Dr. Octavius Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 Hi all, I'm two-thirds of the way through my first year of medical school and my only extra-curricular involvement is as an exec member of an interest group for the primary care specialty I'm thinking of pursuing. I've spent the rest of my time getting a good handle on academics and self-care to keep sane. I have already searched this question on the forums and the consensus seems to be "ECs generally do not matter much for residency applications". While they don't matter much, wouldn't it still be a bit of a red flag if one does not have ANY ECs? I just have a hard time thinking that this wouldn't put me at a disadvantage, unless I quickly start becoming more involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted February 27, 2020 Report Share Posted February 27, 2020 What are you doing for self-care? Any activities that might count as ECs? They don't have to be within the medical school (many of those clubs and positions often have a significant social component and function). BoardManGetsPaid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tullius Posted February 27, 2020 Report Share Posted February 27, 2020 Do you do anything at all in your spare time? What extracurricular activities did you write on your medical school application? Nearly anything you do for fun, personal interest, or professional development is an EC, whether formally organized or not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youbesee Posted February 27, 2020 Report Share Posted February 27, 2020 Just out of curiosity, what is considered for residency applications? I know things like electives/research are important, but is there anything else (especially pre-interview)? I also know that they will look at your transcript, but is this just an undergraduate transcript? I was always under the impression that medical school was simply pass/fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted February 28, 2020 Report Share Posted February 28, 2020 Preclerkship courses may be pass/fail, but clerkship rotations will still provide more detailed evaluations and comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted February 28, 2020 Report Share Posted February 28, 2020 On 2/27/2020 at 12:34 PM, youbesee said: Just out of curiosity, what is considered for residency applications? I know things like electives/research are important, but is there anything else (especially pre-interview)? I also know that they will look at your transcript, but is this just an undergraduate transcript? I was always under the impression that medical school was simply pass/fail. Transcripts from undergrad are only required for a few specialties I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted February 28, 2020 Report Share Posted February 28, 2020 1 hour ago, NLengr said: Transcripts from undergrad are only required for a few specialties I think. I really thought that would expand over time but so far no! There was actually some back pressure from CARMS to the schools that were doing it but they in the end really couldn't say much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted February 28, 2020 Report Share Posted February 28, 2020 On 2/26/2020 at 6:04 PM, Dr. Octavius said: Hi all, I'm two-thirds of the way through my first year of medical school and my only extra-curricular involvement is as an exec member of an interest group for the primary care specialty I'm thinking of pursuing. I've spent the rest of my time getting a good handle on academics and self-care to keep sane. I have already searched this question on the forums and the consensus seems to be "ECs generally do not matter much for residency applications". While they don't matter much, wouldn't it still be a bit of a red flag if one does not have ANY ECs? I just have a hard time thinking that this wouldn't put me at a disadvantage, unless I quickly start becoming more involved. You know this is the grey area in our selection process now that it hard to quantify. Some programs/specialities care more about this than others but it really is less important than the other parts of the application this time around (so what you are interested in will play a role here). At your stage I would be reaching out to residents in the areas you are interested to more specifically ask questions like this as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.