Hi I am currently a psychology major student looking to work in the field either a psychiatrist or psychologist ,a couple years ago I was mixed up with the wrong crowd and it ended up .After ta program the judge decided to seal my record and told me that I can say no on job application when asked if I was arrested.I know on medical applications (some) they do ask about it.
Even though my record was sealed I understand that this can still may not help me.Ive read about some psychologists that have criminal background and that is giving me some hope.I was just wondering if anyone would know anything that would help me when it comes to obtaining my license in the future.
I will summarize as I don't have much time/energy right now.
#1 If a judge/court tells you that you do not need to disclose something because it is sealed, you do not legally need to disclose it. In short, you will not be charged with a crime because you don't tell people that you were arrested/convicted or whatever they sealed.
#2 Medical school admissions committees select against people who have had run-ins with the law. This is common sense.
#3 Medical school admissions committees select VERY strongly against people who outright lie or circumvent their process. In other words, even if you are legally allowed to do something, that doesn't mean that it won't be held against you.
#4 Job applications are not the same as school applications and your protections are far less as a potential student than as an employee.
#5 People are admitted to medical school every year with 'red-flags'. Every year there are people that were arrested, even convicted, that are admitted. By the same token, it would be a lie to say that there wasn't significant prejudice against them through the entire process.
The advice is very simple.
#1 Do not expose yourself to additional scrutiny unless absolutely necessary. This means, if someone doesn't ask, you don't tell. If they aren't looking for specifics, do not provide it.
#2 Do not lie. If someone asks, "Have you ever been arrested?" And you have been arrested, the answer is, "Yes", regardless of what happened afterwards.
#3 Run a background check on yourself.
This is something that is very difficult to sort out without knowing the details, because as with most things, EVERYTHING depends on the details. But, it is fairly safe to say that unless you have a felony conviction, licensure should not be an issue. Even a felony conviction sufficiently far in the past (and of course depending on what it was) is not an automatic dead end.
