Headshots

[themightyquinn]

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I kind of find the idea a bit discriminatory, but med school application is a bunch of hoops that do little to show dedication to anything but ticking off checkboxes, so you gotta do what you gotta do.

I don't really have any passport style photos, and chafe at the idea of having to take one just to "help identify my application during the process" so I was thinking of using a picture which was shot as a portrait with a pro-level camera setup and is probably one of the best photos I've even been in, but I'm wearing my halloween costume of a bowtie and a homemade fez, and holding my dog*. How disqualifying would displaying a little personality and quirkiness in my photograph be?

Thanks!

*what the heck, I'll just throw the pic up for reference (anonymized to protect my dog's identity)

 

[precisiongraphic]

I’m not an adcom but I think it’s a great photo. Very photogenic dog. You might get one or two people who object to perceived flippancy but only you can decide if that’s too much risk. From what adcoms have said, it’s really just to keep multiple people distinct in their minds after numerous interviews so in that case a little humor wouldn’t hurt.

I kind of find the idea a bit discriminatory, but med school application is a bunch of hoops that do little to show dedication to anything but ticking off checkboxes, so you gotta do what you gotta do.

I don't really have any passport style photos, and chafe at the idea of having to take one just to "help identify my application during the process" so I was thinking of using a picture which was shot as a portrait with a pro-level camera setup and is probably one of the best photos I've even been in, but I'm wearing my halloween costume of a bowtie and a homemade fez, and holding my dog*. How disqualifying would displaying a little personality and quirkiness in my photograph be?

Thanks!

*what the heck, I'll just throw the pic up for reference (anonymized to protect my dog's identity)
View attachment 239921

 

[theITcrowd]

I kind of find the idea a bit discriminatory, but med school application is a bunch of hoops that do little to show dedication to anything but ticking off checkboxes, so you gotta do what you gotta do.

I don't really have any passport style photos, and chafe at the idea of having to take one just to "help identify my application during the process" so I was thinking of using a picture which was shot as a portrait with a pro-level camera setup and is probably one of the best photos I've even been in, but I'm wearing my halloween costume of a bowtie and a homemade fez, and holding my dog*. How disqualifying would displaying a little personality and quirkiness in my photograph be?

Thanks!

*what the heck, I'll just throw the pic up for reference (anonymized to protect my dog's identity)
View attachment 239921

+1 for Doctor Who
I also think the photo is fine, since it clearly shows your face and some personality at the same time.

 

[themightyquinn]

Alright, the Doctor it is! Let's hope the adcoms recognize that bowties are cool.

 

[GenSurgONLY]

Alright, the Doctor it is! Let's hope the adcoms recognize that bowties are cool.

Love your name! Going old school here! Lol

 

[Goro]

I kind of find the idea a bit discriminatory, but med school application is a bunch of hoops that do little to show dedication to anything but ticking off checkboxes, so you gotta do what you gotta do.

I don't really have any passport style photos, and chafe at the idea of having to take one just to "help identify my application during the process" so I was thinking of using a picture which was shot as a portrait with a pro-level camera setup and is probably one of the best photos I've even been in, but I'm wearing my halloween costume of a bowtie and a homemade fez, and holding my dog*. How disqualifying would displaying a little personality and quirkiness in my photograph be?

Thanks!

*what the heck, I'll just throw the pic up for reference (anonymized to protect my dog's identity)
View attachment 239921

Yup. Go for it.

 

[gyngyn]

Your photo should be a smiling well groomed face (and shoulders) in professional dress.
No animals, no sports equipment, no cut off arms on your shoulder, no head gear, no food (or drink!), no landscape, no props of any kind.

 

[mariposas905]

Your photo should be a smiling well groomed face (and shoulders) in professional dress.
No animals, no sports equipment, no cut off arms on your shoulder, no head gear, no food, no landscape, no props of any kind.

What if our photo is a 2x2 passport size photo that doesn't really show our dress? It basically cuts off a few inches below the shoulders...

 

[gyngyn]

What if our photo is a 2x2 passport size photo that doesn't really show our dress? It basically cuts off a few inches below the shoulders...

Take a photo with your phone!

 

[DrMidlife]

For what it's worth, as an M4 I spent a couple hundred bucks to hire a photographer who had opinions about lighting and colors and framing and whatnot. She took like 30 pictures of me, 29 of which were meh-to-awful. The 30th pic was so good it would have been worth 10x as much money. Almost every picture taken of me my whole life I look like Barb from Stranger Things, and that's been a source of insecurity when I have to present myself professionally. But in this one picture I look like Charlize Theron playing a refugee camp doctor who just testified before Congress and succeeded in securing funding. Ish.

I think that people who are unaffected by their self-perception of attractiveness might not get a lot of benefit out of a great headshot. But the confidence boost I felt in having that one great picture in my residency app was an unexpected high point in an otherwise terrifying year of self-marketing. I absolutely think that the pic made my first impression a good one with PDs, based on the look of recognition on their faces when they met me IRL. And I continue to get great mileage out of that pic. Totally worth the money.

Best of luck to you.