Anesthesiology Club in med school

[anthroguy]

Hey,

How important is it to be an officer in Anesthesiology interest groups during med school. I'm guessing it elicits an "oh that's nice" reaction from those viewing your files but isnt end all.

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[lord_jeebus]

I'd guess that it's pretty meaningless. My school didn't even have a group.

 

[nociceptor]

Hey,

How important is it to be an officer in Anesthesiology interest groups during med school. I'm guessing it elicits an "oh that's nice" reaction from those viewing your files but isnt end all.

I think it might help cover up other deficiencies. It might make the program feel like you are gung ho about GAS.

I would probably laugh and say you had an Anesthesiology interest group?? But I am not the most knowledgeable of people.

 

[carrie198]

Probably not a big deal at interviews for other programs, but it might help if you want to stay at your home program. It'll give you the opportunity to interact w/ the chair or program director. If your school doesn't have an interest group, forming one would show that you have a lot of initiative.

 

[Bertelman]

Your application file to these schools will be huge. From the perspective of a PD, this piece of info is probably meaningless. From your perspective, though, I think attending the group meetings would be good, because they often talk about the lifestyle, or they can set up shadowing, etc. It's also a good way to get to know a few of the faculty to screen who you might want for your LOR

 

[amyl]

it can help your application for sure. I know a couple of people with lots of extracurriculars who matched very well despite some of their numbers not being the best.

 

[scotchnwater]

it can help your application for sure. I know a couple of people with lots of extracurriculars who matched very well despite some of their numbers not being the best.

I agree that extracurriculars can be VERY helpful, but I would not necessarily count any anesthesia group among the "very helpful" extracurriculars. For an activity to help out an application, I think you should:

1) Show an ongoing, dedicated interest in the activity (not just one year of school)

2) Have actually done something, organized an activity, made a difference (not just attend meetings and pay dues)

3) Hold a leadership position of some sort (this doesn't have to be an elected spot, just take the initiative to do something - this goes along with point #2)

Just my thoughts, but that was the impression I got when interviewing. They really only cared about those things that I was really active in and had concrete accomplishments to put down on my CV.

 

[pgy13]

I agree that extracurriculars can be VERY helpful, but I would not necessarily count any anesthesia group among the "very helpful" extracurriculars. For an activity to help out an application, I think you should:

1) Show an ongoing, dedicated interest in the activity (not just one year of school)

2) Have actually done something, organized an activity, made a difference (not just attend meetings and pay dues)

3) Hold a leadership position of some sort (this doesn't have to be an elected spot, just take the initiative to do something - this goes along with point #2)

Just my thoughts, but that was the impression I got when interviewing. They really only cared about those things that I was really active in and had concrete accomplishments to put down on my CV.

That is a very good summary of what I (and I think most programs) look for when reviewing extracurriculars on applications.

 

[anthroguy]

hey thank you guys for your help.

 

[zippa]

I know UF has one. I think the real benefit (from what I can see) is that you get to network with attendings who make special appearances to the meetings. If you look in images, you see that the residency director made a presentation and spoke to students afterwards.

http://medinfo.ufl.edu/~aig/index.shtml

 

[Jeff05]

was president of my school's anesthesia society. got lots of personal face time with the chair who wrote a phenomenal LOR.

after you do well on the boards and on clinical rotations, it's letters letters letters (research is now more important for the top programs).

 

[dara678]

i didn't even join mine, and i matched at a place i couldn't be happier about!

that being said, while it's not absolutely essential to join your local club, it couldn't hurt ... and face time with the chair is always good!

 

[Pharm Life]

Hey,

How important is it to be an officer in Anesthesiology interest groups during med school. I'm guessing it elicits an "oh that's nice" reaction from those viewing your files but isnt end all.

I'm still a student, so of course my advice isn't the end all be all. But I don't think being in a club would matter at all, especially if your app is strong and you've taken initiative to get exposure to anesthesiology and meet people. I have done a lot of shadowing on my own (and gotten to meet the chair even) without being part of any club. Some of the anesthesiologists, I just emailed them and asked if I could shadow out of the blue. Every single one of them said yes except one who was mostly retired, and he still met with me and suggested some other people for me to talk to. Some I met in other ways, like they gave a lecture for a class, and I stayed after class and talked to them. Any time I find out that someone at school is an anesthesiologist, I always make a point of introducing myself and talking to them. Some of my profs knew that I wanted to do anesthesia and helped me meet some anesthesiologists who were willing to let pre-clinical students hang out with them in the OR. (I found out pretty early on that surgeons are really good for getting you intros to anesthesiologists, unsurprisingly!) I also applied for FAER and did a summer of anesthesia research after my first year. So anyway, I am sure a club could be fun and helpful, but if you don't have one at your school, then you can still meet some anesthesiologists if you just ask them or ask other people to introduce you.

 

[fascinoma]

A friend of mine met a fisherman from Alaska. The fisherman said that some programs use membership in the anesthesiology club as a means by which to filter applicants.

when my friend asked the fisherman how he knew this, the fisherman replied, "arrr! i'm a pirate, not a fisherman!"

I hope that helps.

Oddly, on a more serious note, no one on any of my interviews asked me about my activities listed. If you have a well written essay about cool life experiences, the conversation tends to revolve around that. At least it did for me on all of my interviews. And no one asked me why I wasn't a member of my school's anesthesiology club or not involved in any anesthesiology professional organizations (i joined most after my applications were submitted) either.

 

[nociceptor]

A friend of mine met a fisherman from Alaska. The fisherman said that some programs use membership in the anesthesiology club as a means by which to filter applicants.

when my friend asked the fisherman how he knew this, the fisherman replied, "arrr! i'm a pirate, not a fisherman!"

I hope that helps.

Oh that helps.

Helps me laugh until it hurts!

I like jokes with pirates in them. R R R R