Reinitiated my education as a fresh start, will adcoms know about my ugly first try

[AA242]

Out of high school I went to college for one semester and dropped out, having performed poorly. Unfortunately, chemistry was among the courses I took. Years later I re-initiated my education, starting from scratch, and with no record of my past failure. I have done well and am now being accepted in to quality post bacc programs. Will I be compelled to provide my full history to medical school admissions?

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[The Helpful Aye Aye]

Out of high school I went to college for one semester and dropped out, having performed poorly. Unfortunately, chemistry was among the courses I took. Years later I re-initiated my education, starting from scratch, and with no record of my past failure. I have done well and am now being accepted in to quality post bacc programs. Will I be compelled to provide my full history to medical school admissions?

yup

 

[AA242]

yup

And would that badly damage my prospects? Hypothetically, If omitted, would they know?

 

[Juldarus]

And would that badly damage my prospects? Hypothetically, If omitted, would they know?

Don't try to hide anything. If you have done well on your courses since then and have crushed the MCAT, this won't hurt you, especially if you are a non-trad and this happened when you were in your teens.

Make sure in your PS/interviews/etc. you emphasize how you have learned and matured since then.

 

[Womb Raider]

I know people in your situation who didn't send in the transcripts from the school they went to originally (in your case, the one you dropped out of). If you didn't go back to that school, I'm not sure how they would know you ever attended there.

 

[ConfusedFulbrightScholar]

Out of high school I went to college for one semester and dropped out, having performed poorly. Unfortunately, chemistry was among the courses I took. Years later I re-initiated my education, starting from scratch, and with no record of my past failure. I have done well and am now being accepted in to quality post bacc programs. Will I be compelled to provide my full history to medical school admissions?

You can't omit anything. I think it really is in your best interest to be truthful. Anyways, on your application it will ask for transcripts for every college you've attended.

If it was 1 semester, shouldn't hurt your GPA too too much.

 

[medic86]

Out of high school I went to college for one semester and dropped out, having performed poorly. Unfortunately, chemistry was among the courses I took. Years later I re-initiated my education, starting from scratch, and with no record of my past failure. I have done well and am now being accepted in to quality post bacc programs. Will I be compelled to provide my full history to medical school admissions?

Are you a Texas resident receiving an academic fresh start?

TMDSAS ignores your grades from before an academic fresh start. AMCAS and AACOMAS will require all coursework ever taken.

 

[tiedyeddog]

As said above, AMCAS will consider all college work.

Adcoms, on the other hand, may disregard the old college work if it was a long time ago and you have a good reason for it. Adcoms should get a break down of you GPAs by college attended so it will be there for them to see. The old college work will hurt you overall GPA but if it is just 1 semester it should be salvageable.

 

[Goro]

There's a clearing house for this sort of information.

Lie on an pp and you might as well set it on fire.

Just do better in your current coursework. Your case is very common and med schools reward people who reinvent themselves.

And would that badly damage my prospects? Hypothetically, If omitted, would they know?

 

[AA242]

Thanks for the insights. I wish I was a TX resident-- I grew up there

 

[MrLogan13]

You had one bad semester. I had 1.5 years of all F's and D's. Went back to school almost a decade later and did very well, but my past poor performance really dragged my GPA down. Did it hurt me this past cycle? Yeah, I'm sure it did. But I was still able to have a successful cycle. I don't think one bad semester is going to kill you as long as you have reinvented yourself and are doing much better now.

 

[MrLogan13]

I know people in your situation who didn't send in the transcripts from the school they went to originally (in your case, the one you dropped out of). If you didn't go back to that school, I'm not sure how they would know you ever attended there.

Dude, they can check the National Student Clearinghouse. They can verify what schools you've gone to. Lying about stuff like that on an application is not only wrong, there's way more risk than reward.

 

[Womb Raider]

Dude, they can check the National Student Clearinghouse. They can verify what schools you've gone to. Lying about stuff like that on an application is not only wrong, there's way more risk than reward.

Lol man...

You think med schools scan every student applicant for every single school the the nation for whether or not they attended? LOL Give me a break dude and wake up, this isn't a criminal background check.

 

[Tintinnabula]

Lol man...

You think med schools scan every student applicant for every single school the the nation for whether or not they attended? LOL Give me a break dude and wake up, this isn't a criminal background check.

