Porn during undergrad, how much do committees want to know?

[This is my other account]

Here's a question that I don't think has been posted before on this board (at least my cursory search of the forum showed no results) and it's one that I don't really know how to ask.

Let me set the stage, I have a 3.2 GPA (chemistry classes are a definite weakness for me) I have retaken classes and am planning on applying mainly to DO schools. The majority of the advice I have read on SDN advocates redemption by showing medical schools what you learned, how you made the changes you needed to in order to succeed in undergrad and will be a successful student during the rigorous demands of medical school.

My biggest challenge that I had in my undergraduate career was an addiction to pornography. It was debilitating to me, I wasted my study time, it affected my discipline (especially when I was stressed around exam time) and harmed my performance. It wasn't a small thing where I would waste an hour or two a week, it was a serious issue for me that consumed me. I managed to stay afloat in classes and in my school work but I cheated myself of the chance to succeed in the way that medical schools demand applicants succeed. This past year I have been able to make massive changes in my life and am happy to say that I have put this behind me (mostly) and it shows in my academic performance. I'm taking a load of hard classes this semester and am currently killing it.

My question is this: how much do I tell/should I tell?
This is something that I'm really ashamed of and only am asking from the comfort of anonymity that SDN provides. How much do admissions want to know? Should I play this close to the chest and just say "I learned good study habits, corrected mistakes I made, re-prioritized etc"?

Any advice is welcome.
Thanks.

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[TheLionheart]

I'm going to go ahead and say you should never say the words "addicted to porn" or any permutation of on an application. Anywhere.

If you want to explain your lackluster early performance, then you can talk about growing as a student, making lifestyle changes, etc. Not sure how many semesters you have left, but if that 3.2 is freshman year, and you continue to demonstrate good grades, then the upward trend will speak for itself.

 

[AspiringERMD]

I wouldn't mention it explicitly at all. There are a million generic ways to put it... lack of time management and priorities, etc.

 

[Salt Salt]

I thought this was going to be about how you were a porn actor, not a porn addict. Kind of put out.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Absolutely do not mention this.

 

[MrLogan13]

Don't talk about this. At all.

 

[Salt Salt]

Good for you for making changes OP! Don't feel that others on here are dismissing your struggle or downplaying your success in changing it; they just mean that it's such a taboo topic that adcoms, consciously or unconsciously, will probably hold it against you.

I vote to play it safe as well.

 

[RxStudentatUB]

2/10

 

[22031 Alum]

I thought you had acting credits and were famous in certain circles. This is a much easier question. Do not mention or even allude to porn. Just describe the need to learn and improve time management skills.

 

[Omppu27]

I thought this was going to be about how you were a porn actor, not a porn addict. Kind of put out.

Kind of?

But yeah, OP, don't bring it up.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Never mention this in anyway. If/when you get in I would recommend the same advice.

 

[allantois]

Why is this a question?

 

[PantherPride]

Where was this post when the "Worst EC's to include on your application" thread was popular

 

[theriomorphos]

.

 

[KillaKitteh]

Sadly, although addiction to porn is a very real issue it is still a no-no in the professional world to talk about it (and the general populace does not understand the mental health issues associated with it/are in denial about it being an issue in any regard). I know someone in a similar situation who went through some lifestyle changes and so forth and has recovered, but they also were unable to discuss this within their career/professional circle. Don't bring it up and don't hint at it in a way that puts you in an awkward position at any interviews; be sure to have a way to explain your lifestyle changes (i.e., because I wasted too much time on media/Internet) that does not divulge the porn addiction. I'm sorry, but if you really need people to talk about it with there are anonymous support groups or perhaps you have close friends/family you already can talk with--again, the professional world is not the place. Best wishes to you.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

I thought this was going to be about how you were a porn actor, not a porn addict. Kind of put out.

I have a classmate who did a few low budget amateur porn shoots during undergrad if that makes you feel better.

 

[SydSing]

Was kinda hoping you were worried about having been seen on an amateur porn and whether or not to address it proactively. :/

But to address your question... don't.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Should've been an alcoholic/drug addict OP.

 

[mehc012]

How much would your grandma want to know at Thanksgiving dinner (pre-spiked eggnog)? Keep it to that level.

