negative perceptions based on appearance

[Leif_Erikson]

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Do you think those interviewers will have negative connotations toward gauged ears? On a guy?

Guess we'll wait and see!

 

[brightness]

haha, same here😉

😳 hehehe.

 

[brightness]

Vet programs are quite a bit more strict then med programs in their prereqs. The one by me requires like 80 hours of working with/shadowing a vet plus several extra classes plus the ones required for med school. Just giving you a heads up if that is a path you really do end up wanting to take.

Thank you for the information. I have shadowed a vet for 120 hours so far, trying to figure out if that was something I was interested in. What made me waver on vet med was watching a very mean pit bull come in and try to kill everybody. lol.

 

[brightness]

Did you include that in your PS? You should have, at least get it in your secondaries. I would definitely say that that counts as overcoming a sort of adversity (I myself haven't really had any).

The interviewers (and I think patients especially) will unfortunately judge somewhat on appearance (there was a study that showed that people do not trust bald men, for instance). But would an average person with a 38 and a 3.9 beat out a "good-looking" person with a 32 and a 3.0? Not likely...

Would you really put that in a personal statement? I have struggled HARD with a lot of mental health problems, including those and I've had to really fight to not just cave in to my anxiety, in particular. I don't want to try to be some sob story though, you know?

 

[dopaminesurge]

I hope they accept people based on appearance... because I look dang good.

Nah. I'm a reapplicant, so they must not.


KIDDING, KIDDING!

 

[630670]

you obviously havn't met many medical students

...jk

 

[Callogician]

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

insensitive!

 

[brightness]

🙄

 

[Haemulon]

Would you really put that in a personal statement? I have struggled HARD with a lot of mental health problems, including those and I've had to really fight to not just cave in to my anxiety, in particular. I don't want to try to be some sob story though, you know?

Definitely do not emphasize mental health problems in your PS. Even as an example of how you overcame adversity. Sends up red flags.

 

[dopaminesurge]

Definitely do not emphasize mental health problems in your PS. Even as an example of how you overcame adversity. Sends up red flags.

👍

Yeah, things to tell your therapist, not your adcomm. They aren't big into sympathy.

 

[mommy2three]

If you're overweight and want to change, I think you know what to do. Most people do, it's just that they don't want it quite badly enough.

first of all let me go pick my chin up off the floor while i try to be civil and type a response to this absolutely absurd statement.
having been someone who was overweight for years i can honestly say i wanted desperately to lose weight...i tried EVERYTHING and put my heart into it 110%. i tried and failed numerous times...until finally i went to my last resort and had a rny gastric bypass in april 2005 which was the thing that finally worked for me. how dare you say that i did not try hard enough or want to lose weight bad enough to change my physical appearance before that day...you are not me....you do NOT know what i did, you do NOT know my emotional state nor do you know how badly i wanted to lose weight. looking at me NOW you would never believe that i am literally HALf the person i once was. the point is you can WANT to change with all your might but wanting does not always necessarily mean DOING.
as an infertile woman i am sure that the YEARS i spent in treatment, not to mention the heartbreak and thousands of dollars were simply a matter of me not wanting to become pg enough. and while we are at it the heartbreak from two miscarriages could have certainly be avoided if i had wanted to continue the pg more. 🙄
and while we're at it i'm sure my dad would be thrilled to hear that the numerous treatments he has endured for the retinopathy he has as a result of long term diabetes that have failed are a result of him not wanting them to work enough.
and to think all of the above could have been avoided if we had been fortunate enough to have you as a doc to knock some sense into us for not wanting enough 🙄

and to the op......i think adcoms tend to look for people who are well put together. be yourself and you will be fine.

 

[Julius Erving]

I was a Communication major in college....Here a few research supported tidbits about how looks influence interviews:

1)Good looking people are often remembered more favorably by an interviewer than are average looking/plain people

2)Good looking people will often have a higher starting salary/wage offered

3)Tall males fare better than short males during interviews

4)People with wide open eyes fare better than those with "squinty" eyes

5)People with blue eyes fare better than those with brown eyes (damn y'all!)