You seem to think that checking this kind of thing is a hugely time consuming task. It's not: make list of applicants you'd like to check, post inquiry to the clearinghouse database, get results back, populate form with that information. Have whatever form you're populating highlight discrepancies between AMCAS-reported, student-reported, and clearinghouse-reported. So you're right that it isn't a criminal background check, it's faster and easier.

 

[Just Call Me Doc]

Lol man...

You think med schools scan every student applicant for every single school the the nation for whether or not they attended? LOL Give me a break dude and wake up, this isn't a criminal background check.

Most likely it won't get to the med school. AMCAS will scan the database during the verification, see you're missing a school/transcript, put your application on hold, request the transcript from you, and then throw you back in the queue after they've received it. You'll probably lose a few weeks getting that sorted out by trying to omit any schools you've gone to.

 

[gyngyn]

Lol man...

You think med schools scan every student applicant for every single school the the nation for whether or not they attended? LOL Give me a break dude and wake up, this isn't a criminal background check.

"Omitting" a school you attended will not only delay AMCAS verification, if you appear to be doing so to enhance your prospects an investigation will ensue that will be sent to all the schools to which you have applied.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Don't lie about this. If you have the credentials to show you've redeemed yourself, you'll still get in.

 

[Goro]

Please restrain your ignorance of the admissions process. In this case , your ignorance is harmful.

Lol man...

You think med schools scan every student applicant for every single school the the nation for whether or not they attended? LOL Give me a break dude and wake up, this isn't a criminal background check.

 

[sephora89]

Lol man...

You think med schools scan every student applicant for every single school the the nation for whether or not they attended? LOL Give me a break dude and wake up, this isn't a criminal background check.

Actually, yes, they do. Have you heard of the National Student Clearinghouse?

 

[MrLogan13]

Actually, yes, they do. Have you heard of the National Student Clearinghouse?

I don't think he has.

 

[Womb Raider]

Haha wow... I admit I don't know AMCAS' policy on this, I was just assuming they didn't check since I personally know someone who didn't report any of their dual-credit classes in high school (college credit) because they re-took them when they actually got to undergrad, and had absolutely no problems with AMCAS. So I guess he just got lucky and went unnoticed or what you guys are saying either isn't true or didn't happen a few years ago.

Anyway, if I were on the ad com I'd be more concerned with whether or not they made an A. Who cares if they failed the class at another school - how/why is this relevant to their ability to academically succeed in med school?

 

[RxStudentatUB]

Haha wow... I admit I don't know AMCAS' policy on this, I was just assuming they didn't check since I personally know someone who didn't report any of their dual-credit classes in high school (college credit) because they re-took them when they actually got to undergrad, and had absolutely no problems with AMCAS. So I guess he just got lucky and went unnoticed or what you guys are saying either isn't true or didn't happen a few years ago.

Anyway, if I were on the ad com I'd be more concerned with whether or not they made an A. Who cares if they failed the class at another school - how/why is this relevant to their ability to academically succeed in med school?

Pre-med?

Let me put it this way, there probably isn't a high correlation between failing at another school and doing well in medical school but the fact that you willingly omitted something when the application clearly tells you otherwise is a clear breach in ethics. If you don't get caught now doing something unethical, the chances of you doing something unethical later in your career is pretty high due to human nature. Let's keep medicine or at least its image as clean as possible and leave the dirty cheaters and scammers to finance and major banks.

 

[Goro]

Concur. There's good evidence that unethical doctors start our as unethical students. My clinical colleagues take professionalism very seriously. And womb raider, avoid the sin of solipsism.

Pre-med?

Let me put it this way, there probably isn't a high correlation between failing at another school and doing well in medical school but the fact that you willingly omitted something when the application clearly tells you otherwise is a clear breach in ethics. If you don't get caught now doing something unethical, the chances of you doing something unethical later in your career is pretty high due to human nature. Let's keep medicine or at least its image as clean as possible and leave the dirty cheaters and scammers to finance and major banks.

 

[MrLogan13]

Haha wow... I admit I don't know AMCAS' policy on this, I was just assuming they didn't check since I personally know someone who didn't report any of their dual-credit classes in high school (college credit) because they re-took them when they actually got to undergrad, and had absolutely no problems with AMCAS. So I guess he just got lucky and went unnoticed or what you guys are saying either isn't true or didn't happen a few years ago.

