Talking about addiction in interviews

[calipremed5768]

So I have a friend who struggled a lot with drug addiction in the early years of college. My friend got clean and has been sober for 3 years and managed to get a solid GPA/MCAT. The struggle has motivated my friend to pursue a career that would allow him to help others with substance abuse problems. How risky would talking about this be for my friend?

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[Kirby Smart]

Highly expect people will say very bad idea. But thats just my guess based on advice people give here about discussing mental illness.

 

[ciestar]

Definitely wouldnt talk about being a recovering addict. Med school breaks people.

 

[Engrailed]

Definitely wouldnt talk about being a recovering addict. Med school breaks people.

So I have a friend who struggled a lot with drug addiction in the early years of college. My friend got clean and has been sober for 3 years and managed to get a solid GPA/MCAT. The struggle has motivated my friend to pursue a career that would allow him to help others with substance abuse problems. How risky would talking about this be for my friend?

Seems risky! Dont mention it if you can avoid it

 

[calipremed5768]

Okay I’ll tell my friend not to mention it

 

[Naruhodo]

Be open and honest to the extent that it feels safe to do so. Medical school is hard, but I think the toll on someone who feels like they can never share an aspect of themselves will ultimately be higher than the risk of rejection from medical school. Someone might say to themselves that they might just wait until after they are accepted, or wait until their new classmates know them better, etc. but especially if this person is moving to a new community (potentially away from a supportive NA group/ things that have helped in their recovery) they will need to proactively do things to protect their mental health (we all need to). This comment is less about getting into medical school than for caring for the whole person once in. Congratulations to your friend on having come this far and good luck to them in their journey to help others.

 

[Goro]

So I have a friend who struggled a lot with drug addiction in the early years of college. My friend got clean and has been sober for 3 years and managed to get a solid GPA/MCAT. The struggle has motivated my friend to pursue a career that would allow him to help others with substance abuse problems. How risky would talking about this be for my friend?

It's something that immediately make me draw an involuntary breath inwards with anxiety.

 

[LizzyM]

Not that we have anything against your friend but we all remember too well the stories of students/residents we've known, or known of, that relapsed with tragic results. These may be rare, or not, but they bias us.

You did not mention whether your friend has an institutional action record or a criminal record as a result of drug abuse. If so, that could be a barrier to admission and/or a barrier to licensure. If it is perceived as a barrier to licensure, it could preclude admission to medical school.

 

[RJ McReady]

So I have a friend who struggled a lot with drug addiction in the early years of college. My friend got clean and has been sober for 3 years and managed to get a solid GPA/MCAT. The struggle has motivated my friend to pursue a career that would allow him to help others with substance abuse problems. How risky would talking about this be for my friend?

Your posts are quite unusual. Reading through them, one can never truly assess your true motivations or intentions. Are you talking about yourself in this post? Maybe not, I would give you the benefit of the doubt. But if it is yourself you’re speaking of, I would take the advice of the adcoms and not mention it in interviews. Either way, I wish the best of luck to your friend.