Illuminis Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 For some activities (i.e. camp counselor, team leader at a job, etc.) that can fit into most categories of NA experiences AND count as employment...what's the best way to go about it? Include it once in both, and just copy/paste the description? I am having the hardest time with the NA experiences hehe. Diversity of experiences... I've traveled to a number of countries simply for vacation, not sure whether to include that because it's pretty useless... any help would be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 You really don't want to double dip, looks desperate lol travel shows diversity, exposure to/appreciation of other cultures useless is e.g., cutting my toenails.....pretty useless=biting my toenails Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaM Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 If you were paid for it then put it under employment. If you didn't get paid then put it in NAQ. Put in all your travel, because it shows you are well rounded and have exposure to other cultures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayven Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 Personally I don't see how traveling makes you cultured and well-rounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janitor Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 Personally I don't see how traveling makes you cultured and well-rounded. Lol. Have you ever traveled? I think you're alone on this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medisforme Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 To answer the original question, if you go to the faq section on the oas page there is an identical question. The short answer they give is that it doesn't really matter where you put it, just put it where you think it best belongs. If you are like me, and had more than one job at a time an excellent option is to put one job in the employment section and another in the naq section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayven Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 Lol. Have you ever traveled? I think you're alone on this one Yeah I have. But like the OP I really consider it a vacation. lol.. I guess I just feel kind of guilty and like a fraud for twisting a vacation into an "experience" about how great of a person I am now... >.> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 Yeah I have. But like the OP I really consider it a vacation. lol.. I guess I just feel kind of guilty and like a fraud for twisting a vacation into an "experience" about how great of a person I am now... >.> Well, you do give the appearance of being a special:) , if argumentative:D , person......and travel does open us and expose us to people of other cultures, making us more sensitive to the world around us....don't feel guilty, you are innocent;) unless and until proven guilty!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illuminis Posted August 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 I see the positive point about putting in travel experiences now. You must write about it in a meaningful (if slightly BS) manner. "I went to country X and learned about its culture/history/language, compared/contrasted it to my familiar lifestyle, gained appreciation of another country in this global community, blah blah". Even though in reality, you may have just been on the beach sipping pina colada. =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfuguy Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 Well, it really depends what you did while traveling. If you visited cultural sites, stayed with the locals in a remote community, etc... then yes you will have learned a great deal and should include that without guilt. However, if you went to an all-inclusive resort, drank and the beach, met people from Vancouver and stayed at that hotel your whole visit, then, truthfully, what did you learn? Should you include that? I would say no. Travel only makes you well rounded if you use that opportunity to do things that you normally would not. Having said that, you can become well rounded or gain exposure to the world in your own community as we live in quite a multicultural society here in Vancouver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janitor Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 That's absolutely right. Rayven, this is what I SHOULD have said, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayven Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 Well, it really depends what you did while traveling. If you visited cultural sites, stayed with the locals in a remote community, etc... then yes you will have learned a great deal and should include that without guilt. That's such a carte blanche. Just going to Toronto to visit my grandma could be considered cultural since I pass by the Distillery district and the CN Tower on the Queen's way Gardiner Express. Honestly, traveling is just one of the most bogus EC fillers. Even if you paid $3,000 towards those self-benefiting premed hungry programs where they let you take BPs of patients or dispense simple antibiotics or hell.. even dig a well. Because we all know that only rich international students possess the skill to dig a well. >.> I get my fill of empathy when I pass by the local homeless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 That's such a carte blanche. Just going to Toronto to visit my grandma could be considered cultural since I pass by the Distillery district and the CN Tower on the Queen's way Gardiner Express. Honestly, traveling is just one of the most bogus EC fillers. Even if you paid $3,000 towards those self-benefiting premed hungry programs where they let you take BPs of patients or dispense simple antibiotics or hell.. even dig a well. Because we all know that only rich international students possess the skill to dig a well. >.> I get my fill of empathy when I pass by the local homeless. We are built differently. Visiting the ba for me has deep meaning and b/c of her cultural heritage, I am always learning and it is both a loving and a cultural experience. This, without travel. during my limited travels I have always made lasting friendships with people of many cultures. When I pass the local homeless, if it is an elderly woman and she is not begging, I will quickly put a twooney in her hand and keep my pace walking b/c these women have such dignity they not only won't beg but they refuse handouts. Thereis much around us to have and show genuine empathy on our part. We grow internally as a result each time, try it, you would like it. And talking about bogus fillers, look and see all these students going for bird courses, taking easy programs b/c rightly so they do not have confidence that they will maker it otherwise..and these are potential future docs to whom we shall trust our grandparents' and childrens' lives...something wrong here. Go doig your own well and strike gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayven Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 We are built differently. Visiting the ba for me has deep meaning and b/c of her cultural heritage, I am always learning and it is both a loving and a cultural experience. This, without travel. during my limited travels I have always made lasting friendships with people of many cultures. The.. ba? What's that if you don't mind me asking. Lasting friendships? What is that really? A facebook addy? A instant message every other month? I could go to the Philippines, hang out in one of their bars and talk to escort girls all night and even add them to my facebook as lifelong friends. I'd even enjoy the cultural experience.. especially how in their "culture" I'm considered rich. What I'm trying to say is that most of these trips are vacations. Just like playing WoW shouldn't be listed as "hours and hours of interaction of people from across the world of different cultures and races". The fact that the OP is now thinking of a way to twist his vacation into an EC does sadden me. Go on your vacations and have your