Anyway, if I were on the ad com I'd be more concerned with whether or not they made an A. Who cares if they failed the class at another school - how/why is this relevant to their ability to academically succeed in med school?

Your friend got lucky that it didn't show up in his clearinghouse report. If it ever pops up then it'll be known that he falsified his AMCAS, which could have consequences.

 

[AA242]

OP here, I have been accepted to several post bacc programs without disclosing my bad start- I foolishly thought it was not needed or relevant. Does this damage my standing with these programs? What should I do now?

 

[MrLogan13]

OP here, I have been accepted to several post bacc programs without disclosing my bad start- I foolishly thought it was not needed or relevant. Does this damage my standing with these programs? What should I do now?

Maybe not with the post-baccs, but when you apply to med schools you're gonna have to disclose that you took those classes.

 

[Womb Raider]

So I contacted AMCAS to ask this question. Turns out the way they verify your coursework and college attendance is by comparing what you entered on AMCAS to the transcripts you submit, and they don't use some national database (e.g. Clearinghouse) to scan every applicant for validity. That's what their representative told me. So do you guys know something I don't? Can someone show me where AMCAS states that they use the National Student Clearinghouse on every applicant? That, combined with my own anecdotal experience makes me believe they don't use the database on all applicants.

 

[gyngyn]

So I contacted AMCAS to ask this question. Turns out the way they verify your coursework and college attendance is by comparing what you entered on AMCAS to the transcripts you submit, and they don't use some national database (e.g. Clearinghouse) to scan every applicant for validity. That's what their representative told me. So do you guys know something I don't? Can someone show me where AMCAS states that they use the National Student Clearinghouse on every applicant? That, combined with my own anecdotal experience makes me believe they don't use the database on all applicants.

I can tell you that investigations in which a student has falsified or failed to report attendance to AMCAS has resulted in a notification to us regarding this behavior.

 

[RxStudentatUB]

I can tell you that investigations in which a student has falsified or failed to report attendance to AMCAS has resulted in a notification to us regarding this behavior.

Let this pre-med try it.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Also it should be noted that if you are accepted to medical school based on an application you falsified and they can kick you out. Even if they find out after you've attended for a couple years and racked up the tuition.

So, let's do the math here. You have a brief stint where you performed badly. You've been doing well and have doors open to you. There are plenty of people on this forum that have made similar comebacks while fully disclosing their entire academic history. They aren't at risk of losing everything they've accomplished and worked so hard for.

Or you could bust your tail from here on out, do well, falsify your app. because you're scared, get accepted. Spend the rest of your medical school scared that someone will find out and you'll get booted. Possibly get booted and be out all that hard work and tuition.

It's easy to do the school search and it's easy to do this math.

 

[RxStudentatUB]

CONCLUSION: If you want any shot of getting into medical school in the states, be honest, especially something that can be backed up with documentation. If you want to throw away money to AMCAS and get blacklisted from ever practicing medicine, try to pull a fast one. I am also suggesting to be honest with your EC's and essay, as your interviewers can mostly see straight through liars unless you are a crazed sociopath to start off with, then you should not even be going near medicine in the first place.

 

[Mad Jack]

I know people in your situation who didn't send in the transcripts from the school they went to originally (in your case, the one you dropped out of). If you didn't go back to that school, I'm not sure how they would know you ever attended there.

There's a central service that tracks every school you've ever filled out a FAFSA for:
http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/

Some schools routinely check it to verify prior enrollment, others don't. All it takes is one of them to contact the AMCAS and report a violation for you to be banned from the service for five years. I wouldn't risk it, personally. Even after admission, if you were ever found out, you could be expelled or even have your degree rescinded, depending on how much of an example of you they wanted to make.

 

[Mad Jack]

You are absolutely correct: AMCAS does not check ( at least not fully yet; more on that later )

It is checked by the actual medical school you have been accepted to at post admissions/pre matriculation step.

Every medical school requires each student submit official transcripts for direct check of academic records, proof of degree earned, fulfillment of prerequisites, etc. Typically this will include .... wait for it.... a National Student Clearing House report. In addition, virtually every student will file FASFA form and get report from DOE will include student loans records for undergraduate institutions, which will show what schools you have attended. So it would popup that point, after you have been accepted, which would lead to a probable withdrawal of that acceptance and unlikely ever being accepted again at MD or DO

And soon, AMCAS will in fact be checking it as it has officially partnered with .... wait for it... the National Student Clearing House for transcripts soon to be the only method for submission of these documents.

http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/about/media_center/press_releases/files/release_2013-11-06.pdf

Oh damn, beat me to it. Glad they're finally officially partnering so we can be done with some of the admissions fraud out there.

