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Criminal Background Checks

FingerprintCriminal Background Checks (CBC) are becoming a standard requirement for employment in health care today. SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University works with many health care facilities in Brooklyn, New York City, and beyond to provide you with these clinical experiences, as part of your education. Many of these facilities also require that students that are sent to their facilities have completed a recent Background Check to ensure the safety and well being of their patients.

As was indicated in previous communications, all students admitted to a program at SUNY Downstate are required to have a Criminal History Background Check prior to enrollment.

All students selected for admission, are admitted conditionally until Background check CBC results are obtained and reviewed. Students are responsible for completing the Background Check prior to your enrollment, but after you are conditionally admitted to your program.

Results of the Background check will be made available to the student and to SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. All Background Checks will be treated as confidential. Information from the CBC, not previously revealed in your application, will be reviewed and may result in the withdrawal of your acceptance.

Background checks performed for employment, previously, cannot be used to fulfill the CBC admissions requirement to the programs at SUNY Downstate without prior permission. See the instructions on the website regarding how to submit a prior report that was completed within one year of the date of entry to your program at SUNY Downstate.

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is working with CastleBranch to complete the background check process for all admitted students in the College of Health Related Professions, College of Nursing, and School of Public Health (except MD/MPH applicants). Accepted Applicants in the College of Medicine or the MD/MPH or MD/PhD programs should see a special set of instructions below. Accepted Applicants in the School of Graduate Studies (except MD/PhD applicants) should see a special set of instructions below. The cost of the background check is $145, which is payable by the student to the company directly.

To obtain your background check:

  1. Go to the CastleBranch website and click on "Place Order."
  2. In the Package Code box, enter the package code: SU41
  3. Enter your payment information — Visa, Mastercard, or Money Order.
  4. Follow the online instructions, enter all of the requested information, and complete your order.

PLEASE NOTE: Your Criminal Background Check must be requested no later than April 15 or within 15 days of your acceptance to SUNY Downstate, whichever comes later. Failure to do so will result in rescinding your offer of admission.

PLEASE NOTE: Accepted applicants to the College of Medicine or the MD/MPH or MD/PhD programs should use the criminal background check service associated with your AMCAS application. For more information about this process, see the information on the College of Medicine's Admission web site here.

Accepted applicants to the College of Medicine or the MD/MPH or MD/PhD programs should use the criminal background check service associated with your AMCAS application. For more information about this process, see the information on the College of Medicine's Admission web site here. Your AMCAS background check will satisfy the background check requirement for you.

Accepted applicants to the MD/PhD program should use the criminal background check service associated with your AMCAS application. For more information about this process, see the information on the College of Medicine's Admission web site here. Your AMCAS background check will satisfy the background check requirement for you.

Accepted applicants to all other PhD programs in the School of Graduate Studies who have been offered a stipend as part of their acceptance letter will be hired as employees of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. As an employee, you will be required to complete a criminal background check through the Department of Human Resources. The criminal background check completed by the Department of Human Resources will satisfy the Criminal Background Check requirement. You do not have to (and should not) complete the background check through CertifiedBackground.com.

If you are an accepted applicant to the School of Graduate Studies who has not been offered a stipend as part of your acceptance, you should complete the Criminal Background Check through CastleBranch.

If you are unsure, you should contact the School of Graduate Studies.

Our CertifiedBackground.com package includes the following:

  • County Criminal Records
  • Nationwide Sexual Offender Index
  • Social Security Alert
  • Residency History
If you have any difficulty with your CBC, please contact CertifiedBackground.com Customer Service at 888-666-7788. Do not contact the Office of Admissions as we cannot assist you with your CBC.
CertifedBackground.com is a service that allows students to order their own Background Check online. Information collected through CertifiedBackground.com is secure, tamper-proof, and kept confidential. The results are posted on the CertifiedBackground.com website where the student (you), as well as the school, can view them.
In some limited circumstances, we may be able to accept a Background Check completed for a previous employer. Students who have had a Background Check done within the previous year should contact the Office of Admissions via e-mail admissions@downstate.edu to determine if we can accept your previous background check. Under no circumstances can we accept a Background Check that has been performed more than one year ago.

Applicants who have prior offenses were required to disclose these offenses as part of the application process to SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. Applicants with prior offenses are reviewed by a Campus Review Committee, as is required under State University of New York policy. Offenses which were disclosed on your current application which also come up during the Background Check will not impact your ability to enroll at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.

If an offense is revealed during the Criminal Background Check process which was not previously revealed by the applicant on their application, the offense will be reviewed by the Campus Review Committee and the Admissions Committee. The offer of admission to SUNY Downstate can be rescinded. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Admission by e-mail at admissions@downstate.edu.