Thanks. It is employee health. I'll go there for my physical exam and drug screen later this month. My concern is that with my ADHD (which was diagnosed while in Medical school) do I have to list this as a diagnosis or condition that would impair me from taking care of patient's? I guess it's a chance I'll have to take, but I vote no that it would not impair me.
I just hope that if by some way my PD or program administration finds out that I have ADHD and take Adderall, they may not try to find ways to show I am incompetent to safely care for patients and may rescind my acceptance. I know in other professions this is illegal, but in the field of medicine, things are a little grey I would imagine.
Depends on what you are filling out.
For the Employee Health and Hiring Forms, it's up to you but I would disclose and I never say disclose. Trust me, this is better in the long run for many legal reasons.
You don't have to always disclose it in a section mentioning impairment, sometimes they have a section for listing illnesses/treatment seperately. Or a section that asks about disability but is worded that way and not impairment. Those are better boxes to fill out.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TELL YOUR PD at this point.
If HR/Employee Health takes issue with it, it will be up to them to address any accommodations that need to be made, if any. In this case, it will depend on the accommodations how much med info is necessary to be divulged to the program to accomplish the accommodation. Accommodations can be ordered without any med reason given for it to your employer. However, HR/Employee Heath can try to make you jump through any hoops regarding your fitness for duty. Sort of a trade off.
Some people will claim it as a disability that they DO NOT need accommodations for. (this is a thing).
That's ideal.
At the first whiff of any real trouble with your PD, to your PD and only your PD, you should then mention it.
This is the best way to deal with HR and your PD re: mental health disability to start with.
However, you need whatever you tell HR to match whatever you tell the licensing board in terms of spirit and appearing honest.
Sometimes you luck out the licensing boards keep their questions vague enough you wouldn't have to list it if you didn't feel it would impair you. Frequently HR/Employee Health is more invasive and forces more out of you for you to honestly answer their questions. More info is safer is with HR than with the board or the PD, that said, don't give away your entire health history to your employer. You don't have to and there's ways around it.
There usually isn't contact from HR/Employee Health --> med board, and I covered HR -/-> PD with more than accomodations if indicated as far as I know. However, the PD can always go to to the med board and the med board can do whatever the **** it wants. The med board can go to HR and your PD for at any moment for any info it wants from what I've gathered. I know some can subpoena your med providers to appear and your entire health record.
Make sure you have a PCP and at least have a list of psychs you can try to get an appt on short notice if you need it, all out of your EHR system!! Not part of your hospital organization!! Or see a psych for a baseline visit #bonus CYA.
Your piss test needs to reflect what you are prescribed. If the Adderall is written PRN and you have a good history with that, then I would go in clean. If it is not written that way, you need to piss Adderall.
If you are scourged with a mental illness in medicine you need to do a few things:
always demonstrate as perfect of compliance with the MH issue as you can
do not have any documented substance use disorders (or undocumented ones for that matter)
avoid self harm
psych hospitalizations tend to be broadly required to be disclosed to Med Boards, same with inpt or even outpt substance abuse treatment
be proactive always with having regular care in place
consider an ADA attorney (or have an idea how to find a decent one)
avoid anything that smacks of impaired judgement at work and outside of it
don't tell *anyone* in your program if you can help it
avoid anything that smacks of dishonesty, particularly about your condition
be careful about disclosing if your mental health condition is impairing you at the same time,
know when to wave the white flag before you've had enough rope to hang yourself
I realize this is a fine line and some of the above even contradicts, do your best
TLDR:
licensing and HR forms should match
you want to shy away from "yeses" to things about impairment but still be honest with medical history
PDs don't *have* to know about your med conditions, I repeat, you have legal protections about what med info your employer is entitled to, consider carefully
if the PD & HR are not aware, you can't use it as a defense in the future if they say you are having performance issues, so if you play that card do it early but don't do it before you are under the microscope, because it will likely put you there even if you weren't there already
