Internship with Congressman...

[SyrianRenegade]

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I am an incoming college freshman and I've all but made up my mind about going down the long path of medicine. I am however, also very interested in politics. This summer I will be volunteering abroad and next summer I plan on doing an internship with my districts congressman. Would something like that look good for a med school application?

 

[scattun]

Don't worry about if it will look good or not. If it is something you are interested in go for it. It not, then do something else.

 

[flip26]

I am an incoming college freshman and I've all but made up my mind about going down the long path of medicine. I am however, also very interested in politics. This summer I will be volunteering abroad and next summer I plan on doing an internship with my districts congressman. Would something like that look good for a med school application?

Meh...not really.

Certainly nothing special about the internship and it may be seen as a poor use of your time unless you have an abundance of the kinds of ECs that med schools really care about...

Volunteering abroad is overrated by pre-meds. Vastly overrated versus serving your own community.

 

[MedRower]

No, but do it anyway.

 

[teachmed27]

Working on the hill will be a good experience, albeit the life of an intern may be boring. It'll all depend on what you get to do, but if you're interested in politics then it'll be a perfect step. It's something that not all premeds will have on their apps, but don't base your decision on whether it'll look good on your med school application.

 

[SyrianRenegade]

Meh...not really.

Certainly nothing special about the internship and it may be seen as a poor use of your time unless you have an abundance of the kinds of ECs that med schools really care about...

Volunteering abroad is overrated by pre-meds. Vastly overrated versus serving your own community.

I will be overseas for a month anyways so I'm going to try and make the most of it.

 

[flip26]

I will be overseas for a month anyways so I'm going to try and make the most of it.

Clinical volunteering? Doing what?

Med schools want to know that applicants have experienced the US medical system, not some foreign country's system. If you think this will count towards your "clinical experience" it most likely will not.

Med schools also are interested in volunteer experiences over time - not simply a bunch of hours volunteering done in a compressed period to fill a vacation month.

You asked for our opinions. I am simply telling you what I have come to learn about this process. Take it or leave it, but no med school is going to be impressed by the two activities you have mentioned here, particularly if you offer them in lieu of the stuff they expect...

 

[scarletgirl777]

I am an incoming college freshman and I've all but made up my mind about going down the long path of medicine. I am however, also very interested in politics. This summer I will be volunteering abroad and next summer I plan on doing an internship with my districts congressman. Would something like that look good for a med school application?

All activities we do "count" for something, but yeah, a more medically related activity would count more. If you were doing a political internship that somehow still involved health, maybe that would be better?

Also, I think volunteering abroad definitely still counts. Does it stand on its own? No. But it still counts for something, and could add on to already solid experience.

EDIT: Also you are really young! Most of us did nothing useful with our summer before college, so please, go ahead and do that volunteering abroad.

 

[Didmybest]

salamoo-alaykum (hopefully you speak arabic since your syrian haha). I'm palestinian and its nice to see another middle easterner interested in medicine.

I did research in pure math, and it was the subject of the majority of my med school interviews. Similarly I play hockey and that came up a few times too. Med schools are more interested in seeing that you are passionate about SOMETHING, and it doesnt absolutely always have to be medically related.

 

[Mobius1985]

I am an incoming college freshman and I've all but made up my mind about going down the long path of medicine. I am however, also very interested in politics. This summer I will be volunteering abroad and next summer I plan on doing an internship with my districts congressman. Would something like that look good for a med school application?

Volunteerism of any type is good (if clinically related its better), but a political internship would look great if you plan to apply to law school. Otherwise, it's just an experience that will make you look well-rounded.

 

[muscles]

I think a congressional internship is more than "just an experience that will make you look well-rounded". It is a position that is highly selective and prestigious. There are many things that make a person appear well rounded; this is much more interesting than a typical volunteer experience; it will give you something very interesting to talk about during an interview (the interviewer WILL definitely ask about it) and you can further elaborate on your experience. The only caution I would advise is to avoid getting into the actual politics (liberal v. conservative agendas) that your congressman engages in; if your ideals differ from the interviewer, you may run into trouble. But otherwise, I definitely believe this is a great opportunity.

 

[Margaux1985]

I am an incoming college freshman and I've all but made up my mind about going down the long path of medicine. I am however, also very interested in politics. This summer I will be volunteering abroad and next summer I plan on doing an internship with my districts congressman. Would something like that look good for a med school application?

It depends. Are we talking about a popular, well-known congressman with ties to the healthcare lobby or are we talking about a Larry Craig/Mark Foley/Gary Condit type character? If it's the latter, you might want to a bit more discrete when you mention it on your application.

 

[CTtarheel]

sounds like you still haven't decided on medicine (THIS IS A GOOD THING!)

You definitely NEED to take that internship to make the best decision about what you want to do with the rest of your life. If you're really interested in politics you should not go to medical school as you most likely WILL NOT have time to participate actively in politics as a MD.

You're young, use your college years to figure out what you want to do with your life and forget what looks good on an application. Med schools love interesting people and following your interests makes you interesting.

 

[supertrooper66]

salamoo-alaykum (hopefully you speak arabic since your syrian haha). I'm palestinian and its nice to see another middle easterner interested in medicine.

...its nice to see another middle easterner interested in medicine?
basically every middle easterner is interested in medicine! that or engineering lol

"salamoo-alaykum (hopefully you speak arabic since your syrian haha)"
...i bet you 75% of the ppl on the planet understand that. definitely every muslim does...that's 1/6th of the planet, every white friend of mine knows what it means...okay i'm done.

sorry, just had to call you out on your "post." great insight

welcome to SDN!

 

[Didmybest]

...its nice to see another middle easterner interested in medicine?
basically every middle easterner is interested in medicine! that or engineering lol

"salamoo-alaykum (hopefully you speak arabic since your syrian haha)"
...i bet you 75% of the ppl on the planet understand that. definitely every muslim does...that's 1/6th of the planet, every white friend of mine knows what it means...okay i'm done.

sorry, just had to call you out on your "post." great insight

welcome to SDN!

Most middle easterners in the states do business, and not many get into med school.

What's your problem anyway?

 

[Mandarin142]

I think something like this is a wonderful and interesting EC...

You would be quite surprised at how many great doctors became congressmen/women.

I attended a talk given by Dr. Ron Paul (Congressman, OBGYN, and Duke Med Alumni) and his colleague Dr. B.J Lawson (Congressional Candidate, Neurosurgeon, Duke Med Alumni) at Duke just last week. I must say that the Duke Med campus is quite enthusiastic about these men and their accomplishments. Medical schools like the prestige of their alumni becoming leaders of the nation.

I am also interested in politics and I say it will be something very unique to talk about during interviews and it will certainly make you stand out out of the other 6,000+ people applying to any given school.

 

[Jolie South]

use college to do things that you've always been interested in. you might find a career that fits you better than medicine. if not, then you'll at least have tried everything and be more well rounded.

take the internship and find some clinical volunteering to do as well in the upcoming years. 👍

 

[CrepesofWrath]

It's "salaam wa alaykum"

 

[supertrooper66]

It's "salaam wa alaykum"

no it isn't. ppl answer back "wa alaykum assalam" since "wa" just means "and." someone first says "peace be upon you" and you respond with "and peace be upon you."

and who earlier said most middle easterners don't get into med school here? i'm sure many don't make it, but many most definitely do.