Quoted: Anxiety and Depression in Medical School

[NotAProgDirector]

How do admissions committees view unmedicated but documented depression and anxiety in undergrad for several years, after it's been resolved years later? And how do these students do in medical school or in residency as doctors? Will there be licensing problems? Is having therapy looked at as a bad thing, or as a sign of not really being in recovery? Pretty worried!

I am pretty sure you are worried about nothing. I can't imagine that any medical school, licensing board, or residency is going to care much about this. Lots of people get therapy.

Whether you'll be able to handle medical school and residency is really up to you. Those with depression/anxiety tend to run into trouble from one of two sources: 1) sleep depriavation / shift schedules; and 2) lack of self confidence in the face of a bad outcome.

In the first, it's well known that poor sleep schedules tends to worsen depression. Some residents find it very difficult to handle the hours required.

In the second, all medical students / residents regularly have things that don't go well -- a poor presentation on the wards, missing a diagnosis, forgetting to check a lab or test, etc. I have seen some with anxiety let these small things derail their career.

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[NotAProgDirector]

From the OP:

Okay, that's good to know. I'm just worried that if I'm in therapy when I'm applying, it might look like I'm not really recovered. Good to know the licensing board won't care.

Therapy makes it easier for me to handle your sources of problems, so I did want to continue that.

If anyone has personal experiences to share and wants to do so anonymously, simply post that in your response and I'll edit out your identifying information.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Posted anonymously by request:

You are asking about admissions committees, correct? I don't recall that they ask, or that they are even entitled to ask about the medical history of applicants. I might be wrong but you're not applying for a license, just an education.

State medical boards may ask when you apply for a license either as a resident or attending, but they often have a statute of limitations. And the wording is usually aimed at "impairment." As far as I can tell, the big things they want to know about are substance abuse, psychotic disorders, and antisocial behavior. But this isn't a guarantee as I know of at least one state that for awhile was requiring anyone with even mild depression to have a forensic psychiatric evaluation. There are some really weird medical board requirements out there.

As far as therapy, that shouldn't be an issue. People go to therapy for all sorts of things. For example in psychiatry there are residents who seek out 4x/week psychoanalysis which is a required part of psychoanalytic training. Just going to therapy is not proof of impairment.

 

[Roguelyn]

This shouldn't be a problem at all. Your medical records are confidential just like any other HIPAA protected information. There is no reason for your therapy, depression or anxiety to be revealed to an admission committee, your residency advisor or any licensing board.

The only exception to this would be if you have committed a demeanor or felony, are impaired due to drugs and/or alcohol and have not received treatment (and there are plenty of confidential resources to receive help for this) or if you are currently a danger to yourself or your patients and someone else reports you.

What you describe sounds rather benign. Damn near everyone is taking something for depression and/or getting therapy.

I just finished the application for my license and I'm pretty sure I could be a suicidal axe murdered and not get noticed. (FYI: I am neither.)