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Really struggling with the Top 10s


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This is my second time applying.

I have absolutely no idea how to write this. Anything I do goes like this


- Some more details on what i did

- List of things I gained from it. I improved my communication. I gained leadership. just on and on. It looks like a Joke. I am not happy with literally anything I write down.

I don't understand why UofC feels the need to make things more difficult than they already are. No the top experience of my life do not fit into any of the CANMEDs and does not make me a better doctor UofC. They just don't, no matter how I try to twist them and do mental gymnastics on them not everything I've done in my life was for the purpose of becoming a better doctor directly or indirectly. A better person perhaps but it will not fit into the CANMEDs framework. But I do have a lot of volunteer and work experience I could be talking about instead that DOES but I CANT because I can only have 10 things to choose from.  The whole format feels clunky and awkward. Do you guys condense multiple volunteering activities into one top 10? That's what I did last year and I did not fare well. How does the verifier work in that case?

Can someone help me here on how to word or even format this properly. Any successful application willing to send me a sample of one of their top 10s?

 

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I think you should read through the responses on this forum by doing a top ten search. This question has been answered. Edit. That came across kind of terse. You can search for the answer to your question by using the search function. I promise you will find a lot of well thought out responses to this question in a search history. Good luck. 

 

But coles notes - the top ten should not read as a resume. If your work experience made you who you are, you should absolutely include it. Your top ten should provide the file reviewers insight into what kind of person you are, what you value. Then you should link those experiences to how they helped you grow. This is not a time to brag. Be thoughtful, and be reflective. 

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How important is it to cover the R1-R7 CANMEDs qualities? I understand they score us based on this but a lot of my experiences that truly impacted me do not necessarily fit more than two of these qualities. For example my solo travelling around the world. I can talk about how it changed me as a person and my view of the world but that doesn't fit the R1-R7 qualities. 

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On 9/22/2018 at 6:40 PM, Aryanenzo said:

How important is it to cover the R1-R7 CANMEDs qualities? I understand they score us based on this but a lot of my experiences that truly impacted me do not necessarily fit more than two of these qualities. For example my solo travelling around the world. I can talk about how it changed me as a person and my view of the world but that doesn't fit the R1-R7 qualities. 

You should try and cover as many attributes as you can. I also have one or two experiences that don't have explicit ties to CANMEDS competencies, but I still tried to show they helped me grow in areas that could be relevant to medicine. 

 

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On 9/17/2018 at 2:04 PM, Aryanenzo said:

This is my second time applying.

I have absolutely no idea how to write this. Anything I do goes like this


- Some more details on what i did

- List of things I gained from it. I improved my communication. I gained leadership. just on and on. It looks like a Joke. I am not happy with literally anything I write down.

I don't understand why UofC feels the need to make things more difficult than they already are. No the top experience of my life do not fit into any of the CANMEDs and does not make me a better doctor UofC. They just don't, no matter how I try to twist them and do mental gymnastics on them not everything I've done in my life was for the purpose of becoming a better doctor directly or indirectly. A better person perhaps but it will not fit into the CANMEDs framework. But I do have a lot of volunteer and work experience I could be talking about instead that DOES but I CANT because I can only have 10 things to choose from.  The whole format feels clunky and awkward. Do you guys condense multiple volunteering activities into one top 10? That's what I did last year and I did not fare well. How does the verifier work in that case?

Can someone help me here on how to word or even format this properly. Any successful application willing to send me a sample of one of their top 10s?

 

It sounds like you are trying way too hard to overtly articulate CANMEDs qualities in your top 10. I personally did not take this approach. What things contributed to who you are as a person?  Write about them and talk about how they made you better, but be careful re: saying things like "I gained leadership skills because of this" or "I improved my communication because of that". In my opinion, that kind of writing is painful to read. You want to make it clear you embody those qualities (and others), but I would avoid being so blatant and mechanical with it.

   
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I got an interview last year with a 123 in CARS from Calgary (I'm IP). My overall MCAT is also very low. So my Top 10 must have been strong to make up for the very low MCAT. 

I only skimmed through the CANMeds. What I did was write 10 stories that impacted me each in a specific way. In the description section I was very specific with exactly what I did and what my responsibilities were. In the impact section I wrote a story and attempted a narrative with very little regard to CANmed competencies. I talked about what I really gained from each experience (i.e., how I learned I could make a difference before medical school, or why I really want to pursue medicine, etc.). I think conveying what it felt like and what it taught you to be a leader is a lot more effective than repeatedly saying "I learned to be a leader, blah blah". 

Also, there is no one way to write the Top 10. I bet you there was someone who used CANMeds as a bible, and someone who didn't use it at all and still got an invite. What it really comes down to is how much does that person like you, and thinks you're fit for a career as a doctor. Can you put yourself in the shoes of the adcom, reading your own essay and going "wow, this guy really deserves an interview at the least".? Those are my own thoughts writing the top 10 usually.

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  • 2 months later...
46 minutes ago, Dont know what to do said:

I just wanted to ask you guys the word limit for each of the Top 10 experiences. Were they different for each experience? Do they mention character limit or word limit? thanks!

250 characters for the descriptions, 1000 characters for the impacts.

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