Medical Does this count as nepotism?

[Goro]

I was wondering how ADCOMs screen for nepotism. I started my senior project at a hospital my parent who is a physician works at. I ended up volunteering in the areas she was affiliated with under other physicians. I am a reapplicant now working a great job in the same hospital but in a different department. I got this job on my own but was known because of my volunteering in the lab in the past. Should I change jobs to erase any thought of nepotism.

The other question is I am a reapplicant this year without any IIs. My stats are overall good and I have many new experiences. Assuming I get no acceptances, should I not reapply this next cycle and wait a year.

Sometimes it's hard to tell. But you having a job even in your parent's office still would be a job.

It's more insidious when people try to get credit for shadowing under, say a relative with a different last name and then sue that person for a LOR. My school has rejected people like that. How did we find out? We have our ways.

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[TheBoneDoctah]

The job is in a different part of the hospital than my parent works at. I never intended to take advantage of the facts my parent was a physician, but it did afford me opportunities in high school for initial exposure. Later it was just my own asking and building of relationships. Still struggling with what I should do next year as I would be a 3rd-time applicant. My GPA is 3.7 and MCAT 520. I think my LORs are good. I definitely will be rewriting everything.

Do ADCOMS look up parents' work and compare it to your experience? Or am I overthinking this and keep my job I like very much and reapply.

Also is it harder for pre-meds to get into medical school if their parent(s) are physicians. I had seen this somewhere.

Thanks for your time in reading this.

I wouldn't really worry about the job as, as you said, it's not even in the same department as your parent. You are still doing the work and gaining that experience.

Your GPA and MCAT are good. How are your ECs? Wondering why you haven't gotten any interviews at this point?

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I am continuing to add to EC. I suspect it is my personal statement likely.

Do you think I should take a gap year vs reapply. I continue to work on improving experiences and volunteer to keep it fresh. My MCAT will expire after this next round so I hate to sit out this cycle.

I need to know what ECs you already have to advise you on this.

 

[Goro]

1. Do ADCOMS look up parents' work and compare it to your experience? Or am I overthinking this and keep my job I like very much and reapply.

2. Also is it harder for pre-meds to get into medical school if their parent(s) are physicians. I had seen this somewhere.

1) Absolutely not! You are 100% overthinking this.
2) No. If anything, it's easier given the resources mommy and daddy can buy for their kids.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

1) Absolutely not! You are 100% overthinking this.
2) No. If anything, it's easier given the resources mommy and daddy can buy for their kids.

Also for #2, it helps to have someone who can guide you a bit since they have already been through the process.

 

[Goro]

Also for #2, it helps to have someone who can guide you a bit since they have already been through the process.

The one caveat is that they can be outdated on the process!

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

The one caveat is that they can be outdated on the process!

Eh, good point.

I guess it would not be AS helpful for admissions for the outdated issue, but having doctor parents, IMO as I don't HAVE doctor parents, I feel they would kinda guide you to do well in school (even if you weren't pre-med) so that you would have a good shot if you decided to apply to medical school. They would be like "hey, you should do this volunteering and that shadowing."

Crazy...but UCLA didn't even have a pre-med committee or advisors so we were basically on our own (well, SDN was very helpful).

 

[lord999]

If your parents have a bad reputation (especially behavioral), I am quite aware of even overt retaliation against children of them if they are in the same region. That might be a problem, as it might not be nepotism but the proverbial sins of the fathers. At least at my school, it is harder for children of health care professionals (not just physicians) as they take those advantages into account when deciding. There has been past negative issues with children who finish their degrees and end up not practicing because it was parental not applicant driven.

I have a feeling that you have some kind of red flag on your application if your statistics are that good unless you excluded state schools or only went for schools far above your LizzyM.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

On the original question #1:

Every school I have ever worked for has had a process on conflicts of interest and refusal when it came to applicants with ties to the school or University., and staff involved in admissions are charged to making sure the process remains devoid of undue influence when we can.