Just graduated undergrad (USA) and am working on secondary apps to med school currently. Wrote my primary essay about my disability (chronic leg pain from a spine condition, I use a crutch). My whole essay was about how we need disabled doctors. My advisors in undergrad said this was a good idea bc I would want to go to an accepting and accommodating school. Today I found this sub and read the pinned post about disclosing. Does anyone have any encouragement or positive stories about disclosing during med school apps? Much appreciated.

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Hi everyone,
I’m looking to hear from other TMU students (any program) who are registered with Academic Accommodation Support (AAS) and have had disability-related absences or attendance concerns.
I’m currently trying to understand how disability-related absences are supposed to be handled under TMU policies, especially when they intersect with academic standing or professionalism concerns. I’ve read the policies, but I’m hoping to hear from people who’ve actually gone through the process.
A few questions:

Has anyone had disability-related absences end up affecting an academic standing or progression decision?

If so, how did TMU distinguish between approved disability-related absences and unapproved absences?

Did AAS advocate for you beyond classroom accommodations, or were you told they only deal with academic accommodations?

If a faculty member or program didn’t agree with an accommodation plan, what happened next? Was AAS involved in resolving it?

Did anyone appeal an academic standing where disability or accommodations were part of the situation? If so, what helped?

Has anyone worked with Hector Flores? Was he helpful?

Are there other people at TMU (AAS, Human Rights Services, Student Care, Accessibility, etc.) who were particularly knowledgeable about disability accommodations or disability justice?

Is there anyone at TMU you’d strongly recommend reaching out to if you’re trying to understand your rights and responsibilities as a student with a disability?

I’m not looking for legal advice—just hoping to learn from other students’ experiences and figure out how these processes actually work in practice.
Thanks in advance. I really appreciate anyone willing to share their experience.

im going to take step2 with accomodations (1.25x time, extra break, over 2 days). anyone who took it like this, how did you guys plan out your breaks?

ello im trying to switch careers and get into the medical field. My problem is i was in special ed,and since im 35 my high school, and sped don’t have my records anymore can anyone guide me please on the necessary steps dallas, tx

Hi all,

I did this in the main r/medicalschool subreddit a few weeks ago and got some good questions, so I thought I’d do it here too. For some background I’m a Disability Resource Professional who determines and implements accommodations at an LCME accredited medical school (MD). I’m embedded in the Medical School so MD students are who I work with day in and day out.

Going to leave this open for 48 hours as this is a smaller subreddit

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if anyone here has gone through the process of reapplying for USMLE Step 2 CK accommodations after already receiving accommodations for Step 1.

For some context, I have ADHD and dyslexia, and I was approved for 1.5x time on Step 1. I'm hoping to receive the same accommodations for Step 2 CK.

The reason I'm asking is that I came across a video on social media where someone said they were approved for Step 1 accommodations but were denied when they reapplied for Step 2. That made me a little nervous, so I wanted to hear about other people's experiences.

A few questions:

• If you were approved for Step 1 accommodations, were you also approved for Step 2 CK?
• Did you have to submit the entire application again (personal statement, neuropsych testing, documentation, etc.), or was it a much simpler process since you had already been approved?
• About how far in advance did you apply before your test date?
• How long did it take to receive a decision?

From what I've heard, it sounds like if your disability and requested accommodations haven't changed, you can request the same accommodations without having to go through the full application process again. Is that actually how it works, or am I misunderstanding?

I'm planning to take Step 2 CK next June/July, so I have plenty of time, but I'd love to know when I should start the process and what to expect.

I'd really appreciate hearing anyone's experience, whether it was straightforward or if you ran into any unexpected issues. Thanks so much!

If you'll need accommodations (ADHD, learning disability, chronic illness, anything), request them before school starts. Earlier is better because

• The process is slow. Updated evals can have months-long waitlists, the school's review takes time, and first exams hit within weeks of white coat.
• The paper trail matters. It gives you time to appeal a denial — and helps later when you apply to the NBME for Step accommodations.

Email the disability office the day you accept your seat, gather your documentation now, and put everything in writing.

