Is it worth mentioning that I did/do kickboxing? EC's

[MedicManiac]

One thing that takes a lot of my time is my muay thai training time. I don't want to give medical schools the impression that I am not doing anything and instead a large chunk of my time goes to kickboxing training!

Is this a viable EC, is this something that will make my application standout compared to others?

At what point is an EC not legitamate. I highly doubt you can legitimately say for example, that one of your EC's is that you go to the gym 5x a week and so on. In fact, if you mention that you work out at the gym, I bet adcoms would assume you are just trying to make it look like you have a lot of ECs. At what point is an EC viable and worth mentioning? Where is the line drawn?

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[Hangry]

Do you "do muay thai" as in go to a kickboxing class or do you actually train muay thai? If its the latter then its a great EC, especially if you have long term involvement, are invested in the sport, have developed a great deal of skill, have competition experience/success, etc.

Developing a difficult skill for fun is almost always a great EC (with the exception being great skill in something illegal, like pickpocketing or something).

 

[Meeehai]

I think it would be silly to not include it. Sounds like an interesting hobby you have outside of school.

 

[Goro]

This is a very novel EC, so go ahead!

One thing that takes a lot of my time is my muay thai training time. I don't want to give medical schools the impression that I am not doing anything and instead a large chunk of my time goes to kickboxing training!

Is this a viable EC, is this something that will make my application standout compared to others?

At what point is an EC not legitamate. I highly doubt you can legitimately say for example, that one of your EC's is that you go to the gym 5x a week and so on. In fact, if you mention that you work out at the gym, I bet adcoms would assume you are just trying to make it look like you have a lot of ECs. At what point is an EC viable and worth mentioning? Where is the line drawn?

 

[URHere]

I'm a martial artist, and my training came up on nearly every one of my medical school and residency interviews. It's a great ice breaker, and it's something that can lead to an interesting conversation even if your interviewer has no first hand experience. The fact that it gives you an example of how you excel at time management, teamwork, resiliency, control, etc. is another nice bonus.

Mention it, 100%

 

[weanprednisone]

I agree! this is a great EC. It shows that you have interest outside of school, and have a way for relaxation/wellness. I think that is super important, especially with the increasing physician suicide rates. :/

 

[CCMDOC9254]

Definitely mention it! My interviewers have always always always asked what my interests are besides medicine, and they love it when you have a passion for other things.

 

[ChrisMack390]

Quirky things like this are good to include at the end of any application for school or a job. It likely won't mean much but also who knows? You could easily interview with someone who happens to have an interest in martial arts, talk about it for 10 minutes, and get yourself some extra 'points'.

 

[whatever5]

There's definitely no down side to leaving out, I say include it.

 

[bc65]

Include it.

If you also teach kickboxing or other martial arts, write about how you learned from that experience. If you compete, write about how you learned from your victories and defeats, how you learned perseverance, etc. If you don't compete or spar, make that clear as well.
Be prepared for interviewers to ask you to discuss CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy ) and why you would risk brain damage by fighting, and if you plan to continue with this in med school.

Also, as with anything that you include in your application, be prepared to be interviewed at some point by someone who knows more about that subject than you do, so don't exaggerate or embellish.

 

[ChillDawg]

I was in a martial art club at my school, and I included it in my ECs. Was asked about once for an internship interview, and another at a med school interview!
Came up in a very positive way both times.