give up? I'll take any and all answers at this point.

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[deleted480308]

Don’t lie about things. Get your health in order

 

[deleted849476]

Hey, fellow engineering undergrad here.. I wrote my ideas on your spreadsheet. In general though, I would prioritize your mental health, then GPA/MCAT prep, then the rest. People say admissions isn't as much of a numbers game anymore, but in my experience that's more for the people who are above 3.8/510. Don't let that stuff slip up. But it shouldn't be hard to volunteer for a couple hours 1 day a week throughout school.

Also, I had a similar situation being an engineer, and I had a lot of explaining to do in interviews so be sure you know "why medicine" and also why you wanted an eng B.S.

About your DID and school leave: whether you get the leave or not I would not mention this in your app. It's not lying. People take various amounts of time to complete undergrad, adcoms don't really care unless there's a glaring gap of years, etc. BUT, they are looking for any reason to not take you, any at all. Additionally, it can be extremely hard to have sufficient hindsight about personal struggles after just a couple of years to write about it well and prove to strangers that you're better because of it. If, however, you do write about it, you should have many, many people read it to make sure it doesn't come off as being a victim. Unfortunately I don't believe writing about mental disorders is as sympathized with as people who wrote about being victims of rape, etc.; people are still judgmental about this IMO. In my experience, adcoms want happy-go-lucky people as unfortunate as that is, its been my reality. Recap: mental health>school but don't forget to have some fun too

Good luck!

 

[jarednogeek]

Sadly medical school is an environment that will destroy you mentally if you don't come in here strong. Make sure you're ready first.

 

[FutureSurgical]

First, congratulations on getting help for your mental health. As the poster said above me, that should be your #1 priority. Mental health is a foundation of your success (in general; not just getting to med school) where nothing will really work out if you don't actively get better.

I'm not an adcom, but I'm sure they're not allowed to ask what caused the medical leave. However, if it does end up on a transcript or if you write about it in your personal statement to medical school, they'll ask how did you learn from it/did you gain positive, healthy coping habits from this?

I'm unsure how medical leaves work with universities; will it have something on any forms on your transcripts? Or will you have a W along with a gap in time between semesters whenever you go back? Because unless you have the words "took a medical leave" on any forms you have to send into AMCAS and the school, I wouldnt even mention it. I'd tell schools you had to take time off to work on yourself in order to be the best person and student you can be. Unfortunately, mental health is a taboo still in medicine; medical students who've had no history of mental health issues will develop them going through school. Don't put yourself at a disadvantage if you don't need to.

 

[Andrew Baines Bernard]

I may be wrong, but medical school adcoms (more than anyone) should know better than to try and force you to disclose your health issues. Obviously, don't lie about anything, but you are well within your rights to give as much or as little detail as you want. If you are asked about it when the time comes, you could likely just say you had to withdraw due to health concerns and you've since taken the steps necessary to recover from them. Period. Thoughts? @Goro @gonnif

To touch on Jared's point above me, because I think it could have been phrased a little better, take care of yourself first and then continue. The good news is, most medical schools are paying much more attention now to the mental health of their students than ever before. So if you were to need continuing therapy once you get in, you'll likely have support without much fear of stigma. But you *do* need to be in a place where you're able to run that marathon. Nothing wrong with getting help along the way, but if you don't "train" yourself up first, you'll have a hard time getting through.

Best of luck to you OP.

 

[Goro]

We are indeed not allowed to ask about health issues at the admissions level. However, it might be more problematic at residency or licensure. As mentioned several times above, OP, you have to get your mental health back to 100%.

Medical school is a furnace, and I've seen it break even healthy students. The #1 reason my school loses students to withdrawal, dismissal or LOA is to unresolved mental health issues.

A long stretch of academic excellence will allay adcom fears about your ability to handle med school. Good luck!

 

[Dr. Faust]

I would see another doc/therapist to get a second opinion about the DID diagnosis. DID is both incredibly rare and difficult to treat. I have worked with thousands of patients with severe mental illness and have never seen this diagnosis clinically. Your symptoms may be related to bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder (not exactly sure on your symptoms but they have a lot of overlap), which are easier to treat than DID.

 

[deleted1030570]

I would see another doc/therapist to get a second opinion about the DID diagnosis. DID is both incredibly rare and difficult to treat. I have worked with thousands of patients with severe mental illness and have never seen this diagnosis clinically. Your symptoms may be related to bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder (not exactly sure on your symptoms but they have a lot of overlap), which are easier to treat than DID.

DID is actually relatively common. UpToDate It's very hard to diagnose though because most patients don't have a florid presentation (how movies show the condition) and you have to meet the right provider at the right time to get diagnosed because dissociative symptoms tend to change over time and are often diagnosed as different things. This plus the high rate of comorbidities that, once treated, allow the system to lead a normal life, have lead to a common condition going undiagnosed and untreated.

 

[deleted1030570]

I would see another doc/therapist to get a second opinion about the DID diagnosis. DID is both incredibly rare and difficult to treat. I have worked with thousands of patients with severe mental illness and have never seen this diagnosis clinically. Your symptoms may be related to bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder (not exactly sure on your symptoms but they have a lot of overlap), which are easier to treat than DID.

That plus my college counselor, psychiatrist, and the dissociative specialist I saw all said the same thing. I'm pretty sure this is what's going on

 

[deleted1030570]

Hey, fellow engineering undergrad here.. I wrote my ideas on your spreadsheet. In general though, I would prioritize your mental health, then GPA/MCAT prep, then the rest. People say admissions isn't as much of a numbers game anymore, but in my experience that's more for the people who are above 3.8/510. Don't let that stuff slip up. But it shouldn't be hard to volunteer for a couple hours 1 day a week throughout school.

Also, I had a similar situation being an engineer, and I had a lot of explaining to do in interviews so be sure you know "why medicine" and also why you wanted an eng B.S.

About your DID and school leave: whether you get the leave or not I would not mention this in your app. It's not lying. People take various amounts of time to complete undergrad, adcoms don't really care unless there's a glaring gap of years, etc. BUT, they are looking for any reason to not take you, any at all. Additionally, it can be extremely hard to have sufficient hindsight about personal struggles after just a couple of years to write about it well and prove to strangers that you're better because of it. If, however, you do write about it, you should have many, many people read it to make sure it doesn't come off as being a victim. Unfortunately I don't believe writing about mental disorders is as sympathized with as people who wrote about being victims of rape, etc.; people are still judgmental about this IMO. In my experience, adcoms want happy-go-lucky people as unfortunate as that is, its been my reality. Recap: mental health>school but don't forget to have some fun too

Good luck!

Thank you for the excellent advice!

 

[deleted804295]

I would not schedule your MCAT until your mental health is in check.

Great job putting your health first. You cannot imagine how many people wait until things get bad before seeking out resources (I'm speaking from experience here). You're ahead of the curve already by taking care of yourself.

Your plan looks great and I'm glad you're setting time aside for hobbies. Make sure you're not overwhelming yourself with credits throughout the semester and you'll be set.