Im a Resident Advisor - good or bad???

[Beoz]

As a resident advisor I do a ton of programming a year - at least 20 events organized a year. The problem is that it eats a lot of time up. It has a very slight impact on my grades (if any) but it limits my free time severely. I hardly get time to do other stuff at all.

I fear that this is going to hurt me.

1. There are many EC's involved with the job but they are not focused. (Maybe focused with respect to Resident Life)

2. Limited Clinical time. I don't even know what Clinicals are (seriously). Ive shadowed sporatically a few months but thats about it.

What do you think?

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[Smurfette]

I was an RA, and my experiences gave me great stories for interviews. I was very active in things because I was an RA, so helping to plan events, especially larger-scale ones, was looked upon very favorably. I think the RA thing was a HUGE plus for me, but it depends on your school and the type of activities you are responsible for.

BTW, I had no clinical experiences (too busy) and I had no problem with that...my RA experiences demonstrated my capabilities in many different situations and I was able to use that to my advantage. (obviously, it's best to get some clinical exposure, but if you are doing other, very worthy activities don't sacrifice them for a few hours of clinic time--get in what you can and don't sweat it).

 

[BlackPuma]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Smurfette:
•I was an RA, and my experiences gave me great stories for interviews. I was very active in things because I was an RA, so helping to plan events, especially larger-scale ones, was looked upon very favorably. I think the RA thing was a HUGE plus for me, but it depends on your school and the type of activities you are responsible for.

BTW, I had no clinical experiences (too busy) and I had no problem with that...my RA experiences demonstrated my capabilities in many different situations and I was able to use that to my advantage. (obviously, it's best to get some clinical exposure, but if you are doing other, very worthy activities don't sacrifice them for a few hours of clinic time--get in what you can and don't sweat it).•••••have you met papa smurf by any chance? :wink:

 

[Smurfette]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by WatchaMaCallit:
have you met papa smurf by any chance? :wink: ••••I've seen Papa around, but haven't formally met him yet. You'd think that the only female smurf would get a little more attention! :wink: :wink: :wink:

 

[Beoz]

Smurfette This is good news. So if you don't mind could you give me your stats and where you got in so I could get a good idea of how we stack up?

I do a lot of programming and about 10% of it is completely organized by myself.

Thank you very much you just got the monkey off my back!

 

[Beoz]

Top! Maybe a tad more input would be good.

 

[ckent]

Being an RA is a great job. High paying (housing), good experiences, even if it is time consuming. As long as it is not interfering with your grades (which you say that it is not even though I sense that it might be), then it is a good job to have. Clinical experience is wortheless in my opinion. As long as you already know that you want to do medicine, I would do the least amount of clinical experience required for med school. You don't have to have clinical experience all 4 yrs of med school, just volunteering a couple of times a year is good enough IMO. The only good thing that comes out of clinical experience for your app is if you are able to get a story for your personal statement out of it, but you should be able to get a story for your personal statement from being an RA too.

 

[Anath]

CKent -- I very much disagree with your statement that clinical experience does not matter. On several of my interviews, I was asked about whether I have had any clinical experiences and then asked to describe them and what I learned from those experiences. From that, they would ask about a similar/related question of what a doctor's day was like.

My friend who graduated in 2001 was told (she actually asked several schools why she was/would be turned down) and they told her that their concern with her was her lack of clinical/medical experience. Her stats?

Yale undergrad, 3.8 something, TONS of research, MCATs in the mid 30s (I forget the exact #), and several other extracurriculars.

Needless to say, She got in at several very prestigious med schools, however the point is is that her lack of experience was detrimental to her acceptance into other highly regarded schools.

 

[burlypie]

I was an RA for two years, and I think it was one of the best experienced of my life, and totally applicable to the personal side of medicine. Yeah I did planning and enforce rules (kind of --my goal was to have my residents learn not to be stupid about what they were doing. Harm reduction, right?) but I also did tons of counseling, made referrals to all sorts of resourses, and worked with some of them on a continuing basis to overcome "issues". Medical school will teach you medicine, but experience like being a good RA hones the interpersonal skills needed to be a doctor.

As for clinical experience, what about during the summer?

 

[Beoz]

During the summer I do heavy research. Mostly 40 hours/week. I do get in clinical time when I can but on average about on month a year. Is this still ok given my RA position covering my ass on EC's and Interpersonal skills?