Anybody else work at med. school they've applied to?

[googolzillion]

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I think I'm mainly just wondering if anybody else can relate?

I work for a department within the school of medicine at my top choice. I have a few years of full-time clinical research experience at an affiliated hospital, and then a year or so at the university hospital specifically. My current position is not in clinical research, but involves lots of work directly with faculty, staff, and students of the department.

I applied pretty late to the MD program at my school (secondary marked complete just a few weeks ago). I haven't mentioned my application to very many of the people I work with (maybe 2 or 3, at most), and thought I would mainly keep it on the DL until I knew the outcome (to avoid potential for awkwardness if I don't get in this year).

Somehow, the cat seems to already be completely out of the bag and most of the faculty seem to be treating me noticeably differently now. I definitely appreciate their support and encouragement, but honestly feel a bit uncomfortable with all of the recent attention. It really feels like I'm constantly being interviewed and evaluated for admission, every hour of every work day. I find myself feeling pressured to constantly exemplify all of the traits I imagine will be important as a physician and to have well-spoken, concise answers to all of their questions about my personal experiences, interests, and ambitions.

I'm not used to this focus on me during my "day job." I'm used to directing my attention and effort towards helping them; understanding, explaining, resolving issues they experience. It feels really strange now -- like my personal life is leaking into my professional life, and I can't count on work to really distract me from the stress of the application process. It seems everywhere I go, people are asking if I've interviewed yet, if I've talked to X or done Y, if I can guess what's wrong with patient Z.

I'm really trying to see these experiences as the wonderful opportunities they are. I know that I'm really lucky to have so many people willing to offer their advice and insight, and that I should appreciate the generous support and encouragement I've already received. I think I really do appreciate it, but just can't help but feel a bit of added pressure too...

I think if I knew I'd be offered admission, I might feel somewhat differently. The shift in the dynamics of my relationships with faculty members might feel a bit more natural, and potentially pave the way for my hopeful transition from "employee" to "student." But, I don't know that I'll be fortunate enough to be offered admission, or even an interview at the school, and so feel a bit uncomfortable with how much has changed already.

I'm not sure if it's normal to feel this way, and if anybody else can relate or offer advice? Does it sound like I might be making a bigger deal out of this than is necessary?

 

[darkjedi]

Sounds like you are making something out of nothing and paranoia is getting the better of you.

Only a handful of people in the medical school are on the admissions committee. Unless you are interacting with the admissions committee directly, no one else has any bearing on your admission/application.

This newfound curiosity in you is only natural. If it truly bothers you just mention to your coworkers that you would rather not talk about applications until you have more solid news.

 

[googolzillion]

Sounds like you are making something out of nothing and paranoia is getting the better of you.

Only a handful of people in the medical school are on the admissions committee. Unless you are interacting with the admissions committee directly, no one else has any bearing on your admission/application.

This newfound curiosity in you is only natural. If it truly bothers you just mention to your coworkers that you would rather not talk about applications until you have more solid news.

Awesome, thanks for the advice about this! I think you're very right that I'm likely making a better deal of it than it needs to be.

I think I realize that not all of the faculty can reasonably be on the committee, and some are much more likely to be than not. But, it all seems so strangely secretive --- while nobody's actually mentioned they're actually part of the committee, many have mentioned that they work with a lot of medical students and quite a few hold academic titles that seem relevant (i.e. chair / vice chair for education, department dean, clinical director, etc.). Also, I find it really strange that so many people have already mentioned it. I know that word can travel pretty quickly, but I truly wonder how so many people found out in such a short time period?

Ultimately though, I think this process will likely be stressful regardless of whether others ask about it or not. And, generally, I really do appreciate their help and support. So, I think maybe I will just try to relax a bit about this, and hope that it will all eventually work out

Thanks again for the reality check!

 

[Bangersandmash]

I've done a year and a half of unpaid research plus a half year of paid research in a COM department at my university and it hasn't affected my application to my university's med school or my relationship with my PI and people in the department.

My lab was always laid back and everyone was very personable (i. e. we'd talk about vacations, their kids, grab lunch after a conference etc.) so I didn't find inquiries into my medical school applications out of the ordinary. Most faculty just want to see you succeed and would love to see you continue your career where they work. If you got a LOR from people there, it should only help the process and you shouldn't be worried about anything.