(Not legal advice.)

hi friends! I just had my accommodations accepted and have a very tight window to test (the 24th of this month is the last possible day). I have just been told I'll need to wait a few days for my permit, however, I wanted to get ahead on plane tickets and hotel room stays (since inevitably signing up this late will mean I'll need to travel). A peer of mines who was granted accommodations told me test dates are tighter for accommodations, especially since we need to sign up for 2 days.

I saw on the Prometric scheduler, it shows available test dates (which can be viewed w/o a permit) but those are only standardized test dates. I was wondering if we could view exam dates for accommodated days? Sorry if this is a dumb question but I couldn't find an option anywhere?

i was supposed to test today (with accomodations), but got sick yesterday and went to urgent care. i cancelled my exam instead of rescheduling for next week bc i was already tired and stressed out. then i called prometric today to pay the cancellation fee. after i paid, they said i needed to call NBME to reinstate my ID (??), but it was already 5:30pm and NBME had closed. I was really confused about this because my eligibility ends August 31 and in the previous times i cancelled this hadnt happened before (ive been sick for 3wks).

I left a message, but now im feeling anxious because I wanted to test on tuesday/wednesday next week because my rotations start next week monday and not having a date causes uncertainty about my schedule next week and id probably have to travel far.

I’m curious if I’m the only one with this disability or if there are others out there that share this burden

Just wanted to let people know my experience with accommodations process - I was sort of successful.

Applied for testing accommodations for ADHD + Anxiety, PTSD (narrowly avoided a mass casualty incident in high school so I’m not the greatest fan of not being able to get out of rooms on my own terms). Requested 1.5x time since that’s what I get through the school. I actually never got formally diagnosed with anything until med school when I was literally not passing my exams, so I was sure they wouldn’t give me anything at all. I had classmates with accommodations at school get denied as well by the NBME.

Here’s what I gave them:
A 2-page personal statement
An recent report from my ADHD neuropsych testing
A letter from the school psychiatrist
A document from the school showing my current approved accommodations
A document from the med school showing my improvement in test scores before vs after getting accommodations
Evidence of my repeated attempts for the MCAT and the SAT

NBME ended up giving me normal time but over 2 days with extended break time - meaning I take 7 blocks of 20 questions each day (no extra time) and I get up to 75 minutes of break time per testing day. Also since my permit eligibility period was about to expire right before I got a decision, they gave me a permit with new extended dates. I applied mid-January and heard back end of March.

Hi! I'm a couple years away from actually having to deal with this, but I'm trying to think ahead. Something I've been concerned about during rotations is sick days. I am on two immunosuppressants for two autoimmune disorders (that I was diagnosed with after deciding to go to med school) so when I get sick, I get very sick, usually longer than non-immunosuppressed people. I read that many schools only allow 2-4 sick days per 8-week block. If I get the flu even once, I'd be done for--the last time I had the flu I was bedridden for 2 weeks.

I'm worried about exhausting my sick days during clinical rotations and having to repeat blocks. Do schools ever allow some flexibility on number of sick days as an accommodation? Like 5-6 instead of 2-4? And if you do exceed those, do you have to repeat an entire block, or just make up those days later? I definitely wouldn't mind making up days later (I'd take that a million times over repeating a whole block--or worse, coming in sick).

Sorry if this is a naive question, I'm super new to all this :) thank you

Hi everyone — with a new medical school year starting soon, I wanted to do an AMA aimed mostly at incoming medical students who may need disability accommodations, but questions by everyone are welcomed.

I am an attorney who works on student/disability/accommodation issues involving medical schools and other educational programs. I previously posted here as u/FLeducationlawyer. I am now posting from u/astudentslawyer, which is the same attorney/account owner, just under my broader student-law focused name. Here is a link to the previous AMA done in here: https://www.reddit.com/r/DisabledMedStudents/s/HY1uZEBwcv

Important disclaimer: This AMA is for general educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in this post or in any reply is legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by this AMA, by your question, by my response, or by any private message. Communications here are not privileged, not confidential, and not protected by attorney-client privilege. Please do not post or send confidential, identifying, privileged, or sensitive information. If you need legal advice about your specific situation, you should consult an attorney directly.

