For med students doing rotations at VA hospitals, they require a background check. Would a misdemeanor from 2 years ago in another state show up on this background check? Anyone have any insight on this?
VA hospital background check
- Thread starter green plastic
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At my school, I don't recall any background checks at the VA.
Are you talking about a conviction or a plea you entered? If it's a dropped charge, or a beaten charge, then I wouldn't sweat it.
If it's drug-related, then that would be extra problematic. Or a violent crime. Playing odds, you probably were arrested for something DUI-related and pled and got fined and received proabtion. It could be a headache and could result in you dismissal if you didn't reveal it on your application. I'm assuming you didn't.
The clearinghouses for this stuff are usually state-run and state-wide. So if you're in Boston, you get checked against MA police records. If they print you, they can really do anything though, but less likely to run it through a federal database. Some states might be linked to a few others, so maybe depends on your state. To pick up charges from a foreign jurisdiction, a print needs to be run through a wider network like the FBI database, which would provide an answer about your charges in a day.
I would say 1) try to avoid the rotation and hospital altogether 2) get your charge taken care of as best you can (unless it's a done deal) 3) get intelligence on the situation (eg, call another local VA and ask for HR and say you would like to apply for a job and would like to know what states they cover in their background checks, "Hi, I'm Brad Ehrlich and I would like to know if a disorderly conduct charge in New Hampshire when I was 19 at my brother's wedding might show up and prevent me from being hired as an X-ray Tech." Might find out a lot this way.) Do they print you? Only name and SSN? Find out as much as you can.
Are you talking about a conviction or a plea you entered? If it's a dropped charge, or a beaten charge, then I wouldn't sweat it.
If it's drug-related, then that would be extra problematic. Or a violent crime. Playing odds, you probably were arrested for something DUI-related and pled and got fined and received proabtion. It could be a headache and could result in you dismissal if you didn't reveal it on your application. I'm assuming you didn't.
The clearinghouses for this stuff are usually state-run and state-wide. So if you're in Boston, you get checked against MA police records. If they print you, they can really do anything though, but less likely to run it through a federal database. Some states might be linked to a few others, so maybe depends on your state. To pick up charges from a foreign jurisdiction, a print needs to be run through a wider network like the FBI database, which would provide an answer about your charges in a day.
I would say 1) try to avoid the rotation and hospital altogether 2) get your charge taken care of as best you can (unless it's a done deal) 3) get intelligence on the situation (eg, call another local VA and ask for HR and say you would like to apply for a job and would like to know what states they cover in their background checks, "Hi, I'm Brad Ehrlich and I would like to know if a disorderly conduct charge in New Hampshire when I was 19 at my brother's wedding might show up and prevent me from being hired as an X-ray Tech." Might find out a lot this way.) Do they print you? Only name and SSN? Find out as much as you can.
green plastic said:
green plastic said:
Nope, no background check for VA rotations. Relax and put that criminal past behind you. 😀
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Background checks are mainly concerned with felonies and crimes of violence. I wouldn't worry about that one time you got caught with that blunt in your sock by the cops but I would be concerned about the time you tried to set fire to the courthouse in St. Louis or hit that old lady when you were working as a Nursing Assistant.
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I just did a month at the VA and managed to avoid any of the beauracratic vetting requirements. I had to go to a computer session to get a password for the VA computers and their CPRS software but I avoided getting a badge, taking the required compliance tests, swearing oaths, and the usual rigamarole.
They gave me a whole packet of paperwork to complete and return but I pretty much ignored it and nobody said anything about it.
Not that I was worried about any of it but it is a pain in the rear.
Duke University, on the other hand, is deadly serious about their paperwork. They generate an enormous amount of it, mostly directed towards ensuring compliance with various essentially meaningless beauracratic endeavors. As if my signing a paper admitting that I understand that hurling racial epithets at patients is bad will actually protect them legally if it came down to it.