6)We trust our eyes more than our ears...translation..our image will often leave a more lasting impression than do our words.

7)Believe it or not, females are much more critical of exterior appearances than are males, especially toward other females.

8)People often remember the nonverbal components of a discussion better than they do the actual verbal content....it's not what you say, but how you say it that will eventually win the day. Have confidence, but not arrogance. Be direct, but not pushy. Be relaxed, but not dull.

Threw that last one in there even though it has nothing to do with looks, but the fact is that good looking people have a built in advantage within our society. They can be so much less deserving of a position, but will end up with it because they have some "indescribable" quality that the interviewer sees in them. I say "indescribable" because you probably won't find anyone who will admit to hiring/admitting a person because they were good looking. But in all fairness, it is usually a subconscious thing that people become more influenced by good looks than they might realize. It happens to us all.

Although, good looks can backfire for an interviewee if the interviewer is extra-aware of how he/she doesn't want to have their opinion influenced by beauty. They may compensate by being over critical of the good looking persons qualifications.

I say all of this as a balding, pudgy, thirty-something, average looking guy. I mean, imagine how I'm feeling about my chances! Sheessh!! I have 3 lined up so far, and you'd better believe I'm jogging my butt off every night.

Is this an on/off type of deal, or a continuum? Cuz I'm 6'6"... Does that mean I'm invincible?

 

[Callogician]

first of all let me go pick my chin up off the floor while i try to be civil and type a response to this absolutely absurd statement.
having been someone who was overweight for years i can honestly say i wanted desperately to lose weight...i tried EVERYTHING and put my heart into it 110%. i tried and failed numerous times...until finally i went to my last resort and had a rny gastric bypass in april 2005 which was the thing that finally worked for me. how dare you say that i did not try hard enough or want to lose weight bad enough to change my physical appearance before that day...you are not me....you do NOT know what i did, you do NOT know my emotional state nor do you know how badly i wanted to lose weight. looking at me NOW you would never believe that i am literally HALf the person i once was. the point is you can WANT to change with all your might but wanting does not always necessarily mean DOING.
as an infertile woman i am sure that the YEARS i spent in treatment, not to mention the heartbreak and thousands of dollars were simply a matter of me not wanting to become pg enough. and while we are at it the heartbreak from two miscarriages could have certainly be avoided if i had wanted to continue the pg more. 🙄
and while we're at it i'm sure my dad would be thrilled to hear that the numerous treatments he has endured for the retinopathy he has as a result of long term diabetes that have failed are a result of him not wanting them to work enough.
and to think all of the above could have been avoided if we had been fortunate enough to have you as a doc to knock some sense into us for not wanting enough 🙄

What a silly pseudointellectual post. What pkboi24 said is true for the overwhelming majority of cases. For instance, I would probably look a bit better naked if I lost ten pounds, and I know exactly what I would have to do (control my binge eating, do more cardio), but I'm just too damn lazy. That pkboi's comment doesn't apply to exceptional cases does not make him naive or insensitive.

Besides, have you ever watched the show "biggest losers"? That show single-handedly demonstrates that virtually 100% of obesity can be eliminated by behavioral modification. For instance, you might have some sort of horrible leptin deficiency or other physiological cause of obesity, but this only makes behavioral modification harder. Give me some fat bastad and let me control his eating and exercise, and I guarantee you that this hypothetical tub-of-lard will soon see his underused schlong for the first time since grade school. Why am I so confident? I'm confident because I know enough about biochemistry and nutrition to understand that fat does not form de novo. It requires an excess of caloric consumption.

By the way, in the overwhelming majority of cases, diabetic retionopathy could have been prevented by behavioral modification or medical intervention.

In saying all this, I don't mean to imply that you and your father are undisciplined. You two may have tried harder than most would have in same circumstances. Just stop blaming everyone else for your problems and insisting that the world fits into your paradigm.

