I was reading through old threads of potential med school applicants who identified themselves as recovering addicts, looking for information as to what to expect for myself. I first read the really old posts from the mid-2000's; people's responses were disheartening, to say the least. Of course its 2018, and its fair to say that addiction is not seen as a defect of moral character to the same degree as it was back then. I think the more recent threads I read through demonstrate this, and it is heartwarming to see the progress that has been made. That being said, of course addiction would still be a big red flag when deciding whether to accept an applicant to med school for obvious reasons. I want to mention a bit about my situation, since I am not sure that any one thread is adequately similar to my history.
I began using a legal herbal opiate daily at the end of high school, continuing into college. I did quite well my first semester, after that there is some rocky up and down which correlates to me trying to quit and different obstacles that got in the way (a jaw surgery where I was prescribed opioids, for example). Without divulging too much detail, I ended up withdrawing to get treatment, and was granted relief from my last semester. By this time, I had been using very strong opioids multiple times a day for 4-6 weeks. The withdrawal was primarily for depression (at the time), but dealt with addiction as well. I did not truly comprehend the gravity of my addiction until I went to treatment. All of my attempts to get help were not coerced and completely voluntary, and I have never been in trouble with the law or with my school. I did not "party" with drugs, I did them alone as a way to cope with depression.
It might sound like I am minimizing my addiction- that is because I am. To be clear, I do not think that the fact that I used a legal herb the majority of the time, that I generally didn't do things that would have attracted police attention, or that I was (relatively) honest about my addiction to family and doctors makes me any less of an addict that anyone else in my personal opinion. However, given the way addiction is still viewed (its hard to not judge morality), I wonder if these aspects of my story may reduce the size of the red flag to adcoms, so to speak. In other threads, I have seen people ask the OP about whether they broke laws, etc. I assume the thinking is that if someone is willing to forge prescriptions for themselves, for example, then when they get an actual license to prescribe they will be that much more likely to abuse the privileges than an addict that has never forged them. I personally believe that under the right circumstances, addicts (including myself) are capable of things we would never imagine possible, even during previous phases of active addiction. In my opinion, my not having done something in the past does next to nothing to predict whether I would do that thing if I were to relapse. Of course, my opinion is not the one that matters.
I have just come back and am sitting at a GPA around 3.2-3.5, which I hope to get higher now that I go to class consistently and sober. I am actively engaging in my recovery, and attend 12-step meetings multiple times a week. I am completely abstinent from all substances and am past my first year sober.
I know that maybe technically I can get away with not mentioning addiction specifically anywhere on my application. I don't think I can bring myself to do that though. Honesty is a huge part of my recovery, and not mentioning it would be against my conscience.
If I were to have a 3.8+ gpa, and score >93th percentile on the MCAT along with the rest of the things that usually make one an otherwise strong applicant, is there anything in my story that might be a mitigating factor where I would otherwise be rejected? I know it is kind of ludicrous that part of my strength as an applicant in recovery would lie in the potential misconceptions adcoms' might have about addicts. I do not mean to be condescending to them; even as an addict I have trouble letting go of misconceptions I hold about addicts, including myself.
Please excuse grammatical/spelling errors and the kind of weird tone, I have not slept well the past few nights! I would be very grateful for any feedback, positive or negative, especially from those who are particularly qualified!!
I began using a legal herbal opiate daily at the end of high school, continuing into college. I did quite well my first semester, after that there is some rocky up and down which correlates to me trying to quit and different obstacles that got in the way (a jaw surgery where I was prescribed opioids, for example). Without divulging too much detail, I ended up withdrawing to get treatment, and was granted relief from my last semester. By this time, I had been using very strong opioids multiple times a day for 4-6 weeks. The withdrawal was primarily for depression (at the time), but dealt with addiction as well. I did not truly comprehend the gravity of my addiction until I went to treatment. All of my attempts to get help were not coerced and completely voluntary, and I have never been in trouble with the law or with my school. I did not "party" with drugs, I did them alone as a way to cope with depression.
It might sound like I am minimizing my addiction- that is because I am. To be clear, I do not think that the fact that I used a legal herb the majority of the time, that I generally didn't do things that would have attracted police attention, or that I was (relatively) honest about my addiction to family and doctors makes me any less of an addict that anyone else in my personal opinion. However, given the way addiction is still viewed (its hard to not judge morality), I wonder if these aspects of my story may reduce the size of the red flag to adcoms, so to speak. In other threads, I have seen people ask the OP about whether they broke laws, etc. I assume the thinking is that if someone is willing to forge prescriptions for themselves, for example, then when they get an actual license to prescribe they will be that much more likely to abuse the privileges than an addict that has never forged them. I personally believe that under the right circumstances, addicts (including myself) are capable of things we would never imagine possible, even during previous phases of active addiction. In my opinion, my not having done something in the past does next to nothing to predict whether I would do that thing if I were to relapse. Of course, my opinion is not the one that matters.
I have just come back and am sitting at a GPA around 3.2-3.5, which I hope to get higher now that I go to class consistently and sober. I am actively engaging in my recovery, and attend 12-step meetings multiple times a week. I am completely abstinent from all substances and am past my first year sober.
I know that maybe technically I can get away with not mentioning addiction specifically anywhere on my application. I don't think I can bring myself to do that though. Honesty is a huge part of my recovery, and not mentioning it would be against my conscience.
If I were to have a 3.8+ gpa, and score >93th percentile on the MCAT along with the rest of the things that usually make one an otherwise strong applicant, is there anything in my story that might be a mitigating factor where I would otherwise be rejected? I know it is kind of ludicrous that part of my strength as an applicant in recovery would lie in the potential misconceptions adcoms' might have about addicts. I do not mean to be condescending to them; even as an addict I have trouble letting go of misconceptions I hold about addicts, including myself.
Please excuse grammatical/spelling errors and the kind of weird tone, I have not slept well the past few nights! I would be very grateful for any feedback, positive or negative, especially from those who are particularly qualified!!
