On Alienating AdComs

[brainnurse]

EDIT: You know what, rephrase.

AdComs, what do you absolutely not want to read when reviewing answers to, "What do you bring into our diverse community?" question on the secondaries.

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[Crayola227]

so many red flags here

 

[daivimarga]

Cultural competency, empathy, holistic view of patient as background in nursing, multilingual if applicable, global understanding of public health issues, passion... Etc


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[confidentandgood]

That I breathe for healthcare and for the moments when I get to watch healthcare magic; being with patients is really the only thing worth telling you guys about.

This is actually the part where you want to avoid any generic statements.

 

[brainnurse]

I appreciate the honest responses. The snark of a certain Mother of Dragons, on the other hand.. Go marry Yara Greyjoy.

 

[QofQuimica]

So I took the liberty of using my magic mod powers to read the original version of your OP, and, speaking as someone who spent four years on an adcom, I thought most of what you said was fine. Focusing on your background as a nurse is totally legit, as is being an immigrant/new citizen. (Congrats on that, BTW, and I am truly regretful that you have no one worth voting for in your very first eligible election.) The only caveat I would give is not to go out of your way to advertise that you haven't done any recent volunteering. That is not going to ingratiate you with any adcoms.

 

[brainnurse]

So I took the liberty of using my magic mod powers to read the original version of your OP, and, speaking as someone who spent four years on an adcom, I thought most of what you said was fine. Focusing on your background as a nurse is totally legit, as is being an immigrant/new citizen. (Congrats on that, BTW, and I am truly regretful that you have no one worth voting for in your very first eligible election.) The only caveat I would give is not to go out of your way to advertise that you haven't done any recent volunteering. That is not going to ingratiate you with any adcoms.

Appreciate the advice and the congratulations, Q. Choosing a candidate is a real challenge for me, particularly with all of these really explosive issues coming to the forefront so close to elections. I have left-ish ideals with conservative tendencies, which means I'm miserably straddling the line right now, waiting for the appropriate breeze to push me to the right direction. I'm trying to engage my friends in conversation but they're all wary of political discussions, I think.

 

[QofQuimica]

Appreciate the advice and the congratulations, Q. Choosing a candidate is a real challenge for me, particularly with all of these really explosive issues coming to the forefront so close to elections. I have left-ish ideals with conservative tendencies, which means I'm miserably straddling the line right now, waiting for the appropriate breeze to push me to the right direction. I'm trying to engage my friends in conversation but they're all wary of political discussions, I think.

I'm going to go third party again. My political leanings are more closely aligned to the Libertarians than to either of the major parties anyway.

Now that we've totally sidetracked your own thread....

 

[Goro]

"I have black/Hispanic friends"

Anything that smacks of privilege, or cluelessness.


QUOTE="brainnurse, post: 17855206, member: 638659"]EDIT: You know what, rephrase.

AdComs, what do you absolutely not want to read when reviewing answers to, "What do you bring into our diverse community?" question on the secondaries.[/QUOTE]

 

[gracie369]

Alien Adcoms part 3

 

[brainnurse]

I'm going to go third party again. My political leanings are more closely aligned to the Libertarians than to either of the major parties anyway.

Now that we've totally sidetracked your own thread....

You know, I heard claims that as you move further up the class ladder/medicine ladder, you lean further and further to the right. It'd be interesting to see where we all end up in ten years or so.

"I have black/Hispanic friends"

Anything that smacks of privilege, or cluelessness.


QUOTE="brainnurse, post: 17855206, member: 638659"]EDIT: You know what, rephrase.

AdComs, what do you absolutely not want to read when reviewing answers to, "What do you bring into our diverse community?" question on the secondaries.

[/QUOTE]

But, but... My non-white friends totally make me diverse! <_<

Seriously, though, if I were privileged, I wouldn't think I was, which means my writing would reflect the privilege without me having a damn clue. That's actually a legitimate worry of mine - that I'd come off clueless. I think I'll run my essays through some people, just in case. Thanks, Goro.

Alien Adcoms part 3

THREE TIMES THE DANGER, THREE TIMES THE TERROR!

 

[DrMikeP]

You know, I heard claims that as you move further up the class ladder/medicine ladder, you lean further and further to the right. It'd be interesting to see where we all end up in ten years or so.

When you own a practice and write the government some huge quarterly checks for taxes it makes you quickly question if the government is spending your money properly.

 

[futuremdforme]

When you own a practice and write the government some huge quarterly checks for taxes it makes you quickly question if the government is spending your money properly.

I made a very reasonable income and lived in a high tax state, and only moved more to the left. If anything my move to a career in medicine reflects that, as opposed to staying in my old career which was very money-focused.

Agreed about questioning how the government spends money though.

 

[DrMikeP]

I made a very reasonable income and lived in a high tax state, and only moved more to the left. If anything my move to a career in medicine reflects that, as opposed to staying in my old career which was very money-focused.

Agreed about questioning how the government spends money though.

I went from left center to right center to pretty close to libertarian political wise, but socially at this point in my life also have become much more the humanitarian. I've already had the big city practice, so don't need that experience to feel "successful." I actually may practice medicine in a rural town and spend my other time doing medical missions work, which is why DO works great for me.

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[deleted707454]

Cultural competency, empathy, holistic view of patient as background in nursing, multilingual if applicable, global understanding of public health issues, passion... Etc


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These are things not to say? Or things one should say? I'm confused

 

[DrMikeP]

These are things not to say? Or things one should say? I'm confused

The point is:

Don't say anything completely stupid (like you are becoming a dr to see naked people, you know all about abc because you have ___ friends), don't say anything offensive (like you hate all members of XYZ group or the drop the f-word), don't just use sentences mostly filled with buzzwords from the AOA site, and one thing that always drives me crazy is when someone rambles for 15 min on their life history when asked, tell us about yourself!

