When i was 19 i made a gigantic mistake, i got behind the wheel after i had been drinking. My BAC was .05 (roughly). It resulted in a horrific car crash that still haunts me to this day. I took a turn onto an exit too fast and lost control, i flipped numerous times down an embankment which resulted in my friend being thrown from the vehicle and almost killed… It has been some time since the accident, i am 21 now. I know I will never be able to fully atone for the sins of this act, however, If not for the medical staff at the local hospital, my friend would be dead. I have always wanted to become a doctor, and this further cemented that dream.
Now that I’m getting serious and going back to school full time (heavy course loads, all A’s) I’m wondering if i would even be able to get into medical school. My official charge was underage drinking provided i pass a 2 year unsupervised probation. I attended rehab before my hearing and have attended A.A. meetings regularly ever since. However, i have been investigating getting into medical school and it seems that their background checks are incredibly thorough. Because of this, it seems that the right thing to do would be to tell the whole story, including my original charges which included felony charges.
Am i doomed from the start?
Any and all input would be welcome… Please don’t degrade me for my mistake, whatever you type is no worse than what i have told myself, and i am here because i want to become a doctor. Not for money, i just want to help save lives, in any way i can.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond.
You are not doomed, but I won’t lie to you, you have a big black mark on your record that has made your chances much poorer than they might have been otherwise.
You will be required to report your conviction on your AMCAS primary application, even if your original charge is reduced to underage drinking. I strongly suggest you be completely honest, admit to your culpability, explain what you’ve learned from the experience and let the adcomms decide if they want to interview you. If you try to minimize this or cover up your charge, when it turns up on your background check, I can guarantee any admission will be revoked. (Not for the original charge but for being dishonest. Honesty is very highly valued in medicine.)
Since your accident occurred only 2 years ago, I would suggest that not enough time has yet elapsed to demonstrate your good behavior. The larger the distance between the incident and your application the better. I’ve seen adcomms suggest 4-5 years as a minimum.
While rehab and AA are great signs that you’ve turned your life around, you need to do more–especially on the community side to show you want to heal the damage you’ve caused and help prevent it happening to others. You need to give the adcomms a compelling reason to choose you over someone who doesn’t have DWI w/serious bodily harm on their record.
Should you get to the point of applying to med school, you will need to apply much more broadly than your stats might suggest since many adcomms will see your conviction and toss your app.