Genuine interest v. Padding resume

[JoRands]

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I'm almost done with my first semester of college right now, and while studying for finals, I'm just beginning to think about all the things I hope to accomplish and time management and all that jazz. However, thinking about EMT licensing, research, summer programs, tutoring, leadership positions, volunteering I wonder if I'm doing it for my resume or because I have an interest in it. But then again if I want to get into med school, how can I separate the two..it's starting to get confusing.

But anyway. I'm wondering about everyone else.. do you find you do things because you have an interest in it, or do you do it for your resume, or maybe a little bit of both?

 

[Barcu]

Some sort of clinical volunteering and shadowing are really the only things you should feel like you may be doing to pad your resume. Yes, some people enjoy and have a passion for these activities (I personally really did because I found good interactive options). However, every adcom will be looking for these, so do them even if you hate the opportunity you did find. Though I would recommend looking for another one if that is the case, just get it done if you have to.

Every other activity SHOULD NOT be done to pad a resume. These are years to do stuff you enjoy, so take advantage of it. The ironic thing that many people come to find is that your non-medical activities and interests will dominate your med school interviews, so forcing yourself into doing activities just because you think med schools will like them is stupid and does not help you.

Bottom line, there are hoops to jump through. Still, it will be in your best interest (both for yourself and even your app) to do things that you actually have a passion for. It will draw attention to your app, and you will be able to actually show that interest during an interview which will help you immensely.

 

[JackShephard MD]

I'm almost done with my first semester of college right now, and while studying for finals, I'm just beginning to think about all the things I hope to accomplish and time management and all that jazz. However, thinking about EMT licensing, research, summer programs, tutoring, leadership positions, volunteering I wonder if I'm doing it for my resume or because I have an interest in it. But then again if I want to get into med school, how can I separate the two..it's starting to get confusing.

But anyway. I'm wondering about everyone else.. do you find you do things because you have an interest in it, or do you do it for your resume, or maybe a little bit of both?

Clinical experience - do it. If you find something you can enjoy, then great. If not, you still have to do it to pad your resume.

The rest, do well in classes and on the MCAT. No other padding necessary, do what you enjoy.

 

[futuredoc1004]

GPA is your 1st priority. Re volunteering/ECs, I only signed up for activities that I would (and did) enjoy. Doing it for appearance is entirely counterproductive in my view.

 

[Bartemius]

You need clinical experience and I'd highly recommend some research. Other than that, do whatever you like and you'll be fine.

 

[centrigeugle]

Just fake genuine interest. It isn't hard...

 

[johnisles2011]

I think a lot of these things are definitely both. That's just how it works.

One example is how I volunteer at the hospital. I don't really enjoy that much. And here's my reason. I want to be a doctor. I don't want to be a volunteer. I want to treat patients and change their lives. I don't want to change sheets. Despite that, I do this job, because I gain from it in two ways. One, it's on my resume and two I know that I have in some way contributed to the functioning of the hospital and in some small way helped the hospital provide better care to its patients.

Think about these activities. Don't do them if you hate doing it. You have to enjoy it. That said, sometimes the resume or rec letter is gonna be the bigger gain.

 

[Doctor246853]

I think a lot of these things are definitely both. That's just how it works.

One example is how I volunteer at the hospital. I don't really enjoy that much. And here's my reason. I want to be a doctor. I don't want to be a volunteer. I want to treat patients and change their lives. I don't want to change sheets. Despite that, I do this job, because I gain from it in two ways. One, it's on my resume and two I know that I have in some way contributed to the functioning of the hospital and in some small way helped the hospital provide better care to its patients.

Think about these activities. Don't do them if you hate doing it. You have to enjoy it. That said, sometimes the resume or rec letter is gonna be the bigger gain.

This. I hate changing beds but guess what...I do that bad boy with style. Some of these things you might have to suck up and do, especially if you have a lower gpa.

 

[Slowpoke]

Just fake genuine interest. It isn't hard...

It may not be hard to fake "genuine" interest. but it is certainly not difficult either to detect a faker (e.g. while in office hours, or in some other group activity involving other pre-meds)

faker: OH. that sounds interesting!
teacher 1: yes indeed! so blah blah x, y x z and then 1 2 3 4 b
faker:
teacher 1: so then you can do blah x y z e
faker: oh yeah, that is soooooo interesting.
teacher 1: so what did you find interesting about it?
faker: ohhh...ummmmmmm

🙄

 

[centrigeugle]

They're probably bad fakers, then.

Only an idiot wouldn't prepare answers for that kind of thing. It's not so much about going "oh yeah it was really interesting" so much as emoting enthusiastically when describing the activity.

