Leadership experience!?

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csgirl

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How does one get leadership experience?! I'm not popular so I can't run for office of any club. What else could I do? I can't think of any projects I could start in my community. I just moved to a knew city so I don't even know the area that well. I have a few ideas for clubs I could start... but they're all not related to medicine. Does that matter? Is leadership experience all the same regardless of if it's medically related?
I'd really appreciate some good ideas/advice. :confused:

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I'm not in any major premed clubs, or even other ones either, so my leadership experiences don't come from there.
However, there is always something to do in your community for you to prove your leadership skills, even if it is fundraising for a cause/organization that sparks your interest. Once you do that, you are taking the initiative so that organization will probably ask you to take on more responsibility---> Leadership position. First find out what you're interested in. Then pursue organizations that work in that field, asking them what needs to be done to further the cause. They probably will not turn you away and if you prove yourself to them, and ask for a leadership position, you have now found something that you are interested in and also something that you have taken extra initiative to attain.


Many of my activities were not related to medicine either. This can actually be beneficial to you. In fact, the ones that interviewers have commented on most have been the non-medically related ones. Of course, make sure you do get clinical exposure elsewhere for balance, but don't worry about what it will look like on you application.

Do things because YOU feel interested in them and YOU want to do them. If you like what you're doing, you will naturally excel at it anyway.
 
Thanks for the advice about the fundraising thing! :D About starting a club... what if it's something trivial? Like I love origami. Could I start an origami club?
 
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Absolutely! Just make sure it is a productive one. One of my friends started a Monty Python club where all the members were avid fans. Sounds trivial right? Well, every month, they would go to an elderly home and put on skits for them. They also visited cancer hospitals and did this. The patients loved it & hospitals would call them back for ages! Maybe you could get the club together then contact your local hospital and ask to give workshops to the kids there. Gives them something to do, and you have your club as well, in a medically related arena, no less!
 
PS: Obviously, this does not have to be the main focus of the club, but it could be a side activity of it. Good luck. :)
 
Yeah... I was actually thinking of something like that. I once volunteered at an art Museum teaching little kids simple origami... the older people actually got into it too!
 
I think that a good way to get leadership experience is to do some kind of teaching. See if you can TA in college, or substitute teach at a local school. Or tutor high schoolers or something. Just another possibility.

Adam
 
I'm really worried because I have essentially no extracirrculars from my freshman and sophmore years... I did research the summer after my freshman year and I did an internship at a medical imaging company the summer after my sohpmore... but those aren't volunteer experiences... and it was summer stuff... and definitely not leadership experience! Maybe I'm just freaking out for nothing. It's just when I read posts from people who have saved a small African village from starvation, lead an organiation to promote world peace, or crazy stuff like that... I start to wonder...
 
Relax, csgirl. Those that have saved African villages (at least directly or single handedly) are few and far between, I would guess. I certainly didn't!!
But, as has been stated, do something that interests you whether or not its medical. Starting a club, at least at my university, is incredibly easy as long as you have people that want to join (and even then, it's still workable!) Your origami idea sounds fabulous!! You might even be able to set up a disply or presentation of you club's work while presenting some cultural background. Many of the multi-cultural events on campus have things like that set up.
Good Luck!!!
 
I actually ended up with four years of leadership just by raising my hand. During my first week of grad school the graduate student association had a general meeting and asked who could design a web page. I just raised my hand, and over the years became very involved and held several positions. My advice would be to join a club and be involved. Hell, if there was an origami club at my school, I'd be sure to join it - so start it up! Anything like that is a good notch to add to your belt.

Andrew
 
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