I am a type 1 diabetic and plan to apply to medical school this summer. My experiences have strongly prompted me to consider endocrinology, but am not sure if it is a good idea to mention it in my personal statement or in any part my application. I have other motivations for becoming a doctor, and am not sure if I want to draw any positive/negative bias from adcoms.
What are your opinions on this? Thank you!
Why would mention of your type 1 create bias?
We know quite a few endocrinologists treating type 1, who have it. My kid, who has had T1D for 27 years since age 4, really appreciates that their current diabetes doc has it too.
I think it is fine to mention it, along with your other reasons for wanting to go into medicine.
I think it is worth mentioning. I agree with everything compmom said.
@WayOutWestMom can comment too…but I think it’s fine to mention that type one diabetes is what made you think about applying to medical school.
I don’t think you should mention a specific specialty as your reason. Most medical schools expect students to keep an open mind about their eventual specialty, and especially since minds can change, and there is so much that leads up TO actually applying for residencies in specific fields.
But yes…saying you are interested in medical school and some of the reason is your own medical issues…is fine. In my opinion. As @compmom said…mention along with the OTHER reasons you are applying to medical school.
A mention is fine, but your own personal illness/disability/situation should not be the focus of your personal statement. Your PS is about why you want to be a doctor. (HINT: it’s not all about you.)
Type 1 diabetes is not a disqualifying condition for medical school so long as it is under control. Every medical school has a set of technical standards that all potential students must meet. (Take a look at Harvard Medical School Technical Standards for just one example.)
Both of my daughters had classmates who were type 1 diabetics in their med school classes.
I agree with @thumper1 that you not mention you want to be endocrinologist in your PS. ( See NOTE below.) It’s simply not the place for it. Med students change their minds about their specialty an average of 3 times during med school. Adcomms know that and are quite skeptical of any applicants who just know they want to be a XXXX before they’ve had actual exposure to the full range of medical specialties during their clinical rotations during MS3.
NOTE: some secondaries may have a question along the line of “What do you see yourself doing 10 years from now?” If you want to mention endocrinology as a possible future career, that’s the place to talk about it.
I don’t see anything in the technical standards that would apply to someone with type 1 diabetes. Yes the Office of Disabilities would be involved. Timed tests need to allow for enough time to take care of diabetes tasks (and pump alarms may be disruptive so testing separately may be needed.)
A person might be late due to a low blood sugar or, rarely, a very high blood sugar with vomiting. With a pump and CGM these issues would almost never happen, but they do happen.
@WayOutWestMom are you suggesting that med school admissions looks into HbA1c’s for applicants? How exactly are you saying that “control” is assessed? Do you have a number?
I have never heard that type 1 would preclude admission to med school and was kind of shocked by your post. These days most T1D’s have nearly normal average blood sugars and I would assume a med school applicant certainly would.
Are you hearkening back to the dark ages when people might think a T1D could pass out at the bedside of a patient?
Go ahead and tell your story.
Endocrinologists who are Type I diabetics are great for patients, especially young ones (where compliance is a big issue, in particular during adolescence). They can often communicate honestly with teen patients about the realities of the disease, and the necessity of compliance with treatment. Any med school admissions committee will sit up and take notice, because they realize how important it is for Type I Diabetics to have endocrinologists who really understand what they’re going through.
Type 1 diabetes is not a disqualifying condition
You’ve managed to completely misunderstand me. I linked the technical standards because they specifically don’t mention diabetes.
Diabetics needs to be well managed because during clinical ward rotation, students often find they don’t have time to test frequently, eat or inject insulin. Both the diabetics in Ds’ classes had insulin pumps and carried nutrition bars in the jacket pockets. (Actually nearly every med student/resident carries nutrition bars in their pocket since no one has time to eat on wards.) They both did just fine.
I think you misunderstood that post. It says : Type 1 diabetes is not a disqualifying condition for medical school so long as it is under control.
This is what I apparently misunderstood (see below).
I think this post could have been clearer. I also would like to know what was meant by “as long as it is under control” and asked , how would admissions know how controlled the applicant’s T1D is? But whatever.
I hope the classmates mentioned had CGM’s.
As for this:
Diabetics needs to be well managed because during clinical ward rotation, students often find they don’t have time to test frequently, eat or inject insulin.
With CGM, no need to test unless the transmitter or sensor is acting up, and injecting insulin with a pump does not take any time at all and is often automatic these days. Glucose tabs are quick. Just catching folks up with the technology here.
I will repeat my advice. I think it’s fine for this student to mention their diabetes but not as the sole reason for applying to medical school. It could be part of the reason but not the sole reason.
I also feel it is ill advised to mention a specific one specialty in a medical school application….because so much can (and often does) change during the four years of medical school in terms of this choice.
Actually many schools require a diversity statement, which can include a disability or chronic illness.
Type 1 diabetes does not require very many accommodations. With current technology, it is possible to be in tight control and function like anyone without diabetes.
I do not believe schools would discriminate. I think it would be a positive in an application if mentioned but should not be the focus of any essays, unless part of a diversity statement.
