Anybody ever known a convicted felon becoming an MD?

[Guest wellslapmesilly]

Is it possible?

I ran with the wrong crowd when i was younger, and got sentenced to 3 years federal in Canada (went in at 19). I actually just received my pardon this year, and am curious what my chances are with this background? Technically it shouldn't matter, but how would the interviewing committee view this? I suppose i can leave out this part of my history, but it's been such a defining moment in my life, and of who i am, that i think i should include it. And I may not even be able to leave it out, because there'll be a missing part of several years (do they go into such details?)... i never finished high school, and went into university through the mature student route.

[Guest Mimicat65]

It has to be disclosed - I believe there is a specific question related to previous convictions on the application of at least some of the schools, perhaps all.

[Guest quebecboy]

I believe if you received your pardon, there should be no problem (a problem could arise when it comes to receiving your License though, depending on the nature of your offense). After all, it did happen when you were younger, and everybody is allowed to make mistakes. The important thing is to learn from these mistakes, and to be able to change the path of your life. However, if there is a specific section on this in the application (like Mimicat said), you must fill it out, unless it specifically states "for which you have not yet received a pardon"

 

Whether you choose to disclose the information or not during the interview is your personal decision, but you should know that certain past offenses are highly incompatible with the practice of medicine (anything that implicates violence toward others, including phyical, psychological, sexual.... and other obvious offenses), and if this applies to you, you should definitely reconsider your choice of career.

[bestknightmare]

i belive some hospital run background check before accepting for residency.so that might be a problem. I do agree with the other post, should consider other field than medicine.

 

also i've seen on tv its free education while in jail? have u gotten any degrees or such?

[IslandJeeper]

I think you are out of luck. I am currently a lawyer looking to get into medicine and I can tell you that in terms of the law society (there are similarities between the provincial medical associations and legal associations), having a criminal record would make me ineligible to be a lawyer. The idea being that a person who breaks the law cannot be capable of administering them. Normally, people will view law breaking behavior as being inherently unethical (part of most professional oaths require a statement about being law abiding). The only way I see it working for you is if a med school will still entertain your application, and if you could somehow establish that in the circumstances, your conduct albeit illegal, was not unethical (i.e. stealing drugs for your ill patient). This said, if you have received a pardon or, where a young offender at time of your conviction, you may no longer have a criminal record and would not have to respond in the affirmative to this question. You may want to look into what steps you need to take to receive a pardon -- I believe you can apply for one 3 or 5 years after you have completed your sentence -- but don't quote me on that. Best of luck to you.

[UBCGuy]

I think he said that he has already recieved his pardon...

 

I am not a lawyer though so perhaps I am missing something.

[ssc427]

[i don't know about other provinces but in BC you need a student license from the BC college of P&S before you even begin meds. So theoretically you could get accepted to meds but denied for the license (which means you couldn’t start school). The questionnaire for the license includes all sorts of thing not asked in the med school application. Mind you, I’ve never heard of someone not being granted the license.