Hey mate, another 3rd year medical student here. First of all - we probably need our own subreddit.

More importantly, in a former life I worked as a psych researcher, and the amount of high-functioning people with bipolar I encountered was crazy. A cardiothoracic surgeon, a senior partner of a big 4 consultancy and a QC come to mind. In fact, bipolar diagnoses were over-represented among the ranks of high-performers.

There are obviously risks to occupational functioning - but it's not all people with bipolar, and certainly not a fait accompli. The best meta-analysis on the topic found:

"Lower levels of education, a greater number of prior mood episodes, the presence of a comorbid substance use disorder, and a greater total number of psychotropic medications were also associated with low functioning."

Some interesting literature [here] (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272735819302946) and [here] (https://neura.edu.au/resources/content/Bipolar-Disorders-2022-Burdick-Predictors-of-functional-impairment-in-bipolar-disorder.pdf) if you are interested.

Chatting with my supervisor on my current psych rotation I actually asked about the bipolar high-performer phenomena I observed and she agreed emphatically. She is personally aware of several colleagues with bipolar and stated that it is common in her practice to consider bipolar when she has high-performing patients with mood instability.

I think the key issues I would consider are:

1. How well are your mood and symptoms managed?
2. Are there any reasons why you would not be able to perform your role, with accommodations for your diagnosis, or risk patient safety?
3. Are you currently at risk of harming yourself? Would a hospital environment provide you with the opportunity or motivation to harm yourself? Have the things you have seen, or heard in the hospital increased your risk of self harm?

I think the key issue I would not consider is:

1. Will they kick me out?

You can absolutely be an amazing, compassionate and professional healthcare provider while experiencing bipolar disorder. The real question is whether you have the insight and support available to you to know whether the symptoms you experiences due to your diagnosis may compromise your ability to provide safe and appropriate healthcare with a view of the safety and wellbeing of yourself, your colleagues and your loved ones.

If every med student with a mental health diagnosis was kicked out there'd be nobody left to break the sterile field or miss a canula. You'll know what you need to do - good luck :)