Damn those youthful indiscretions! Reading the earlier poster’s comments about a felony conviction, it dawned upon me that I might be screwed as well. I have a conviction for misdemeanor assault from way back when I was, much like our current president, a “free-spirited lad”.
I don’t want to spend the $$$ on a post-bacc program only to discover that I can’t get into med school b/c of this old conviction.
Anyone have any thoughts or experience dealing with this issue?
Most medical schools and medical licensing agencies will ask about felony convictions. Your misdemeanor conviction may come up on a police background check but if your record has been clean since then, you are likely not going to be barred from practicing medicine.
Felonies can and will keep you from obtaining a license though (training or otherwise) so make sure that you investigate thoroughly the status of your conviction.
If you were under 18, your records would be sealed. In that case, your background check might show a juvenile conviction but that would be all.
Natalie
- OldFartPhD Said:
Damn those youthful indiscretions! Reading the earlier poster's comments about a felony conviction, it dawned upon me that I might be screwed as well. I have a conviction for misdemeanor assault from way back when I was, much like our current president, a "free-spirited lad".
I don't want to spend the $$$ on a post-bacc program only to discover that I can't get into med school b/c of this old conviction.
Anyone have any thoughts or experience dealing with this issue?
I don't want to spend the $$$ on a post-bacc program only to discover that I can't get into med school b/c of this old conviction.
Anyone have any thoughts or experience dealing with this issue?
Dont worry too much:
1. find out if you have a record and if so what is on it.
2. Misdemeanors are not a big deal mostly you will be able to practice medicine.
3. It should be able to be exponged if it is very old.
I think your good.
I think that your immediate concern would be the medical school admissions process. While the primary AMCAS application only asks about felony convictions, a large number of the secondary medical school applications include misdemeanor convictions in their questions. Next year the AMCAS application will include a uniform background check for all applicants. The last information that I saw published about these checks indicated that it was not yet decided if juvenile charges would be included in being looked at in criminal background checks (CBCs). I do not recall any mention of misdemeanor charges so I am unsure if those would be looked at.
Even if the CBCs look at misdemeanors, there would be the opportunity to explain the circumstances. The current medical school applications with criminal conviction questions include spaces for this. I am unsure how much a past misdemeanor would affect your application, but I would think that it would be able to be overcome by a stellar application otherwise. For comparison though, of approximately 100 AMCAS applicants disclosing felony convictions the application cycle before last, only 2 were admitted to medical schools.
One way or the other, I recommend first looking into expunging your record, and retaining an attorney if possible.