Thoughts On Putting A Learning Disability As A Top 10?

[chronicconic]

Hi everyone.

 

I am an IP re-applicant this year with a very low MMI score (< 20th percentile) from last year. I am hoping to get some feedback on including a learning disability as one of my top 10? In spite of a learning disability, I learned to adapt and achieve academic success in my undergrad.

 

My disability is a large part of my identity, and I feel like I can write sincerely about it. Any thoughts would be appreciated. 

[Borborygmi]

I'm sure I sound like a broken record at this point and I apologize for that. Use any experience you want as long as you can relate your experience to the canMEDS roles/UofC R-attributes. These are the attributes that UofC is evaluating in their applicants. Is there a reason why you would not want to include your experience with a learning disability in your top 10?

[3change]

..

[doc123]

I agree with Borbory. Your reflection on the experience matters far more than the experience itself.

[xkittens]

I'd be careful, you could be accused of trying to single yourself as having gone through adversity to gain an advantage over other applicants, when in reality it's assumed that there are tons of applicants that have struggled through mental illness, poverty, learning disabilities etc and never mention it on their applications. 
I think if you managed to get good marks despite your learning disability, then you've already won. Idk how much of the post-interview score your resume is, but given the disparity between your pre-interview/post interview ranking, it might be better to focus on your interview performance. In terms of getting to the interview stage, the worst case scenario would be that you were ranked at the bottom of the group of people that were granted an interview last year. If this were true, then you'd really only need to improve your application by the change in competitiveness of the average applicant pool this year, assuming it's gotten more competitive (if not, then I guess you're almost guaranteed an interview). Since getting an interview is where the major bottle neck effect happens, the possible benefit of using your learning disability as an experience might not be worth the risk in case it backfires. If anything you could talk about it in your interview if it comes up. 

[chronicconic]

Thank you for your feedback, everyone. I was particularly addressing section 4.11 "Diversity and Adversity" of the application manual, which states:

 

"... applicants who have had to overcome significant adversity or personal struggles in pursuit of a career in medicine are strongly encouraged to share and reflect on those struggles in their applications. "

 

I'd be careful, you could be accused of trying to single yourself as having gone through adversity to gain an advantage over other applicants, when in reality it's assumed that there are tons of applicants that have struggled through mental illness, poverty, learning disabilities etc and never mention it on their applications. 

I would argue that we are all trying to gain an advantage over other applicants. 

 

I'm sure I sound like a broken record at this point and I apologize for that. Use any experience you want as long as you can relate your experience to the canMEDS roles/UofC R-attributes. These are the attributes that UofC is evaluating in their applicants. Is there a reason why you would not want to include your experience with a learning disability in your top 10?

I was hesitant to include this in my Top 10 because disabilities are traditionally stigmatized, and I felt like this would put me at a disadvantage.

[Bambi]

I do not see it as a disadvantage especially if you have overcome it in terms of ultimately achieving academic success. It has made you more empathetic, tolerant and patient of others, etc. Good luck.