If the application asks about expunged records, I'd be hesitant to not disclose. When you apply for the license it'll look bad that you did that to your medical school, but if there is no statement saying you must disclose, you can argue that point.
A medical school can not legally force you to disclose an expunged record. There would really be no point in expunging a record if you had to disclose it anyways. My expungement is a juvenile felony (shot a car with a bb gun) and there is no way I am just going to throw that on my app since that case has been physically destroyed. It's not going to show up until I apply for my license and by then, med school is done. It would not look bad if the board found out I did not disclose it on my app because I am not legally required and it is not unethical to lie about an expunged case. That would be like a med school asking about your medical history. The law specifically says to answer no about an expunged case when asked about criminal record (there are very specific exceptions to that law, law school is one but not med school)
They probably can't enforce it, but when you go for your license and they see your Med school app, I think it'll look questionable. Do all schools have the expunged wording? Because I'd it's not all, just apply to the ones that don't have that wording.
I think people are not understanding the difference between an expunged case and a sealed case. The only reason I know about expungement is because I went through it. I had a judge, my attorney and the state attorney's prosecutor explain what expungement was. They all used the phrase "It didn't happen". The paperwork for the case gets physically destroyed. they literally shred all the documents. There is the arrest information in the database at the juvenile center and police station I was at but that information is not legally allowed to leave the site. It's like your medical records. When you are fingerprinted during your arrest, your prints are sent electronically to the FBI database along with all the information that is added to your case. That information can only be run with an FBI background check which must include your fingerprints.
Exactly! There are very specific instances that require you to include an expunged case. MEDICAL SCHOOLS are not on that list are not even legally allowed to tell you to included expunged cases. There is zero upside to including any expunged case on your app. Legally speaking, including an expunged case on your app is like making up an arrest and conviction that you weren't arrested/convicted of. I live in Florida and I am obviously not a lawyer but I have been through the process and it was said to me at least ten times "when you receive the notice in the mail that your record has been expunged, the case never happened". I even applied for a concealed carry permit in the same county I was arrested in. I checked "NO" under the section asking if I had even been arrested for a felony or domestic abuse. They called the exact same sheriffs office that I was booked at and I came back clean.
You are describing a sealed record. It does not show up as "expunged case". A sealed case will show up as a "sealed case" that you can not access. Your records are at the police station regarding your arrest. That information is just like your information at your doctors office. It does not leave that office without your written permission. AACOMAS can call my doctors office and they are going to tell them to get lost just like if AACOMAS tried to call up a jail or a courthouse. In fact, there are no records of the expunged case at the courthouse. They shred them. I've been down there to get a copy of my records. There is nothing. I gave the clerk my ID, she went back to find my file, came back empty handed and said they have no files under my name.
I understand what you're saying, but I'd the application asks directly to list regardless of it being expunged, you may legally get away with it, but when judging moral character, they (licensing boards) can definitely say you purposely hid it.
Do you know if there is a place to disclose on LECOM secondary app?
I have never heard of a state asking for your original med school application to grant a license. The only thing they want from med school are your transcripts and sometimes you will have to have your med school send a form that verifies your qualifications. I think most states do an FBI background check so it would be dumb to lie about an expunged case but I can't really think of a reason why an expunged case should be included on your med school app. It is not unethical or illegal, my lawyer even advised me to leave it off my job applications (this happened way before I thought of med school). As adcoms have stated on this site before, some schools automatically reject applicants with criminal records.
I realize what you're saying, but I also could see how a school finding out later on because of your licensing or whatever then having grounds to rescind your diploma. After all, they did ask to include expunged records, so even if you legally can get away with it, they can see it as morally questionable. Again, my advice to anyone in this situation is to apply to schools that don't have this wording.
I imagine most schools don't really care about misdemeanors but as adcoms on this site have said certain schools have a no-criminal record policy.
I guess it would be different for each indivdual. If I had a 3.8 gpa, 520 MCAT and a 10 year old expunged loitering conviction, I would absolutely take your advice and include it. Unfortunately for me, my GPA is a 3.1 and I really need to make sure that GPA is the only negative on my app. The benefits of not putting an expunged felony on my app far outweigh the consequences.
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