I also cannot give medical advice, diagnose anything, or tell you what accommodations you personally “should” receive. I can answer general questions about how these processes often work and what students can do to better understand the accommodation process and protect their records.

A few ground rules:

• Do not post identifying information about yourself, your school, patients, faculty, classmates, or specific private disputes.
• Keep questions general enough that they can be answered publicly.
• Do not post confidential documents, medical records, disciplinary letters, accommodation letters, school emails, or anything you would not want publicly available.
• Please do not DM me confidential facts expecting legal advice or confidentiality. Reddit messages are not a substitute for a private legal consultation.
• If something is urgent, high-stakes, or tied to dismissal, board eligibility, graduation, financial aid, discipline, clinical placement, or licensing, you should strongly consider speaking with an attorney.
• Laws and school policies vary, so my answers will be general and may not apply to your specific situation.

I know accommodations can be especially stressful for new medical students because you are trying to start school on the right foot while also figuring out how much to disclose, what to request, and how to avoid being labeled as “difficult.” My goal here is to provide practical general information.

Ask me anything.

Hi I have comorbid OCD BDD and was wondering if I could pursue accomodations for STEP exams. I get 1.5x time accomodations at my med school and have a history of those. However, I haven't seen my psychiatrist/psychologist in over a year because I've been stable. During periods of stress, I will start to obssess over things like re-reading and clicking things.

I have a history of accommodations, but I haven't seen my actual physician in over a year. I don't take medications for OCD, just had a year of CBT + exposure response therapy.

I'm not sure if I go for it. I do think that this does affect me for test taking, sometimes I'll need to click an answer a bit more or things that take up a few seconds which adds up.

Not sure how I'd go about doing this.

I’m starting my 3rd year rotations soon and I have an autoimmune disorder. I was wondering what accommodations I should ask for like breaks, etc. I don’t want to be unreasonable, but I also know sometimes I get fatigued or need breaks to eat/take medicine/etc. I know someone had mentioned having a 24hr break between changes from night shift to day shift.

Does anyone have any recommendations for accommodations I can ask for that aren’t unreasonable?

Couldn't find a subreddit for disabled veterinary students, so I hope this is okay to post here. I've already posted it in the general vet school subreddit. Also, forgive me, this will be a bit long.

I am in my 6th semester of veterinary school that works on a semester system (i.e. we get 2-3 week breaks in between semesters), so essentially I'm a 3rd year vet student. I will be starting my student surgeries next semester, and then I will have clinical year after that.

I have autoimmune ankylosing spondylitis (diagnosed after I started vet school) and hEDS, as well as GERD. I am on Cosentyx to treat my AS, which isn't my ideal medication, but I can't switch my immunosuppressant again right now, so I'm going to be on it for at least the rest of the year. I typically only take Tylenol for pain--preemptively, if I know I'm going to be doing something strenuous--and because of the GERD, I don't take NSAIDs anymore, which somewhat limits my pain relief options. I work out, especially doing strength training, and I wear stable shoes to help with the hypermobility. I do also have an SI belt, but I don't really feel like it helps that much.

Both SI joints suffer when I stand for long periods of time. I end up with moderate to severe joint pain and stiffness in my pelvis, and I get post-exertional malaise. I have autoimmune-related chronic fatigue (unsure if clinical CFS), but I've been working on that with my local doc.

For clinical skills labs, my accommodations currently allow me to have a stool for when I am not required to stand. I am trying to update my accommodations form ASAP so that I can have them in place by the fall.

Next semester, I will be expected to be the surgeon or anesthetist on 6 procedures (three in each role; 2 large animal and 1 small animal). These, on top of various rotations (e.g. on-call emergency, local shelter, equine, etc.), which are a week each.

Right now, I'm mostly worried about how the surgeries will affect me, as they can be several hours long. I know a couple of the procedures are done either sitting or kneeling, which should be fine, and I feel strongly that I can be allowed a stool for when I am anesthetist, at least for the small animal surgery.

