When do they do a criminal background check?

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reese07

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Ok, so on July 2009 I got caught stealing and got an attorney. I was able to get my case deferred, meaning that I'm on unsupervised probation until May 2010. So on May, my petty theft misdemeanor should be deferred. After that I will get it expunged. My question is how long will it take for my theft to be expunged from my records? Will certiphi or other background checks see my deferred misdemeanor (the reason why I'm getting it expunged)? I plan to turn in my primary by July. When exactly during the application process do school actually run background checks?
 
"...procure a national background report on early decision program applicants at the point of acceptance and all other applicants at the point of acceptance after January 1st. In addition, beginning in May of each year, a national background report will be procured for a subset of applicants who are on a participating school's alternate list; medical schools will not receive such reports until the point of acceptance."

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/background.htm
 
OP, what are you planning on doing about your character flaw? Most doctors are not thieves.
 
Will getting an expungement also be effective for when getting a license? I read somewhere that you get asked if you've ever gotten a crime expunged during licensure..

Lets just say I matured a pretty big deal ever since the incident..
 
Will getting an expungement also be effective for when getting a license? I read somewhere that you get asked if you've ever gotten a crime expunged during licensure..

Lets just say I matured a pretty big deal ever since the incident..

Expunging might help, but it's probably not a winner to say you've matured a lot since July of this past year. That'll be a tough sell.
 
"...procure a national background report on early decision program applicants at the point of acceptance and all other applicants at the point of acceptance after January 1st. In addition, beginning in May of each year, a national background report will be procured for a subset of applicants who are on a participating school's alternate list; medical schools will not receive such reports until the point of acceptance."

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/background.htm

So let me make sure I have this correct: they don't run a background check on you until after you've accepted an offer to attend?
 
I thought it was after you have been interviewed



So let me make sure I have this correct: they don't run a background check on you until after you've accepted an offer to attend?
 
I was accepted EDP, so my situation may be slightly different, being that once they accepted me it was a binding thing, and me accepting their offer was a non-issue.

Based on my experience,
You apply
They accept you (pending results of a background check)
They perform background check
You accept their offer
 
If you're not doing EDP, even if accepted on the earliest possible date (Oct 15 or whenever it will be next year), they will not do your official background check until jan. 1.

Expungement works. I applied this cycle and had a minor in possession charge from 2 years ago expunged, and recently got my Certiphi background check back completely clean. If you want to be sure, you can pay to get a background check from them while you're completing AMCAS, and you'll get the same check the schools will require later.

As for licensure, I've heard most state medical boards have access to FBI background checks since they are government agencies. This means they have access to arrest records, not just convictions like Certiphi has. They will see that you were arrested but not convicted or had your case expunged, and you'll have some explaining to do. Hopefully drinking a beer when I was 20 and having my case expunged will not raise any flags with these people. If it does I'm moving to Australia.
 
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