Just an anecdote here, but my Common App essay talked about my challenges with chronic illness, and I got into 6/8 nursing schools I applied to. I think people with chronic illness often have unique experiences overcoming obstacles and challenges, and can offer a different perspective in the classroom and on campus. I would hope a college would welcome that.
However, I didn’t apply to any T20 schools, and I don’t have experience in med school admissions, so it may be different.
I think it is fine to talk about, and of course tie in all of your other reasons for wanting to become a doctor. Many of my fellow med school classmates had either a personal health issue or a family member’s health issue that was the catalyst in our desire to become a physician. Physicians are humans, and part of being able to relate to patients has to do with experiencing the human condition of a serious illness–as long as you frame it intelligently, it can only help.
I’m just curious how recent that statement is? With the pandemic, a lot of high school and college students are struggling with mental health challenges. What are they supposed to do if they had lower grades or weren’t able to do as many EC’s? Would this officer not suggest the counselor mentioning extenuating circumstances in the recommendation letter or including a statement in the Add’l Information section?
Or is it the sort of thing where students not supposed to mention physical/learning/mental disabilities/challenges until after they’re accepted? Are there adequate supports for students at the school once they are there? I would be curious as to the culture around mental health and other issues at a school with attitudes like that in the admissions office.
Harvard lists “overcoming obstacles” and “character” as factors in admissions. Resilience is valued at colleges in general and handling a disability/illness often builds “character” and “resilience.”
This is good to know about Harvard. I do think I had a strong essay, and my medical issues have certainly made me more resilient.
OP, like everyone else said, I would mention it as well as your other reasons. I think your personal experiences will make you more empathetic and understanding, whether as an endocrinologist or a different specialist. Good luck!
This.
I’m coming from a unique position, being a mom of 3 daughters, 2 type 1s, one doctor (not type 1) and one who is currently an M2 (with type 1). My oldest is in her residency, doing surgery, and she DID talk in her personal statement about what lead her to the decision of becoming a doctor, and part of that was being raised with 2 sisters with chronic, and at times life-threatening, illnesses, and the impact that that has on families. My middle daughter has type 1, and is currently in med school, was very shaped by living with T1 for the last 23 years. She remembers the times before insulin pumps, CGM’s, and even Lantus (the newer long-acting insulin compared to the archaic NPH and ultralente she was on at diagnosis age 4). Her statement was powerful, and every interviewer at every school said it was one of the most meaningful statements they had every read. But hers wasn’t a sob story, it was about science and her body and how that lead her to love more science and medicine and research and the process of learning and discovery, and how that lead to real impacts on patients lives! She also did 2 years of research at a T-20 school after graduation in the diabetes centers, and got to really see how an idea becomes treatment. And yes, she does think she would be a great endocrinologist, but has said at every point, that she’s keeping an open mind and seeing what happens on rotations. She learned from her older sister (who went in pretty set on women’s health/obgyn, and ended up being a surgeon, LOL) that there’s no way knowing what you’ll love until you do it. My M2 did say that she does want to be in a field where you can have long-term relationships with her patients. Her peds endocrinologist is her hero, she is my hero, and she is my youngest T1 hero. She is the kind of doctor that everyone should strive to be, making my girls feel like they were the most important person in the world when she was with them. I will leave you with their doctor’s quote from my youngest daughter’s award-winning animated short on living with T1 in America, which she dedicated to their endo “It was never doctor verses patient, it was always us against diabetes”. That kind of impact makes a great doctor : )
To the OP: you’ll do great. Write your truth, and if part of your decision to be a physician is because of your living with chronic illness, you should include that as part of the trajectory.
To all the others: Yes, T1 makes everything, including med school, harder. But most have been doing it for so long, that it’s just part of their lives. It is frustrating, and even scary at times, however the experience of being a long-term patient does have it’s benefits. The CGM’s, smart phones, smart pumps are just incredible, but they still have to rely on technology to stay alive and healthy! It’s very interesting to read all the responses! If anyone would like to see my daughter’s animated short, feel free to message me, I’d love to educate people through the eyes of someone who lives with it : )
Mental health is a very touchy subject w/r/t medical school admissions. Mental health issues are the #1 reasons why med students fail to graduate/fail out of from med school. Medical school is very stressful; suicide is the #2 cause of death among med students/residents.
Also certain mental health diagnoses can cause a state medical board to deny a medical license to an individual. We can argue all day whether this is right or fair, but this is how the system operates. Med schools don’t want to a expend a scarce resource (a medical education) on someone they know can’t ever be licensed.
Med school applicants are typically advised to avoid discussing any mental health challenges unless they are many years in their past.
Medical school require the disclosure of a lot of personal information that is not expected for undergrad admissions. A FERPA waiver is just part of the process.
Medicine has a real culture of “tough it out”. Med students, residents, physicians are often expected to work while they’re ill–except when their illness puts their colleagues or patients at risk, Anything that puts patients at risk is a severe breach of ethics and has major repercussions. However, if your illness is not infectious and you’re not bedridden, then you’re expected to be there. My older D reported to a wards shift less than 24 hours after she had an emergency appendectomy. No one thought it was out of the ordinary.