As far as I'm concerned, medical problems are not an issue of blame. For instance, what is the explanation for your obesity?

1) Do you have some genetic polymorphism that makes you leptin-deficient?
2) Did your parents inculcate bad lifestyle habits?
3) Did the media overwhelm you with junk food advertisements?
4) Did the public school system have a crappy physical education program?
5) Are you just lazy and undisciplined?

It is silly to attribute your former obesity to any single cause because another change could have easily neutralized that cause. For instance, if you were lazy and undisciplined but your parents served you healthy food and made you join the cross country team, you probably wouldn't have been obese. If you have a leptin deficiency but got involved in sports early due to your school's PE program, you probably wouldn't have been obese. All we can say for certain is conclude that a combination of your intrinsic characteristics and your environment produced a certain endpoint (obesity). We can look at these factors and plan interventions, but unless there is a clear enviornmental or genetic etiology and pathogenesis of disease, blaming certain factors becomes mostly arbitrary.

A side note: It is amazing how consistently people who have a relevent emotionally powerful personal experience will speak on an issue as though they are experts. Nine times out of ten, they are less analytical than laypersons and are strongly biased.

and to the op......be yourself and you will be fine.

I disagree. This is a bullsh*t universal justification for inaction. I say, "be who you want to be!" If you want to get in shape so that you can bang hot guys, make a plan and stick with it. Don't resign yourself to failure by following some hippie pseudointellectual notion that you shouldn't strive for change.

"Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves" -Cassius

 

[Callogician]

revive. I want a response from mommy2three

 

[MiesVanDerMom]

revive. I want a response from mommy2three

why would an intelligent person respond to someone who posted that assanine comic about "anor-sexy-a"? she already has 3 kids; she doesn't need a fourth. Grow up.

 

[MiesVanDerMom]

I hope they accept people based on appearance... because I look dang good.

but you can't take your horse to the interview, so you won't look nearly as impressive

 

[Beadle]

.

 

[notdeadyet]

why would an intelligent person respond to someone who posted that assanine comic about "anor-sexy-a"? she already has 3 kids; she doesn't need a fourth. Grow up.

Good one.

I especially like calling someone's post "pseudointellectual" then introducing evidence of his counterargument via a primetime reality/gameshow.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

Do you believe that the interviewers who evaluate us are biased based on your appearance? I don't think I'm very good looking...I have an unattractive face and I'm overweight as well. I've been wondering if this will negatively effect my chances for getting into med school or how my appearance might effect my success with patients. I don't want to be discouraged about med school, but I am interested in your opinion on the subject.

I think appearance can have an effect, but not straight up looks but body language, posture, etc. How attractive you are shouldn't ever be a criteria, but sadly humans are humans.

 

[lynn623la]

They're called D.O.'s

Oh snap...

omg. lol. 😀

 

[Callogician]

why would an intelligent person respond to someone who posted that assanine comic about "anor-sexy-a"? she already has 3 kids; she doesn't need a fourth. Grow up.

1) The comic I linked is hilarious. I even got a positive [and sarcastic] response from zoom-zoom.

2) Just because I post a joke one moment doesn't mean I can't be serious the next.

3) I appreciate good humor and I feel that it should not be restrained simply to avoid giving offense. This does not meet any reasonable definition of immaturity.

Good one.

I especially like calling someone's post "pseudointellectual" then introducing evidence of his counterargument via a primetime reality/gameshow.

I admit that my evidence is anecdotal, but I doubt that there are any peer reviewed studies on what percentage of people are capable of losing weight under ideal conditions and with expert counseling. I felt that my point was rather obvious, and I wanted to bring it life with a concrete example. I called mommy2three a pseudointellectual because she was basing her ideas on personal experience rather than logic.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

revive. I want a response from mommy2three

I too am interested in the defense's rebuttal. I think both sides raised some good points...