If you have a good relationship with the people you work with/for, you shouldn't be hesitant to tell them you hope to go to the COM and keep them informed of your acceptances and all that. They just want to know. They also shouldn't expect more of you suddenly or make you do med student like things. You're probably overthinking it.

 

[RachelElizabeth]

Sounds like you are making something out of nothing and paranoia is getting the better of you.

Only a handful of people in the medical school are on the admissions committee. Unless you are interacting with the admissions committee directly, no one else has any bearing on your admission/application.

This newfound curiosity in you is only natural. If it truly bothers you just mention to your coworkers that you would rather not talk about applications until you have more solid news.

I second this. I work at one of the schools where I applied and my PI helps with interviews but he isn't on the admissions committee. He has a pretty good understanding of how the process works. Anyway, the new interest you might be noticing is not you being evaluated -- there is no part of your file where coworkers or superiors can leave their notes or comments. That said, don't do anything egregious because people talk. Assuming you behave yourself over the coming months, I can't see how the faculty knowing you applied can hurt you. If anything, it could help if one of them somehow ends up vouching for you. Stay calm! Everything's cool.

EDIT: If you're comfortable with it, you can ask faculty you work closely with to call/email the admissions committee on your behalf, as far as I can tell this is common practice in a lot of places.

 

[darkjedi]

I second this. I work at one of the schools where I applied and my PI helps with interviews but he isn't on the admissions committee. He has a pretty good understanding of how the process works. Anyway, the new interest you might be noticing is not you being evaluated -- there is no part of your file where coworkers or superiors can leave their notes or comments. That said, don't do anything egregious because people talk. Assuming you behave yourself over the coming months, I can't see how the faculty knowing you applied can hurt you. If anything, it could help if one of them somehow ends up vouching for you. Stay calm! Everything's cool.

EDIT: If you're comfortable with it, you can ask faculty you work closely with to call/email the admissions committee on your behalf, as far as I can tell this is common practice in a lot of places.

I agree with the point that working at the school and personally knowing the faculty will actually benefit more than hurt you, unless of course you make egregious errors. I also worked for the main hospital of the medical school I am currently at now and can say for sure that working at the institution was what helped sway my application towards acceptance.

 

[bored]

If I had to guess, you will get into this school.

 

[nysw]

I second this. I work at one of the schools where I applied and my PI helps with interviews but he isn't on the admissions committee. He has a pretty good understanding of how the process works. Anyway, the new interest you might be noticing is not you being evaluated -- there is no part of your file where coworkers or superiors can leave their notes or comments. That said, don't do anything egregious because people talk. Assuming you behave yourself over the coming months, I can't see how the faculty knowing you applied can hurt you. If anything, it could help if one of them somehow ends up vouching for you. Stay calm! Everything's cool.

EDIT: If you're comfortable with it, you can ask faculty you work closely with to call/email the admissions committee on your behalf, as far as I can tell this is common practice in a lot of places.

I personally wouldn't do this because I think it's a touch tacky, and also because they've most likely already done it for you.

I worked at a medical school for two years, and I was interviewed for MD and MD/PhD there. It was really fun because during the MD/PhD interview, all of the faculty I talked to was very familiar with my PI, so having a favorable LOR from him probably helped me with landing an interview. After the interview day, the cat was definitely out of the bag, and everyone at work asked me about my application process. It's okay - they ask because they care and want you to do well. You shouldn't feel pressured by it at all; just relax, and keep doing your job. They've most likely already formed their opinion of you by now (most likely favorable, from what you've said), and nothing short of drastic will change that.

 

[googolzillion]

I've done a year and a half of unpaid research plus a half year of paid research in a COM department at my university and it hasn't affected my application to my university's med school or my relationship with my PI and people in the department.

My lab was always laid back and everyone was very personable (i. e. we'd talk about vacations, their kids, grab lunch after a conference etc.) so I didn't find inquiries into my medical school applications out of the ordinary. Most faculty just want to see you succeed and would love to see you continue your career where they work. If you got a LOR from people there, it should only help the process and you shouldn't be worried about anything.

