Best student programs and extracurricular activities for competitive residency programs

[Pre-MD/MPH]

Hello All,

I've tried looking online for a good article about student programs and extracurricular activities during medical school to help stand out for competitive residency programs but haven't had much luck. I thought I would try the SDN community to see what you guys think.
Obviously a good GPA/high step score is really important for a competitive residency program, but I figure just like applying for med school, residency programs want to see what makes you different. I know that volunteering and research are pretty standard things to be apart of, but I was looking to see if anyone had any other ideas such as student interest groups, humanitarian aid trips, or something else along those lines.

Thanks

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[WedgeDawg]

Moving to pre-allo proper

 

[Catalystik]

I've tried looking online for a good article about student programs and extracurricular activities during medical school to help stand out for competitive residency programs but haven't had much luck. I thought I would try the SDN community to see what you guys think.
Obviously a good GPA/high step score is really important for a competitive residency program, but I figure just like applying for med school, residency programs want to see what makes you different. I know that volunteering and research are pretty standard things to be apart of, but I was looking to see if anyone had any other ideas such as student interest groups, humanitarian aid trips, or something else along those lines.

You might look into what it takes to get nominated for the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. All med schools don't have a chapter (list of included med schools can be seen under "Chapters" in the link I included). And elements needed for consideration vary somewhat from school to school, going beyond academics and including service, leadership, research, professionalism, etc. for example. http://alphaomegaalpha.org/how.html

 

[EaglesontheWarpath]

Hello All,

I've tried looking online for a good article about student programs and extracurricular activities during medical school to help stand out for competitive residency programs but haven't had much luck. I thought I would try the SDN community to see what you guys think.
Obviously a good GPA/high step score is really important for a competitive residency program, but I figure just like applying for med school, residency programs want to see what makes you different. I know that volunteering and research are pretty standard things to be apart of, but I was looking to see if anyone had any other ideas such as student interest groups, humanitarian aid trips, or something else along those lines.

Thanks

Where are you going to med school? And if the response is "I haven't applied yet" or "I'm not in this cycle yet" worry about your question after you have an acceptance. This is something you can obsess over once you're into school, not before it. Also, this entirely depends on your field of choice-a competitive neurosurgery residency application looks a whole lot different than a competitive peds application

If you happen to be accepted, it's similar to med school apps where it's grades+STEP's+research+volunteering+extracurriculars etc. with some focus on the actual interview day itself and how they felt your personality fit their program.
*also of note-this is the same thing for college students: once you get to school, it kinda acts like a new slate. No one really cares what you did in undergrad when applying to residency just like no one cares what you did in high school when applying to med school. Research carries over but that's about it.

 

[Mad Jack]

Just read the Program Director Survey at the NRMP. The people who run the programs you want literally have a survey to tell you what they want that they already publish.

 

[mimelim]

You might look into what it takes to get nominated for the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. All med schools don't have a chapter (list of included med schools can be seen under "Chapters" in the link I included). And elements needed for consideration vary somewhat from school to school, going beyond academics and including service, leadership, research, professionalism, etc. for example. http://alphaomegaalpha.org/how.html

AOA is a byproduct of doing well, not something to try to get. Outside of the prestige chasers, nobody cares about AOA. They care that you did really well. Many people actually completely ignore AOA entirely since it is simply a regurgitation of whether or not you did well in your classes and adds no new information. Everyone talks about there being "other things", the reality is that nobody takes the time to suss out beyond the grades.

 

[caffeinemia]

At least for my specialty:

It's board scores, grades, and research. Taking a year off to do research is generally seen as a favorable thing, but by no means is it mandatory or negative if you don't.
Beyond that trifecta, good LORs and a good social skills/situational awareness are key.

At least during our interviews, the only time someone's extracurricular activities was really a talking point was a Olympic skier or shooter or archer or something like that.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

This is a pre-med mentality. Getting competitive residencies/specialties is honestly a fairly straight forward process: dominate boards, do some research, be normal (aka get good grades on rotations), and get some good LORs.

 

[gyngyn]

AOA is a byproduct of doing well, not something to try to get. Outside of the prestige chasers, nobody cares about AOA. They care that you did really well. Many people actually completely ignore AOA entirely since it is simply a regurgitation of whether or not you did well in your classes and adds no new information. Everyone talks about there being "other things", the reality is that nobody takes the time to suss out beyond the grades.

When I served on the AOA committee, we didn't even see the grades of the nominees.

 

[libertyyne]

It should also be noted that about 6% of students purposefully take an extra year in medical school, usually in research or other projects, that intended to improve competitive residency chances

Does this number include dual degree candidates like mph, MBA , Ms, etc? What about candidates repeating a year for academic reasons or taking a leave of absence for personal reasons? That number seems high.

 

[mimelim]

When I served on the AOA committee, we didn't even see the grades of the nominees.

Is that because the nominations were done based on grades? At all of the schools that I'm aware of, that is how it is done. I have always seen AOA as a way of layering more accolades on students that have good grades. Again, never seen much purpose in it.