And yes, I know that in some families that's dangerous advice...but hey, if that level of sharing is who you are, it'll come through somewhere in your app!

 

[sazerac]

Should've been an alcoholic/drug addict OP.

Strange how some addictions are okay to mention and others are taboo. The medical community is not very consistent (or supportive) on porn addiction, apparently.

 

[Doug Underhill]

In general, don't mention your addiction to things that are only psychologically addictive. World of Warcraft would be another addiction that you should leave off your app.

 

[deleted436726]

In response to the question posed in the thread title:

They want to know everything. The scenes you watched, the names of the actors and actresses, and the exact time in the video where you climaxed.

 

[Law2Doc]

Not sure a field where you have people disrobe and examine them is a good thing to go into if you are actually a porn addict. Sort of like an alcoholic working in a bar.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Strange how some addictions are okay to mention and others are taboo. The medical community is not very consistent (or supportive) on porn addiction, apparently.

It took decades for the medical community to come around to alcohol and drugs being anything more than a moral failing, this shouldn't be too surprising.

 

[moonwake]

Here's a question that I don't think has been posted before on this board (at least my cursory search of the forum showed no results) and it's one that I don't really know how to ask.

Let me set the stage, I have a 3.2 GPA (chemistry classes are a definite weakness for me) I have retaken classes and am planning on applying mainly to DO schools. The majority of the advice I have read on SDN advocates redemption by showing medical schools what you learned, how you made the changes you needed to in order to succeed in undergrad and will be a successful student during the rigorous demands of medical school.

My biggest challenge that I had in my undergraduate career was an addiction to pornography. It was debilitating to me, I wasted my study time, it affected my discipline (especially when I was stressed around exam time) and harmed my performance. It wasn't a small thing where I would waste an hour or two a week, it was a serious issue for me that consumed me. I managed to stay afloat in classes and in my school work but I cheated myself of the chance to succeed in the way that medical schools demand applicants succeed. This past year I have been able to make massive changes in my life and am happy to say that I have put this behind me (mostly) and it shows in my academic performance. I'm taking a load of hard classes this semester and am currently killing it.

My question is this: how much do I tell/should I tell?
This is something that I'm really ashamed of and only am asking from the comfort of anonymity that SDN provides. How much do admissions want to know? Should I play this close to the chest and just say "I learned good study habits, corrected mistakes I made, re-prioritized etc"?

Any advice is welcome.
Thanks.

Aww man I was having such a good day, why would you post about this.

 

[Snakes]

Can someone please write an article entitled "Oversharing Is Not Always Awesome: Topics that Should Never Be Shared With a Potential Employer" and distribute it to all of the Millennials??

You are essentially trying to get a job, not educate the world about the dangers of porn addiction. This goes for pretty much every addiction of any nature. It is perfectly acceptable to discuss hardship and character building without giving all of the details. The details get in the way of hearing about the hardship and character building.

 

[NeuroMaster316]

OP ignore these horrible advicez bruh. Be proud of you overcoming Man's biggest weakness, share your story in the interview. Hell even throw in a couple of site names so they can validate your claims. Above all, use all the techniques you have learned and spin it around in favor of medicine. Tell them how you can now quickly diagnose certain types of pain, and demonstrate the mechanism by which injury occurs.
You hit a gold mine here OP, this was a blessing in disguise.

 

[Planes2Doc]

As most people in this thread have all said, it's probably best to keep this on the down-low. No need to tell ADCOMs about every little detail of your life. It's very common to see underclassmen start of weak, and then progressively get better in college.

However, if you want to play a very dangerous game of Medical School Admissions Russian Roulette, you can go ahead and make this the center-point of your application. What do I mean by this? Well, you can either win, and gain a coveted medical school acceptance. Or... You can end up committing medical school application suicide.

See this article: http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2011/06/among_oregon_health_science_un.html

I actually posted a thread of the aforementioned article a few years back... This medical student was open about her history of drug abuse, and was successful in medical school and then made her way onto residency. Now, she might divide people into two drastically different camps. One group of people might view her as a hero, while another group might view her as an irresponsible idiot who brought the addiction entirely upon herself. So if you were to take part in ECs centered around this (assuming you have no criminal convictions such as soliciting a prostitute), such as volunteering at a battered women's shelter, volunteering at a "John's school" program, or joining/forming a group helping out pornography addicts, then you might have a case. Alcohol and drug addiction are definitely viewed in a different and more so positive light (if that's the correct term to use) by the medical community. I'm sure that at a certain point, pornography, sex addiction, and other similar things will be viewed the same way.