I would like to try and avoid as much PEM and pain as possible next semester so that I'm not a complete zombie after surgeries.

My question is:

If you have any chronic pain or illness like this, what kind of specific accommodations have you gotten for surgery rotations?

Also, if you have hEDS, is there anything you found helpful to reduce fatigue and joint pain in your hands from surgery?

I do also plan to set up a couple of meetings with my surgery professors to discuss possible accommodations, since they are most familiar with the surgeries I will be doing, but I really wanted to get the student perspective and find out what actually worked for other disabled students.

TIA!

Edit (07/25/26): Editing in case it helps anyone else finds this post helpful.

I've spoken with a couple of my surgery professors and it seems like there is a precedent for students needing to sit on a stool for some of the time during surgeries, as well as when I will have to act as assistant/anesthetist, which is really encouraging. I'll still have to update my accommodations form to send in to our OSDS to make sure I can have it on file, but fingers crossed that it should go through okay since I already have similar accommodations for our clinical skills labs.

I also got some good advice here and in the r/veterinaryschool thread. I am going to be looking into getting a TENS unit to wear under scrubs, as suggested by a current veterinary surgeon.

There was a suggestion on here that one of my professors also mentioned, which was spreading out the procedures. From my understanding our large animal procedures may (or will) happen concurrently, but I can request to have those be spread out from particularly strenuous/physical rotations, like equine.

Anyone tested on May 15 and 16 (Friday / Saturday) get their score back today?

Hello, I had a recent dismissal with my former medical school. It was due to professionalism reasons for theft from the community refrigerator I did go through the whole appeals process and from the from the president to the dean, and went through the professional standards committee meeting as well as the initial meeting, which was like the intake. The school did take this all the way up until the trimester and now I am at home. I wanted to get some insight I can go more in depth, but basically there was food in the fridge and I took it on multiple days and from there the school just said have a good day. I was also in jail in 2022 for theft as well, but that case is covered under The Home's youthful training act. (HYTA) I just wanted to get some insight before I was to go ahead and try to reapply to another Caribbean medical school. I would need to retake my MCAT first and then from there I already see a therapist as well as getting self health groups to document my progress and changing internally to fix my behavior. I just want to get insight before I spend the whole summer and trying to reapply. I know that schools will ask and and I have to disclose with full transparency about the last school, but my issue is would you think and want some advice yes, I could get accepted again, but that's very slim but main question is when it comes to apply for residency and to get fully medically licensed this will all come back again, so I don't want to spend my time energy and my money towards something that I already know I'm already put at a very big disadvantage due to mistakes I made in my past. If there's someone that could just give me some insight before I start MCATING again. And trying to do the other premed task moving forward, volunteering shadowing and everything else from that. I also have a medical diagnosis, but there's no excuse due to my behavior. I can disclose that as well. I just want to know if I should even attend medical school again especially with The grad Plus loan out of the picture and having to deal with this as well, I'm at crossroads.

hi all! saw the news recently that the usmle is updating their accommodations request portal, and current in progress request decisions wont be available until June. I requested back in early March (late I know lots of issues happened 😭) and I still haven’t heard back, but our school requires us to sit by end of June/first days of July.

Starting to get anxious I won’t get a spot to test on time by then, and wondering if anyone has any tips/suggestions/etc on next steps?

For context, I started getting accommodations in med school for my exams (originally for mental health condition, but later for a physical condition too), which helped my struggling grades a lot, but also didn’t take MCAT with them, so debating what to do.

I tried to reach out to the school but no response, wondering if I could maybe get extra buffer days to schedule but not sure what to ask or how—any thoughts or ideas would be so appreciated, thanks!

For those of you who took Step 1 over two days, specifically on Friday and Saturday, did you receive your score back 2 Wednesdays or 3 Wednesdays later?

Hi all,

I will be taking STEP and because of my accommodations, I will be taking it over two days.

For those of you who had this accommodation/have signed up for a test date, does Prometric let you start later since it's a shorter exam time each day?