 

[gyngyn]

Is that because the nominations were done based on grades? At all of the schools that I'm aware of, that is how it is done. I have always seen AOA as a way of layering more accolades on students that have good grades. Again, never seen much purpose in it.

The criteria for determining the top students are developed by the schools themselves. Grades can be a part of the consideration but the folks we chose were picked without consideration of test scores.

 

[libertyyne]

Some of the schools I interviewed had very straight forward AOA processes , at others it seemed like after a threshold of top quartile was met nominations occured on more soft skills and contributions to the school and community.

 

[InvestingDoc]

Hello All,

I've tried looking online for a good article about student programs and extracurricular activities during medical school to help stand out for competitive residency programs but haven't had much luck. I thought I would try the SDN community to see what you guys think.
Obviously a good GPA/high step score is really important for a competitive residency program, but I figure just like applying for med school, residency programs want to see what makes you different. I know that volunteering and research are pretty standard things to be apart of, but I was looking to see if anyone had any other ideas such as student interest groups, humanitarian aid trips, or something else along those lines.

Thanks

You know that GPA and high step scores are important but beyond that they will look at publications, letters of rec and other standard things to determine who gets an interview.

Since you're asking about extracurricular activities I will stick to that topic. I wrote this in a previous reply months ago, but I put on my residency application that in my extracurricular time I brew beer and I won several awards for it. I also put that I was a part of a medical mission trip and built a clean water system for a village in Haiti. Every residency that I received an interview it, I was "the guy who brews his own beer." I thought it would be a negative, especially when one of my interviewers talked to me about cooking and brewing beer for half of the interview. I remember walking out being like, holy crap, did that just happen? This was my first choice program and I just talked about making and drinking beer the whole time.

The person who interviewed me sent me an email saying they appreciated how passionate I was about cooking and brewing beer and they really enjoyed the interview. A few months later I matched there after I ranked it number one. Not once did any of my work in Haiti come up in an interview. I'm sure they read it and knew it existed, but my guess is they wanted to talk about something unique. Another one of my friends put how he was into body building (he applied to EM), on his application. It seemed to turn out well for him as he related it to staying disciplined.

I think for extracurricular activities, it should be something you're passionate about. People can see resume padding from a mile away and its so common with applications. Be yourself, study hard, get good grades, and live your life. In the words of J.K Rowling "Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two."

 

[Pre-MD/MPH]

Great advice, thank you so much!

 

[Pre-MD/MPH]

Where are you going to med school? And if the response is "I haven't applied yet" or "I'm not in this cycle yet" worry about your question after you have an acceptance. This is something you can obsess over once you're into school, not before it. Also, this entirely depends on your field of choice-a competitive neurosurgery residency application looks a whole lot different than a competitive peds application

If you happen to be accepted, it's similar to med school apps where it's grades+STEP's+research+volunteering+extracurriculars etc. with some focus on the actual interview day itself and how they felt your personality fit their program.
*also of note-this is the same thing for college students: once you get to school, it kinda acts like a new slate. No one really cares what you did in undergrad when applying to residency just like no one cares what you did in high school when applying to med school. Research carries over but that's about it.

I got into Mayo AZ, I'm really excited to go! I asked this specific question because Mayo Az doesn't have any student programs yet (it's the inaugural year). Any tips on programs we should try and implement?

 

[Pre-MD/MPH]

Just read the Program Director Survey at the NRMP. The people who run the programs you want literally have a survey to tell you what they want that they already publish.

Great resource, thank you!

 

[EaglesontheWarpath]

I got into Mayo AZ, I'm really excited to go! I asked this specific question because Mayo Az doesn't have any student programs yet (it's the inaugural year). Any tips on programs we should try and implement?

Now this post makes more sense. First off, congrats on the acceptance! Going in blind definitely can't be easy, but you also have the freedom to do/start whatever you want which is nice! I'm sure the school will be on top of everything, especially getting clubs/student leadership active, but honestly I would guess you have as much freedom to do whatever you want. Something to consider would be to maybe just peruse other schools' websites and see what they have in terms of student groups?

 

[Cognovi]

The criteria for determining the top students are developed by the schools themselves. Grades can be a part of the consideration but the folks we chose were picked without consideration of test scores.

AOA has firm national guidelines that members must be from the top quartile of each class by academic performance.

Are you saying your school determined "scholastic qualifications" (term from AOA constitution) without regarding to actual academic performance?

 

[gyngyn]

AOA has firm national guidelines that members must be from the top quartile of each class by academic performance.

Are you saying your school determined "scholastic qualifications" (term from AOA constitution) without regarding to actual academic performance?

Yes, we determine the top quartile and send them to committee where they are chosen after grades are removed from the dossier.

 

[Cognovi]

Yes, we determine the top quartile and send them to committee where they are chosen after grades are removed from the dossier.

So the nominations are by grades (top quartile), and the final selection is done without grades (one sixth of class).

 

[gyngyn]

So the nominations are by grades (top quartile), and the final selection is done without grades (one sixth of class).

Yes, those in the top quartile in scholastic achievement (which can include grades) can be nominated.