Seeking mental healthcare during medical training

[NLengr]

9 hours ago, Birdy said:

Seek what help you need, but as others have said be cautious what you disclose. 

I have personally run into difficulty because I ended up in a position where I had to disclose a mental health diagnosis (postpartum depression.) What happened was that my entire history - including things like my phobia of wasps - was disclosed to the College by my psychiatrist who treated me for the postpartum depression and had no concerns about my ability to practice. None of the historical items had ever impacted my ability to work, nor would they as I am attentive to my mental health and pro-active about management  

I ended up getting a letter that they had reason to believe I wasn’t mentally competent to practice medicine, and I was put through the review process and am now required to be monitored. Because I had postpartum depression from which I completely recovered (which everyone agrees on; there’s no concern whatsoever that I have any ongoing issues.) The fact that I’ve been required to be monitored for mental health reasons will come up every time I seek to be licensed anywhere, so this will follow me for the remainder of my career. I don’t mind sharing the story with people because I’m angry, but in no way ashamed of my history. It’s a super common issue, I took appropriate steps to manage it, and I got kicked in the arse for it.

So seek help, but tread carefully. 

Best profession ever!!!!!! Sorry to hear what happened to you. It's unfortunately so common for things like this to happen.

For any med students or residents on here, I will pass along the advice we received during residency from the CMPA at a talk: "the college is not your friend.".