If you have a good relationship with the people you work with/for, you shouldn't be hesitant to tell them you hope to go to the COM and keep them informed of your acceptances and all that. They just want to know. They also shouldn't expect more of you suddenly or make you do med student like things. You're probably overthinking it.

Thanks for the input on this. Sounds like you have a nice group of people to work with in your lab! I really enjoy the individuals I work with too (one of the best parts of the job, honestly), but naturally end up working with some more than others, and feel a bit strange talking about myself with those that I'm less familiar with.

But, honestly, knowing myself, I do have a tendency to over-think things at times, so that's very likely a factor here, as you mentioned in your post. I think I need to relax a bit and realize that they're just generally supportive and nice individuals trying to help me, and I should appreciate that, and not put so much pressure on myself about this 🙂

Thanks for helping me to see that!

I second this. I work at one of the schools where I applied and my PI helps with interviews but he isn't on the admissions committee. He has a pretty good understanding of how the process works. Anyway, the new interest you might be noticing is not you being evaluated -- there is no part of your file where coworkers or superiors can leave their notes or comments. That said, don't do anything egregious because people talk. Assuming you behave yourself over the coming months, I can't see how the faculty knowing you applied can hurt you. If anything, it could help if one of them somehow ends up vouching for you. Stay calm! Everything's cool.

EDIT: If you're comfortable with it, you can ask faculty you work closely with to call/email the admissions committee on your behalf, as far as I can tell this is common practice in a lot of places.

Awesome, thanks for your reassurance about this! I really think you're spot-on about the new interest I've noticed -- it does seem most likely to be just genuine curiosity on their part. From their perspective, it might seem a bit strange that I've applied, since I'm not really working in a clinical role right now, and I don't often mention my background and/or activities outside of work. These new opportunities to talk with many of the faculty have allowed me more time to explain about that sort of stuff, so hopefully my decision makes a bit more sense in that context 🙂

I normally am fairly mellow and I think pretty easy to get along with, so can't imagine doing anything especially egregious, but certainly appreciate the reminder!

I agree with the point that working at the school and personally knowing the faculty will actually benefit more than hurt you, unless of course you make egregious errors. I also worked for the main hospital of the medical school I am currently at now and can say for sure that working at the institution was what helped sway my application towards acceptance.

Wow, that's pretty cool -- thanks for sharing your positive anecdote! I hope that it will work out similarly for me, but will likely have to wait a while longer to find out.

If I had to guess, you will get into this school.

Thanks, I sure hope so!

I personally wouldn't do this because I think it's a touch tacky, and also because they've most likely already done it for you.

I worked at a medical school for two years, and I was interviewed for MD and MD/PhD there. It was really fun because during the MD/PhD interview, all of the faculty I talked to was very familiar with my PI, so having a favorable LOR from him probably helped me with landing an interview. After the interview day, the cat was definitely out of the bag, and everyone at work asked me about my application process. It's okay - they ask because they care and want you to do well. You shouldn't feel pressured by it at all; just relax, and keep doing your job. They've most likely already formed their opinion of you by now (most likely favorable, from what you've said), and nothing short of drastic will change that.

Very cool! I'm applying for MD and MD/PhD too, but a bit nervous about my MD/PhD application specifically now... I had a really great conversation with a doctor last Friday and he was giving me a ton of helpful advice specifically about the MD/PhD program (since I'd mentioned I was really interested in continuing to stay involved in research). He asked if I'd met with the MD/PhD folks yet, and I realized I really should have scheduled that earlier. Admittedly, grad courses + full-time job have kept me pretty busy this quarter, but still wish I would have been more on top of that. I still might see if I can schedule one, and hope it's not too little too late...

I think I'm a bit uncomfortable asking faculty to directly call/email the committee, so likely will hold off on that for now. There are a few faculty members that I'm especially close to that I think I could ask for a letter, if necessary, but already have four letters that I believe are pretty strong (3 faculty who I took classes from / conducted research with + former supervisor in my job now -- all from the med school where I've applied).

I think right now I need to just relax a bit, prepare for finals, and finish up my biggest project for the department so far. 😀 If I still haven't heard anything about my app by early January (that would be about six weeks post-completion of the secondary for me), then I may start to panic and ask for additional letters or recommendations from faculty or ask admissions folks in our department if they have any suggestions 😀