HELP HELP applying for medicine with a criminal record!!!

Right am in a absolute state of panic here!

So basically I've just passed my second year as a biomedical science student and hoping to gain a 2.1 Degree

Unfortunately last April I accidentally just had one to many to drink over a very stressful period, the next thing I know I'm having to face court with the charges of assult on a energy worker, it's not true and totally out of character, Never have I ever done anything like hurt another person. They said "BEATING"

Basically now it's on my DBs, because at the time I was informed that I can go guilty and that would be the end of the whole ordeal,( it would go on my DBS) or I can go not guilty and open a trail and face jail time!! In the whole panic a just went for what seemed like the easy option at the time, to go guilty.... T.T

I have big ambitions and want to be a surgeon that's a always been my ultimate dream, I just don't know if it's possible for me anymore..

I want to apply to UCL, Imperial, & currently I'm doing my Ucat/ Bmat preparation, I can't help to but think I'm not going to get inn. Especially because of how competitive medicine is already..

What should I do? Honestly feel like I've really messed everything up over one day!

Reply 1

TSR Hippocrates

10

Hey there, thanks for posting a question in the Medicine forum. :biggrin:

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Reply 2

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

My understanding with criminal declarations from the unis POV is that they consider the circumstances on a case by case basis. So it’s not really possible to say exactly what impact it might have.

I’d suggest contacting them ahead of time to see what their policy/procedure is.

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by SahraxX

Right am in a absolute state of panic here!

So basically I've just passed my second year as a biomedical science student and hoping to gain a 2.1 Degree

Unfortunately last April I accidentally just had one to many to drink over a very stressful period, the next thing I know I'm having to face court with the charges of assult on a energy worker, it's not true and totally out of character, Never have I ever done anything like hurt another person. They said "BEATING"

Basically now it's on my DBs, because at the time I was informed that I can go guilty and that would be the end of the whole ordeal,( it would go on my DBS) or I can go not guilty and open a trail and face jail time!! In the whole panic a just went for what seemed like the easy option at the time, to go guilty.... T.T

I have big ambitions and want to be a surgeon that's a always been my ultimate dream, I just don't know if it's possible for me anymore..

I want to apply to UCL, Imperial, & currently I'm doing my Ucat/ Bmat preparation, I can't help to but think I'm not going to get inn. Especially because of how competitive medicine is already..

What should I do? Honestly feel like I've really messed everything up over one day!

As above my understanding is they assess it on a case by case basis - I think for historical convictions of relatively more minor things, especially if you have/can demonstrate that you've reflected on the outcome and express remorse and exhibited a change since then, it can be less of an issue. I think the major potential barrier here is that it's quite recent (within the last two years), it's fairly serious (assault), and you also don't seem to have reflected on it or really expressed remorse for the actions except how it affects you.

In fact despite pleading guilty you aren't acknowledging any responsibility for it at all, or even that it did occur. You've actually just said it didn't happen (despite having the conviction - whether it did or didn't happen you plead guilty which means as far as anyone is concerned you admitted you did it). You also say you "accidentally" had one drink too many, so you are also not even reflecting upon the behaviours that led to this situation because you haven't engaged with the fact that you can't "accidentally" drink too much. You were in control of your actions (up until you weren't), and there would have been several opportunities for you to stop drinking before things got out of hand. The fact you don't recognise that even after the fact to acknowledge it, haven't reflected on it, and haven't indicated you've taken any actions to address that (e.g. attending a 12 step program or something) does seem like a potential issue?

Also perhaps a bit outside of the central issue, in general the potential mitigation of "drinking heavily while under stress" is probably not an encouraging one even if it didn't have this outcome, since medicine is inherently a fairly high stress career and even if you weren't assaulting people under the influence, just being prone to excessive drinking and causing disruption generally may be a concern I would imagine? If nothing else I would have hoped this would be a concern for you to have recognised and reflected on in relation to your ambitions (which does not seem to have been the case).

I'm no expert but I suspect the present situation would likely present a challenge, both in terms of the recentness and severity of the conviction and also because I don't think you've processed it and reflected on it in the way they would be expecting you to have done. Probity is a big deal for vocations like medicine, and I think generally taking the tack of "I have a conviction but don't believe I did anything wrong" is the wrong mindset to have for that and that itself could be a big issue, perhaps as much as the actual conviction.

However as noted I'm no expert - @GANFYD may be able to provide more insight into how these kinds of issues with convictions or probity matters may be viewed in medical admissions (or in the profession generally)?

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 4

TheMedicOwl

12

I don't have anything to add to what's already been said on the legal aspect, but I do know that if there's one thing medical schools seriously frown on, it's inability to take responsibility for your actions. In the same sentence you say "It isn't true" and also that it was "out of character". How can something that didn't happen be out of character? Either you assaulted that worker or you didn't. If you try to make excuses and backtrack on your admission of guilt you'll make things even harder for yourself, because you're not demonstrating any insight or willingness to change. Your chances of getting into med school are now very slim, but an attitude like this one would be enough to close and lock the door completely.

Reply 5

TMTDRN

9

I really think you need to put medicine aside for now and focus on rebuilding your life. You took the advice that was best for you then and that’s kept you out of prison and allowed you to get on with your life. That was the right decision and it was good advice. Your solicitor would have told you to go to trial if there was any chance you would get off.

Be honest with yourself. If you were a medicine admissions director, with thousands of applications in front of you, what would make you take a person with a criminal record over all the others? It would take someone exceptional. Do you think you’re exceptional?

HELP HELP applying for medicine with a criminal record!!!

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