I'm not really trying to be confrontational about the whole thing - but the vast majority of volunteer work by pre-meds is done specifically because they want to get into medical school. Lets not kid ourselves.

 

[Slowpoke]

They're probably bad fakers, then.

Only an idiot wouldn't prepare answers for that kind of thing. It's not so much about going "oh yeah it was really interesting" so much as emoting enthusiastically when describing the activity.

I'm not really trying to be confrontational about the whole thing - but the vast majority of volunteer work by pre-meds is done specifically because they want to get into medical school. Lets not kid ourselves.

I wouldn't be able to speak for the majority of pre-meds, but I agree that college students would not jump at the opportunity to stock linen cabinets, or clean up soiled patients. However, it is not unreasonable to think that people who have done/are doing clinical volunteering actually wanted to out of curiosity for a myriad of things.

But yeah... unfortunately, I have run across more people doing it "just cause" then any other reason... sadly...

 

[JoRands]

I wouldn't be able to speak for the majority of pre-meds, but I agree that college students would not jump at the opportunity to stock linen cabinets, or clean up soiled patients. However, it is not unreasonable to think that people who have done/are doing clinical volunteering actually wanted to out of curiosity for a myriad of things.

But yeah... unfortunately, I have run across more people doing it "just cause" then any other reason... sadly...

I haven't done much clinical volunteering yet but when I wake up early on a saturday morning while my friends are still sleeping the day away, knowing that this volunteering is helping my resume definitely gives me a little more incentive to get out of bed.

Although the feeling of helping other people is great when you're done, I feel like certain things I wouldn't normally do, if I didn't know in the back of my head that it would help me grow as a person, as well as an applicant.

 

[scarshapedstar]

From my experience, if you want a clinical experience that you actually enjoy, you want a small underfunded organization.

It sounds cool to say you volunteered in the Brain Transplant Unit at Mayo or whatever, but let's be real, you're going to be stapling because they don't need your help.

I volunteer at a charity clinic for the homeless and I get to do basically anything that doesn't require a medical license. Helping the doctors see more patients makes a very real difference so it's a great experience overall. I was a long-shot applicant and for a number of reasons this was the EC that got me in to med school. I'll be there two days a week until I start school in August. I love it. 😀

 

[Cherry212]

Is it really padding your resume when it is a requirement? Let's not kid ourselves, volunteering is an unwritten requirement. This is like saying I improved my resume by taking organic chemistry, since it is a difficult class and most undergrads wont take it unless they need to. 🙄

 

[sibitrum]

From my experience, if you want a clinical experience that you actually enjoy, you want a small underfunded organization.

I volunteer at a charity clinic for the homeless and I get to do basically anything that doesn't require a medical license. Helping the doctors see more patients makes a very real difference so it's a great experience overall.

Agreed, although even at these kinds of place YMMV. Don't forget to avoid mentioning any borderline unethical work at places like these (e.g. doing things you're not qualified to do).

 

[Fedekz]

I'm almost done with my first semester of college right now, and while studying for finals, I'm just beginning to think about all the things I hope to accomplish and time management and all that jazz. However, thinking about EMT licensing, research, summer programs, tutoring, leadership positions, volunteering I wonder if I'm doing it for my resume or because I have an interest in it. But then again if I want to get into med school, how can I separate the two..it's starting to get confusing.

But anyway. I'm wondering about everyone else.. do you find you do things because you have an interest in it, or do you do it for your resume, or maybe a little bit of both?

First off it's not a license. Don't become an EMT just to pad your resume or because you want to get a taste of what being a doctor is like. Being an EMT is nothing like a doctor, and you actually don't interact with physicians a whole lot - definitively not enough to understand what a doctor does in his day. People who become EMT's for the hell of it put a bad name on the profession, only do it if YOU want to be AND work as an EMT. An EMT with no work experience is useless on an application (from what I've heard).

I'm a paramedic, and I would not want to work with someone who is just padding their resume.

Sorry if it sounds harsh, but too many people become an EMT with false hopes of it being a huge deciding factor on med school admissions.

 

[chiapet874]

First off it's not a license. Don't become an EMT just to pad your resume or because you want to get a taste of what being a doctor is like. Being an EMT is nothing like a doctor, and you actually don't interact with physicians a whole lot - definitively not enough to understand what a doctor does in his day. People who become EMT's for the hell of it put a bad name on the profession, only do it if YOU want to be AND work as an EMT. An EMT with no work experience is useless on an application (from what I've heard).

I'm a paramedic, and I would not want to work with someone who is just padding their resume.

