Misdemeanors - should I report?

[mudshadow]

---

Members do not see this ad.

v

 

[elwademd]

speeding is a misdemeanor.

but a dui is also a misdemeanor.

battery is a misdemeanor.

in some jurisdictions, a barking dog can be a misdemeanor!

so, clearly it would depend on the misdemeanor that you have. if it's a couple of dui's (or another somewhat serious offense), you might want to strongly consider reporting this, as some may question your judgement. if it's for your barking dog, i wouldn't worry about it, lol.

 

[snoopy brown]

The questions you ask are unanswerable. Someone in an administrative role like aProgDirector would probably tell you to report it all and say you can explain yourself and also it's your responsibility. My only disagreement with that is that programs will lie like there's no tomorrow to you and you have no recourse. But it is true that it is your responsibility and it reflects on your character if you're basically lying to get a position. Because you wouldn't be asking everyone "should I report it?" if you weren't planning on lying (through omission) about it if necessary. But nobody can truthfully tell you how it would affect your application because you'd have to present your exact same file to the application committee with and without the misdemeanors and so on. Maybe they wouldn't care, maybe (probably) they would. Someone may try to scare you by saying "well, you can get kicked out if they find out" which is absolutely true. I certain they aren't running background checks on all applicants but it's fairly easy to do it once they have their final accepted class. Do they do it? I have no idea. I would guess and it's just a guess that there would be no reason to so long as nothing came up, meaning if you went through residency without any problem it would be fine. But then you'd be looking at the same question when it comes to licensure. So there's your long answer that doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know.

 

[killerleaf]

Please also keep in mind the state medical license. Here in Texas, residents are issued PITs, Physician in Training permits. They can, and will, and have, delayed issuing these until they are confident that they have all the information. They do run background checks. They will pull the permit if they find out you lied. You cannot touch a patient without a permit.

So...don't lie. Be sure that you have all pertinent information regarding the misdemeanor....so that your permit is not delayed.

And, I believe that this holds true for most states, not just Texas...

 

[mudshadow]

v

 

[mudshadow]

v

 

[BADMD]

speeding is a misdemeanor.

Speeding and most benign traffic offenses are often considered civil infractions and not criminal.

 

[BADMD]

Do you think it would negatively affect my application status if the misdemeanors were 2 'serious offenses'? If I have a 250 Step I and 2 DUIs, do they cancel each other out? Am I forced to apply to a less competitive residency as a result?

You should report what the applications say to report. If it says to report anything criminal, report it and explain it. Explaining it upfront is going to be a heck of lot earsier than trying to explain if it is discovered (and some places may do background checks). Frankly, with the concerns about substance abuse, not disclosing a drug offense or DUI would be suspect.

 

[Gfunk6]

If I have a 250 Step I and 2 DUIs, do they cancel each other out? Am I forced to apply to a less competitive residency as a result?

Apologies, but I find this question to be hilarious.

Somehow, I doubt that a typical program director would look at your application thusly . . .

Prog Director 1: "Hmmm . . . a couple of DUI's . . . not so good. I'm not sure this applicant is a fit for our program."

Prog Director 2: "But he rocked Step I with a 250/99!!!"

Prog Director 1: "So?"

Prog Director 2: "Well, that means when he is sober he can really perform."

Prog Director 1: "Good point."

Edit: BTW the medicine program @ MGH has a one DUI hard cut-off . . .

 

[mudshadow]

v

 

[MonkeyRalph]

Does anyone else find this thread disturbing?

I think you should disclose them and take responsibility for your past. If they were >7 years ago, then I don't think they need to be disclosed, but within 7 years, they should be reported.
I wonder if you omitted these from your application when you applied to med school...

Also, I'm pretty sure they'll find out eventually regardless... I mean, now that they require background checks for 4th year away rotations, I'm pretty sure they'll be doing them for when you start internship.

 

[mudshadow]

v

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Competitive residencies have plenty of applicants with 250's and no DUI's.

 

[mudshadow]

v

 

[Blade28]

This is all moot until you take Step 1 anyway, right? Just focus on rocking that - a great score won't necessarily open up any doors, but a bad score will close them.

 

[yaah]

You really need to consult people with real experience in this matter, like your med school dean or a residency program director in a specialty you aren't applying in, or something. I think a lot of times people are hesitant to use their med school dean for tough things like this. They are there to help you. You are in their med school.

In my gut, I would say you have to be honest because getting caught for witholding info like this would be much worse than what happens if you admit it up front. But I am not sure.

 

[gleep and gloop]

I'm doing ERAS right now, and the only question it asks is "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" So, unless there's something I'm missing, it shouldn't be an issue for you in terms of affecting your residency application.

 

[MonkeyRalph]

Why did you arbitrarily decide on a 7 year cut off? What relevance does that have?

7 years is usually how far back most background checks look.
All the hospitals I rotated at this year did a 7 year background check, so I'd assume that 7 years is how far back your program will check when you match. If they find out you lied, at that point, they may decide to cancel your contract. I'm no expert, though. If the application asks only about felonies and not misdemeanors, then that's a different story. I'm pretty sure a second DUI is considered a felony, though. Again, I'm no expert.

