Doc_of_Day Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Hello I was just wondering whether the medical schools look for specific things on one's EC list...I am not very involved at school, but have good physician shadowing, hospital/cancer center volunteering , international volunteering along with teaching and research(thesis) experience...Would I be penalized for not getting involved in a large number of clubs and such ? I would appreciate your thoughts on this... Thanks friends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedDream Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 They don't really care what you do, just that you did something. It's not like there are "golden" ECs that will get you into med school, and you shouldn't be doing something just because you think it's what the med schools are looking for. The whole point of ECs is to show them you have a personality, and interests outside of studying and getting good grades (ie- you are a real person!). So whatever interests you- go for it! It doesn't have to be clubs, it could be sports, hobbies, or whatever. It sounds like you got some good ones right now, just remember you can put down anything! (doesn't have to be med related). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Read the stickied FAQ above and the search function can give you more information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshinesky101 Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 There are no ideal EC's that adcoms are looking for. All that matters is that you have done other things other than just focusing on your studies and you can show that you have gained great skills from those activities. It is good to pick activities that interest you and it will all depend on how you use/explain them in the application process. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fun1nth3sun Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Well I see that most of course extra curriculars have to do with Medicine, which is good. That shows that you have a passion for what want you to do. But don`t be afraid to be involved in something that has nothing to do with Medicine and is just something you personally enjoy doing. I am not an expert on this but I would imagine that Medical Schools would rather see an applicant being involved in things that A. They enjoy doing. and B. Be involved in certain acitivities that have common interests. I mean I don`t think Medical schools would like it very much if someone is involved in every single club/activity there is out there...just because that person thinks it`s what the medical schools want to see. I know many people from my high school that did not get into these really good schools and they were excellent students and involved in every single club I can think of. It is good to be involved in some leadership positions...However when you are involved in every single leadership position there is at the schoool...........you know there is something up..and I think medical schools would be able to tell of you are involved in something just because it "looks good"... That is my criteria for extracurricular activities..Do what you are interested in doing. However I have heard of a program called..the Step program at Royal Vic and at University of montreal mini med program and Emergency responder volunteering. I heard these activities really give you a lot of experience. I hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Hello I was just wondering whether the medical schools look for specific things on one's EC list...I am not very involved at school, but have good physician shadowing, hospital/cancer center volunteering , international volunteering along with teaching and research(thesis) experience...Would I be penalized for not getting involved in a large number of clubs and such ? I would appreciate your thoughts on this... Thanks friends Best ECs are long term that express commitment. However, you can have "unique" ECs that are relatively short term. GPA and MCAT first, as always though....ECs are not hard to improve upon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 That is my criteria for extracurricular activities..Do what you are interested in doing. +1 There is no ideal EC since everyone who applies to med is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 You must swim with the dolphins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 +1 There is no ideal EC since everyone who applies to med is different. But it is good to have something notable and unique, because anyone can say that they swim...but if you were on team canada and competed at the olympics, than it's a bit different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wachaa Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Quantity is quite important too. If you just have a few activities, no matter how long term they are (2 years, 10 years, whatever), I feel that it would be to your disadvantage if that's all you have. The reason is that it's quite hard to convey what exactly your role within the organization was... using only 200 characters or whatever is on the application... just because someone has been involved for a long time doesn't necessarily mean they did a whole lot. And so if you're just banking on that one thing to stand out... you really should reconsider. That's because in the big applicant pool, I can almost see how everyone will have multiple longstanding activities. A lot of people will put that they've been playing music/ martial arts/ organizations for >10000 hours (calculate this by 6-10 years, 365 days per year, 2-8 hours a day etc)... And there's no trying to hide the fact that certain activities look better than others. It's important to be passionate, but choose the right things to spend your time on. For example, if you like to talk to people, then coordinating a crisis centre would be better than say... bank teller. Aiming to get a high position in research at a good institution is better than the guy who washes the beakers for a lab that studies black fungus. It's more unique, more interesting to talk about on an interview, and you could relate it to your desire to study medicine too. So what I'm trying to say is that don't ignore the fact that most people who get into med school do a lot of crazy things and in high quantities, and get good grades. And after all that you still have to create a convincing story with compelling reasons of why you want to get in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 But it is good to have something notable and unique, because anyone can say that they swim...but if you were on team canada and competed at the olympics, than it's a bit different.I don't disagree. However, I don't think someone should select ECs on the basis that they think it is notable or unique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wachaa Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 I don't disagree. However, I don't think someone should select ECs on the basis that they think it is notable or unique. That's the ideal situation. But since it's quite competitive to get into medical school, you're trying to out-do the other applicants. Suppose I was interested in swimming, I might apply to do lifeguarding, or coaching summer camps. Putting down 500 hours of recreational swimming is not quite the same as 50 hours of lifeguard, 50 hours of summer camps, on top of the recreational swimming. You should always aim to do more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 That's the ideal situation. But since it's quite competitive to get into medical school, you're trying to out-do the other applicants. Suppose I was interested in swimming, I might apply to do lifeguarding, or coaching summer camps. Putting down 500 hours of recreational swimming is not quite the same as 50 hours of lifeguard, 50 hours of summer camps, on top of the recreational swimming. You should always aim to do more. On that note, I believe that if you're truly interested in something, it will (hopefully) transform into something that is notable, like the above. I just talk to too many people who think that working out daily is a competitive EC.