Diversity- Travel vs. Healthy lifestyle

Started by gogata23
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gogata23

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Hello everyone, I have been working on secondaries for the past week, and I am finally trying to tackle the diversity question every medical school loves to ask. Basically I have two diversity essays written up and I can't decide which to go with.

I love traveling and have been to many different countries. Most for leisure, but one for a mission trip and my travel experiences have really fueled an interest in international medicine. I can also talk about the differences in culture I observed.

Or I can go down the healthy lifestyle path. Both my parents are physicians, so having a healthy lifestyle was a priority from an early age. I love exercising, sports, and maintaining a healthy diet, and have learned a lot about the human body through my interest in my health.

I know there is no right or wrong answer on which path to go down, but I am procrastinating and figured I'd ask here for input. Thanks in advance.
 
I think writing about your extensive travel (especially since you say it was mostly leisure) could give off a sort of privileged vibe to readers. I think you could make the culture aspect work if you really have been diverse set of countries (i.e. not just Europe). As for the second topic, lots of people have healthy lifestyles and work out to stay fit. Maybe if you were a trainer or college athlete or something... Just my two cents though, curious to hear what others have to say
 
Yeah, the healthy lifestyle won't add much diversity.

I was amazed when I was introduced to the M1's at my in-state medical school. Not a SINGLE one of them was overweight.

Going into medicine tends to attract those who live healthy lifestyles (or try to). The travel on the other hand, would look cool. Although, many people do that as well.
 
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Yea I guess the healthy lifestyle choice isn't the best. Do you think it would be okay to focus on being raised by two parents-physicians? Although this could make me look privileged, or pressured into becoming a doctor (which I wasn't, both my siblings went into other fields), I feel like it makes me diverse because it is pretty rare.
 
gogata23 said:
Yea I guess the healthy lifestyle choice isn't the best. Do you think it would be okay to focus on being raised by two parents-physicians? Although this could make me look privileged, or pressured into becoming a doctor (which I wasn't, both my siblings went into other fields), I feel like it makes me diverse because it is pretty rare.
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That's not nearly as rare as you think, having a physician as a parent. Maybe having two physicians is less common, but it's not really something that makes you diverse. I mean, my dad is a statistical analyst... But me talking about that because not many people have a dad with that profession doesn't make me more diverse.

Diversity should be something YOU'VE done or experienced. What your parents do really doesn't spell diversity. I guess that's just my opinion.

If I was asked to talk about my diversity, I'd either talk about my weight loss (100 lbs), growing up in a rural area, or discussing my experience as a performing artist.

Stuff like that adds diversity. Tell your story!
 
HCHopeful said:
That's not nearly as rare as you think, having a physician as a parent. Maybe having two physicians is less common, but it's not really something that makes you diverse. I mean, my dad is a statistical analyst... But me talking about that because not many people have a dad with that profession doesn't make me more diverse.

Diversity should be something YOU'VE done or experienced. What your parents do really doesn't spell diversity. I guess that's just my opinion.

If I was asked to talk about my diversity, I'd either talk about my weight loss (100 lbs), growing up in a rural area, or discussing my experience as a performing artist.

Stuff like that adds diversity. Tell your story!
Click to expand...

adolescent chubsters unite!
 
gogata23 said:
Yea I guess the healthy lifestyle choice isn't the best. Do you think it would be okay to focus on being raised by two parents-physicians? Although this could make me look privileged, or pressured into becoming a doctor (which I wasn't, both my siblings went into other fields), I feel like it makes me diverse because it is pretty rare.
Click to expand...

Hi gogata,

I too have parents who are both physicans but chose not to mention it really in my apps unless they explicitly asked for parents' occupations. Granted my father really did not want me to go into medicine and do something like finance/tech instead and my mother was somewhat indifferent about it at first but has warmed to it since. For my diversity essays I personally wrote about how I lived in many different cities across the US during my childhood (and in a foreign country for a 2 years) and how it has made me very aware and conscious of cultural practices and differences. I supported it with with some anecdotes/experiences about organizing a sports league between youth groups of different religions/churches and hosting an international student, among others.

