ERAS-- include undergrad acitivites? religious clubs?

[ForeverandEver]

---

Members don't see this ad.

In ERAS, do I include:

1. Undergrad activities?

2. Religious organizations? I'm part of an Islamic club at my medical school, where I took on leadership roles. These days, Islam is such a politically charged topic, that I'm not sure whether to include it at all. Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[ThePursuit]

Unless you're applying to a program that you specifically know would appreciate your islamic ties, I agree with your intuition. It's probably best to put other info on your CV. A comparison would be someone putting a "president of anti-abortion club" on their CV. Just not the greatest idea in most cases (I think).

 

[bcat85]

A comparison would be someone putting a "president of anti-abortion club" on their CV. Just not the greatest idea in most cases (I think).

Curiously, I am the president of the medical students for life group at my medical school. It's not really an antiabortion group (we didn't talk about it once I don't think), but I've been debating whether or not to include this in my application. Any thoughts?

 

[DrBowtie]

If its not an anti abortion group, what is it?

 

[LeLu]

What about undergrad activities, ie president of an honor society, etc?

 

[hermionegranger]

I'm putting my membership in the Islamic club on the CV. Why not? It's a huge part of my CV. Also, if the program doesn't like it and can't accept that there are great resident applicants who are Muslim...why should I go there anyway?

I also put my membership in the Muslim Student Associaton while applying for medical school. It always started great conversation during the interview.

 

[DrVanNostran]

I'm putting my membership in the Islamic club on the CV. Why not? It's a huge part of my CV. Also, if the program doesn't like it and can't accept that there are great resident applicants who are Muslim...why should I go there anyway?

I also put my membership in the Muslim Student Associaton while applying for medical school. It always started great conversation during the interview.

👍

Would you want to go to a program that didn't interview you because of your religion? Imagine getting accepted to that program and them finding out later about your religion. 3-7 years of torture.

 

[peppy]

If you're applying for something competitive or you're a borderline applicant, I'd probably avoid anything that could be potentially controversial. You just never know how people will react and you don't want your chances spoiled by one ignorant person on the selection committee.
For a strong candidate in a specialty that is a "buyer's market" like FM, I'd go ahead and mention it so that hopefully wherever you match will be accepting of who you really are.