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 That's the ideal situation. But since it's quite competitive to get into medical school, you're trying to out-do the other applicants. Suppose I was interested in swimming, I might apply to do lifeguarding, or coaching summer camps. Putting down 500 hours of recreational swimming is not quite the same as 50 hours of lifeguard, 50 hours of summer camps, on top of the recreational swimming. You should always aim to do more.The problem with aiming to do more is that you reach a point where you do so much stuff that you aren't doing each activity for a meaningful amount of time. There's a limit as to what's reasonable and it's up to the applicant to determine what their limit is. It's like how someone may have 20 items on their omsas sketch (using ontario as an example) and someone may have 39 items and they both get interviews. Aiming to do "more" doesn't always mean more activities; it can be more time to meaningful activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc_of_Day Posted April 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 Thanks for all your replies...I appreciate it. One thing that concerns me right now is the time gap between the activity and the application to med school. For eg:, I had the physician shadowing experience while I was in Grade 12 , but focused on a broader hospital volunteering (geriatrics) while in university...does that mean adcom will put less value to my experience working as a physician assistant ? Are all activities that are done from age 16 viewed equally or do they expect some kind of a trend in the applicant's ECs ? Thank you once again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted April 29, 2011 Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 usually you should focus on the latter part (university)...I don't think adcom puts much weight onto high school involvement unless it was something very big (ex. national award) during your time from 16 or you continued it throughout your UG career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc_of_Day Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 usually you should focus on the latter part (university)...I don't think adcom puts much weight onto high school involvement unless it was something very big (ex. national award) during your time from 16 or you continued it throughout your UG career. Would that mean I won't benefit from having the doctor whom I shadowed write me one of the reference letters ? I think he was pretty impressed with my overall performace in his clinic... Should I restrict my references to people I have known since university only..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 I got a reference letter from my highschool coach. We had a personal relationship for 4 years throughout high school, and we still stay in touch. Perhaps you should continue shadowing this doctor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 If it's been a while (>1 year not consistently talking or working with each other) I don't think it's safe....you've probably changed a lot since grade 12 to your 3rd year uni....unless you've been volunteering there consistently, then it's not really an accurate reflection of your abilities and skills at the moment of application, despite the commendation. That's just my opinion. You can always use it as a backup if no other references are available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc_of_Day Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 I got a reference letter from my highschool coach. We had a personal relationship for 4 years throughout high school, and we still stay in touch. Perhaps you should continue shadowing this doctor. I actually want to..but I can't because I live in a different city now..But we still keep in touch, and he has written quite a number of ref letters for me for scholarship applications and such... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Really, it's up to you to decide. I would use it as maybe a back-up reference if I had no one else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 I actually want to..but I can't because I live in a different city now..But we still keep in touch, and he has written quite a number of ref letters for me for scholarship applications and such... I'm sure by the time you're applying you'll have many more relevant reference possibilities (professors, PIs, etc.) Don't worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattg Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Would that mean I won't benefit from having the doctor whom I shadowed write me one of the reference letters ? I think he was pretty impressed with my overall performace in his clinic... Should I restrict my references to people I have known since university only..? Not that there is a steadfast rule not to use people who you haven't interacted with since high school, but I personally wouldn't. The one exception would be maybe a coach... or a teacher who knew you really well. How long did you shadow this guy for? You want your references to be very solid. The gist of this guy's letter would essentially be "Mr. X impressed me with his enthusiasm in grade 12". While it might be fine for scholarship applications, as far as med school reference letters go, that is not good. Because what else can he really say? I guess he could say that your personality / character will do well in medicine, but he will be commenting on that having not interacted with you since high school. And no offence, but I'm not sure how much you could have really impressed him as a grade 12. Again, perhaps your enthusiasm impressed him, but I doubt your "performance" was really that impressive... maybe I am being pessimistic though. I guess it might not be bad if you shadowed him for an extensive period of time. I just think that the fact that because he can only comment on your experience with him in gr 12, and you only interacted with him for a short period of time (presumably), the letter wouldn't really hold much weight. I would agree with macbook, to reconsider if you have other solid references who know you well, and can comment on your character since high school. But if your alternative is going to a random prof whose class you did well in and asking for a letter, go with this guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc_of_Day Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Not that there is a steadfast rule not to use people who you haven't interacted with since high school, but I personally wouldn't. The one exception would be maybe a coach... or a teacher who knew you really well. How long did you shadow this guy for? You want your references to be very solid. The gist of this guy's letter would essentially be "Mr. X impressed me with his enthusiasm in grade 12". While it might be fine for scholarship applications, as far as med school reference letters go, that is not good. Because what else can he really say? I guess he could say that your personality / character will do well in medicine, but he will be commenting on that having not interacted with you since high school. And no offence, but I'm not sure how much you could have really impressed him as a grade 12. Again, perhaps your enthusiasm impressed him, but I doubt your "performance" was really that impressive... maybe I am being pessimistic though. I guess it might not be bad if you shadowed him for an extensive period of time. I just think that the fact that because he can only comment on your experience with him in gr 12, and you only interacted with him for a short period of time (presumably), the letter wouldn't really hold much weight. I would agree with macbook, to reconsider if you have other solid references who know you well, and can comment on your character since high school. But if your alternative is going to a random prof whose class you did well in and asking for a letter, go with this guy. I volunteered with him for the summer after Grade 11 and after one month he hired me. In total I worked with him for almost 10 months.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattg Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 I volunteered with him for the summer after Grade 11 and after one month he hired me. In total I worked with him for almost 10 months.... that's not bad then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.