misdemeanor pot conviction

[futurendndr]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

hello i was arrested for a misdemanor pot when i was 18 and i did a drug court program to get the charges dropped and dismissed and i got it expunged i recently finished my bsn from FAU and i was wondering will this affect me being a doctor is it still possible to be a doctor and how will this affect me all comments are greatly appreciated thank you

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

hello i was arrested for a misdemanor pot when i was 18 and i did a drug court program to get the charges dropped and dismissed and i got it expunged i recently finished my bsn from FAU and i was wondering will this affect me being a doctor is it still possible to be a doctor and how will this affect me all comments are greatly appreciated thank you

It'll follow you around despite the expungement etc. Residency applications, licensing boards, hospital privileging questionnaires will all ask you about your criminal record in some form or fashion. You'll need to disclose the arrest when asked (trying to lie or omit something is asking for real trouble). So yeah it's a complication, particularly because it's drug-related, but how much it'll affect you nobody can say.

 

[penguin24]

Last time I checked you are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and convicted of the crime. At least in the USA.
​

 

[the duck]

you will have to answer yes if asked on your application of you were arrested and probably to convicted as well.

The good news, is I doubt that this will keep you from medical school. Especially because you were 18 at the time, which is still pretty young.

 

[Popat Lal]

WHAT???? NO. Dont let these people lie to you. Once you get your record expunged, schools will not be able to get access to such info. Only the FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Services will have access to such info. Ordinary police reports will not reveal anything....and don't stop blazen son. If society justifies alcohol, then banning ganga is hypocrisy !!!!!

 

[Barcu]

WHAT???? NO. Dont let these people lie to you. Once you get your record expunged, schools will not be able to get access to such info. Only the FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Services will have access to such info. Ordinary police reports will not reveal anything....and don't stop blazen son. If society justifies alcohol, then banning ganga is hypocrisy !!!!!

Don't listen to this guy. If you've gotten convicted once, you are not going to get that same treatment the second time and then you will really be screwed. One conviction at 18 for drugs may be an obstacle, but it's not a dealbreaker.

In regards to reporting it, I would look more closely into that with a lawyer or other legal service and not an online forum. You can actually order the background check used by med schools, so you can see what actually turns up. However, med schools have secondaries that ask this type of question in different ways. If you were actually arrested, you may still have to answer "yes" on the secondary even if it doesn't show up on your record. You might get away if you don't, but if somehow it comes out, you can be kicked out of med school, even if you've already started (and that would really suck). If it only asks about convictions, you might be able to answer no, though I'm not 100% sure on that.

Bottom line, consult someone who knows what they are talking about.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

You'll want to talk to a lawyer who specializes in employment law.

 

[the duck]

WHAT???? NO. Dont let these people lie to you. Once you get your record expunged, schools will not be able to get access to such info. Only the FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Services will have access to such info. Ordinary police reports will not reveal anything....and don't stop blazen son. If society justifies alcohol, then banning ganga is hypocrisy !!!!!

Its how the schools ask the question, not if their background check brings it up.
The offense really isn't worth not listing in the hopes medical schools will never info out about it. If they catch you lying, you die.


You don't have to quit smoking, just be extra careful not to get arrested again, 2 drug arrests starts to make you look like a druggie, who can't control his use.

 

[patel2]

hello i was arrested for a misdemanor pot when i was 18 and i did a drug court program to get the charges dropped and dismissed and i got it expunged i recently finished my bsn from FAU and i was wondering will this affect me being a doctor is it still possible to be a doctor and how will this affect me all comments are greatly appreciated thank you

The only thing that will show up on the med school certiphi background check is convictions, not arrests that were later dropped and dismissed. You neither need to disclose what you did, nor will it show up on any criminal background check, unless you are applying for the FBI.

Edit: I am unclear what happened. Your title says "misdemeanor pot conviction" in which case you do have to disclose all misdemeanors and felonies (possibly even if they were later expunged). But your post says the charges were dropped and dismissed, and that hence you never went to trial or had to plead guilty etc.

either way, it definitely won't hurt you anywhere to have a pot possession ticket from 4+ years ago. People get in with DUIs all the time. The biggest thing is making sure it is disclosed on all applications if it needs to be (since your post is unclear, it's best to consult a lawyer who will tell you better what to do)

 

[docB]

Last time I checked you are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and convicted of the crime. At least in the USA.
​

Yes but to go thorough some kind of program such as the OP mentions you people often have to plead (guilty or no contest) to the charge and are therefore convicted. If as the OP says his charges were dropped after the program then the main issue is what question he is asked. If he's asked about convictions then the answer is "no." If the question askes about arrests or diversion programs, etc. then he may have to say "yes."

You'll want to talk to a lawyer who specializes in employment law.

👍 Couldn't agree more. You should sit down and talk to someone before you start answering application questions. You will want to be able to go back to them down the line if additional questions come up and as you progress upward (i.e. med school apps, residency apps, med license apps, etc.)

Its how the schools ask the question, not if their background check brings it up.
The offense really isn't worth not listing in the hopes medical schools will never info out about it. If they catch you lying, you die.

I'm not sure on this one. If you are able to get your record expunged that means that the court decided that you should not have to continue to have this incident count against you. I don't know if an expungement allows you to treat the incident as if it never happened on applications or not. I also don't know if an application for a med school is treated the same as an application to a government entity like a medical licensing board. Again, sit down with a lawyer and ask.

You don't have to quit smoking, just be extra careful not to get arrested again, 2 drug arrests starts to make you look like a druggie, who can't control his use.

I couldn't disagree more. You have had your one strike. Quit now and stop running the risk of doing really irreparable damage to your future.

 

[the duck]

Since, I'm just a lowly pre-med, I generally don't argue with people who are far superior to me in both their knowledge of medicine, and in life in general. Especially those with such amazing avatars as In-N-Out berger ( a very clever name for an ED doc I must add). I do feel the need to try to save some face here....

My statement regarding the OPs use continued use of marijuana was ill-worded. you should definitely quit using, and transporting marijuana, in any situation that carries the slightest risk of being caught. Since as I said, another arrest will make you look like a druggie and will make you very undesirable for medical schools. What I had in mind, was that the rare joint in the privacy of his own home was okay. I didn't really need to add that.


anyway......🙁

I'll echo what others have said: consult a lawyer before you apply.

 

[docB]

Since, I'm just a lowly pre-med, I generally don't argue with people who are far superior to me in both their knowledge of medicine, and in life in general. Especially those with such amazing avatars as In-N-Out berger ( a very clever name for an ED doc I must add). I do feel the need to try to save some face here....

My statement regarding the OPs use continued use of marijuana was ill-worded. you should definitely quit using, and transporting marijuana, in any situation that carries the slightest risk of being caught. Since as I said, another arrest will make you look like a druggie and will make you very undesirable for medical schools. What I had in mind, was that the rare joint in the privacy of his own home was okay. I didn't really need to add that.


anyway......🙁

I'll echo what others have said: consult a lawyer before you apply.

I can see where your post came off a differently than you intended. I didn't mean mine to sound harsh either. I think both agree with the previous poster who said that one issue is probably surmountable but more are probably not.