How do adcoms view being coinventor on a patent?

[Enginerd2016]

How do adcoms view being a co-inventor in a patent? Currently I have been a part of two separate submitted patents, one in the medical field and one in the social entrepreneurship field. Is this something that would set me apart from other applicants? Everyone on SDN looks to have incredible stats, has substantial research experience, and have kick butt ECs. It was actually during the development process for the patent in the biomedical realm coupled with shadowing several surgeons/primary care docs that lead to my interest in getting in to medicine. Just curious.

@Goro @Catalystik @mimelim @gyngyn

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[Catalystik]

How do adcoms view being a co-inventor in a patent? Currently I have been a part of two separate submitted patents, one in the medical field and one in the social entrepreneurship field. Is this something that would set me apart from other applicants? Everyone on SDN looks to have incredible stats, has substantial research experience, and have kick butt ECs. It was actually during the development process for the patent in the biomedical realm coupled with shadowing several surgeons/primary care docs that lead to my interest in getting in to medicine. Just curious.

@Goro @Catalystik @mimelim @gyngyn

Obtaining a patent is more rare than a journal publication. Submitting for a patent vs having obtained a patent (or a "patent pending") would be viewed differently, like submitting a manuscript for publication (which might be rejected or require major revisions) vs having an accepted publication. If your patent application process has just begun, and depending on adcomm, you'll get more value for these activities through your description of the development process (if you are able to publicly share it) and references made in LORs.

 

[resiroth]

Negatively. /s.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

My brother had 2 patents pending for clinical use software. He is now an M1, but was a computer science undergrad. Only 1 school thought it was cool, but most could have cared less, and Mayo wanted to talk about his years as a boy scout leader. He didn't think it made any difference at all. He didn't have any publications, but years of computer work in research labs, and tons of service volunteer work. Take what you can get, but if you have a lot of other stuff, it probably won't define you.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

Obtaining a patent is more rare than a journal publication. Submitting for a patent vs having obtained a patent (or a "patent pending") would be viewed differently, like submitting a manuscript for publication (which might be rejected or require major revisions) vs having an accepted publication. If the former, and depending on adcomm, you'll get more value for these activities through your description of the development process (if you are able to publicly share it) and references made in LORs.

I understand that a patent pending is a year long process. Patents issued are after a one year pending period. If you get your patent to pending status first, you get the patent.
I would not equate it to the publication submission.

 

[Catalystik]

I understand that a patent pending is a year long process. Patents issued are after a one year pending period. If you get your patent to pending status first, you get the patent.

True, which is why I put "patent" and "patent pending" together, separate from "submitting for a patent", which can take quite awhile to move to the next step.

 

[Goro]

I agree with the Cat.

How do adcoms view being a co-inventor in a patent? Currently I have been a part of two separate submitted patents, one in the medical field and one in the social entrepreneurship field. Is this something that would set me apart from other applicants? Everyone on SDN looks to have incredible stats, has substantial research experience, and have kick butt ECs. It was actually during the development process for the patent in the biomedical realm coupled with shadowing several surgeons/primary care docs that lead to my interest in getting in to medicine. Just curious.

@Goro @Catalystik @mimelim @gyngyn

 

[Enginerd2016]

Okay cool. Thanks for the advice! Both patents are patent pending. I just was curious. I knew before I asked that it wouldn't make or break my application, but I appreciate the knowledge. I won't be applying for at least another year, so maybe I will have the patents by then. Anyways, thanks!

 

[redpanda]

At least for residency interviews, it was a point of conversation. I did note that the provisional filing had been done but the final was still in process.

 

[Enginerd2016]

Sweet! Thanks for the response @redpanda I was just curious if I should mention it in my application to med school. Both provisional patents came out of an internship program I was lucky enough to be a part of. It was a substantial amount of time, something around 900 hours in one year.

 

[Promethean]

It will give you something interesting to talk about, about yourself and your activities, that can be used to highlight certain traits.

It is a better answer to "what do you like to do in your spare time?" than many other people will be able to give. When you get to the interview stage, it is all about being able to converse pleasantly and intelligently about yourself. Having some topics to discuss beyond the superficial is always a plus. Especially if it isn't something the adcoms hear every day, seven times a day.

 

[Enginerd2016]

Thanks for the input @Promethean! It was definitely something that I could talk about, I just need to sit down and figure out how to best portray the multifaceted experience in a succinct way.

 

[Promethean]

This guy does a really good talk on turning experiences into stories that illustrate your strengths. Some of the people that I interviewed with seemed to have heard this advice and then memorized their stories, so that they seemed to be reading from a teleprompter behind their eyes. (Don't do that.)

 

[Enginerd2016]

Thanks for the video @Promethean! I'd like to think that I have enough social skills to stay away from the teleprompter approach, though I would've liked to have seen it in action haha. I have a lottttttt of presentation experience, I just need to work on interviewing. I'll have to set up a few mock interviews either at my school or with family/friends to practice.