Lifehappens
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- Joined
- Mar 17, 2023
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Hello SDNers,
I'm a Canadian M3 medical student, interested in a competitive specialty (highly competitive in the US, and moderately competitive in Canada).
I'm a strong medical student academically with no concerns thus far. Received outstanding evaluations during all the rotations I completed, and have adequate research in the field I'm interested in.
Unfortunately, last summer, right before beginning M3, my mother was involved in a major car accident resulting in severe injuries to her and the other driver involved. Since that time, my mom spent many days in the hospital while I was completing my rotations. I continued to perform well in clerkship despite also taking care of her and visiting her almost every day. It was challenging but I was adamant about persevering because I'm interested in a competitive specialty and did not want to take time off. In the meantime, I was also greatly involved in helping my mom with insurance paperwork, lawyer retainment, and court proceedings because of the other driver involved. As you can imagine, this was the most difficult time in my life, but it became even more difficult in January of this year when her condition worsened and she needed another surgery. I was told that it was risky and she may not live through it. At that time, I decided to take time off to be with my mom. It ended up being almost 6 weeks. I feel like the luckiest son in the world, because the surgery went well and she began to recover. She still needed constant care but I was rest assured that she survived and will make slow recovery. I asked the faculty if I could return to clerkship and be able to graduate on time with my class. I was told that I would have to make up the lost 6 weeks during my 4th year electives, essentially reducing the number of electives I would be able to complete before applying to residency.
Knowing that I'm interested in a competitive specialty, and that everyone going for that specialty would maximize their 4th year electives time, I decided that I would extend my leave of absence, and continue my research during this time. I also have the privilege of being able to focus better on my mom, even though her condition has improved greatly by now.
I never took myself as a person to take an LOA as I do not have any mental health concerns, and even during the most difficult time of my life I continued to persevere in clerkship. But there came a time when I felt like I had to put my mother first, even tho it was a during a very sensitive time in med school. While I don't regret that, I am scared of what this means for matching. I am most worried about the committee thinking that I'm the "kind of person to take LOAs" and not be able to handle residency, which is far from the truth.
My question is, will the residency committees be understanding of the reason I took this LOA? Do you have any suggestions for how I can explain this situation to them? I want to show them that I am ready for the rigor of a competitive residency, and that this LOA does not represent an inherent weakness in me as an applicant.
For anonymity reasons, I have not disclosed the exact nature of my mother's health conditions, but I am willing to disclose them to the committee if you think that it's helpful.
Thank you all so much in advance for your time
I'm a Canadian M3 medical student, interested in a competitive specialty (highly competitive in the US, and moderately competitive in Canada).
I'm a strong medical student academically with no concerns thus far. Received outstanding evaluations during all the rotations I completed, and have adequate research in the field I'm interested in.
Unfortunately, last summer, right before beginning M3, my mother was involved in a major car accident resulting in severe injuries to her and the other driver involved. Since that time, my mom spent many days in the hospital while I was completing my rotations. I continued to perform well in clerkship despite also taking care of her and visiting her almost every day. It was challenging but I was adamant about persevering because I'm interested in a competitive specialty and did not want to take time off. In the meantime, I was also greatly involved in helping my mom with insurance paperwork, lawyer retainment, and court proceedings because of the other driver involved. As you can imagine, this was the most difficult time in my life, but it became even more difficult in January of this year when her condition worsened and she needed another surgery. I was told that it was risky and she may not live through it. At that time, I decided to take time off to be with my mom. It ended up being almost 6 weeks. I feel like the luckiest son in the world, because the surgery went well and she began to recover. She still needed constant care but I was rest assured that she survived and will make slow recovery. I asked the faculty if I could return to clerkship and be able to graduate on time with my class. I was told that I would have to make up the lost 6 weeks during my 4th year electives, essentially reducing the number of electives I would be able to complete before applying to residency.
Knowing that I'm interested in a competitive specialty, and that everyone going for that specialty would maximize their 4th year electives time, I decided that I would extend my leave of absence, and continue my research during this time. I also have the privilege of being able to focus better on my mom, even though her condition has improved greatly by now.
I never took myself as a person to take an LOA as I do not have any mental health concerns, and even during the most difficult time of my life I continued to persevere in clerkship. But there came a time when I felt like I had to put my mother first, even tho it was a during a very sensitive time in med school. While I don't regret that, I am scared of what this means for matching. I am most worried about the committee thinking that I'm the "kind of person to take LOAs" and not be able to handle residency, which is far from the truth.
My question is, will the residency committees be understanding of the reason I took this LOA? Do you have any suggestions for how I can explain this situation to them? I want to show them that I am ready for the rigor of a competitive residency, and that this LOA does not represent an inherent weakness in me as an applicant.
For anonymity reasons, I have not disclosed the exact nature of my mother's health conditions, but I am willing to disclose them to the committee if you think that it's helpful.
Thank you all so much in advance for your time
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