Med School Acceptance for Sikh Applicants

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PremedSingh

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Hey everyone! This thread goes to all successful Sikh med school applicants in US/Canada. How was your experience? Did any of you guys feel like you were discriminated against due to your appearance (i.e. Your turban or full grown beard). I am nervous that I may possibly get rejected from all of the schools I will apply to next year, first because I am Indian by race which will automatically make the standards high...and secondly due to my full grown beard+Turban. I want to hear your story, so I can have a quick reality check. Should
I really be applying to med school with the possibility of me being rejected due to my faith? should I really invest time and money in this field if all i'm going to accumulate is debt and rejection? Please help me! I really need your advise!

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Don't apply to LUCOM and you'll be fine.
 
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Do interviewers find a full grown beard to be unprofessional? Can Goro please give me any advise on this?
 
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N = small but at our school, Sikhs tend to be among the better students. It's illegal to discriminate against you because of your faith.

Hey everyone! This thread goes to all successful Sikh med school applicants in US/Canada. How was your experience? Did any of you guys feel like you were discriminated against due to your appearance (i.e. Your turban or full grown beard). I am nervous that I may possibly get rejected from all of the schools I will apply to next year, first because I am Indian by race which will automatically make the standards high...and secondly due to my full grown beard+Turban. I want to hear your story, so I can have a quick reality check. Should
I really be applying to med school with the possibility of me being rejected due to my faith? should I really invest time and money in this field if all i'm going to accumulate is debt and rejection? Please help me! I really need your advise![/


Absolutely not!
Do interviewers find a full grown beard to be unprofessional? Can Goro please give me any advise on this?
 
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Please tell me what school your an adcom at, I will surely apply there! Thanks for your reply!
 
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Pretty sure beards are unsanitary no? You gotta wear a beardnet?
 
As someone who has alot of close and extended family who are Sikhs(I personally am not) as well as many close friends yes there are examples of discrimination against Sikhs in this country. I personally spent a fair amount of my earlier life in the South and much of my extended and close family who are Sikhs also were in the South.There certainly were instances where life was harder for them than for many other ethnic and racial groups. There were many instances where there was discrimination against them in their lives. We don't need to pretend like problems surrounding racism still aren't a serious problem in this country. The struggles Sikhs face is very much a part of it.

Having said all this, I know many extremely successful Sikhs in this country. I know many who have large social groups and numbers of friends. I know many who have integrated extremely well in this country and have been able to overcome the challenges they face very well. If you don't let the instances where you might face discrimination define you, they won't.

You have a unique background and experiences in your everyday life. Medical schools value diversity. Diversity isn't about skin color(as much as we make it) as much as it is about perspective and the unique/different things that define us and our experiences. You have plenty of valuable experiences in your life and can offer a perspective many others in a class can't. This isn't to say the standards for admission will be lower for you. You won't be treated like a URM. But you have plenty that you can discuss in interviews and essays about your background and life story. There is plenty someone like you can add to a class and that is the central question you'll always see LizzyM and others ask and talk about. You can add a perspective many in med school can't and have a different understanding of being a minority and facing discrimination and what it entails, particularly if you have ECs dealing with things like this. These are all things you can bring up and highlight to med schools and how your activities of your life highlight this. Do this effectively and highlight what exactly it is that you can add that is unique to a class, and it will certainly be to your benefit.
 
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Hey everyone! This thread goes to all successful Sikh med school applicants in US/Canada. How was your experience? Did any of you guys feel like you were discriminated against due to your appearance (i.e. Your turban or full grown beard). I am nervous that I may possibly get rejected from all of the schools I will apply to next year, first because I am Indian by race which will automatically make the standards high...and secondly due to my full grown beard+Turban. I want to hear your story, so I can have a quick reality check. Should
I really be applying to med school with the possibility of me being rejected due to my faith? should I really invest time and money in this field if all i'm going to accumulate is debt and rejection? Please help me! I really need your advise!

I know plenty of Sikhs who have had very good luck with med school admissions.
 
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So if I ever become a practicing physician in the future... do I have to wear a beardnet?
 
As someone who has alot of close and extended family who are Sikhs(I personally am not) as well as many close friends yes there are examples of discrimination against Sikhs in this country. I personally spent a fair amount of my earlier life in the South and much of my extended and close family who are Sikhs also were in the South.There certainly were instances where life was harder for them than for many other ethnic and racial groups. There were many instances where there was discrimination against them in their lives. We don't need to pretend like problems surrounding racism still aren't a serious problem in this country. The struggles Sikhs face is very much a part of it.

