When is it OK to talk about diseases you had?

[777137]

Long story short, I got Lyme disease (while studying lime disease prevalence, funny enough) and it had a profound effect on me and how I view medicine. I want to talk about it on my app for next year, but don't know if I should mention it.

The symptoms are over, but its one of those diseases that we don't know much about, and can have profound lasting effects. I am worried that adcoms might think that it is still effecting me and would use it against me.

Also, the medication is 100x worse than the actual symptoms, there really needs to be some better medication to give people.

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[Astra]

Go for it.

Talk about how you learned about the medical profession from it, how it grew you as a person and how it inspired you.

Don't let it be a sympathy fest but rather segway the terrible experience into growth

 

[777137]

Go for it.

Talk about how you learned about the medical profession from it, how it grew you as a person and how it inspired you.

Don't let it be a sympathy fest but rather segway the terrible experience into growth

Ok, thank you, that was the direction I was planning on going. When the doctor told me she didn't know almost anything about it and the protocol was to give patients a cocktail of drugs, I was pretty freaked out. Up to that point, I had assumed that most of the worlds diseases were fairly well understood.

 

[deleted763299]

It's fine to talk about a medical problem you have had, and how you learned through that experience, etc. Just keep it positive.

The symptoms are over, but its one of those diseases that we don't know much about, and can have profound lasting effects.

When the doctor told me she didn't know almost anything about it

What part of the country are you in? Where I went to medical school, and now where I'm a resident, Lyme disease is everywhere. I generally think of it as a fairly well defined disease. I know you haven't mentioned the term "chronic lyme disease" here, but I will say that physicians generally do not accept it as something that exists. I would advise against talking about "chronic lyme" at all.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Thinking they would in any way hold it against you is ridiculous. Talk about it if you can do so intelligently and clearly.

I mentioned having Ulcerative Colitis in several secondary essays which led to interview invites.

 

[gyngyn]

Thinking they would in any way hold it against you is ridiculous. Talk about it if you can do so intelligently and clearly.

I mentioned having Ulcerative Colitis in several secondary essays which led to interview invites.

If he's advising him to avoid a controversial syndrome in his essay, I agree. There are any number of these conditions that will evoke an immediate visceral response from even the most generous evaluator.
If he had a tick bite and was treated for Lyme Disease, no problem. I am a bit concerned from his brief description that a short-lived condition treated with antibiotics doesn't sound like what he plans to describe.

 

[deleted763299]

If he's advising him to avoid a controversial syndrome in his essay, I agree. There are any number of these conditions that will evoke an immediate visceral response from even the most generous evaluator.
If he had a tick bite and was treated for Lyme Disease, no problem. I am a bit concerned from his brief description that a short-lived condition treated with antibiotics doesn't sound like what he plans to describe.

This is what I'm getting at.

I will also say that the OP never used the term "chronic lyme" so I could be making much ado about nothing, but based on the original description I had a sneaking suspicion that the OP may believe that he has "chronic lyme".

 

[LizzyM]

Lyme Disease (watch out and don't get autocorrected into calling it "Lime" disease ) was first described 40 years ago.

What is very controversial is that some patients and some physicians believe that long term antibiotic treatment is required. Others disagree and argue that it is unnecessary. Of course, when insurance companies choose not to cover the treatment there are fireworks! Some argue that long term problems stem not from the bacteria but from an immune response to proteins in the bacteria that then set up an excessive response (an autoimmune disease, if you will).

That's the nature of the controversy in a nutshell. Tread carefully.

 

[777137]

It's fine to talk about a medical problem you have had, and how you learned through that experience, etc. Just keep it positive.





What part of the country are you in? Where I went to medical school, and now where I'm a resident, Lyme disease is everywhere. I generally think of it as a fairly well defined disease. I know you haven't mentioned the term "chronic lyme disease" here, but I will say that physicians generally do not accept it as something that exists. I would advise against talking about "chronic lyme" at all.

Good to know, and i'm in the midwest. Where I am from, Lyme disease not getting diagnosed is a big problem.

 

[777137]

This is what I'm getting at.

I will also say that the OP never used the term "chronic lyme" so I could be making much ado about nothing, but based on the original description I had a sneaking suspicion that the OP may believe that he has "chronic lyme".

I don't believe I have that, if it does exist. I would talk more about my experience with having a physician not fully understanding the disease and how that has made me interested in the research side of medicine. Also, I would probably talk about working a 50-hour work week while I was still sick with the symptoms, as a way to show work ethic.

 

[deleted763299]

I don't believe I have that, if it does exist. I would talk more about my experience with having a physician not fully understanding the disease and how that has made me interested in the research side of medicine. Also, I would probably talk about working a 50-hour work week while I was still sick with the symptoms, as a way to show work ethic.

Sounds like a good plan to me. Best of luck!