Is anyone else sick of trying to "unique"?

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Infinitydrop

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is anyone else sick of trying to be"unique"? having unique ECs, unique reasons for wanting to be a doctor, having unique life experience, being bent arrows. Why is not okay anymore to just want to be doctor because you love medicine, the challenge of medical school, the reward of healing, and nice job stability?
 
Infinitydrop said:
is anyone else sick of trying to be"unique"? having unique ECs, unique reasons for wanting to be a doctor, having unique life experience, being bent arrows. Why is not okay anymore to just want to be doctor because you love medicine, the challenge of medical school, the reward of healing, and nice job stability?
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havent u heard? being mainstream is the new being unique
 
You don't have to be unique in everything.
 
Do or do not. There is no try.
 
YES!!!!!!!!

I am very tired of this and trying to outdo every other Pre-Med to be even more unique.

Why do I have to be so unique?

How is that gonna make me a better doctor?

Won't learning medicine and showing good bedside mannerisms do a better job?

One med student said that because she played a Club Sport that makes her unique and med schools were really interested in that.....
 
Emmet2301 said:
YES!!!!!!!!

I am very tired of this and trying to outdo every other Pre-Med to be even more unique.

Why do I have to be so unique?

How is that gonna make me a better doctor?

Won't learning medicine and showing good bedside mannerisms do a better job?

One med student said that because she played a Club Sport that makes her unique and med schools were really interested in that.....
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according to threads as of late, its because she wasnt fat (inferentially, of course)
 
You don't have to try to be unique. You just have to appreciate what it is that is unique about you and share that with your interviewers and in your application.
 
I think you're missing the point here.

Part of being unique is living and walking your own path.

You're doing the ECs because you want to. Not because you feel obligated to.

If you don't like volunteering? Find a clinically related job, explain why in a reasonable way why volunteering at the time was something you just could not do.

If you don't like doing research? Find something else that challenges you intellectually

Mold yourself into the individual you want to be, then talk about yourself confidentally in the interviews.
 
To quote a physician friend of mine "In my day, all you had to do was get good grades and stay out of trouble. Now they want you to be a (expletive deleted) saint."

In a way, yes, it is tiring, but I'm also confident it's a large part of what eventually got me admitted, so it was worth it.
 
Why do I have to be so unique?

How is that gonna make me a better doctor?

Won't learning medicine and showing good bedside mannerisms do a better job?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, the process and requirements often aren't rationally founded. Most of the things you have to do to make yourself qualified for med school admission have very little or nothing whatsoever to do with med school or being a doctor.

I maintain that the best way to get into med school is to just brute force everything and not worry about it. Pick up some lame hospital volunteering for "clinical experience," take the easiest possible classes because we all know that a 3.9 in your breathing major from Neverheardofit U beats the pants off a 3.3 in world revolutionizing from Hahvahd, get some research experience in whatever comes your way, and call it a day. Voila! Instant resume. Play the game that's set out for you. If you happen to find things along the way that'll support your cause and genuinely interest you, awesome, but if you're actively trying to be unique, you're not going to be successful.
 
One way you can be "unique" is to write a PS that interestingly weaves together events, experiences, and decisions in your life that have led you to apply to med school with the goal of becoming a physician. Most PS statements are very mundane, reciting the usual bullspit...i.e., they are anything but unique.
 
I think you'll find that what schools expect varies a lot from place to place. At some schools, no research will be seen as a red flag whereas other places won't care nearly as much (experienced this when I applied). Some schools expect you to try and fit yourself through every single man-made hoop they can devise because they can.

That being said, I also had an interview where the interviewer became incensed on discovering the topic of another school's mandatory essay (I wonder if that school still does the "we're great and why are you great enough to be here?" prompt).

There's definitely a lot of pressure in medical applications to make yourself a superb candidate and trying to have a "unique" application probably will work in your favor. If you want to do medicine, you're probably going to have to jump through some hoops (and this is coming from a history major who refused to do undergraduate science research). This doesn't stop during medical school either unless you've decided that you don't really care what you're going to do in medicine or where you're going to do it.
 
ucsfstudents said:
You don't have to try to be unique. You just have to appreciate what it is that is unique about you and share that with your interviewers and in your application.
Click to expand...

👍 Exactly. "Trying" to be something you're not is not only going to be obvious... you'll also be miserable. If you don't like volunteering at a certain place, then don't volunteer there. If you do things you actually like, then it'll show on your application and you will have meaningful experiences.
 
