Should I include my chronic illness on my med school aplication?

[goodlookinrebel]

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I have Ankylosing Spondylitis. It is a type of rheumatoid arthritis that affects the entire body. Having this disease has put me in the ER more times than I can count. Throughout various treatments I have had extensive contact with ER docs, Internal medicine docs, and Opthalmologist. I got to know the UCSD Hillcrest hospital pretty well and I found out that I loved it. Not too many patients love being in the hospital and going over their charts with various specialist every other day. Dont get me wrong, it is a very painfull disease and it can destroy peoples lives, but it is what first got me interested in medicine and it is the main factor in my decision to go to medical school.

So my question is, how much focus should I put on this? Will it look good or just odd? What do you think?

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

I have Ankylosing Spondylitis. It is a type of rheumatoid arthritis that affects the entire body. Having this disease has put me in the ER more times than I can count. Throughout various treatments I have had extensive contact with ER docs, Internal medicine docs, and Opthalmologist. I got to know the UCSD Hillcrest hospital pretty well and I found out that I loved it. Not too many patients love being in the hospital and going over their charts with various specialist every other day. Dont get me wrong, it is a very painfull disease and it can destroy peoples lives, but it is what first got me interested in medicine and it is the main factor in my decision to go to medical school.

So my question is, how much focus should I put on this? Will it look good or just odd? What do you think?

I personally think it would be a good idea. It really explains a lot about who you are and what you've been through...and how it led you to medicine. Then again, I'm not on an adcomm.

 

[LizzyM]

I do not think that it would be a good idea to include this in your med school application.

1) Medicine is the business of caring for others. Being fascinated by your own body and your own illness can spark an interest in medicine as a career but the work requires to you to care about others. Be sure to highlight your service to others on your application.

2) Although they won't admit it, adcoms can be very turned off by chronic illness particularly if they are concerned about the applicant's ability to manage medical school without serious problems. Saying that you've been in the ER more times than you can count is not a good sign of someone who can manage the rigors of med school.

3) Medical school faculty work in university affiliated hospitals and the pateints referred there tend to be the most severely ill and/or the most refractory to treatment. Therefore, faculty physicians tend to have a biased view -- their idea of the typical case is a more severely ill patient than the typical patient in a community hosptial. Even if you have a mild case, the adcom may think of it as more severe than it really is.

4) You can mention that you have had wonderful doctors who have been an inspiration to you without saying that you see them all the time. Saying that you love going over your chart and seeing the doctors every other day makes you sound like someone who is craving attention and getting it where you can find it. 😱 I don't expect this will appeal to adcoms.

Define yourself as more than your illness. Get involved in physical activity (it is good for your condition) and become involved in volunteer work with folks that are more ill than you are (nursing home or hospice might fit the bill and not require strength and flexibility as EMT would).

 

[Twitch]

There was another thread about chronic illness some time back and this has been discussed in length. Specifically, Ank Spon isn't a type of RA, AFAIK. However both Ank Spon & RA are types of auto immune diseases. Today there is plenty of treatment available which will help improve your quality of life and keep you away from hospitals/EDs. In your list of physicians I noticed you didn't mention a rheumatologist. These physicians have fellowship training in taking care of your disease process specifically auto immune diseases. I'm suprised your IM doc didn't refer you to one.

Some treatments you can discuss with them - Remicade (Infliximab), Rituxan and a bunch of others (try google). The former is currently available and is indicated by FDA for Ank Spon. Rituxan isn't yet. There are clinical trials for RA and probably soon for Ank Spon for the latter medication. If your insurance won't cover it, there are ways to obtain the medication free of charge.

As it relates to your application, I agree with LizzyM's view. However, it's best not to hide it completely. At the same time don't make it the center of your application - again this is a rehash from the previous thread I mentioned above.

Good luck, take care of yourself and let us know if we can help.

 

[cubbbie]

I agree that it is very risky to talk about it in the application. If you do, you must soften it considerably from what you've presented here. People tend to overestimate the amount of sympathy points adcoms will give, in my opinion. I think adcoms still consist largely of old farts who don't understand this new age of touchy-feely academics. They don't want signs of weakness. They will see you as a risk of you play up your medical problems.