Having said all this, I know many extremely successful Sikhs in this country. I know many who have large social groups and numbers of friends. I know many who have integrated extremely well in this country and have been able to overcome the challenges they face very well. If you don't let the instances where you might face discrimination define you, they won't.

You have a unique background and experiences in your everyday life. Medical schools value diversity. Diversity isn't about skin color(as much as we make it) as much as it is about perspective and the unique/different things that define us and our experiences. You have plenty of valuable experiences in your life and can offer a perspective many others in a class can't. This isn't to say the standards for admission will be lower for you. You won't be treated like a URM. But you have plenty that you can discuss in interviews and essays about your background and life story. There is plenty someone like you can add to a class and that is the central question you'll always see LizzyM and others ask and talk about. You can add a perspective many in med school can't and have a different understanding of being a minority and facing discrimination and what it entails, particularly if you have ECs dealing with things like this. These are all things you can bring up and highlight to med schools and how your activities of your life highlight this. Do this effectively and highlight what exactly it is that you can add that is unique to a class, and it will certainly be to your benefit.
Thanks for this huge reply! I feel much more confident now. It angers me very much seeing people of my religion being immediately judged when people lay eyes on their turbans. This prejudice is the primary reason that accounts for most of the cases of discrimination we face on a daily basis.
 
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So if I ever become a practicing physician in the future... do I have to wear a beardnet?
Not all the time of course, anytime you are in the OR you will need to. I would assume the rule is when you need to wear a hairnet on top of your head, you need something covering your beard. I see plenty of doctors sporting impressive beards.
 
Fellow Sikh! I have a full grown beard too! *Fist bump*!
 
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In my opinion, a full grown beard looks a tad bit unprofessional. how about sikh applicants shave their beards and then regrow them later? No offense but maybe this shall grant you more chances of admission.
 
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Totally n=1, but in one of Harvard Medical School's medicine parody videos there's a medical student with a turban and full beard. :)
 
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You don't want to be accepted by a school that discriminates against you anyway.

Go forward and apply strategically!
 
In my opinion, a full grown beard looks a tad bit unprofessional. how about sikh applicants shave their beards and then regrow them later? No offense but maybe this shall grant you more chances of admission.

I know at least one Dean of Admissions with a full beard. Should I tell him you think it is unprofessional? Send me your name and I'll pass your message along.
 
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In my opinion, a full grown beard looks a tad bit unprofessional. how about sikh applicants shave their beards and then regrow them later? No offense but maybe this shall grant you more chances of admission.

professionalism is just a coat people throw on. anything could be unprofessional nowadays.
 
I am triggered by the unprofessionalism of your post. You did not capitalize the first letter of each sentence.
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professionalism is just a coat people throw on. anything could be unprofessional nowadays.
 
I know at least one Dean of Admissions with a full beard. Should I tell him you think it is unprofessional? Send me your name and I'll pass your message along.

I'd say 3/4th of the PDs in Psychiatry I interviewed with have full beards... and one had a full tat sleeve.

/I personally have a full-beard to raise awareness for how f-cking cold it is in the winter in the Midwest.
 
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I'd say 3/4th of the PDs in Psychiatry I interviewed with have full beards... and one had a full tat sleeve.

/I personally have a full-beard to raise awareness for how f-cking cold it is in the winter in the Midwest.
Asian ethnicity?
 
1. Looks like they all have long white coats
2. Few people have ties on
3. That dude on the far right second row actually brought his stethoscope

Looks like Stanford to me.
they all brought their stethoscopes
 
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1. Looks like they all have long white coats
2. Few people have ties on
3. That dude on the far right second row actually brought his stethoscope

Looks like Stanford to me.
Wow only one student brought their stethoscope? Astute observation..
 
I know at least one Dean of Admissions with a full beard. Should I tell him you think it is unprofessional? Send me your name and I'll pass your message along.
i'm entitled to my own opinion. I'm not enforcing my opinion upon anyone. I'm just giving a friendly suggestion.
 

how would you explain this? He's sikh, yet he has a shaved beard. I'm not asking any of you guys to abandon your faith, just wanting to say that making small compromises in your religion does not mean its the end of the world for you.

A true Sikh would never compromise his religion. This was a fabricated video clip, by no means does it have any plausible connection to the real world.
 
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i'm entitled to my own opinion. I'm not enforcing my opinion upon anyone. I'm just giving a friendly suggestion.

Most good trolls put on a good act for a while, make reasonable posts, come on here for several months.Maybe they come on here create a WAMC thread to make themselves look serious, comment about how badly they want to be a doctor, etc. They go several months before revealing themselves and resorting to their inflammatory and clownish comments.

You've made an account for 6 months, been completely inactive, and now only just started posting and went straight for the kill shot, straight for the most trollish of all troll comments. Please.
 
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