will this issue prevent ability to gain license/enter residency?

[throwway2]

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My good friend used illegal substances (marijuana, amphetamines) when he was 15-16 years old. He spoke to his doctor about it and therefore its in his medical record. However, he has not had any legal issues pertaining to this drug use, and he has not used since.

After he graduates med school, would this complicate his ability to get a license to practice medicine? Of course, he would have to disclose it as it is on his medical record...
And with regards to applying to residency/ERAS, would he have to say yes to the question: are there any past issues that may prevent you from obtaining a license?

Thank you for the help.

 

[Mr Roboto]

"My good friend"

 

[Localnative]

Hi Cubby
Yes we know the person of interest is you = OP.
Medical Record = They won't have access, don't get your panties in a bunch.
Go west and achieve young man. Just don't sample the koolaid.
-M

 

[MrChance2]

Why did your good friend ask that you make a throw away account to ask this?

But seriously,I read the thread title and the answer is no. (US) Med schools don't take people with things that would prevent them from getting liscensed.

 

[throwway2]

Thanks for the reply guys.
What I am confused about is, I've been scouring around SDN for the past few hours and it seems that when my friend applies for a license they will explicitly ask if he used substances in the past and he will have to say yes. Furthermore in some states they are allowed to ask him for permission to view his medical records as the records are not protected by HIPAA in this case. In this case, is it really possible that my friend wasted 4 years of medical school just to have his license rejected? He's very worried.

 

[Localnative]

The marijuana? Nah.
The amphetamines? Perhaps.

 

[throwway2]

The marijuana? Nah.
The amphetamines? Perhaps.

If it makes any difference, it was MDMA used only twice (at a party). My friend really regrets disclosing this to his doctor, because to a licensing board it probably seems like he abused amphetamines.

 

[Localnative]

You can forget a military scholarship, fo sho.
I was being facetious in the above post, btw.

 

[mimelim]

Thanks for the reply guys.
What I am confused about is, I've been scouring around SDN for the past few hours and it seems that when my friend applies for a license they will explicitly ask if he used substances in the past and he will have to say yes. Furthermore in some states they are allowed to ask him for permission to view his medical records as the records are not protected by HIPAA in this case. In this case, is it really possible that my friend wasted 4 years of medical school just to have his license rejected? He's very worried.

This depends entirely on what state you are in, I can not speak about every state, you will have to look into it yourself. However, I just completed my medical licensing here and can tell you the following:

#1 You are explicitly asked if you have ever had a substance abuse problem or diagnosed with substance abuse. You are also asked if you have ever been diagnosed with a psychiatric illnesses in the past.
#2 If you answer yes, you must provide medical records and past treatment. This has nothing to do with HIPAA, they ask you for the records, you provide them or you can not get your license. There is nothing about HIPAA protection here.
#3 This is standard in many other professional fields. For example, my wife, a lawyer had the same exact questions when she was going through her bar and licensing.
#4 Prior diagnosis will not stand in the way of obtaining a license. As long as you don't have any legal ramifications of these things, the system is designed to support people reporting and getting help. They are incredibly unforgiving if you are not forthright and they find out about it after the fact or if you lied.
#5 Keeping up good, recent records is incredibly important for making the process smooth. This is true for all records, not only medical. As long as you answer honestly and have no legal consequences, this is a complete non-issue. With legal consequences, the game changes significantly, how much depending on what exactly happened. Felony convictions for drugs here at least are a complete non-starter.

 

[anonduianon]

This depends entirely on what state you are in, I can not speak about every state, you will have to look into it yourself. However, I just completed my medical licensing here and can tell you the following:

#1 You are explicitly asked if you have ever had a substance abuse problem or diagnosed with substance abuse. You are also asked if you have ever been diagnosed with a psychiatric illnesses in the past.
#2 If you answer yes, you must provide medical records and past treatment. This has nothing to do with HIPAA, they ask you for the records, you provide them or you can not get your license. There is nothing about HIPAA protection here.
#3 This is standard in many other professional fields. For example, my wife, a lawyer had the same exact questions when she was going through her bar and licensing.
#4 Prior diagnosis will not stand in the way of obtaining a license. As long as you don't have any legal ramifications of these things, the system is designed to support people reporting and getting help. They are incredibly unforgiving if you are not forthright and they find out about it after the fact or if you lied.
#5 Keeping up good, recent records is incredibly important for making the process smooth. This is true for all records, not only medical. As long as you answer honestly and have no legal consequences, this is a complete non-issue. With legal consequences, the game changes significantly, how much depending on what exactly happened. Felony convictions for drugs here at least are a complete non-starter.

So if I had a dui would I need to submit medical records for that or an get an evaluation considering the act itself might be considered a substance abuse problem.
I sought treatment for an unrelated incident in the ETC and mentioned that I am drinking too much would that constitute a something that needs to be disclosed? I am starting school in a few months any advice would be appreciated on what I need to do to be able to practice.

I would obviously disclose the DUI and the education/counseling obtained afterwards. I was accepted to medical school and they never really asked the same questions in regard to substance abuse or medical records. I did disclose my DUI.

 

[mimelim]

So if I had a dui would I need to submit medical records for that or an get an evaluation considering the act itself might be considered a substance abuse problem.
I sought treatment for an unrelated incident in the ETC and mentioned that I am drinking too much would that constitute a something that needs to be disclosed? I am starting school in a few months any advice would be appreciated on what I need to do to be able to practice.