Infinitydrop said:
is anyone else sick of trying to be"unique"? having unique ECs, unique reasons for wanting to be a doctor, having unique life experience, being bent arrows. Why is not okay anymore to just want to be doctor because you love medicine, the challenge of medical school, the reward of healing, and nice job stability?
Click to expand...
The reason it's not enough is because every med school has say 50 applicants for each seat, and every applicant meets the qualifications you listed. What factors do you think adcoms should consider to distinguish between applicants?
 
flip26 said:
One way you can be "unique" is to write a PS that interestingly weaves together events, experiences, and decisions in your life that have led you to apply to med school with the goal of becoming a physician. Most PS statements are very mundane, reciting the usual bullspit...i.e., they are anything but unique.
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That sounds like like most of personal statements I've edited.

ucsfstudents said:
You don't have to try to be unique. You just have to appreciate what it is that is unique about you and share that with your interviewers and in your application.
Click to expand...

Yup. Everyone's different, whether you like it or not. Med schools just want to see you act on your individual interests.
 
ucsfstudents said:
You don't have to try to be unique. You just have to appreciate what it is that is unique about you and share that with your interviewers and in your application.
Click to expand...

Best line!!!
 
Unlike everyone else, I'm not trying to be unique.
 
It's the game you have to play.

Pre-meds made the system the way it is just as much as adcoms have, I think. Everyone is so cut-throat, driven, and pressured to "get into med school" that people do anything and everything they can to pad their resume. Adcoms start picking these more padded resumes more often, and viola, here we are.

Every profession has some kind of hazing/hoops for you to jump through. Medicine just requires more than some others.
 
Honestly, before I started this application cycle, I thought being unique was key, but now that I am almost through with it, I have completely changed my opinion. You don't need to be unique, you just have to jump through every hoop that's laid out for you, if you had volunteering, clinical experience, good GPA, MCAT, and research. You are set. If you are particularly good at one or more of these, then all the better. But unique things, barring the extremes such as refugee, war, olympic atheletic, and Lincoln Center solo experiences, are not gonna make a difference. Where you volunteer, what research topic you did, who you are as a person, don't really make a difference. Before I started interviewing, I always thought it was soo stupid when people are like, you shouldn't say you want to help people as a major reason to why you want to become a doctor, because, heck, if I were a patient, a doctor's compassion is perhaps the foremost thing on my mind. Anyway, but it turns out that you don't have to be that unique, just do the standard things and you will be fine. If you really want to be unique, then get a 42 on the MCAT.
 
Who's "trying" to be unique?!

Be yourself. Put in the effort needed but do what you're interested in. It'll be far easier to write a good, strong, cohesive PS when your experiences, personal history, research, coursework, major, ECs, and clinical experience all add up to something instead. The "typical" applicant has all of those components but often has to work quite hard to "integrate" them (in a PS or interviews) because they don't go together very well b/c there's no unifying theme (i.e., many people "force" this).
 
uhmm said:
If you really want to be unique, then get a 42 on the MCAT.
Click to expand...

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

ok...ill do this...i am already putting myself through all the other bs...wats a few extra points on a standardized test...after all, it is STANDARDIZED
 
apumic said:
Who's "trying" to be unique?!

Be yourself. Put in the effort needed but do what you're interested in. It'll be far easier to write a good, strong, cohesive PS when your experiences, personal history, research, coursework, major, ECs, and clinical experience all add up to something instead. The "typical" applicant has all of those components but often has to work quite hard to "integrate" them (in a PS or interviews) because they don't go together very well b/c there's no unifying theme (i.e., many people "force" this).
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👍

There appears to be two schools of thought regarding applying to medical school (in fact, both are promoted on this thread!):

The first is that you should just jump through all the hoops laid out for you. That is, treat all the requirements and other things as a checklist of things you need to do -- get some research, do some volunteering, shadow a doctor, etc.

The other school of thought is that you should do what you enjoy, expose yourself to medicine to see if you like it, and then explore what aspects of medicine are interesting to you and pursue them. This is the school of that where "uniqueness" comes naturally.

What the OP seems to be suggesting is that "uniqueness" is part of the first school of thought's "checklist" of things you need. Which...is ridiculous. You can't "force" uniqueness. I don't even know what that means!

Honestly, though, (as other people have indicated) if you follow them well enough, either one of these strategies will probably get you into medical school. And I think for a lot of pre-meds, the idea that you can follow this "safe checklist" of things that have worked before is really appealing. But I can pretty much guarantee you that your life as a pre-med will be a lot more bearable (heck, it might even be fun!) if you're not just trying to check things off some list.
 
I am unique! I'm a delicate beautiful snowflake.

In a blizzard.

In the north pole.

During an ice age...
 