At orientation we had to take a JAHCO complaince test. I missed two questions. On the retake I still missed one of them (because I just don't care, you understand). Subsequently, they emailed me the question requesting that I email back the correct answer. I kind of deleted the email and forgot all about it until two months later when they sent me a snotty email demanding that I answer the question or they would suspend my privaleges, essentially the same as firing me.
The old rebel in me was tempted to see if I could actually get fired for something as idiotic as that and whether my program which has a lot invested in my completing the next three years would allow them to.
Naturally I answered the question. This is the nation we have become. I know very well that some "Mini-Stalin" in the compliance office could actually get me fired.
As a footnote to this sorry story, every one of the answers to the question was correct so I replied "a,b,c,d,e." I got a snippy little email back saying that the question asked for only one of the answers to be selected and would I email them back with just one.
So I emailed back "c" which seems to have satisfied them.
To think that this is a real job description at Duke.
Oh, and while I am grateful to have recieved a free HP2700 Ipaq PDA, you should know that it was not enough for them to hand them out but I had to attend a four hour training and waiver signing class.
Those of you who think that lawsuits don't add that much to the cost of medcine are not taking into account the enormous cost in time and money of documenting compliance, often for things which used to be common sense. I don't, for instance, need JAHCO to tell me to wash my hands between patient contacts.
When you get to third year, you will see that most documentation is just a a form of CYA.
They gave me a whole packet of paperwork to complete and return but I pretty much ignored it and nobody said anything about it.
Not that I was worried about any of it but it is a pain in the rear.
Duke University, on the other hand, is deadly serious about their paperwork. They generate an enormous amount of it, mostly directed towards ensuring compliance with various essentially meaningless beauracratic endeavors. As if my signing a paper admitting that I understand that hurling racial epithets at patients is bad will actually protect them legally if it came down to it.
At orientation we had to take a JAHCO complaince test. I missed two questions. On the retake I still missed one of them (because I just don't care, you understand). Subsequently, they emailed me the question requesting that I email back the correct answer. I kind of deleted the email and forgot all about it until two months later when they sent me a snotty email demanding that I answer the question or they would suspend my privaleges, essentially the same as firing me.
The old rebel in me was tempted to see if I could actually get fired for something as idiotic as that and whether my program which has a lot invested in my completing the next three years would allow them to.
Naturally I answered the question. This is the nation we have become. I know very well that some "Mini-Stalin" in the compliance office could actually get me fired.
As a footnote to this sorry story, every one of the answers to the question was correct so I replied "a,b,c,d,e." I got a snippy little email back saying that the question asked for only one of the answers to be selected and would I email them back with just one.
So I emailed back "c" which seems to have satisfied them.
To think that this is a real job description at Duke.
Oh, and while I am grateful to have recieved a free HP2700 Ipaq PDA, you should know that it was not enough for them to hand them out but I had to attend a four hour training and waiver signing class.
Those of you who think that lawsuits don't add that much to the cost of medcine are not taking into account the enormous cost in time and money of documenting compliance, often for things which used to be common sense. I don't, for instance, need JAHCO to tell me to wash my hands between patient contacts.
When you get to third year, you will see that most documentation is just a a form of CYA.
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Sorry to burst your bubble, but many hospitals require criminal checks, plus it comes up during licensing too. This was a big factor in the AAMC making recommendations to medical schools to require the checks on admissions.
As for a blunt in the sock, I doubt the VA would care as much about that. But, unfortunately, federal financial aid does ...
As for a blunt in the sock, I doubt the VA would care as much about that. But, unfortunately, federal financial aid does ...
dante201 said:
Federal financial aid cares about posession of drugs with the intent to deliver i.e., drug dealing. Small amounts used for personal use ( blunt in your sock) will not likely affect your finacial aide.
I don't know about what will come up and what will not, but if you are filling out the big mother of a packet that we did, please beware (and let all know) that they DO contact your references by mail, if I recall. I didn't warn my references and it was weird for them.
