Does being on leadership committee of interest groups hold significant weight in residency apps? I have 2 significant DEI leadership roles now.

[ilovestars]

I am a rising M2. I have about 5-6 distinct interests as of now, and I am leading a subgroup of our DEI action committee which is very involved and time-consuming, while I also am on the leadership committee of a community engagement-based group (also within our DEI group). Do I need to also having leadership in an interest group? Seems like the work they do is low-impact (e.g. holding a panel) but perhaps that is unique to my perspective.

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[DOVinciRobot]

It will not make up for bad grades, board scores, LOR’s, or poor evals if that’s what you mean.

This isn’t premed anymore.

 

[operaman]

agree it’s not like premed where sheer numbers are everything. You want your CV to reflect who you are and clearly you’re involved in things that matter to you. IG leadership won’t really add anything, though won’t hurt either. Our ent student group basically made all the M4s co president, the M3s co-VP, etc so everyone could put some kind of stripe on the CV but obviously doesn’t really matter much. If you have a chance for an honorary position I’d take it, but it’s mostly just filler that gets skimmed over.

I’d say focus on what matters to you as you will likely have many more meaningful things come from that. It also shows what kind of stuff you would do as a resident. I remember interviewing and matching some residents who were big into student wellness and national advocacy along other issues and wouldn’t you know it, they did the same thing as residents and actually made our program significantly better after I graduated and they became seniors/chiefs.

 

[ilovestars]

Thank you so much!

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

no

 

[Just D.O. it]

very involved and time-consuming,

Then drop them if your primary goal is maximizing your residency apps. No one will care about these things. It is a very very slight positive at best. Most likely it will be neutral and wont really move the needle at all.

Which means that time and involvement could be better spent elsewhere. Either studying for boards (once you are confident in your STEP 1, get a head start on STEP 2 because that’s the name of the game now). OR work on finding research opportunities that will result in getting you published. Because these are the two main things residencies care about other than generalized “doing well academically”.

Besides those two things I mentioned above, only spend your time and energy on extracurriculars if you legitimately enjoy them. Basically they are only worth it if you personally care because residency directors certainly will not.

 

[mrbreakfast]

Agree with others: extracurriculars are valuable for what YOU get out of them. Barring something very altruistic/impressive, do not assume that any extracurricular will move the needle for your applications.

 

[MDMechEngr]

I think extracurriculars may help you with AOA and/or GHHS. In my humble opinion, it is about being a genuine and well rounded applicant, and less of a high stats machine/robot. I am saying this as a very high stat applicant. However, I agree with DOVinchiRobot in that it will not make up for other weaknesses in your application. Do them if you genuinely enjoy them and not just for checking the box. GL.

 

[operaman]

Yeah the ECs for residency are a funny thing. Nothing but research or something really truly extraordinary and unique will impress anyone, but a complete absence of any ECs will look bad simply because most students have a few things just from following their own interests.

I think interesting ECs like the OP’s can really help in interviews because it gives you something unique to talk about. This was definitely my experience having a strong music and performing arts background - everyone was curious about it and spent a lot of each interview sharing stories about music and our respective journeys to medicine. OP can expect to spend a lot of interview time talking about their dei work and what they’ve been able to accomplish.

 

[coconutlover]

Clubs don't really matter in residency apps per my talks with PDs