TY - JOUR
T1 - Should I write about mental health on my med school app? Examining medical school admissions committee members’ biases regarding mental health conditions
AU - Abraham, Anna E.
AU - Busch, Carly A.
AU - Brownell, Sara E.
AU - Cooper, Katelyn M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge Barrett, The Honors College for funding support. C.A.B. was supported by National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Grant 026257-001.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 the American Physiological Society.
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Mental health conditions can impact college students’ academic achievements and experiences. As such, students may choose to disclose mental illnesses on medical school applications. Yet, no recent studies have investigated to what extent disclosure of a mental health condition may impact whether an applicant is accepted to medical school. We conducted an audit study to address this gap and surveyed 99 potential medical school admissions committee members from over 40 M.D.-granting schools in the United States. Participants rated a fictitious portion of a single medical school application on acceptability, competence, and likeability. They were randomly assigned to a condition: an application that explained a low semester grade-point average due to 1) a mental health condition, 2) a physical health condition, or 3) offered no explanation. After rating their respective application, all committee members were asked about when revealing a mental health condition would be beneficial and when it would be detrimental. Using ANOVAs, multinomial regression, and open coding, we found that medical school admissions committee members do not rate applications lower when a mental health condition is revealed. Committee members highlighted that revealing a mental health condition to demonstrate resiliency could be beneficial, but if the reference is vague or the condition is not being managed, it could be detrimental to a student’s application. This work indicates that medical school admissions committee members do not exhibit a bias against mental health conditions and provides recommendations on how to discuss mental illness on medical school applications.
AB - Mental health conditions can impact college students’ academic achievements and experiences. As such, students may choose to disclose mental illnesses on medical school applications. Yet, no recent studies have investigated to what extent disclosure of a mental health condition may impact whether an applicant is accepted to medical school. We conducted an audit study to address this gap and surveyed 99 potential medical school admissions committee members from over 40 M.D.-granting schools in the United States. Participants rated a fictitious portion of a single medical school application on acceptability, competence, and likeability. They were randomly assigned to a condition: an application that explained a low semester grade-point average due to 1) a mental health condition, 2) a physical health condition, or 3) offered no explanation. After rating their respective application, all committee members were asked about when revealing a mental health condition would be beneficial and when it would be detrimental. Using ANOVAs, multinomial regression, and open coding, we found that medical school admissions committee members do not rate applications lower when a mental health condition is revealed. Committee members highlighted that revealing a mental health condition to demonstrate resiliency could be beneficial, but if the reference is vague or the condition is not being managed, it could be detrimental to a student’s application. This work indicates that medical school admissions committee members do not exhibit a bias against mental health conditions and provides recommendations on how to discuss mental illness on medical school applications.
KW - Medical school
KW - Medical school admissions
KW - Mental health
KW - Mental health stigma
KW - Premed
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U2 - 10.1152/advan.00094.2022
DO - 10.1152/advan.00094.2022
M3 - Article
C2 - 35900355
AN - SCOPUS:85138149393
SN - 1043-4046
VL - 46
SP - 526
EP - 539
JO - Advances in Physiology Education
JF - Advances in Physiology Education
IS - 4
ER -