 

[wholeheartedly]

I'm just glad it'll be a one stop shop.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Let this pre-med try it.

I love when people come onto a premed forum and use pre-med in a derogatory fashion. It's kind of sad really.

 

[sliceofbread136]

I would generally agree with you but when commenting on a reply poster who keeps persistently promoting unethical behavior and who is ignorant of the admissions process garners little sympathy from me. Its one thing getting questions from premeds who really would prefer to let a forgiven grade be forgotten or an online class that is not noted as such; that is a question I get all the time and this year seems more that most. It is quite another to let someone on the sound stage that is SDN pushing unethical behavior. And this reply poster is the first I a have had this year going over the line.

Yes I agree with you that the poster who is promoting unethical behavior is wrong. I also thing it is wrong (and just plain stupid tbh) to put someone down for where they currently are in their education.

 

[RxStudentatUB]

I love when people come onto a premed forum and use pre-med in a derogatory fashion. It's kind of sad really.

Let me breakdown my sentence: Let this pre-med try it.

By definition, "this" is defined as an English word used to indicate a person, thing, idea, state, etc. Before I made that statement, there was a user with a Pre-medical signature that asked a question about omitting information on the medical school application. Sometimes, we refer to a pre-medical student as "pre-med" to save time. At what point in this sentence did you feel targeted? I did not call you out specifically, nor was I generalizing this user's intent to cheat the system to all pre-meds, as used by the word "this."

 

[sliceofbread136]

Let me breakdown my sentence: Let this pre-med try it.

By definition, "this" is defined as an English word used to indicate a person, thing, idea, state, etc. Before I made that statement, there was a user with a Pre-medical signature that asked a question about omitting information on the medical school application. Sometimes, we refer to a pre-medical student as "pre-med" to save time. At what point in this sentence did you feel targeted? I did not call you out specifically, nor was I generalizing this user's intent to cheat the system to all pre-meds, as used by the word "this."

I do not feel targeted as I am not a premed. To me it seemed that you were you using the term "pre-med" to put this guy down in more than one post, which I think is wrong. Reading over your posts again it still appears that way to me, but if I am mistaken I apologize

 

[Womb Raider]

I would generally agree with you but when commenting on a reply poster who keeps persistently promoting unethical behavior and who is ignorant of the admissions process garners little sympathy from me. Its one thing getting questions from premeds who really would prefer to let a forgiven grade be forgotten or an online class that is not noted as such; that is a question I get all the time and this year seems more that most. It is quite another to let someone on the sound stage that is SDN pushing unethical behavior. And this reply poster is the first I a have had this year going over the line.

I was waiting for this... I haven't been "persistently promoting unethical behavior" at all. All I'm trying to do is get the facts straight. I don't like it when people come on here and spew false information (especially from the ad coms members and MDs).

The only thing I had a problem with was the claim that AMCAS scanned every single applicant for a comprehensive college attendance history, which I thought was BS. People called me ignorant and told me I was wrong, but guess what, they didn't know what they were talking about either.

The fact that lying on your application is unethical doesn't excuse making up stories (one could say lying) in order to further your point / instill fear in the pre-meds. I'd rather give them the objective facts and let them decide for themselves whether or not they should lie on their application. After all, if they know that there is a good possibility that they can get away with it and yet still refuse to lie, I think that is more impressive than abstaining from lying (and more indicative of integrity) simply because they saw no other alternative.

Anyway, I never said anything that promoted lying on the application but I'm not surprised in the least that you guys jumped all over me, typical liberal mindset that is so prevalent here...

 

[Stagg737]

OP here, I have been accepted to several post bacc programs without disclosing my bad start- I foolishly thought it was not needed or relevant. Does this damage my standing with these programs? What should I do now?

I would call them up and inform them that the information was omitted because you didn't realize it was required. The whole point of post-bac programs is to help bring your GPA up, finish pre-reqs that you didn't take, and to prove you're capable of doing graduate level work. If you really didn't realize it was required, I highly doubt any of the programs will hold it against you and would likely just tell you to send them the transcript.