 

[wiscbadger]

Do whatever makes you feel most comfortable with your application. If your illness and the experiences you had with the medical profession played a large role in who you are, your decision to enter the medical field, and have given you a step up in understanding the world of medicine, then I think it definitely should be included in your application. It may be a nice addition to your personal statement, and make you stand out from the 'I want to help people' essays. Don't worry about looking 'weak,' especially if you include the information in a way that makes you seem stronger and more mature from your experiences. While its tempting to play it safe and have a generic application, don't be afraid to be unique. Not that I think AS should define you or your application.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

Agree with everything thats been said.

I actually wrote about my chronic condition in some of my secondaries - I have an advanced case of degenerative disc disease - but I wrote about it as an obstacle that I overcame and how I was able to use some of the training I had to adapt and modify my athletics so that I could still reach my goals and how it impacted my assistant coaching of those athletics.

BUt if you're going to do something like that, you have to keep the disease to a minimum so that it doesn't look like you will keel over in med school any second.

 

[goodlookinrebel]

LizzyM:1) Medicine is the business of caring for others. Being fascinated by your own body and your own illness can spark an interest in medicine as a career but the work requires to you to care about others. Be sure to highlight your service to others on your application.

I was in the middle of a three year missionary service when I got AS, so the caring about other people thing shouldnt be a problem.

2) Although they won't admit it, adcoms can be very turned off by chronic illness particularly if they are concerned about the applicant's ability to manage medical school without serious problems. Saying that you've been in the ER more times than you can count is not a good sign of someone who can manage the rigors of med school.

My AS hit its peak when I was 19. It made my life a living hell for a few years but it has died down condsiderably. I can lift weights and run do cartweels and somersualts and such.

4) You can mention that you have had wonderful doctors who have been an inspiration to you without saying that you see them all the time. Saying that you love going over your chart and seeing the doctors every other day makes you sound like someone who is craving attention and getting it where you can find it. I don't expect this will appeal to adcoms.

I was in the hospital every other day to keep from losing my sight and my ability to walk, not to get attention. I just happened to take a deeper interest in what my doctors were doing during this time. And OBVIOUSLY this whole thing would be worded much differently and carefully on my app.

y-marker: There was another thread about chronic illness some time back and this has been discussed in length. Specifically, Ank Spon isn't a type of RA, AFAIK. However both Ank Spon & RA are types of auto immune diseases. Today there is plenty of treatment available which will help improve your quality of life and keep you away from hospitals/EDs. In your list of physicians I noticed you didn't mention a rheumatologist. These physicians have fellowship training in taking care of your disease process specifically auto immune diseases. I'm suprised your IM doc didn't refer you to one.

Some treatments you can discuss with them - Remicade (Infliximab), Rituxan and a bunch of others (try google). The former is currently available and is indicated by FDA for Ank Spon. Rituxan isn't yet. There are clinical trials for RA and probably soon for Ank Spon for the latter medication. If your insurance won't cover it, there are ways to obtain the medication free of charge.

Yeah it is very hard to see a reumatologist, especially if you dont have a lot of money or good insurance. They set me up to see a reumy and the appoinment was like 6 months down the road and I told them that I would no longer be insured at that time but...whatta ya gonna do? I was given a number of different meds and injections from my Opthalmalogist, but all of the meds that my IM doc gave me were just glorified advils. Like I said my AS has been dormant for the most part for the past two years and I am hoping it stays that way.

Thanx for the replies everybody. I guess what I was getting at was that I can explain why and how I want to help people, which I sincerely wanted to do before I was ever interested in medicine, but dont adcoms want to know what led you to medicine specifically as an avenue of human service? Obviously my AS would not be the center of my application, but I gather form you guys that I should handle the subject with kid gloves...whatever that means. Thanx for the advice.

 

[colbgw02]

I have Ankylosing Spondylitis. It is a type of rheumatoid arthritis that affects the entire body. Having this disease has put me in the ER more times than I can count. Throughout various treatments I have had extensive contact with ER docs, Internal medicine docs, and Opthalmologist. I got to know the UCSD Hillcrest hospital pretty well and I found out that I loved it. Not too many patients love being in the hospital and going over their charts with various specialist every other day. Dont get me wrong, it is a very painfull disease and it can destroy peoples lives, but it is what first got me interested in medicine and it is the main factor in my decision to go to medical school.