Sorry if it sounds harsh, but too many people become an EMT with false hopes of it being a huge deciding factor on med school admissions.

This can't be emphasized enough. EMT as an extracurricular is largely over-rated in the med school application process. It is no longer unique or really relevant.

 

[sunflower18]

This can't be emphasized enough. EMT as an extracurricular is largely over-rated in the med school application process. It is no longer unique or really relevant.

It couldn't hurt though, right? If used correctly, that is.. I'm currently certified as a First Responder and plan on getting an EMT certification so that I can be a supervisor in my on-campus emergency response program. I would definitely be using the certification, so my assumption is that it wouldn't look bad. But I definitely don't want to spend time / money on something that will ultimately hurt more than help, regardless of what I do with it.

 

[JoRands]

First off it's not a license. Don't become an EMT just to pad your resume or because you want to get a taste of what being a doctor is like. Being an EMT is nothing like a doctor, and you actually don't interact with physicians a whole lot - definitively not enough to understand what a doctor does in his day. People who become EMT's for the hell of it put a bad name on the profession, only do it if YOU want to be AND work as an EMT. An EMT with no work experience is useless on an application (from what I've heard).

I'm a paramedic, and I would not want to work with someone who is just padding their resume.

Sorry if it sounds harsh, but too many people become an EMT with false hopes of it being a huge deciding factor on med school admissions.

Well there's a volunteer student run ambulance on my campus so if I became certified I would obviously also volunteer for it. And I wouldn't say I've always had a life long dream to enter this field, but I don't think it hurts to experience what it's like, regardless of wether I would decide to do it long term or not.

 

[Narmerguy]

Hopefully, in their attempts to pad their resume, students might actually learn something or find some new perspective in the act of volunteering. I think this is meaningful even if the original sentiment wasn't genuine.

 

[MT Headed]

First off it's not a license. Don't become an EMT just to pad your resume or because you want to get a taste of what being a doctor is like. Being an EMT is nothing like a doctor, and you actually don't interact with physicians a whole lot - definitively not enough to understand what a doctor does in his day.

Careful, it all depends on your state. It sure is a full-fledged license in Montana.

And while being an EMT wouldn't check off the physician-experience box, it does check off the patient-experience box and maybe even the volunteer-experience box. Practicing volunteer EMT + physician shadowing = 👍

 

[chiapet874]

It couldn't hurt though, right? If used correctly, that is.. I'm currently certified as a First Responder and plan on getting an EMT certification so that I can be a supervisor in my on-campus emergency response program. I would definitely be using the certification, so my assumption is that it wouldn't look bad. But I definitely don't want to spend time / money on something that will ultimately hurt more than help, regardless of what I do with it.

It will not "hurt" your application in the sense that ADCOMs will look at that activity in a negative light; but it can hurt you if you over-emphasize EMT-ing's influence on your decision to pursue a career in healthcare.

As already stated, the environment of an EMT is not the same as that of a physician. So if you try to say that your experiences as an EMT is what motivates you to be a doctor, that could potentially work against you, as you are pursuing a field with the wrong impression.

 

[chiapet874]

Careful, it all depends on your state. It sure is a full-fledged license in Montana.

And while being an EMT wouldn't check off the physician-experience box, it does check off the patient-experience box and maybe even the volunteer-experience box. Practicing volunteer EMT + physician shadowing = 👍

EMT would check off the volunteer box if you are literally just volunteering at your local squad. A lot of students get paid, so in that case, I wouldn't count it.

As for patient-experience, that's debatable. Some people will agree that counts as patient experience, but others will argue that you are still interacting with the patient in an environment that is wholly different than that of a physician.

EMT-ing is a good supplement, but I wouldn't rely on it to check off boxes.

 

[scarshapedstar]

As for patient-experience, that's debatable. Some people will agree that counts as patient experience, but others will argue that you are still interacting with the patient in an environment that is wholly different than that of a physician.

Eh, maybe. Not sure if "I want to be a gynecologist because... EMT!" is gonna fly, but if you say you want to do EM or trauma surgery someday, it makes sense.

 

[NickNaylor]

Hopefully, in their attempts to pad their resume, students might actually learn something or find some new perspective in the act of volunteering. I think this is meaningful even if the original sentiment wasn't genuine.

Exactly. Most of the things I did in college were initially done because that's what I was "supposed" to do. Lo and behold, I actually enjoyed almost everything I did and I wouldn't change a thing - not to mention that I learned some things about the world and myself in the process.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I enjoyed some of the de facto med school requirements, but I didn't learn much from any of them other than my pharm tech job. As long as you can come up with something thoughtful to say about your experiences in an interview, you should be fine with pure resume padding.