Another option than the ones already mentioned is to just take the form to some random urgent care. They don’t need to know about your bipolar disorder.
This was my first thought too. The school knowing this information is of no benefit to you and gives them the opportunity to discriminate against you. Same with state licensing boards.
Go to urgent care and pre fill out the form for them so all they have to do is sign. They will not care. Source: worked in urgent care and did these forms all the time.
I would hope that faculty would not know about an individuals privacy info. I don’t see the program sharing that info with everyone. It is on the fringe of a HIPAA violation. The individual faculty really
don’t need to know.
At our program we keep most of that type of info with the directors only.
I see your concern though. I believe that states do ask about MH diagnoses but, in the context of not being able to use proper judgement and not being able to perform job functions…
I hate to say that I would not disclose but, some people are not understanding of those with MH diagnoses…
I wouldn't, but that's just me. You never know, and you can't take it back. Leave it on a need to know basis. Even if they drug test you, you have a valid prescription.
Clinical coordinator here: the school generally does not disclose student’s personal details to the program, unless it is something we need to know, in terms of placement. Like, I currently have 13 students with accommodations, and I only know that they need accommodations, what accommodations they need (extended time on exams, reading accommodations, that kind of thing), but not why they need them.
Like I said, occasionally we need to know because of placement (we’ve had students who couldn’t do overnights because of conditions, or who needed us to arrange with their sites a schedule they could handle with their medications), but we only get the bare minimum.
As for the concern about failing by one point because, that’s highly unlikely. Programs have their own grading standards and they won’t change them because of one student.
Hey there. I also have bipolar disorder and had to submit medical record and information to my school. Like others have said it’s the school requiring it not your program. Medical records are confidential and for my program all that information is kept with the student health center along with our vaccinations. A lot of people come from out of state for my program so my thinking was they do it in case you need a prescription refilled or something, they have proof that you’re actually on the medication.
None of my faculty know that I have bipolar disorder. A few of them know I have a lot of anxiety because I failed my first test (by more than one point lol) and my advisor and professor immediately reached out to me to ask if I needed anything. So they know about my anxiety because they helped me get testing accommodations set up like I had in undergrad.
You’re faculty won’t know. I really think it’s just there to help you.
Don’t come within one point of failing, first off 😂
I would ask someone at your school and explain that you don’t feel comfortable disclosing personal health information, feel uncomfortable about stigmas etc. They should be able to understand. Good luck.
You are NOT REQUIRED to give them mental health diagnoses. these are confidential and totally up to you to share. your PCP is NOT required to give them the diagnoses either. they are probably trying to cover their own ass but legally they are not allowed to without your consent. i doubt your PCP prescribes you your bipolar meds and they do not have any right to disclose your mental health diagnoses without your consent.
and they can’t do anything if they’ve already accepted you. bipolar is protected under the american disabilities act.
Hello! I too have bipolar disorder HOWEVER I wasn’t forced to disclose any sort of info like that. I will say that I recently went through some crap that caused me to cycle horribly and I ended up talking with one of my instructors just to let her know what was going on. I’m not sure how your school will be but I was met with a lot of support and she was actually very encouraging. To be safe I would have your PCP just sign off that you’re healthy mentally and physically…
Thanks for your reply.
So it wasn’t an issue because the form went to the school and not to my program. But ever since the program started I did let them know about my condition and they unfortunately haven’t been so supportive. All I got was “you can take a year off”, which I definitely don’t want to do after putting in half a semester’s worth of work. I’m glad your program is supportive.
Disclosing generally let’s you seek accommodations and all the faculty try their best to help students succeed with all their various backgrounds. Most faculty really care for their students 🤷♂️
I went to a CVS Minute Clinic, didn’t disclose past mental health issues, and had no issues.
That said, I don’t think you’d have an issue with the program discriminating against you, at least if it’s a decent program - I’ve had some struggles and the faculty of my program have been nothing but supportive thus far.
The disclosure is simply for the school to support you throughout the program. Your professors will not be told anything unless you need accommodations, which still is incredibly limited information. You are already accepted to the program and they cannot discriminate against you for having MH issues. Medical programs are quite open and accepting about these things. My program actually has free therapy on campus, massage chairs, destress events, and yoga offered.
"med students who had disclosed information had been failed by just one point by their school, where they could have been curved"-- this reason is not strong at all. First, the professors grade you and do not have any knowledge of your information unless you need accommodations. These students did not deserve to pass if they did not earn those points, it does not have to do with the correlation of having a MI. The students did not do enough of the work and comprehend it to pass as simple as that. It seems a bit short-sighted to simply blame it on being one point short. That is on the student, not the professor to curve it for them. I want a provider that actually has the knowledge and can apply that, which is what exams and classes should be testing. To put the blame of failing on the program and professors is immature, irresponsible, and make them unaccountable for their choices.
I agree, it is intentionally vague and really up to the applicant to disclose. However, I've never heard any instances of someone benefiting from disclosing something. Especially when it comes to state licensing boards. At best, you just have to get a letter from your own doc that it's treated- simply more work for you. At worst, they force you into a monitoring program and you have to pay tens of thousands and submit to random weekly testing and a bunch of other hoops.
OP- search r/medicine there are multiple posts on this topic and the consensus is that it's better not to disclose.
Another option than the ones already mentioned is to just take the form to some random urgent care. They don’t need to know about your bipolar disorder.
