Dumb question about applying for residency

[deleted564496]

Hey guys, I'm an M1 and I'm about as far concerned about the match and residency as you could possibly imagine…

However, I'm just curious if you need to have any specific documentation for the volunteering, etc that you will put on your CV.

I honestly know only very little about the process, but seeing as how I've started some volunteering I'm just wondering if you need to have any "proof" of it or whatever.

Sorry if it's a dumb question.

Thanks!

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[Raryn]

Hey guys, I'm an M1 and I'm about as far concerned about the match and residency as you could possibly imagine…

However, I'm just curious if you need to have any specific documentation for the volunteering, etc that you will put on your CV.

I honestly know only very little about the process, but seeing as how I've started some volunteering I'm just wondering if you need to have any "proof" of it or whatever.

Sorry if it's a dumb question.

Thanks!

No proof necessary. They didn't even require you to list contact information for the orgs you volunteer for like they required for med school apps.

 

[shenanigi]

You need to have a letter from the organization with a blood thumbprint from you and the coordinator.

 

[tco]

I talked with the Duke PD (rads) a bit about what they look for in an applicant, after I was rejected. He said they don't even look at volunteer activities. I'd assume this is pretty normal...

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[Winged Scapula]

No documentation is required however, as noted above, extracurriculars are not considered nearly as important, if even considered at all, for residency purposes.

Of course someone will come on here and state that for emergency medicine they like to see volunteer clinic experience but this is generally excepted to be outside of the norm.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

No documentation is required however, as noted above, extracurriculars are not considered nearly as important, if even considered at all, for residency purposes.

Of course someone will come on here and state that for emergency medicine they like to see volunteer clinic experience but this is generally excepted to be outside of the norm.

I really tried to look at folks' extracurriculars this year when I was interviewing. The ERAS application is so dense it is really hard. My eyes were glazing over by the time I got to them, and they usually take up like 4-5 pages...

 

[Raryn]

Funny enough, the part of your application the most number of people read was the little box at the very end that says "hobbies and interests." Had a number of interviewers want to chat about things I had put there.

 

[PHellmuth]

Nope no documentation was needed, anything within reason would have been fine to put on there

 

[VisionaryTics]

Funny enough, the part of your application the most number of people read was the little box at the very end that says "hobbies and interests." Had a number of interviewers want to chat about things I had put there.

Little did I know that the two minutes I spent on that box would dictate 95% of the discussion in my interviews.

 

[mcloaf]

No documentation is required however, as noted above, extracurriculars are not considered nearly as important, if even considered at all, for residency purposes.

Of course someone will come on here and state that for emergency medicine they like to see volunteer clinic experience but this is generally excepted to be outside of the norm.

So for someone interested in surgery I'm not shooting myself in the foot by not taking on a bunch of resume padding volunteer/club leadership positions that my classmates are wrestling over? I've already gotten involved in clinical research and plan to continue that, also considering a research year. If I end up applying with good scores/clinical grades/letters/research and none of the preclinical diversions I'll come out ok? I'm from the West coast, going to school at a big academic center in the midwest, and hope to match back to academics somewhere on the Pacific.

Sorry for the thread hijack, trying not to clog the forum with neurotic M1's matching questions.

 

[mvenus929]

So for someone interested in surgery I'm not shooting myself in the foot by not taking on a bunch of resume padding volunteer/club leadership positions that my classmates are wrestling over? I've already gotten involved in clinical research and plan to continue that, also considering a research year. If I end up applying with good scores/clinical grades/letters/research and none of the preclinical diversions I'll come out ok? I'm from the West coast, going to school at a big academic center in the midwest, and hope to match back to academics somewhere on the Pacific.

Sorry for the thread hijack, trying not to clog the forum with neurotic M1's matching questions.

Yeah, you should be fine. If you're interested in doing some sort of project, then go for it, but don't do it just to pad your resume.

 

[Winged Scapula]

ECs are fine if you are honestly interested in them but for Surgery they are not conventionally considered required.