Either way, the post-bacc programs probably aren't going to care that much. Just make sure you don't make the same mistake when it comes time to apply for med school.

 

[Goro]

Good reading comprehension is required in med school and for Boards, WR. Go re-read Gonnif's posts.

I was waiting for this... I haven't been "persistently promoting unethical behavior" at all. All I'm trying to do is get the facts straight. I don't like it when people come on here and spew false information (especially from the ad coms members and MDs).

The only thing I had a problem with was the claim that AMCAS scanned every single applicant for a comprehensive college attendance history, which I thought was BS. People called me ignorant and told me I was wrong, but guess what, they didn't know what they were talking about either.

The fact that lying on your application is unethical doesn't excuse making up stories (one could say lying) in order to further your point / instill fear in the pre-meds. I'd rather give them the objective facts and let them decide for themselves whether or not they should lie on their application. After all, if they know that there is a good possibility that they can get away with it and yet still refuse to lie, I think that is more impressive than abstaining from lying (and more indicative of integrity) simply because they saw no other alternative.

Anyway, I never said anything that promoted lying on the application but I'm not surprised in the least that you guys jumped all over me, typical liberal mindset that is so prevalent here...

 

[MrLogan13]

I was waiting for this... I haven't been "persistently promoting unethical behavior" at all. All I'm trying to do is get the facts straight. I don't like it when people come on here and spew false information (especially from the ad coms members and MDs).

The only thing I had a problem with was the claim that AMCAS scanned every single applicant for a comprehensive college attendance history, which I thought was BS. People called me ignorant and told me I was wrong, but guess what, they didn't know what they were talking about either.

The fact that lying on your application is unethical doesn't excuse making up stories (one could say lying) in order to further your point / instill fear in the pre-meds. I'd rather give them the objective facts and let them decide for themselves whether or not they should lie on their application. After all, if they know that there is a good possibility that they can get away with it and yet still refuse to lie, I think that is more impressive than abstaining from lying (and more indicative of integrity) simply because they saw no other alternative.

Anyway, I never said anything that promoted lying on the application but I'm not surprised in the least that you guys jumped all over me, typical liberal mindset that is so prevalent here...

No one ever said AMCAS verifies every single applicant. What was said was that school attendance is checked against the National Clearinghouse at some point. Others have added that it's the school's themselves that will vet accepted students.

 

[Just Call Me Doc]

I have had the personal experience of AMCAS putting my application on hold and requesting for me to add an institution that I had accidentally omitted (perils of being a non-traditional who's attended various institutions over the many years). So I had to scramble to add the institution and coursework, request a transcript, and wait until they received it and re-start the verification of my application. I figure I lost several weeks from my mistake and did not get an acceptance that cycle (though there were most likely several factors that contributed to that).

I have no idea if they check every applicant for a comprehensive attendance history but my experience suggests that there is some level of verification. Just hoping to help others avoid the same headache I encountered.

 

[meander]

OP here, I have been accepted to several post bacc programs without disclosing my bad start- I foolishly thought it was not needed or relevant. Does this damage my standing with these programs? What should I do now?

In my post-bac, someone omitted an IA from his post-bac application, but included it in his AMCAS. Your post-bac advisors will have access to your AMCAS application, and as a result there were consequences for this student.

You're going to have to follow up with the post-bacs that accepted you and explain the situation. If you've already signed any kind of certification ("This is my full and complete record...") things might not go so well for you. Be humble and don't make excuses. Emphasize that it's important to you that you be accepted to the program on your merits and that your full application be evaluated. Knowing my program, I wouldn't be surprised if your acceptance is rescinded somewhere, but probably not everywhere.

Good luck.

 

[Goro]

I've found that the loose cannons on SDN (NOT referring to you, colleague!) tend not to stick around long. I surmise that they don't get into medical school either, as there's data suggesting that unstable posters on anonymous internet forums are just as unstable in real life. Alas, i don't have the citations.

I have no sympathy for a student has not taken any time to do even the most cursory read of any of official AMCAS instructions or FAQs where it would be abundantly clear what rules and obligations are for applying to medical school and implies in an arrogant manner to ignore these rules to others on the sounding board that is SDN. It is equivalent to a student who doesnt read the assigned text then stands up in class and tells the professor he is wrong.