So my question is, how much focus should I put on this? Will it look good or just odd? What do you think?

i think this is a perfect way to explain in your PS how you got interested in medicine. admissions' committees read thousands of these essays, most of which are drab and predictable because, honestly, you run the risk of really turning someone off if you try to be too creative. this, however, is a great way to set yourself apart while staying inside the bounds of reasonable topics. as others have stated, don't dwell on it, but it's perfectly acceptable to write about it.

 

[LizzyM]

You can say that you became ill while on mission (which has to be scary because you are away from home etc) and that the work that the physician's did fascinated you and you were very impressed with the care you received and as a young person (a teenager) thinking about what to do with the rest of your life, you began to think about a career in medicine.

Then go on about how you tested your interest in this as a career (volunteer or paid work in a clinical setting, shadowing physicians, etc). You began taking pre-med courses when you returned to college after your mission was completed.

At no time do you need to say what the illness was. You can say that you feel well and only hope that the aches and pains you experienced are in the past. This can, I think, decrease the probability that you will be discriminated against because of your chronic illness.

 

[Twitch]

...Yeah it is very hard to see a reumatologist, especially if you dont have a lot of money or good insurance. They set me up to see a reumy and the appoinment was like 6 months down the road and I told them that I would no longer be insured at that time but...whatta ya gonna do? I was given a number of different meds and injections from my Opthalmalogist, but all of the meds that my IM doc gave me were just glorified advils. Like I said my AS has been dormant for the most part for the past two years and I am hoping it stays that way...

When you're ready to see a rheumatologist or need medication, there are several resources available e.g. patient assistance programs even if you can't afford it. The optho can treat your conjectivitis and similar manifestations. I'm not sure what infusions/injections your optho gave you. IM will typically give you celebrex or some other COX-2, methotrexate or prednisone. For some people this is sufficient. For others it is not. Nevertheless, if you choose to see a specialist there are several resources that are available to you to help you do that even if you can't afford it. Here is a sampling I found through google:

■ Patient Advocate Foundation The Patient Advocate Foundation is a national non-profit organization that
serves as a liaison between patients, their insurers, employers, and/or creditors to resolve insurance, job
discrimination, and/or debt crisis matters relative to their diagnosis through case managers and attorneys.
700 Thimble Shoals Boulevard, Suite 200, Newport News, VA 23606
Phone: (800) 532-5274 / Fax: (757) 873-8999
www.patientadvocate.org / Email: [email protected]

■ Patient Access Network Foundation The Patient Access Network Foundation is an independent, nonprofit
organization dedicated to assisting insured patients who cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs associated
with a variety of conditions. Specifically, the Patient Access Network Foundation provides financial support to
assist qualified patients with their out-of-pocket costs (e.g., co-insurance, co-payments, deductibles).
PO Box 221858, Charlotte, NC 28222-1858
Phone: (866) 316-PANF (7263) / Fax: (866) 316-7261
www.patientaccessnetwork.org / Email: [email protected]

■ The HealthWell Foundation® The HealthWell Foundation® is an independent, charitable organization
that assists financially needy individuals in obtaining prescription medications for rheumatoid arthritis and other
conditions. The HealthWell Foundation® provides assistance with out-of-pocket costs (e.g., co-insurance,
co-payments, deductibles) and premium assistance.
PO Box 4133, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Phone: (800) 675-8416 / Fax: (800) 282-7692
www.healthwellfoundation.org / Email: [email protected]

Before you can take care of others you must take care of yourself. The suggestion LizzyM gave above about the application is golden. Good Luck.

 

[goodlookinrebel]

Looks like you put some time into all that y-marker. Thank you very much. But yeah I went temporarily blind in my left eye twice and was given prednisone injections in my eye socket and had some serious inflamation in my spine, hips, and shoulders that left me bed ridden for months at a time, I was given celebrex which did nothing. But All of that generaly happened pretty close together and then nothing for two years and hopefuly it will stay that way...I am also trusting in God by the way, so I dont really think about it all that much. But if it does happen again then I will mos def use the info you have provided. Thanx again.🙂