Just like you, it was tough at first for me to write the diversity essay, but after some introspection and analysis I was very happy with my final draft. Try to ask yourself if you were in a room with 10 other applicants, what factor would set YOU apart and make YOU unique that would also aid you in being a competent physician.

Best of luck
 
Having parents as doctors is the opposite of diverse in a med school.

The good news is its also basically a guaranteed acceptance to their alma mater if your app is halfway reasonable.
 
Writing about your travels can run the risk of appearing too privileged.

Living a healthy lifestyle? You might as well write down you bring diversity because you're breathing.

C'mon kids; this isn't Einsteinian physics; what's cool about you?

gogata23 said:
Hello everyone, I have been working on secondaries for the past week, and I am finally trying to tackle the diversity question every medical school loves to ask. Basically I have two diversity essays written up and I can't decide which to go with.

I love traveling and have been to many different countries. Most for leisure, but one for a mission trip and my travel experiences have really fueled an interest in international medicine. I can also talk about the differences in culture I observed.

Or I can go down the healthy lifestyle path. Both my parents are physicians, so having a healthy lifestyle was a priority from an early age. I love exercising, sports, and maintaining a healthy diet, and have learned a lot about the human body through my interest in my health.

I know there is no right or wrong answer on which path to go down, but I am procrastinating and figured I'd ask here for input. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
 
Goro said:
Writing about your travels can run the risk of appearing too privileged.

Living a healthy lifestyle? You might as well write down you bring diversity because you're breathing.

C'mon kids; this isn't Einsteinian physics; what's cool about you?
Click to expand...
Would spending significant time helping a special needs neighbor develop be something considered diverse enough for the essay?
 
Goro said:
If your three best friends would say that this is a cool thing about you, then mention it. But my gut says that is is better fodder for your EC list.
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I didn't include this in my EC since I had no tangible way to prove it. Would mentioning it now be considerably helpful since it is in essence an extra EC I was able to include in the primary?
 
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Nothing you've mentioned so far sounds particularly diverse or even interesting -- sorry!

You want that 10-second 'hook' one AdCom member can use with another to refer to you -- "You remember - the guy with ...."
 
it should have been in your list of ECs. Mention it in the diversity prompt and the first thought of a screener/reader will be "wait a minute, there's no mention of this in the ECs."

Mr. Beefy Lion said:
I didn't include this in my EC since I had no tangible way to prove it. Would mentioning it now be considerably helpful since it is in essence an extra EC I was able to include in the primary?
Click to expand...
 
Both of your ideas make you sound super privileged and plain, unfortunately. Also, I think with mentioning that both of your parents are physicians, you run the risk of more critical adcoms wondering whether your inspiration to pursue medicine is coming from you or coming from your parents.

Try picking a few schools that really interest you and read their mission statements. What unique life experiences have you had that could allow you to contribute to those schools' missions?
 
HCHopeful said:
Heh, my "chubbiness" lasted until I was 18 years old... Darn Doritos... and donuts. I love donuts.
Click to expand...
i hit a growth spurt sometime in middle school. now i am 6 feet tall, built like a stick, and can't gain weight no matter hard i try
 
This is why its good not to major in bio. At least you can say you studied something interesting in the social sciences.
 
If you can't think of anything else, I think the travel thing could be spun in a way that would fit the diversity topic, but you'll have to tread carefully and maybe get a couple people to read it just in case.
 
Yea I guess the healthy lifestyle choice isn't the best.
1wpbf
 
Oh_Gee said:
i hit a growth spurt sometime in middle school. now i am 6 feet tall, built like a stick, and can't gain weight no matter hard i try
Click to expand...

Haha I was 6'3" in 8th grade and haven't grown since. I was also 260 pounds... luckily that's gone down 😉
 
Would having an MPH be a topic to discuss to portray diversity? I, too, am having trouble figuring out what to write!
 
