ERAS: undergrad activities (10+ yrs ago?)

[SphynxMD]

Hey everyone! I'd appreciate some advice: I'm finishing up my ERAS and am not sure if I need to include anything from undergrad (I was pre-med in college, but graduated >10 yrs ago and went a different career route before coming back around to medicine).

Of course I'll mention stuff from the past 7-8 years, but what about college stuff? Or the boring couple years after college where I was deciding what to do with my life?

Thanks in advance for the input

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[DK2014]

Hey everyone! I'd appreciate some advice: I'm finishing up my ERAS and am not sure if I need to include anything from undergrad (I was pre-med in college, but graduated >10 yrs ago and went a different career route before coming back around to medicine).

Of course I'll mention stuff from the past 7-8 years, but what about college stuff? Or the boring couple years after college where I was deciding what to do with my life?

Thanks in advance for the input

For the most part, residency programs do not want to see your pre-med life. They do not want to see your college stuff, because you used those experiences to apply to medical school, not to apply for residency. I'd include major research projects/accomplishments before medical school, but otherwise, listing anything else may make you look desperate.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Agreed. If it's really important to you, list it. Else, leave it off.

 

[SphynxMD]

Thank you both! That's what I was leaning towards, and is how my ERAS looks now. I just wanted to double check with the seasoned folks on here before I submit this morning. Thanks again!

 

[iBS1972]

What about research experiences without publications/results?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Same answer. If it's important to you, list it. The farther in the past it is, the less likely it is to be important.

 

[gutonc]

Same answer. If it's important to you, list it. The farther in the past it is, the less likely it is to be important.

And also the less likely you are to be able to talk about it coherently.

My CV still lists my time as a research assistant between undergrad and med school, but that's just to account for the time (otherwise the assumption is that you spent that time in jail). I have one 3rd author paper from that time (in 2 different labs) and that's the only other sign you'll find of those experiences there. Since the paper's 15 years old at this point, nobody has ever asked about it.

 

[iBS1972]

Same answer. If it's important to you, list it. The farther in the past it is, the less likely it is to be important.

Ah got it. Thanks for the response.