AbraCadaver Posted November 5, 2008 Report Share Posted November 5, 2008 How much weight do ECs carry in the CARMs application? I'm in my second year of med school and aside from a few observerships and a summer FM elective, I haven't been involved in any extracurricular stuff. How much an an impact is this going to have on my CaRMS application assuming I will have research experience, good references, etc. Thanks. Abra Meds 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0nsp Posted November 6, 2008 Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 It depends on what program you apply to. I think it is fairly important because it shows you have a life outside of medicine. It is probably as important as ECs were for getting into med in the first place. Doing EC's during med school shows the ability to prioritize and multi-task as well. EC's, unlike a lot of other parts of your CaRMS app, are one of the few things that YOU have control over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 I agree that it seems quite program-specific - some program descriptions on the CaRMS website specifically mention leadership and extracurricular activities in their criteria, while others do not. I remember getting more questions about research/publications and hobbies than about EC activities (clubs, volunteering), although I do feel ECs were helpful in answering questions related to strengths and accomplishments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey799 Posted November 10, 2008 Report Share Posted November 10, 2008 In my opinion and in talking to classmates who has been through carms interviews for many different specialties (IM, surgery, ophthal, rad, family), EC plays very little role in the selection and the interview. I am talking about non-academic ECs like sport, music, and travel etc - which, frankly, is not very relevant to clinical medicine and work in residency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcwxyz Posted November 10, 2008 Report Share Posted November 10, 2008 In my opinion and in talking to classmates who has been through carms interviews for many different specialties (IM, surgery, ophthal, rad, family), EC plays very little role in the selection and the interview. I am talking about non-academic ECs like sport, music, and travel etc - which, frankly, is not very relevant to clinical medicine and work in residency. Funny that they were considered relevant in admission to med school... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 Every interview I attended asked about hobbies.. the focus was more on the stress management and work/life balance aspects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1234 Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 Funny that they were considered relevant in admission to med school... ummm, thats because they are more relevant to your ability to succeed in medical school wheras, interest in a particular residency determines your success in that residency (and those are typically addressed through research, electives, observerships,etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.