Selling Non-Trads to Alumni

[thes_hunter]

I am part of the Students of Non-Traditional Backgrounds group here at Wayne State - SOM. We have been invited to speak about our group at an Alumni event.

My pharm exam must of knocked the snot out of me earlier today, because I am not coming up with the brilliant articulate reasons why, we the non-trads, make amazing doctors.

(I had a doctor this summer ask me why the adcoms decided to waste their time on me... no offense intended (Yes, he actually said no offense intended). Which brought me to the decision that maybe we need to do some more education to our alumni on why it is important to include the non-traditionals into the class.)

And I have come up with a few ideas:

1) Our previous backgrounds give us added and specialized insight into aspects of the medical profession that would be otherwise hard to gain within the context of a practicing physician. All those words me, Me, Jane, Big Computer Programmer, Me speak to IT staff, we get EMR working good. Or something.

2) We bring a maturity and broader perspective to our professions. Not saying young'ns can't be mature and wise, but I know I see and deal with people and problems differently now that I am 37 vs when I was 23.

3) Umm... ahh... I got nothing.... And this is where I am asking for your help. What other reasons make it important to pull in non-trads into the mixture of a diverse class. What am I missing, or not articulating correctly?


And btw, unattended trolls will be given an espresso and a puppy... oh wait.. that won't work.

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[QofQuimica]

When I read your thread title, my first reaction was, heck no, nontrads are not for sale, and especially not to alumni!

All kidding aside, I think the reasons you came up with are the standard line. But if it were me, I would argue that medical admissions is a highly subjective process. The adcom's job is to recruit the very best people they can get their hands on (however "very best" is defined by that adcom). And it's illegal to discriminate based on age. So....the end result is that we have nontrads in med school because those nontrads are good enough and smart enough to be in med school. And doggone it, the adcom liked them.

 

[fizzgig]

... nontrads are good enough and smart enough to be in med school. And doggone it, the adcom liked them.

winnarrrrr

 

[MCAT guy]

nontrads are good enough and smart enough to be in med school. And doggone it, the adcom liked them.

 

[thes_hunter]

Thanks Q! I knew I was missing something.

Now, I need to crack on some Pathology, and get over my speaking to large groups jitters.

 

[phonedoctor]

I am part of the Students of Non-And I have come up with a few ideas:

1) Our previous backgrounds give us added and specialized insight into aspects of the medical profession that would be otherwise hard to gain within the context of a practicing physician. All those words me, Me, Jane, Big Computer Programmer, Me speak to IT staff, we get EMR working good. Or something.

2) We bring a maturity and broader perspective to our professions. Not saying young'ns can't be mature and wise, but I know I see and deal with people and problems differently now that I am 37 vs when I was 23.

3) Umm... ahh... I got nothing.... And this is where I am asking for your help. What other reasons make it important to pull in non-trads into the mixture of a diverse class. What am I missing, or not articulating correctly?


And btw, unattended trolls will be given an espresso and a puppy... oh wait.. that won't work.

Maybe I am repeating your item 2, but the way I see it is that unlike other profession, medical profession deals directly with life or fixing an issue or problem surrounding life. So a mature person who has gone though life experiences, had a family and has developed to understand how the cycle goes through, will be better placed in some aspect to fully understand medical field and apply its theorys and processes correctly.

Also ADCOMs will be selecting folks who meet the required bench mark, so why not have a group of such people from a more diverse (as in other professional) background and life experiences, since they will be better aligned to give back more to the field and thus help medical field to evolve better. Just like any other field, medical field is also moving ahead with leap and bounds with regards to technological advances, so it will be better suited to have people working in different areas of technology to contribute to the field.