Session 73 The paperback version of The Premed Playbook: Guide to the Medical School Interview is set to be released in June. In celebration of that launch, simply preorder it from Barnes and Noble before June 06, 2017 and get almost $100 worth of giveaways including a brand new, amazing mock interview platform which is only available right now to those who preorder the book. This platform will enable you to practice your interview skills anytime you want and even share video recordings of your interviews with mentors, advisors, friends, and family. Access to this platform is worth $47 a month but you get a free month if you preorder the paperback copy of the book from Barnes and Noble. You will also get access to my 13 video series of which are courses I've done on the medical school interview (regular price is $47). To know more, text PREORDER to 44222 and you will get instructions on how to buy the book and how to submit your receipt to get access to this free gift. Today's question is about whether an applicant's medical history would affect their application to medical school, which is a common question we get. Do you need to mention it in your personal statement? If so, how will this affect your application? [04:00] OldPreMeds Question of the Week: “I am currently back in school working on completing course prereqs for medical school. I'm just wondering, is a medical history taken into account when applying to medical school especially mental health? In 2016, undiagnosed OCD led me to develop an eating disorder for which I'm currently in recovering as well as chronic depression. I'm wondering if these life events could affect my medical school application. Aside from my mental health history, I am working towards a strong application (knock on wood). My undergrad GPA is 3.9. My current science and math GPA is 4.0. I'm about to begin volunteering at a hospital and I work 24+ hours a week in an advanced stage dementia nursing home, basically, as a CNA. I serve as a peace corps volunteer and I'm nearly fluent in Spanish.” Here are my thoughts: [05:00] Medical School Application Luckily, for this student, their mental health has obviously not affected their grades. Ultimately, what the question comes down to is, what do I have to tell the medical schools? The plain answer is nothing. There is nothing on the application that asks about your health. What could come up is if you had any significant gaps in education and you have to explain those. And even if you do have those gaps in your education, you don't have to explain those by saying you've had chronic depression, OCD, or an eating disorder. Instead, be very generic and say you've been dealing with some health issues that have gotten under control and since coming back to school, you've been fantastic. And it shows! [06:34] Medical License Application When you go for your medical license, you will be asked a question about any health issues that are going to prevent you from taking care of patients. It doesn't sound like this poster has anything that would prevent them from taking care of patients so this is not something to worry about. However, this comes into play if you have brain tumor and it's affecting your cognition and your ability to think and control impulses. Then you're starting to deal with some questionable issues. If you have a vision problem or severe carpal tunnel, for instance, and you're a surgeon then maybe that's a problem. You're going to have to disclose that on your applications for your medical license as well as your credentials at the hospital. [07:33] A Red Flag Whatever you have is none of the medical school's business. I highly recommend that even if this has motivated you to go into medicine, be very careful about talking about those things on your application and in your personal statement. This could pose a big red flag. Medical schools are looking at thousands of medical schools so why would they take a chance on you when they can just