fun. There's nothing wrong with that. Stop trying to make everything in your life sound like it revolves around getting the perfect ECs for med school interviews. When I pass the local homeless, if it is an elderly woman and she is not begging, I will quickly put a twooney in her hand and keep my pace walking b/c these women have such dignity they not only won't beg but they refuse handouts. Thereis much around us to have and show genuine empathy on our part. We grow internally as a result each time, try it, you would like it. If they refuse handouts.. how did you manage to get their.. hand out? And talking about bogus fillers, look and see all these students going for bird courses, taking easy programs b/c rightly so they do not have confidence that they will maker it otherwise..and these are potential future docs to whom we shall trust our grandparents' and childrens' lives...something wrong here. Go doig your own well and strike gold. And what's why I said undergrad GPAs are unstandardized. But just because something's wrong with the system now (bird courses to boost GPA marks) is not a good argument that bogus fillers should be more acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubious Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 If all your travel has been to the sunny south then of course it's bogus to spin these as experiences that have made you grow. Same goes for vacations with your parents where they take care of all the arrangements and you're left reading a book in the backseat the whole time. Although, there's something to be said about landing in a completely different part of the world, culturally speaking, and navigating the landscape looking for memorable experiences. If you're traveling alone or with friends, the whole trip builds some leadership qualities. You know what you want to experience in the country and you make plans to get what you want, communicating with those around you to inspire them into action. I know plenty of people who have never left Canada for one reason or another. One reason is that their parents have such a tight hold on them that they just don't experience the world on their own. Do I want a doctor in the future treating me who can't handle themselves well in anxious, novel situations? A person who's just never been self-reliant because their parents breast fed them until they were 18? I dunno maybe you've been taking different kinds of vacations, but I am sure real traveling teaches you many things about other cultures and builds your confidence and I've had physicians tell me the exact same thing. Anyways, I think you should go ahead and list traveling under your NAQ, I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star1234 Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 If all your travel has been to the sunny south then of course it's bogus to spin these as experiences that have made you grow. Same goes for vacations with your parents where they take care of all the arrangements and you're left reading a book in the backseat the whole time. Although, there's something to be said about landing in a completely different part of the world, culturally speaking, and navigating the landscape looking for memorable experiences. If you're traveling alone or with friends, the whole trip builds some leadership qualities. You know what you want to experience in the country and you make plans to get what you want, communicating with those around you to inspire them into action. I know plenty of people who have never left Canada for one reason or another. One reason is that their parents have such a tight hold on them that they just don't experience the world on their own. Do I want a doctor in the future treating me who can't handle themselves well in anxious, novel situations? A person who's just never been self-reliant because their parents breast fed them until they were 18? I dunno maybe you've been taking different kinds of vacations, but I am sure real traveling teaches you many things about other cultures and builds your confidence and I've had physicians tell me the exact same thing. Anyways, I think you should go ahead and list traveling under your NAQ, I did. I couldn't agree more. Not only does travelling increase your awareness of other cultures, but it also makes you value of things that we often take for granted, such as a clean toilet and a shower everyday. Adcoms isn't stupid...I'm sure they can tell the difference between a trip to an all-inclusive resort to the Dominican Republic versus a 2 month backpacking trip to Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Not really - it goes under 'Other' and under DEscription, we put Travelled to Dominican Republic, we don't put Travelled to D. Republic, stayed at all-inclusive resort. So, it may look all the same to adcoms, provided you market yourself simply. [i was referring to OMSAS Application, I am not familiar with the UBC Application] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEDLIL Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 I don't know what is the best way to include travels in the diversity section. I added one section; named the countries that I have visited and gave an approximate number of hours for all the trips all together.. is that good? or should I open one section for each of the countries I have visited and include something about that trip. HELP HELP HELP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubious Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Wouldn't include the total number of hours because it's essentially meaningless, you spent half of that time sleeping. I added only one section to describe my travelling. Highlighted some of the more interesting countries I've visited and gave a quick sentence on what I gained from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star1234 Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Not really - it goes under 'Other' and under DEscription, we put Travelled to Dominican Republic, we don't put Travelled to D. Republic, stayed at all-inclusive resort. So, it may look all the same to adcoms, provided you market yourself simply. [i was referring to OMSAS Application, I am not familiar with the UBC Application] Ummm... well unless you stated "Fed starving children in an orphanage" in your description, I'm pretty sure Adcoms is going to assume that you spent most of your Dominican trip sipping piña coladas on the beach. For me, I've done a lot of travelling but I'm only going to include the backpacking trip that I did to Europe since I feel that was the only trip where I actually learned something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-reg Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 If it helps, I can tell you what I did. I only included more long-term travel that was not with my parents or on the beach the whole time. ie: backpacking around SE Asia and bussing around NZ. I didn't put staying on the beach at Fiji or Hawaii. That's just what I did, I'm not saying it's the only way. I'd say everyone can judge whether or not they were actually exposed to local culture or not Can I ask what everyone else did with the hours? Do I put down like 2600 hours for the length of time I was there or do I put 0 or what? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star1234 Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Can I ask what everyone else did with the hours? Do I put down like 2600 hours for the length of time I was there or do I put 0 or what? Thanks I multiplied the total number of days I travelled by 24 and then subtracted the amount of time I slept. So, for me, I travelled to Europe for 45 days: 45 x 24 = 1080 Probably slept an average of 4 hours/night (we really made the most out of our trip lol): 4 x 45 = 180 Therefore total hours = 1080 - 180 = 900 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-reg Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Thanks star1234. I'll definitely do that (although with 8 hours of sleep, I like to sleep). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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