DUI is the one offense that is commonly committed by everyday, upstanding citizens. While nobody wants to face criminal charges, for students planning to practice medicine, a simple DUI can turn into their worst nightmare when it comes to applying to medical school.

While you won't usually find someone with a conviction for prescription drug fraud, or manslaughter applying to medical school, there are plenty of applicants who do have convictions for misdemeanor and felony DUIs on their records.

Disclosing Criminal Convictions

If you are facing DUI charges, you have every reason to worry about how a DUI conviction might look on your application to medical school.

Some medical schools only ask applicants to disclose convictions for felonies, while other schools want to know about everything from a misdemeanor DUI to a serious felony conviction.

Medical schools are concerned with:

• Criminal convictions
• The nature of the offense
• If the offense could preclude you from practicing medicine

If you are arrested for DUI, and your charges are dismissed, this looks a lot better than a conviction. Generally, committees are concerned about admitting applicants who may run into difficulty getting a state license down the road.

Committees carefully consider convictions that involve substance abuse, a sexually motivated offense, or any other offense that raises doubts over the applicant's future ability to practice medicine.

If you apply to medical school and you fail to disclose your DUI, your acceptance can be rescinded, and if your DUI is later discovered, you can be dismissed.

The withholding of a DUI conviction is considered immoral conduct, and any such withholding of key information could block you from getting into the medical school of your choosing.

The best thing to do is avoid a DUI conviction in the first place. Contact a DUI defense attorney to fight your charges!