I'm glad that you've admitted that you have a problem, and have worked to fix it. That's a huge step that a lot of addicts aren't willing to undertake. Stay the course, and if you feel like you're relapsing, don't be afraid to seek help. The damage this can cause when spiraling out of control is huge. What happens when pornography no longer fuels your desires? You might end up looking for escorts online. When I read the Chicago Tribune website on a daily basis, I almost always see articles about sex stings occurring in the area. It would absolutely suck to get caught up in that, and it will surely blow your chances.

Ultimately, I would highly recommend you not mentioning this. If you have to ask on a forum, that means that your sixth sense is kicking in, and telling you that this might be a bad idea. All of the responses point to this. But, if you are a gambler and want to make your application stand out (for better or much [much] worse), then go ahead and add it along with related ECs.

 

[Snakes]

There was a different thread on an unrelated topic, specifically egg donation, that asked a similar question a couple of days ago. There is nothing wrong with egg donation, in my opinion. I'm all for it. But it's an inappropriate topic for a job application/interview. Period. It is a wonderful topic for a periodical which seeks out personal perspective with respect to fertility issues. It is a terrible topic for a potential employer for the following reasons: 1) boundaries and 2) it puts your potential employer in a legally bad position. Employers may not ask potential employees questions about protected statuses, including age, gender, questions about family/marital status/children, and disabilities. Past addiction arguably qualifies. So even if you lay it all out there voluntarily, your interviewers probably shouldn't ask you about it. Now you've got a problem. And your interviewer has a problem.

 

[Psai]

no one wants to know bro

 

[darkeon]

No speaky of where your hands were for most of undergrad to adcom.

On another note,
Everything is good in moderation.

 

[The Buff OP]

I don't even know why I bothered to click this. Oh, because it said "porn."

 

[deleted577188]

You people get more and more interesting every day.

 

[NeuResurgens]

Oh myyyy.

Yeah.. probably best not to mention this in too much detail. Still kind of a taboo topic in professional settings.

 

[Goro]

The patients he's going to examine will look nothing like Seka or Peter North (note: showing my age here).

Not sure a field where you have people disrobe and examine them is a good thing to go into if you are actually a porn addict. Sort of like an alcoholic working in a bar.

 

[darkeon]

The patients he's going to examine will look nothing like Seka or Peter North (note: showing my age here).

That's a shame

 

[clocks123]

There is absolutely no reason you need to mention this.
But, on the other hand, if you were a porn star turned doctor, that would be one hell of a story

 

[touchpause13]

You probably should never mention this to anyone outside of a psychologist ' s office, ever. Especially not in this context. Just.... no

 

[touchpause13]

The patients he's going to examine will look nothing like Seka or Peter North (note: showing my age here).

Those are references I understand!
For real though I don't see any correlation between porn and physical exams, one is fantasy and the other is ridiculously non sexual reality.

 

[WastedTime]

u should come clean ... your hairy palms might give it away

 

[Kelevra]

They'll know immediately in interviews after you death grip that handshake.

 

[Ophthoseidon]

But guys, that's an interesting EC with potentially 1000's of hours! It could make an interesting interview conversation!

But in all seriousness...

 

[I'mJustCurious]

I thought this thread was going to be about you doing porn in undergrad and wanting to know if you should bring that up as an EC. But yeah don't bring up that addiction.

 

[touchpause13]

I thought this thread was going to be about you doing porn in undergrad and wanting to know if you should bring that up as an EC. But yeah don't bring up that addiction.

The answer is the same either way

 

[Promethean]

In response to the question posed in the thread title:

They want to know everything. The scenes you watched, the names of the actors and actresses, and the exact time in the video where you climaxed.

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Law2Doc]

The patients he's going to examine will look nothing like Seka or Peter North (note: showing my age here).

Given the likely ages of those actors today, I'd say the typical patient will look exactly like them (now).