Will it matter? Residency chance.

[hopefuloptom]

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Hello,

My husband is currently applying for residency this year. He's had a herniated disc for about 5 years and it hasn't really bothered him much until recently, where he couldn't move (literally) or bend and it causes a limp in his leg when he walks because of sciatica pain. He wakes up every morning in extreme pain.

He does not have benefits from his current job and thus we are both insurance-less, and we definitely don't have the money for Dr. visits.

Our question is: Will it effect his chances for matching into residency if he applies for disability insurance via Medicare so that he can go get treated? Would programs find that a disadvantage for him as a candidate, because he would be labeled "disabled"?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hello,

My husband is currently applying for residency this year. He's had a herniated disc for about 5 years and it hasn't really bothered him much until recently, where he couldn't move (literally) or bend and it causes a limp in his leg when he walks because of sciatica pain. He wakes up every morning in extreme pain.

He does not have benefits from his current job and thus we are both insurance-less, and we definitely don't have the money for Dr. visits.

Our question is: Will it effect his chances for matching into residency if he applies for disability insurance via Medicare so that he can go get treated? Would programs find that a disadvantage for him as a candidate, because he would be labeled "disabled"?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I doubt the insurance issue is a barrier. The bigger hurdle is whether he can actually do the job of resident with what a program deems "reasonable" accommodations. Not being able to move or bend at times is probably a problem for thinly staffed programs where this person may be on call alone at night and expected to assist in Codes and the like. It's not really a desk job. That's really between him and whatever program chooses to accept him, but you'd be kidding yourself if you didn't think it factored into decisions.

 

[hopefuloptom]

I doubt the insurance issue is a barrier. The bigger hurdle is whether he can actually do the job of resident with what a program deems "reasonable" accommodations. Not being able to move or bend at times is probably a problem for thinly staffed programs where this person may be on call alone at night and expected to assist in Codes and the like. It's not really a desk job. That's really between him and whatever program chooses to accept him, but you'd be kidding yourself if you didn't think it factored into decisions.

Thanks for replying. Yes, that's why we are asking ahead of time, because we knew it could probably be taken into considerations. He has gotten better, so his moving has very much improved, almost back to normal except the minor limp (that probably I only see). So I doubt this will hinder his abilities to perform the duties of a resident.

So other than asking him, is there a way that they will know his problem? I.e. through a "background check" for the lack of a better term?

 

[shoal]

I doubt it. There are hippa regulations. Even if they could tell what type of insurance you have -- no way to know why.

Have him go see a doc when you can afford it. Not being able to move is not cool and will not be able to go to any residency if unable to perform the job.