Residency license/temporary physician license

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Coupa22

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Hey guys, I am in some major predicament and really need some constructive advice. My post is long, but any input would be greatly appreciated.

Here is my story: abt 8/9 years ago I was enrolled in a US DO medical school. During my second year, my father passed away, and I got involved in a nasty divorce and child custody battle with my ex-husband. Needless to say I was under immense stress, my grades were dropping and I was getting close to being kicked out of school. I held it together as long as I could. Then during a midterm I was so afraid of failing and losing my daughter that for reasons beyond my best judgement, I got caught cheating in a mid term exam. I wasn’t given any warning or anything, but the Dean dismissed me from the school. I’m not in anyway blaming anyone or anything else but myself. But the duress under which I was in, I don’t wish that on my worst enemy.

After finalizing my divorce and all, I went and got my Masters in Science degree and was then enrolled in a Caribbean medical school. I got a letter from one of the assistant deans at my previous DO school who was sympathetic to my circumstances and helped me get into this Caribbean school.

Fast forward to now, I have graduated with my MD degree with multiple honors and needless to say I don’t have any further blemishes on my record. I have worked extremely well in all my clinical rotations and have honored most. I will also be getting some excellent LORs from the attendings I worked with. 2-3 of the hospitals I worked at also mentioned to apply there and that they see me “matching there and becoming a successful physician”.

Now to my question. I will be applying to the residency match next year (I had to work the past year to have enough money to apply but I have been doing clinical research so I’m working in the field). But my question is, in the event I actually do match (I’m aware it won’t be easy), I will have to disclose the DO school dismissal when I apply for my resident permit and later when I apply for my physician license. So I’m wondering if that will definitely prevent me from getting my resident permit license/medical training license in the near future and my physician license in 3-4 years down the line?
P.S. I am well aware being dismissed from a medical school for academic dishonesty is a huge deal. And I’m truly remorseful for it. But given I have successfully completed a Masters degree since then, and a full MD degree and have 7-8 years of gap from that incidence with no other blemishes, would that, at all help me in some way to get my residency license and then onto my physician license.
Please help. Thank you.

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This shouldn't be a problem. The BoM won't care about this at all. Especially for residency, where you'll be supervised. For a full license it will be far in the past. Might slow down the process somewhat as they check your story, but that's about it.
 
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Thank you SO MUCH. I really appreciate it. One thing I did not mention was that I do have a Confidential Letter of Recommendation that the Vice-Provost wrote in my favor detailing the stress and unusual circumstances I was undergoing which helped me get into the other medical school. So I hope when I disclose the information to the state BoM, I can include that as well.
Please let me know if you have any other advice or input. Thank you once again.
 
This shouldn't be a problem. The BoM won't care about this at all. Especially for residency, where you'll be supervised. For a full license it will be far in the past. Might slow down the process somewhat as they check your story, but that's about it.
I did have a follow up question. I would love to match at the IM program where I did my core rotation in Southern California. The PD and the two APDs know me well. In fact, the two APDs are writing me LORs and they have continually asked me to keep them in my thoughts as far as residency goes.
But I heard CA (along with TX) are difficult states to get license in. So should I try and avoid CA just in case my Residency permit gets rejected.
I have also rotated in KY/VA area and found a good program as well. So my question is do I avoid the CA program in case the CA medical board rejects my Residency license application, and play it safe with the programs in KY/VA? Please help.
 
Cali now uses a residency permit rather than a full license for PGY 1-3. I really do not think this will be an issue at all. It is true that CA, TX, MA, PA, and FL tend to be slower / more complicated to get a license in. But this isn't the type of thing that causes problems.

Matching into Cali from the Carib is not unheard of but is difficult.
 
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Cali now uses a residency permit rather than a full license for PGY 1-3. I really do not think this will be an issue at all. It is true that CA, TX, MA, PA, and FL tend to be slower / more complicated to get a license in. But this isn't the type of thing that causes problems.

Matching into Cali from the Carib is not unheard of but is difficult.
Thank you. The IM program in Cali and a few other ones I rotated at had a few grads from my school. Some of the attending physicians are from my school as well, which helps.
I was looking at the Cali requirements. The said they require a Post Training License (PTL). Is that the permit you are talking about?
Also, in your opinion, how much authority does the Program or the PD have if state BoM causes any issue with the permit?
 
I have no experience with Cali. yes, the PTL is what you need. Looks like it's good for the first 24 months.

I doubt the PTL will be a problem. But it appears I was confused - I thought the PTL was good for all 3 years. It's not, so you'll need a full license after 2 years. That's where any problems will arise.
 
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I have no experience with Cali. yes, the PTL is what you need. Looks like it's good for the first 24 months.

I doubt the PTL will be a problem. But it appears I was confused - I thought the PTL was good for all 3 years. It's not, so you'll need a full license after 2 years. That's where any problems will arise.
Thank you. In your opinion, is it better to be safe and avoid the difficult states like CA, TX and maybe FL and pick other not-so-difficult states? The goal obviously would be get fully licensed once Residency is over.
As you mentioned in your first response, if I can get through the first 2 years of residency w/o any issues, the incidence will be over a decade old. In your opinion, wouldn’t that be long enough in the past or do you envisage still having trouble obtaining a license?
P.S. I sincerely and genuinely appreciate your responses. You have no idea how much you are helping me out here.
 
You mean just for the resident license or physician license as well? Once again, thank you for all your answers.
At all...anywhere.

There are a million things you can be anxious about (and only about 4 that you should), and this isn't one of them.
 
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At all...anywhere.

There are a million things you can be anxious about (and only about 4 that you should), and this isn't one of them.
Just out of curiosity, and purely from a knowledge perspective, what are the 4 things that we should be anxious about?
 
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