I think it's fine that I'm expected to have unique experiences that makes my application stand out, but I think it's ridiculous that I have to stifle myself from telling interviewers the real reason why I want to be a physician at the risk of sounding cliche. Why should it not be enough that I want to be a doctor because I'm interested in helping people, because I'm fascinated by medicine and that I want a secure job with a good salary? Maybe it's not true, but I've been led to believe that saying these things are the kiss of death during an interview. Applying to medical school is such a grueling, expensive process that I feel that if you get to the point where you're sitting in an interview, you should no longer have to justify your reasons for wanting to be a physician - you've shown your grit and determination just by getting that far into the process.
 
going with your thought... if I wasn't that unique, i'd be in the pool of all the doctors with good mannerisms etc.

What would make a patient want to go to you or me or the next doctor?

I kind of want to help people so i'd make it a point to make myself distinguishable.
 
I was just talking yesterday with a fellow adcom member about the "motivation for medicine" question. Next year I'd like to change it to "how have you tested your interest in medicine as a career?" I should hope that the idea didn't just pop into your head and you took the MCAT and filled out the application!
 
LizzyM said:
I was just talking yesterday with a fellow adcom member about the "motivation for medicine" question. Next year I'd like to change it to "how have you tested your interest in medicine as a career?" I should hope that the idea didn't just pop into your head and you took the MCAT and filled out the application!
Click to expand...

great idea. that would be a much better question in my opinion.
 
LizzyM said:
I was just talking yesterday with a fellow adcom member about the "motivation for medicine" question. Next year I'd like to change it to "how have you tested your interest in medicine as a career?" I should hope that the idea didn't just pop into your head and you took the MCAT and filled out the application!
Click to expand...

I think that is exactly how it happens for most people and then we nuture it (aka all the work put into a good GPA)and water it (all the work put into studing for the mcat), give it lots of sunlight (ECs) buy very expensive fertilizer mix (paying for application), and then spend a long time fertilizing (filling out the application).

Sorry for the extended metaphor.
 
The Enchanter said:
I think it's fine that I'm expected to have unique experiences that makes my application stand out, but I think it's ridiculous that I have to stifle myself from telling interviewers the real reason why I want to be a physician at the risk of sounding cliche. Why should it not be enough that I want to be a doctor because I'm interested in helping people, because I'm fascinated by medicine and that I want a secure job with a good salary? Maybe it's not true, but I've been led to believe that saying these things are the kiss of death during an interview. Applying to medical school is such a grueling, expensive process that I feel that if you get to the point where you're sitting in an interview, you should no longer have to justify your reasons for wanting to be a physician - you've shown your grit and determination just by getting that far into the process.
Click to expand...

I think this captures exactly what I meant by the original post. I am ok with people being unique, because we are obviously all different. But the reasons that make me unique are not neccessarilty the reason that make me want to pursue medicine. However, because everyone more or less pursues medicine for every similar reasons, I feel forced by the process to "integrate" my uniqueness into my reasons for pursuing medicine. More than anything, the effort that I have spent to get an interview should be better prood for my motivations than the fact l play x or y spot, had x or y cool but unrelated job, or won x or y unrelated awards.
 
The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

Whack whack whack whack whack whack whack whack whack whack whack
 
This is a strange situation. I say this b/c medicine has long valued tradition and with that an almost cookie-cutter approach to people and behavior within the profession.

On one hand the detriments in this kind of approach are apparent and should be lessed. OTOH it's about the decided position of not totally abdicating "tradition" and "cookie-cutterism."

Having been around this field, it seems to me that what is really desired is to not be so obviously cookie-cutter, yet at the same time, to have some sense of individuality and sense of independent self that will accept serious limits, which must somehow be appreciable. When it comes to actually working in this world of medicine, especially during the learning and residency periods, the truth is, you will find yourself at odds with this establishment if you don't hold the line and follow the "way/s" that are expected.

It's strange b/c the profession looks for something other than "lockstep" in theory, yet in actual practice, this very thing that is desired (unique individuality) will unquestionably be frowned upon throughout the profession. This seems a function of the human condition. The social influences and conditions leave groups of people grappling with these kinds of conundrums.

Bottom line, don't worry about seeming unique. In general, people fear that which is more unique.
 
The Enchanter said:
I think it's fine that I'm expected to have unique experiences that makes my application stand out, but I think it's ridiculous that I have to stifle myself from telling interviewers the real reason why I want to be a physician at the risk of sounding cliche. Why should it not be enough that I want to be a doctor because I'm interested in helping people, because I'm fascinated by medicine and that I want a secure job with a good salary? Maybe it's not true, but I've been led to believe that saying these things are the kiss of death during an interview. Applying to medical school is such a grueling, expensive process that I feel that if you get to the point where you're sitting in an interview, you should no longer have to justify your reasons for wanting to be a physician - you've shown your grit and determination just by getting that far into the process.
Click to expand...

