Myasthenia Gravis Support Group
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disease leading to fluctuating muscle weakness and fatiguability. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that increases during periods of activity and improves after periods of rest. Although myasthenia gravis may affect any voluntary muscle, muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, and...
Hello all, I am 23 years old an an aspiring doctor. I was diagnosed after I graduated from college so I wasn't able to go to med school right away as I had a thymectomy and needed time to recover. Even after being diagnosed, my dream of being a physician hasn't died and I still want to go to med school. I know how taxing med school is and my worry is my body wouldn't be able to take it since stress exacerbates our symptoms. I have a lot of friends in the field and they all said that it's doable but the thing is, they don't have MG, they're just familiar with it since they studied it. I wanted to ask advice from the people with MG.
Are there any members here who are in the healthcare industry? Do you have any tips on how I'll be able to manage if ever I do continue going to med school?
Thank you!
MG can be controlled and for most folks we can do well.
However, it is a difficult question to answer how well any one of us will do versus the "average" MG patient.
I think if I were young and had MG, and wanted to be a doctor, I would seek advice from a few medical schools, ones where you might apply, and ask to talk to some of the neurologists there -- not as patient, but as an aspiring doctor. And talk to med school staff.
I was a medical researcher, not an MD, at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. The MD program is, as you say, quite rigorous, stressful and the residency even more so. My own MG didn't come on until I was in my 50s and most of my work was at a computer by that time, so I wouldn't have had too much problem.
If your medical care is at a University medical center or other one that does have a medical school, you should ask them to talk to some of the medical students there and really get the inside story on what is expected. You can do this informally by calling medical schools and asking to come and talk to them about how you might accomplish your goals.
I think that if you can get control of MG with treatment, you should be able to do fine. But it would be good to wait until you are functioning reasonably well, and you should spend time exploring how med schools can help, and fully disclose your problems.
There have been some recent discussions of this in the medical field --
https://www.google.com/search?q=medical+school+for+students+with+disabilities&rlz=1CAACAG_enUS827&oq=medical+school+for+students+with+disa&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l4j69i64.17375j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Good Luck,
Russ
My only problem is when I do disclose my condition, I know that it can affect my application.
I would find the med school admissions person and spend some time finding out everything you can including asking about others who have had health issues who are in the program or have gone through it.
I know at Mayo Med school in Rochester, MN one of the students was in a wheel chair and made it through OK. By the way, if you are accepted at Mayo, the cost of medical school is free -- something that certainly takes pressure off of students. https://college.mayo.edu/academics/school-of-medicine/md-program/how-to-apply/
I wonder if any med schools offer a more flexible schedule -- rather than the X number of years tightly done, if it could be spread over a longer period if there were some health difficulties.
Good Luck
Russ
I wish you well and all success. We all spend much time on here talking about the individual nature of our symptoms but it would wonderous thing to have the luxury of a Doctor who had real-life experience on MG on the case.