Okay thank you all for the advice, I'm going to stay away from these topics. Another idea I have is talking about my brother-in-law's family. He is English and I have been to England many times, developing a close relationship with their family and friends. Even though England is not super diverse, do you think I could write about learning their different culture and adapting around it in developing a close relationship?

If not, I could maybe talk about how my research lab had many people of different ethnic backgrounds, and how I had to learn to work with them through language barriers. I only worked in this lab for a year though.
 
gogata23 said:
Okay thank you all for the advice, I'm going to stay away from these topics. Another idea I have is talking about my brother-in-law's family. He is English and I have been to England many times, developing a close relationship with their family and friends. Even though England is not super diverse, do you think I could write about learning their different culture and adapting around it in developing a close relationship?

If not, I could maybe talk about how my research lab had many people of different ethnic backgrounds, and how I had to learn to work with them through language barriers. I only worked in this lab for a year though.
Click to expand...

These are better ideas, but I'm still left wondering what's diverse about you. The fact that other people in your lab spoke different languages doesn't really have anything to do with your own diversity. I mean, plenty of people have worked with others different from themselves. I think that this would have more weight if you had maybe tried to learn things in their languages or helped teach them English words.

Hanging out with relatives in England sounds about as diverse as a loaf of bread. You'll have to find something unique about yourself that doesn't hinge on other people's diversity.
 
Last year, I talked about my traveling experiences. Not leisure travel, but I moved around a lot and thought that made me unique. For this year, I'm thinking about changing it up, and have been leaning towards writing about my experience as a retail manager at the family business. Thoughts?

OP, do you have any hobbies/interests? I think talking about them and how they relate to your career goals might be a better option.
 
mental_alchemy said:
Last year, I talked about my traveling experiences. Not leisure travel, but I moved around a lot and thought that made me unique. For this year, I'm thinking about changing it up, and have been leaning towards writing about my experience as a retail manager at the family business. Thoughts?

OP, do you have any hobbies/interests? I think talking about them and how they relate to your career goals might be a better option.
Click to expand...

I think talking about retail manager could work. Shows you are a family man willing to help the business with a large responsibility. But maybe don't take my advice since I'm struggling here haha As for my hobbies/interests, I've always lived near the water and really into fishing/boating. I pay a lot of attention to wind patterns, currents, etc. Not sure how that really relates to my career goals though
 
Can I hijack for a quick question for @Goro since he's talking about travel? I grew up in a foreign country (not a rich European one) and went to high school there before moving to the US (I was always a US citizen thogh). Would you think this is an interesting diversity topic?
 
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I think it brings something to the table. As our pal Rachiee can attest, most Americans are simply horrible at geography, so enlightening others about the world is important.


Pusheen said:
Can I hijack for a quick question for @Goro since he's talking about travel? I grew up in a foreign country (not a rich European one) and went to high school there before moving to the US (I was always a US citizen thogh). Would you think this is an interesting diversity topic?
Click to expand...
 
Pusheen said:
Can I hijack for a quick question for @Goro since he's talking about travel? I grew up in a foreign country (not a rich European one) and went to high school there before moving to the US (I was always a US citizen thogh). Would you think this is an interesting diversity topic?
Click to expand...
I think it is! Be prepared to really have to explain the culture of this foreign country though lol. Goro is referencing an incident in which I asked my very educated coworker to identify Serbia on an unlabeled map...he responded with "you mean Siberia?"
 
Goro said:
I think it brings something to the table. As our pal Rachiee can attest, most Americans are simply horrible at geography, so enlightening others about the world is important.
Click to expand...

As a Texan, I can assure you that our geography is even worse (especially when it comes to the US). For example, it took my friend and I 5 mins yesterday to figure out that Minnesota is a state and not a city.
 
gogata23 said:
Yea I guess the healthy lifestyle choice isn't the best. Do you think it would be okay to focus on being raised by two parents-physicians? Although this could make me look privileged, or pressured into becoming a doctor (which I wasn't, both my siblings went into other fields), I feel like it makes me diverse because it is pretty rare.
Click to expand...
Look up the stats on how many people who go to med school have parents who are doctors
hint: it's incredibly common
 
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