Those are fine reasons. I'd use them in an interview BUT there's a caveat -- you need to be able to back them up. For instance, my answer using your reasons might look something like the following (probably shorter and more concise seeing as I haven't really given any thought to it recently):

"That's a great question! As you may have read, I have worked at several psych facilities and hospitals. One of the areas I am most interested in right now is combining psychiatric medicine w/ [some specialty]. This interest came up after seeing patients struggle with X, Y, and Z. During my time at X psychiatric hospital, I worked as a case manager and had the opportunity to chair internal staffings for our clients. During this time, I realized one of the major issues at our facility was one of communication and integration of medical and psychological therapeutic approaches. After speaking with some of our medical and psychological staff, I really felt called to a career in psychiatric medicine because of my desire to serve my patients effectively. Further, due to my psychology background and background as a therapist, I hope to add something additional to that field if I end up pursuing it in a few years. In addition to my interest and background in psych, I have dabbled in [two other specialties] and... (giving similar support to what I gave for psych but with a stronger focus on the biomedical side one finds so fascinating)."

Notice what I left out and what I included -- I completely left out the money thing. I did that because, honestly, I don't find money to be a compelling reason (at all) to enter medicine. You'd do better working the same number of hours as a UPS delivery guy (let's be honest). OTOH, serving your pts is a GREAT reason to go into medicine; however, there needs to be support for it. You need to be able to back up your answer with some non-cliche examples. When I interviewed in psych, a few interviewers asked me for examples "proving" my clinical interests. I had some ask for intimate details of pt interactions, including details related to and leading up to how my treatment influenced pt outcomes and how those pt interactions led me toward the field. Med school interviews may not ask those questions per say, but if you're going to state that you want to enter the field "to help people" I think you ought to be able to answer them (and probably should just by reading between the lines of the interviewer's question).
 
Hey Everyone. I can understand the frustration of trying to be unique. Being a Pre-Med student, I know volunteering at a hospital dragging a cart around the whole day is not enough.:laugh: My advisor said the same thing - "Do something unique." Question is what is unique and why should I do it rather than something I actually care about? I don't want to be the one who just does extra activities to beef up my application. Rather, I want to focus on something I like and show Med Schools I can work with passion. Therefore, I believe if Med Schools see that you were extremely passionate about whatever you did, uniqueness won't really be a matter of concern. Hope this helps. 😀
 
See here is what I don't understand. I understand people going overboard in things like volunteering, shadowing, research, etc.

What makes no sense to me is adcoms being impressed with things that are outside medicine and science like sports, or clubs, etc. Yes, they may show them you have certain qualities and that you are a well rounded individual with lots of different interests, but from what I hear about med school and medicine, its incredibly difficult to find the time for these things outside. Ive heard the medicine is very "cookie cutter" with not much in the way of creativity. Its pretty much just memorization unless you are a researcher.

To someone who is creative or likes to be very active, I would think that med school would constrain this type of person. And residency, which Ive heard really bad things about in terms of time, would seem to kill any sort of time to pursue your passions.

Idk, maybe someone would comment on this.
 
jman128 said:
See here is what I don't understand. I understand people going overboard in things like volunteering, shadowing, research, etc.

What makes no sense to me is adcoms being impressed with things that are outside medicine and science like sports, or clubs, etc. Yes, they may show them you have certain qualities and that you are a well rounded individual with lots of different interests, but from what I hear about med school and medicine, its incredibly difficult to find the time for these things outside. Ive heard the medicine is very "cookie cutter" with not much in the way of creativity. Its pretty much just memorization unless you are a researcher.

To someone who is creative or likes to be very active, I would think that med school would constrain this type of person. And residency, which Ive heard really bad things about in terms of time, would seem to kill any sort of time to pursue your passions.

Idk, maybe someone would comment on this.
Click to expand...

Several things come to mind:

1) People with other interests are more interesting and likely to be better able to relate to their pts.

2) Both during and after med school, you'll find time for your other interests if you make time for them. (It will take effort, but where there's a will, there is always a way.)