 

[gutonc]

I have nothing useful to contribute to this thread per se. However, I find it interesting that if somebody asks a question about a medical problem they or a friend/relative has, in a forum full of people w/ medical knowledge, it gets shut down in a heartbeat. If, however, somebody asks a legal question, in the same forum, where people don't know their legal head from a hole in the ground, it's allowed to run rampant.

I understand why medical advice threads are banned, why not legal advice too?

Actually, I just decided I do have something useful to contribute. To the OP...consult a lawyer, not a bunch of pre-/med students and doctors.

 

[3dtp]

I have nothing useful to contribute to this thread per se. However, I find it interesting that if somebody asks a question about a medical problem they or a friend/relative has, in a forum full of people w/ medical knowledge, it gets shut down in a heartbeat. If, however, somebody asks a legal question, in the same forum, where people don't know their legal head from a hole in the ground, it's allowed to run rampant.

I understand why medical advice threads are banned, why not legal advice too?

Actually, I just decided I do have something useful to contribute. To the OP...consult a lawyer, not a bunch of pre-/med students and doctors.

There is also another route other than the lawyer. Most states have a physician substance abuse counselling program and your school should have such a counsellor. Consult them.

The reality is that most residencies have one or two residents per class that either have or will have a substance abuse issue. Most residencies will also have one or more faculty members who have a substance abuse issue as well. Frequently these are ignored until there is a disaster or there is un-ignorable evidence.

Your convictions are evidence that there was/might be a problem which will raise concerns. The advantage of the physician counselling programs in many states is that they have an astonishing success rate in rehabbing problem docs.

If your state does have a safe haven for self-reporting what is in your past to the substance abuse counsellor for your program/school, then I think you may wish to consider asking that person the exact same question you posed on this forum. Then when the issue is raised, you can report that you did seek counselling under the counselling programs, followed their recommendations and successfully completed the counselling. Just heard about this program recently myself, so I don't know that much about it, but this is the way it was presented to us.

And, if you do check this option out,...please do tell us....inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Blade28]

However, I find it interesting that if somebody asks a question about a medical problem they or a friend/relative has, in a forum full of people w/ medical knowledge, it gets shut down in a heartbeat. If, however, somebody asks a legal question, in the same forum, where people don't know their legal head from a hole in the ground, it's allowed to run rampant.

That's a damn good point.

 

[docB]

I have nothing useful to contribute to this thread per se. However, I find it interesting that if somebody asks a question about a medical problem they or a friend/relative has, in a forum full of people w/ medical knowledge, it gets shut down in a heartbeat. If, however, somebody asks a legal question, in the same forum, where people don't know their legal head from a hole in the ground, it's allowed to run rampant.

I understand why medical advice threads are banned, why not legal advice too?

Actually, I just decided I do have something useful to contribute. To the OP...consult a lawyer, not a bunch of pre-/med students and doctors.

That's true but if someone gets and follows bad medical advice they could die. If they get and follow bad advice on a topic such as this they might suffer career damage. Bad advice on a topic like this might be similar to bad advice about setting up your third year rotations, when to take your boards or what MCAT prep to take.

 

[Long Dong]

I'm doing ERAS right now, and the only question it asks is "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"

Yeah that's all I remember it asking as well when I was applying for residency last year.

 

[yaah]

I have nothing useful to contribute to this thread per se. However, I find it interesting that if somebody asks a question about a medical problem they or a friend/relative has, in a forum full of people w/ medical knowledge, it gets shut down in a heartbeat. If, however, somebody asks a legal question, in the same forum, where people don't know their legal head from a hole in the ground, it's allowed to run rampant.

Legal question threads are often closed, it all depends on the circumstances and the question. This has been left open mostly because it is an issue that lots of people probably are confronted with and are curious about. A lot of the "medical advice" questions are actually legal questions, looking for evidence to back up someone's malpractice claim or whatever. And the medical questions are more problematic for this site.

Obviously, no one should take any legal advice you receive on here too seriously.

 

[gstrub]

I can contribute some info here.

In 2001, my senior year in college, I got a trespassing offense. It is a misdemeanor. Our dean sent a message to all med students regarding criminal convictions recently, because the VA hospital was running background checks on med students and several people came up with "hits." He requested any student with any type of record email him the details and an explanation so they could add it to their file.

I did this, and asked him about how this would effect my residency. He told me it would not effect it at all...residency applications do not require you to disclose these offenses, but the medical state license application will, so you will have to disclose it then. Additionally, he told me that unless the circumstances are very suspect (drug charges or multiple DUIs in medical school...not so much in college), that it would not effect competitiveness.

I agree that in these circumstances, if asked, disclose everything. However, if the questions only ask about felonies or drug charges, I wouldn't offer any information. You can't be held responsible if they don't ask the questions. My only other advice is don't get any more DUIs.