It's fine to say you are passionate about medicine, but support that with WHY!
It's ok to say you have an interest in holistic care, but support that with WHY and what that exactly means.
It's great to mention you are empathic but give an example.

Otherwise be professional (including your attire) but still yourself! Part of this process is to see if you are a good fit for them, but also if they are a good fit for you. Some places are more friendly and treat you like a budding colleague and some very much more stiff and reserved. If you are nervous that's ok, but find someone who is a professional that you can practice interviewing with.

One of the worst mistakes I ever see is a student try to be someone they are not and come across as a total fake idiot or arrogant jerk. They liked you enough to interview you, so just be who you are and let the process work its way out for the best.

 

[QofQuimica]

You know, I heard claims that as you move further up the class ladder/medicine ladder, you lean further and further to the right. It'd be interesting to see where we all end up in ten years or so.

I've always been socially liberal and economically conservative. Even during and right after my New College days (and that college is as left of center as you can get in a red state like this one), my ex and I used to collect signatures to help Libertarian candidates get on the ballot. I just think the gov should butt out and let consenting adults do as they wish with their own lives and property, basically.

There are a few specific issues where I've moved more "rightward," I suppose. Abortion would be one of them. Taking an embryology class and learning about fetal development in med school made me very uncomfortable with the idea of the state sanctioning killing them. Of course, as part of my "pro-life" position, I also would argue that if we truly want to reduce the number of abortions, we can only do it by reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies (i.e., we should make birth control readily available to any person who wants it). The abstinence-only sex ed we promote here in the South is completely unrealistic and does nothing to prevent abortions. And our enthusiasm for capital punishment is also inconsistent with a "pro-life" position. Regardless of when during fetal development you think human life begins, it's pretty tough to argue that a convicted felon isn't a human life. Though I've heard people try.

 

[jl lin]

double post

 

[jl lin]

OK continuing on this OT vein, I will say that being super choosey and waiting until you know someone's background--staying abstinent until you find a great person and truly loving relation, well, in my mind, this helps a lot with reducing STDs. Plenty of people would love to adopt a baby. No one, however, wants to "adopt" a serious STD, and there are a lot of STDs. So many people struggle in having actually *wanted* pregnancies b/c of STDs; i.e., whether carrying to term or having a healthy baby. And many of the STDs, like HPVs and such, are "gifts" that just keep on giving to the point of even ending your life prematurely. Although I believe there is something to abstinence on a number of levels, I also believe people should practice safe sex. Thing is, those practices are not always safe enough. Personally I believe that people are too laissez–faire re: both w/ re: to abstinence and safe sex practices.

tl;dr: I worry A LOT about these devastating STDs as well. Any sane person IMHO should take being safe in this re: as life or death serious, b/c indeed it may be to either themselves, another partner, or an unborn or born baby.

Re: original topic: Just be genuine and show authentic experiences.

 

[jl lin]

I've always been socially liberal and economically conservative. Even during and right after my New College days (and that college is as left of center as you can get in a red state like this one), my ex and I used to collect signatures to help Libertarian candidates get on the ballot. I just think the gov should butt out and let consenting adults do as they wish with their own lives and property, basically.

There are a few specific issues where I've moved more "rightward," I suppose. Abortion would be one of them. Taking an embryology class and learning about fetal development in med school made me very uncomfortable with the idea of the state sanctioning killing them. Of course, as part of my "pro-life" position, I also would argue that if we truly want to reduce the number of abortions, we can only do it by reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies (i.e., we should make birth control readily available to any person who wants it). The abstinence-only sex ed we promote here in the South is completely unrealistic and does nothing to prevent abortions. And our enthusiasm for capital punishment is also inconsistent with a "pro-life" position. Regardless of when during fetal development you think human life begins, it's pretty tough to argue that a convicted felon isn't a human life. Though I've heard people try.

I struggle now more w/ capital punishment than I used to. I don't necessarily see as an inconsistency. It's basically saying to a society that we value an innocent individual's life so much that we must set the standard against those that do not respect innocent life--a person has no right to take another innocent person's life b/c they raped them and don't want to answer for the attack, are full of fury, they felt screwed over somehow by someone, some jihad mandates taking it, or if we feel we should play God w/ other people's lives and whether they should be allowed to live (hate crimes and such). The punishment fitting the crime is both a justice and a catharsis to the relatives of the murdered and the society as a whole. It says if you cross this line of taking another person's life for non-self-defense reasons, yours also will be demanded of you. There really is no other truly fair/just punishment--and yup. I struggle w/ it, but understand the justice/catharsis/deterrent perspectives. We can argue deterrents, but when they are faithfully applied they work. Where they are shown as not working, clear inconsistencies in application are seen. Having said that, I still struggle with it.

My faith causes me to struggle with giving up on people, even murderers. Sure, some sociopath will probably not change and will continue to pose a threat to others. But it's hard trying to play God, even where some may point to principles and substance that shows support to doing so. I think it is b/c I really am not fully qualified for that job. So, yes. Particularly as a point of faith and not believing in giving up on people, I struggle with capital punishment. In due time, however, I think as more and more disregard for human life continues, society may have no choice but to seriously get back to applying it. It's kind of like dealing with radical terrorists. In a war situation, it becomes about survival. So defending life becomes the priority, and in doing so, other non-innocent lives will be lost, b/c that is what defense is. That is what survival will mean.

I think I will probably die feeling at odds w/ the whole capital punishment deal. No one that supports life wants to see it taken. It's when vicious takers continue to take life w/ full disregard for it--that's when it takes courage to say, "This must end."