 

[Doctor Bob]

Of course someone will come on here and state that for emergency medicine they like to see volunteer clinic experience but this is generally excepted to be outside of the norm.

Nah, volunteer clinic experience is pretty worthless for us also. I mean, it's something to talk about at interviews, but it's not even on our point sheet.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Nah, volunteer clinic experience is pretty worthless for us also. I mean, it's something to talk about at interviews, but it's not even on our point sheet.

Thanks for the input.

I recall in a previous thread where I was "corrected" by someone applying to/in EM (can't recall at this point) that volunteer/community experience was *definitely* valuable.

So there you have it folks: don't waste your time at the free clinic, saving lives in Africa or any other pre-med ECs because they aren't important for residency applications.

 

[Lavan]

Funny enough, the part of your application the most number of people read was the little box at the very end that says "hobbies and interests." Had a number of interviewers want to chat about things I had put there.

This was also my experience. And they were essentially the only interesting things I ever discussed.

 

[LostinLift]

ECs are fine if you are honestly interested in them but for Surgery they are not conventionally considered required.

Are any ECs looked upon favorably for Surgical sub specialties? In terms of applying to strong research institutions that want to produce leaders in the field and academic physicians, is there anything that's important other than LOR, aways, research, great grades, and scores?

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Are any ECs looked upon favorably for Surgical sub specialties? In terms of applying to strong research institutions that want to produce leaders in the field and academic physicians, is there anything that's important other than LOR, aways, research, great grades, and scores?

Unless it is something really amazing or unique (ex: former olympic gold medalist), the short answer is really no.

 

[LostinLift]

Unless it is something really amazing or unique (ex: former olympic gold medalist), the short answer is really no.

Well then, I'll just let my bronze medals continue to collect dust. Thanks for the advice, looks like I will focus on performing research!

 

[dextor2003]

Does it make a difference what specialty you're talking about? For instance, do PDs in IM/peds/psych favor them more in general than those in surgery? Or do extracurriculars pretty much have no value for all specialties?

 

[mvenus929]

Does it make a difference what specialty you're talking about? For instance, do PDs in IM/peds/psych favor them more in general than those in surgery? Or do extracurriculars pretty much have no value for all specialties?

I personally have found them useful for fodder in peds interviews. I've brought up my ECs multiple times during my interviews (or had them brought up by my interviewer). But part of my career goals are based on what I did in the community (I'm looking for a program with strong community outreach opportunities), so that supports that aspect of my application.

 

[Geekchick921]

Yeah, you should be fine. If you're interested in doing some sort of project, then go for it, but don't do it just to pad your resume.

Thank God. This thread makes me feel better about not doing a ton of ECs in medical school like I always did in the past. I have a leadership position from the one group I was involved with but other than that I just have non-leadership status in some interest groups and that's about it.

 

[synecdoche]

Another neurotic M1 question, my apologies (didn't want to start a new thread for it): on ERAS, are volunteer activities all listed separately, like on AMCAS? Or can you lump together a few different free clinics/organizations under the same item? I've participated in a few of these, and while the number of hours devoted to each individually is not very significant, the collective total is.

edited for clarity - I don't mean lumping together ALL volunteerism, but rather similarly-themed activities like assisting in a free clinic for an underserved population. My school has 5 or 6 of these.

 

[DermViser]

Little did I know that the two minutes I spent on that box would dictate 95% of the discussion in my interviews.

How could you not know that? The rest of the stuff is a complete CV rehash. At least with Hobbies and Interests, the faculty member can somehow feign interest and "personalize" the interview, so you rank them high enough.

 

[tco]

How could you not know that? The rest of the stuff is a complete CV rehash. At least with Hobbies and Interests, the faculty member can somehow feign interest and "personalize" the interview, so you rank them high enough.

I would just put ? marks. One interview I had, ERAS got messed up somehow and every interviewer only had ?'s for all of my hobbies/interests. That was the easiest interview I had. Finally, at the end, one of my questions was, "Why has everyone been asking me what I like to do for fun?" The interviewer showed me their printout and everything was "? - ? - ? - ?"