My main purpose of remaining on SDN, where as most premed advisers and admissions staff have left because of the "toxicity" of the tone on here, is to provide accurate, verified and attributable information, with links to the appropriate sources. Because of my non-institutional position, I have the luxury of providing that where as my colleagues cannot. Additionally my work has me long interacting with premedical advisers, admissions staff and director across medical schools, as well as AAMC, AACOM and other organizations thus being able to provide a deep understanding of the process from multiple viewpoints. Anyone who reads these boards regularly know that and knows that can PM me for clarification and assistance on almost any issue concerning the admissions process. In fact, from my signature, you can easily find me directly, unlike most on here. But I will not take this kind of crap from a person who wishes to pursue medicine who is:

1) ignorant of the admissions process
2) does not seem to make an attempt other than a phone call to understand it
3) has an unprofessional tone
4) implies not getting caught is acceptable reason to ignore rules

While I dislike wasting time on mudslinging, you sir, are an idiot.

 

[Womb Raider]

I have no sympathy for a student has not taken any time to do even the most cursory read of any of official AMCAS instructions or FAQs where it would be abundantly clear what rules and obligations are for applying to medical school and implies in an arrogant manner to ignore these rules to others on the sounding board that is SDN. It is equivalent to a student who doesnt read the assigned text then stands up in class and tells the professor he is wrong.

But I will not take this kind of crap from a person who wishes to pursue medicine who is:

1) ignorant of the admissions process
2) does not seem to make an attempt other than a phone call to understand it
3) has an unprofessional tone
4) implies not getting caught is acceptable reason to ignore rules

While I dislike wasting time on mudslinging, you sir, are an idiot.

Haha someone has trouble keeping their emotions under control eh? Grab a beer or something pal.

I'm still confused why you think I'm ignorant on the process? In addition to calling AMCAS, I searched through the entire AMCAS website, as well as their 2016 Instruction Manual and found nothing regarding my initial complaint. I've also personally had a successful cycle.

I never implied that not getting caught is an acceptable reason to ignore rules, where did you get that?

I understand what the rules are, but I'm a person who questions the rules, always searching for their deeper meaning and whether or not they are BS, rather than blindly following a set of rules set by some unknown person. (I question pretty much everything, including people that say "You will ALWAYS get caught if you don't do x!!!"). This is not to say that I think that applicants should lie on their application, I simply wanted to prove that this isn't some air-tight system that so many of you make it out to be (and probably feel justified portraying in this way even if that itself is a lie, because of the underlying assumption that lying is unethical - like I said before, if you take the choice away, so too goes the moral praiseworthiness of the action).

Anyway, there's really not much more to say on this topic. It's clear you're unable to leave personal attacks out of our discourse (what was that you said about professionalism again?) so I'll take that as an opportunity to leave.

as there's data suggesting that unstable posters on anonymous internet forums are just as unstable in real life. Alas, i don't have the citations.

I would love to read this study. I'm particularly interested in how they tracked anonymous posters in real life and how they defined "unstable" posts. Not surprised you don't have the source.

 

[RxStudentatUB]

"I understand what the rules are, but I'm a person who questions the rules, always searching for their deeper meaning and whether or not they are BS, rather than blindly following a set of rules set by some unknown person."

I am not sure your preceptor or attending will be too pleased with this type of attitude.

 

[amad01]

I do not feel targeted as I am not a premed. To me it seemed that you were you using the term "pre-med" to put this guy down in more than one post, which I think is wrong. Reading over your posts again it still appears that way to me, but if I am mistaken I apologize

no you are looking for a reason to get butthurt and offended online by your imagination of a certain tone that you personally input with your mind when reading typed language, easily my biggest pet peeve of these forums.

 

[Mad Jack]

"I understand what the rules are, but I'm a person who questions the rules, always searching for their deeper meaning and whether or not they are BS, rather than blindly following a set of rules set by some unknown person."

"I don't know who this 'American Heart Association' thinks they are, making up rules about how to do CPR, but I'm not blindingly following a set of rules set by some unknown person! I'll use synchronized shocks in asystole if I damn well please!"

 

[Mad Jack]

I've found that the loose cannons on SDN (NOT referring to you, colleague!) tend not to stick around long. I surmise that they don't get into medical school either, as there's data suggesting that unstable posters on anonymous internet forums are just as unstable in real life. Alas, i don't have the citations.

Goro, give it to me straight- am I doomed?