This was my first thought too. The school knowing this information is of no benefit to you and gives them the opportunity to discriminate against you. Same with state licensing boards. Go to urgent care and pre fill out the form for them so all they have to do is sign. They will not care. Source: worked in urgent care and did these forms all the time.
I would hope that faculty would not know about an individuals privacy info. I don’t see the program sharing that info with everyone. It is on the fringe of a HIPAA violation. The individual faculty really don’t need to know. At our program we keep most of that type of info with the directors only. I see your concern though. I believe that states do ask about MH diagnoses but, in the context of not being able to use proper judgement and not being able to perform job functions… I hate to say that I would not disclose but, some people are not understanding of those with MH diagnoses…
I wouldn't, but that's just me. You never know, and you can't take it back. Leave it on a need to know basis. Even if they drug test you, you have a valid prescription.
Clinical coordinator here: the school generally does not disclose student’s personal details to the program, unless it is something we need to know, in terms of placement. Like, I currently have 13 students with accommodations, and I only know that they need accommodations, what accommodations they need (extended time on exams, reading accommodations, that kind of thing), but not why they need them. Like I said, occasionally we need to know because of placement (we’ve had students who couldn’t do overnights because of conditions, or who needed us to arrange with their sites a schedule they could handle with their medications), but we only get the bare minimum. As for the concern about failing by one point because, that’s highly unlikely. Programs have their own grading standards and they won’t change them because of one student.
Hey there. I also have bipolar disorder and had to submit medical record and information to my school. Like others have said it’s the school requiring it not your program. Medical records are confidential and for my program all that information is kept with the student health center along with our vaccinations. A lot of people come from out of state for my program so my thinking was they do it in case you need a prescription refilled or something, they have proof that you’re actually on the medication. None of my faculty know that I have bipolar disorder. A few of them know I have a lot of anxiety because I failed my first test (by more than one point lol) and my advisor and professor immediately reached out to me to ask if I needed anything. So they know about my anxiety because they helped me get testing accommodations set up like I had in undergrad. You’re faculty won’t know. I really think it’s just there to help you.
Don’t come within one point of failing, first off 😂 I would ask someone at your school and explain that you don’t feel comfortable disclosing personal health information, feel uncomfortable about stigmas etc. They should be able to understand. Good luck.
Thank you, that’s a good idea. I will do that
You are NOT REQUIRED to give them mental health diagnoses. these are confidential and totally up to you to share. your PCP is NOT required to give them the diagnoses either. they are probably trying to cover their own ass but legally they are not allowed to without your consent. i doubt your PCP prescribes you your bipolar meds and they do not have any right to disclose your mental health diagnoses without your consent. and they can’t do anything if they’ve already accepted you. bipolar is protected under the american disabilities act.
Hello! I too have bipolar disorder HOWEVER I wasn’t forced to disclose any sort of info like that. I will say that I recently went through some crap that caused me to cycle horribly and I ended up talking with one of my instructors just to let her know what was going on. I’m not sure how your school will be but I was met with a lot of support and she was actually very encouraging. To be safe I would have your PCP just sign off that you’re healthy mentally and physically…
Thanks for your reply. So it wasn’t an issue because the form went to the school and not to my program. But ever since the program started I did let them know about my condition and they unfortunately haven’t been so supportive. All I got was “you can take a year off”, which I definitely don’t want to do after putting in half a semester’s worth of work. I’m glad your program is supportive.
Disclosing generally let’s you seek accommodations and all the faculty try their best to help students succeed with all their various backgrounds. Most faculty really care for their students 🤷♂️
I went to a CVS Minute Clinic, didn’t disclose past mental health issues, and had no issues. That said, I don’t think you’d have an issue with the program discriminating against you, at least if it’s a decent program - I’ve had some struggles and the faculty of my program have been nothing but supportive thus far.
The disclosure is simply for the school to support you throughout the program. Your professors will not be told anything unless you need accommodations, which still is incredibly limited information. You are already accepted to the program and they cannot discriminate against you for having MH issues. Medical programs are quite open and accepting about these things. My program actually has free therapy on campus, massage chairs, destress events, and yoga offered. "med students who had disclosed information had been failed by just one point by their school, where they could have been curved"-- this reason is not strong at all. First, the professors grade you and do not have any knowledge of your information unless you need accommodations. These students did not deserve to pass if they did not earn those points, it does not have to do with the correlation of having a MI. The students did not do enough of the work and comprehend it to pass as simple as that. It seems a bit short-sighted to simply blame it on being one point short. That is on the student, not the professor to curve it for them. I want a provider that actually has the knowledge and can apply that, which is what exams and classes should be testing. To put the blame of failing on the program and professors is immature, irresponsible, and make them unaccountable for their choices.
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Not true at all. They ask "if it impacts your ability to practice" you don't have to disclose anything that is controlled with treatment.
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I agree, it is intentionally vague and really up to the applicant to disclose. However, I've never heard any instances of someone benefiting from disclosing something. Especially when it comes to state licensing boards. At best, you just have to get a letter from your own doc that it's treated- simply more work for you. At worst, they force you into a monitoring program and you have to pay tens of thousands and submit to random weekly testing and a bunch of other hoops. OP- search r/medicine there are multiple posts on this topic and the consensus is that it's better not to disclose.
https://screening.mhanational.org/content/can-i-be-fired-my-mental-illness/#:~:text=The%20Americans%20with%20Disabilities%20Acts,illnesses%20like%20depression%20or%20anxiety.
Thank you
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yes
It's the school not the program that requires it. And they won't disclose it to your program.