3) Having other interests show them who you actually are. They want to see more of you than just "premed john" or "premed jane." If all you have are medical interests then, sorry to say, you must be a very dull person indeed! (I am hoping and trusting none of you are like that, although some may have been so entrapped in their "premed" ways so as to feel they have nothing else to offer. If that is you, please go find something you're actually passionate about instead of "playing the game." Any advisor giving you advice to play the game w/o passion should be strung up by his ankles and beaten repeatedly with a Gold Standard MCAT review book while the WAY overly corny EK Audio Osmosis intro tracks play OVER and OVER and OVER again.)
 
Both during and after med school, you'll find time for your other interests if you make time for them. (It will take effort, but where there's a will, there is always a way.)
Click to expand...
Eh...that isn't always true. For a lot of people, that isn't true at all. Agreed with the rest, even though it seems like we have different definitions of "playing the game."
 
haha. i think the premise you are trying to sell is dumb.
you are you.
are there other yous running around?
think about it.
 
apumic said:
3) Having other interests show them who you actually are. They want to see more of you than just "premed john" or "premed jane." If all you have are medical interests then, sorry to say, you must be a very dull person indeed! (I am hoping and trusting none of you are like that, although some may have been so entrapped in their "premed" ways so as to feel they have nothing else to offer. If that is you, please go find something you're actually passionate about instead of "playing the game." Any advisor giving you advice to play the game w/o passion should be strung up by his ankles and beaten repeatedly with a Gold Standard MCAT review book while the WAY overly corny EK Audio Osmosis intro tracks play OVER and OVER and OVER again.)
Click to expand...


Is there anything wrong if your passion is medicine? What if your "thing" is learning? Why does everybody have to do all of these different things? I am not saying I am like that (far from that). Its just that if you are a dull person....who cares, thats your life. Yeah, its nice to schmooze with the doctor, but the patient doesnt care if you like to play basketball in your free time.

Even in med school, I'm pretty sure the main idea is to train a doctor in being knowledgeable in medicine and doing procedures. Yeah, I guess skills like leadership and working well with a team are important but you don't need to have a resume filled with different things to have these skills. Just because you arent on the volleyball team or in some student association doesnt mean you are a dull, robot. Maybe your hobbies are just playing video games or just practicing an instrument on your own or exercising, but of course you cant put those on a resume.
 
jman128 said:
Is there anything wrong if your passion is medicine? What if your "thing" is learning? Why does everybody have to do all of these different things? I am not saying I am like that (far from that). Its just that if you are a dull person....who cares, thats your life. Yeah, its nice to schmooze with the doctor, but the patient doesnt care if you like to play basketball in your free time.

Even in med school, I'm pretty sure the main idea is to train a doctor in being knowledgeable in medicine and doing procedures. Yeah, I guess skills like leadership and working well with a team are important but you don't need to have a resume filled with different things to have these skills. Just because you arent on the volleyball team or in some student association doesnt mean you are a dull, robot. Maybe your hobbies are just playing video games or just practicing an instrument on your own or exercising, but of course you cant put those on a resume.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying medicine can't be a huge interest of yours. (Heck, it probably should be if you're going to spend the next 2-5 decades of your life on it!) However, most people have more than one interest. If you lack other interests, you probably haven't stepped outside academics very much. Personally, I am VERY interested in learning and medicine, but that doesn't mean I don't have other interests. I've known plenty of other people who love learning as well but they all have interests outside academia and medicine as well. I don't think it's particularly healthy to only have one interest and make a career out of it -- that seems like a pretty close to guaranteed recipe for becoming a workaholic and even if you don't mind that, your future husband or wife definitely will (assuming you plan to get married)!

As for the hobbies you mentioned, exercising and playing an instrument are certainly things you could mention for med school applications, although having done something w them (i.e., played with other people or intramurals) would make them far more valuable in the ideas of someone evaluating your app b/c they show more commitment. There is a game to it for sure, but the game is more a matter of insuring you get "credit" for the things you do, IMO, than it is "forcing" your ECs to match up to someone's supposed checklist, which really is little more than a figment of your imagination (i.e., sure there are expectations, but they are far more fluid than SDN would have you believe).
 
What I don't like about it is that your ECs seem to define who you are. The whole idea that person X is unique because they have Y EC while person Z is a boring, non-well-rounded individual because their only ECs were a year of research and a year of volunteering is ridiculous. If that's not jumping to conclusions... I guess adcoms have little else to go by, but still.
 
niblet said:
What I don't like about it is that your ECs seem to define who you are. The whole idea that person X is unique because they have Y EC while person Z is a boring, non-well-rounded individual because their only ECs were a year of research and a year of volunteering is ridiculous. If that's not jumping to conclusions... I guess adcoms have little else to go by, but still.
Click to expand...

I think you just answered your own [implicit] question.
 
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