Quoted: Vet student and autoimmune disorder

[Doodledog]

Perhaps someone in vet school can comment on this:

I have been accepted into veterinary school and I am concerned about when I should tell/ who I should tell about my autoimmune disorder, Behcet's. At the time of interview I was just diagnosed and didn't know much about it. The symptoms are under control now but I worry about having a flare. The flares are BAD and complications can happen. I've already been hospitalized twice with life-threatening complications like Pulmonary embolism.

On the other hand I would prefer not to have to tell anyone, for fear that they will look it up and see the symptoms. I would rather not have to face any professor day in and day out that knows that I can have genital ulcers and skin lesions. Behcet's is often misunderstood by Doctors so expect any better from lay people and the symptoms can really look like herpes or AIDS to those who are not informed. The most common outward symptom that I have, mouth ulcers -causes my entire lower face area to swell, as well as lymph node and gland enlargement, it is very noticeable.

Should I tell someone? Who? When? What about my classmates? If anyone asks currently I say I have a rare autoimmune disorder and it is similar to lupus. That usually stops the questions.

Thanks for your advice.

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[cscip]

Hey Tildy, I think it's really important that you be honest with your faculty and classmates. You already got in and they can't turn you away because you have an illness (pretty sure that fits into some kind of discrimination). It sounds like people will be asking anyway, and I think you should just tell them the truth - and not even sugar coat it. From what I understand, you need to have a strong support system in vet school and your peers become part of that support system.

Especially in your case, when you're having personal problems on top of everything vet school requires, you're going to need someone to lean on occasionally. For practical reasons, they should also know in case you have an emergency at school. The faculty will also be more willing to work with you if you're having difficulty with your classes, but they need to know what's going on with you personally.

Good luck and congrats on getting into vet school!

 

[Doodledog]

Hey Tildy, I think it's really important that you be honest with your faculty and classmates.

Just to remind folks. Tildy is a dog who has Addison's disease but otherwise is a nice Jack Russell Terrier. Her master is a medical school faculty member who is a moderator of this forum and posts questions ANONYMOUSLY for other users using the "Quoted" term in the title to clarify this. Otherwise, it would appear that Tildy has a lot of problems.

 

[Habibti]

The first people I would talk to is academic affairs. They've probably handled situations like this before and would have some advice to offer. They'll be able to arrange exams etc. should you have a flare up. It's a lot easier to call in (or have someone else call in) and say 'There were some complications, so I won't be able to make it in to school for X amount of time' than to say 'Well... I'm in the hospital because of X which I haven't told you about before...' They are extremely understanding, and they want you to do well.

You're not required to tell everyone about your condition, but vet school is a lot like high school and people will wonder what's wrong if your face is swollen. People will notice if you're gone. They'll probably talk about it, though not necessarily in a malicious way, just in a 'hmmm... I wonder what's wrong?' sort of way. They'll be there for you to lean on if you need them, and it's easier for them to do so if they know what's up. However, it's up to you when and if you want to tell any individual member of the class.

Good luck.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Most large schools will have an office of Occupational Health. They will almost certainly send you a health questionnaire as part of your enrollment package.

If the system works as expected, you'll be able to tell someone in Occ Med all about your problem, and they will keep it private from the rest of your school. If your illness flares, they can tell your school that you need a leave of absence, or perhaps accomodations if needed.

As mentioned above, if your illness flares and causes an absence / physical findings, people will kibitz. If you haven't told them what is wrong, then they may start to make things up. Walking the line of informing people of your illness and keeping your privacy is tough, and there is no one answer.

If your school does not have an Occ Med department, then you want a good MD (probably a rheumatologist, given how aggressive your Behcet's sounds to be) to follow your case, and can act in the same manner.

On a completely unrelated (yet educational) note, I would like to point out that Behcet's disease is commonly mispronounced. From wikipedia:

Because Hulusi Behçet was Turkish, the correct pronunciation is with a hard "ch", as in "choice", with "e" (both first and second e letters) as in "end" and with the terminal "t" sounded: "Beh-chet". Because it contains a cedilla, "Behçet" is frequently wrongly assumed to be French in origin and pronounced with a sibilant "s" sound (as in "satsuma") or soft "ch" (as in "shoe"), with the "e" incorrectly like "i" (as in see), with the "t" incorrectly silenced: "Beshay".

 

[Orthonut]

I think it is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS what disease/disability you have. If you require a leave of abscence for health reasons, say that. If you require special exam circumstances because you have to visit the bathroom X times per hour, then get a note from your MD that says "Anon has a disease that requires she use the washroom X times per hour, please allow special circumstances blah blah blah"

WHO cares if your classmates don't know? You don't owe them ANYTHING as far as information, even if you DID have a communicable disease. I wouldn't lose one minute sleep over them. If you make close friends like most end up doing, there may come a time when you wish to share with them and that's fine.