I would obviously disclose the DUI and the education/counseling obtained afterwards. I was accepted to medical school and they never really asked the same questions in regard to substance abuse or medical records. I did disclose my DUI.

Remember that licensure only happens after you have completed all 3 steps and at least a year of residency. It is also only necessary when you are going into practice or practicing outside of your residency (moonlighting). You will have a separate training license for your residency. So, this is something that you will not need to deal with for at least 5 years and will ONLY apply to where you are intending to practice, not where your medical school is and most likely not where you go to residency. You are likely 7 years from needing to deal with this and while it doesn't change that often, it can and as previously stated, it is all state dependent.

You do not need to report medical diagnoses that are undiagnosed. You do not need to see someone for the sake of the medical board. However, IF you were treated for substance abuse, you would need to provide those records. And of course as you said, you would need to disclose the DUI itself. But, at the end of the day, do not take my or any other anonymous person's advice on this. Go to the state medical board's website and read up on what their exact requirements are, they are explicit about what they ask of you.

 

[throwway2]

This depends entirely on what state you are in, I can not speak about every state, you will have to look into it yourself. However, I just completed my medical licensing here and can tell you the following:

#1 You are explicitly asked if you have ever had a substance abuse problem or diagnosed with substance abuse. You are also asked if you have ever been diagnosed with a psychiatric illnesses in the past.
#2 If you answer yes, you must provide medical records and past treatment. This has nothing to do with HIPAA, they ask you for the records, you provide them or you can not get your license. There is nothing about HIPAA protection here.
#3 This is standard in many other professional fields. For example, my wife, a lawyer had the same exact questions when she was going through her bar and licensing.
#4 Prior diagnosis will not stand in the way of obtaining a license. As long as you don't have any legal ramifications of these things, the system is designed to support people reporting and getting help. They are incredibly unforgiving if you are not forthright and they find out about it after the fact or if you lied.
#5 Keeping up good, recent records is incredibly important for making the process smooth. This is true for all records, not only medical. As long as you answer honestly and have no legal consequences, this is a complete non-issue. With legal consequences, the game changes significantly, how much depending on what exactly happened. Felony convictions for drugs here at least are a complete non-starter.

Thanks for the helpful response. When applying for residency, an applicant would not be rejected or scrutinized on the basis of this substance use, correct? One would only have to disclose the use when applying for a state license? And if my friend does not disclose it when applying to residency but later discloses it when applying for a license, would that constitute lying?

As stated in the original post there were no legal consequences. It is only the medical records that my friend is concerned about.

Also, as a final question: will the continued use of a prescribed SSRI (for depression) throughout college and medschool suggest that he has not gotten over his drug use/is replacing one drug with another? Obviously a SSRI is a common and safe drug, but given his history would this indicate in any way that his drug use has not been resolved or would the board recognize that he was simply using the SSRI for depression and not relate it to his past drug use?

I'm Sorry for all the questions lol

 

[mimelim]

Thanks for the helpful response. When applying for residency, an applicant would not be rejected or scrutinized on the basis of this substance use, correct? One would only have to disclose the use when applying for a state license? And if my friend does not disclose it when applying to residency but later discloses it when applying for a license, would that constitute lying?

As stated in the original post there were no legal consequences. It is only the medical records that my friend is concerned about.

Also, as a final question: will the continued use of a prescribed SSRI (for depression) throughout college and medschool suggest that he has not gotten over his drug use/is replacing one drug with another? Obviously a SSRI is a common and safe drug, but given his history would this indicate in any way that his drug use has not been resolved or would the board recognize that he was simply using the SSRI for depression and not relate it to his past drug use?

I'm Sorry for all the questions lol

Residency is not an admissions process. It is employment, albeit via the match which a large discussion in and of itself. This isn't school any more, it is some hybrid of on the job training and apprenticeship. Sure, there are some residencies that protect their residents from the real world practice of medicine, but these are far and few in between. There is no part of ERAS or the residency matching process that requires you to disclose psychiatric illnesses or substance abuse history. However, IF a residency finds out about it, they can absolutely use the information as a part of their selection process. So yes, they could do worse in the match than they may have otherwise if programs know and there would be a higher level of scrutiny. But, again that would require them to find out. If a program or hospital directly asks however, lying would be grounds for later dismissal, which would be the end of your medical training in the US. I don't really understand your question, but I think that this mainly stems from the fact that you don't seem to really understand or know the residency application process.

Nobody will blink at someone being on an SSRI.

 

[Peach Newport]

Ok, I gotta say this.

Why does SDN get its panties in a twist when someone says "SWIM" or "my friend" or "a guy I know?" Every time someone uses this to post a thread with an obviously sensitive question, desiring anonymity for obvious reasons, there is ALWAYS a gang of a**holes who go "OP, I think your friend doesn't exist and you're talking about YOURSELF!"

Seriously, is it that much of a f**king sin to want a second, (if thin) layer of plausible anonymity? Why do we care who they're referring to?

See, on websites where people post about sensitive issues a lot, it's also a courtesy to everyone to use a phrase like "SWIM" or "my friend." There are a lot of very good reasons to do it.

 

[Psai]

Because it sounds really stupid to say "my friend" when everyone knows it's you and it doesn't get more anonymous than a random throwaway account.