No involvement in med school

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confusedhokie

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I'm just about to wrap up my first semester of med school and it's been eye opening to say the least. It's been difficult, but honestly the hardest part has been finding the motivation to put the hours and effort in.

Aside from studying, I haven't gotten involved in any club or activity outside the classroom. No volunteering or anything like that. People say all the time not to do anything just for residency apps and to do stuff you enjoy, but honestly all I really like to do is sleep and watch Netflix. I'm only a first year so I can't say for sure what I want to do, but I like surgery and I think I'd want to do something procedure heavy, but most of those fields are very competitive.

I feel so far beyond in making myself stand out, but at the same time I don't really have an interest in many EC related things. Anyone else gone through this or have advice? Thanks and congrats to those just finishing their first semester as well!
 
I personally think the clubs are overrated. People say they demonstrate a long standing interest but I'd be surprised to find that they make that big a difference. You should probably find a couple weekends to do some volunteering or something and research would be a good idea especially in those competitive fields. In short down with clubs, up with research/volunteering.
 
It really feels like applying for residency there are really not many factors that they care about. As far as I can tell its just Step 1 and if you have a grip of research. Outside of that whats really all that important?
 
Osteoth said:
It really feels like applying for residency there are really not many factors that they care about. As far as I can tell its just Step 1 and if you have a grip of research. Outside of that whats really all that important?
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How good of a worker/employee you are going to be, how reliable you are going to be. 1,000,000x more important than volunteer work or EC clubs
 
This is good to know. I have spent most of my free time as an MS1 with one of the dermatology attendings from our program. I enjoy that so much more.
 
Osteoth said:
It really feels like applying for residency there are really not many factors that they care about. As far as I can tell its just Step 1 and if you have a grip of research. Outside of that whats really all that important?
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Being a down-to-earth, reliable individual that someone will want to work with for a couple of years.
 
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It's not like premed where a giant list of ECs is basically required; however, having none at all may stand out in a bad way, especially against fellow applicants who did a lot. Most people who are intellectually curious individuals with a heart for service will find some ways to get involved with things they care about. If someone has absolutely nothing on their CV - no leadership, no service, no visible extracurricular involvement of any kind - save for research and boards, it would make me view them in a negative way. That said, the person with so many listed activities that they are obviously fluffing the ol' CV, well that doesn't look so good either.

Find something you like to do that can go on a CV. Then find a couple more. But not at the expense of grades and boards and research.
 
Polonium-210 said:
This is good to know. I have spent most of my free time as an MS1 with one of the dermatology attendings from our program. I enjoy that so much more.
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please tell us more. only if u two are of the opposite sex though.
 
operaman said:
It's not like premed where a giant list of ECs is basically required; however, having none at all may stand out in a bad way, especially against fellow applicants who did a lot. Most people who are intellectually curious individuals with a heart for service will find some ways to get involved with things they care about. If someone has absolutely nothing on their CV - no leadership, no service, no visible extracurricular involvement of any kind - save for research and boards, it would make me view them in a negative way. That said, the person with so many listed activities that they are obviously fluffing the ol' CV, well that doesn't look so good either.

Find something you like to do that can go on a CV. Then find a couple more. But not at the expense of grades and boards and research.
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Having a few activities gives residency interviewers conversation fodder, instead of just sitting there and asking 'what questions do you have for me' 5 times.
 
qw098 said:
please tell us more. only if u two are of the opposite sex though.
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Opposite sex but she is married to an allergy/immuno attending. Nothing salacious occurs. Just some great learning without any other med students or even residents around.
 
I think you should try and do something with your free time - even if that means pursuing unorganized hobbies. I agree that activities etc. don't matter nearly as much in the residency application process as they do in the medical school process, but I do think it's helpful to at least have the appearance of being a somewhat normal person that has interests outside of medicine. However, I have a fair degree of bias as I'm in a field where that sort of stuff matters significantly more than most other fields.
 
confusedhokie said:
I'm just about to wrap up my first semester of med school and it's been eye opening to say the least. It's been difficult, but honestly the hardest part has been finding the motivation to put the hours and effort in.

Aside from studying, I haven't gotten involved in any club or activity outside the classroom. No volunteering or anything like that. People say all the time not to do anything just for residency apps and to do stuff you enjoy, but honestly all I really like to do is sleep and watch Netflix. I'm only a first year so I can't say for sure what I want to do, but I like surgery and I think I'd want to do something procedure heavy, but most of those fields are very competitive.

I feel so far beyond in making myself stand out, but at the same time I don't really have an interest in many EC related things. Anyone else gone through this or have advice? Thanks and congrats to those just finishing their first semester as well!
Click to expand...

Holy hell I could have written this pretty much word for word, minus the sleep and netflix bit.
 
I think I will be biased towards no-EC's people or people with only a few when I am given a voice to select candidates. People who raise money and awareness for stupid stuff are somewhat annoying, don't tend to make a difference, and tend to be CV-padders. Volunteering? Let me know when you're taking a paycut to do pro-bono work.

I myself am involved with a couple of things, but I would be comfortable leaving them off my resume.
 
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smilepinki said:
I think I will be biased towards no-EC's people or people with only a few when I am given a voice to select candidates. People who raise money and awareness for stupid stuff are somewhat annoying, don't tend to make a difference, and tend to be CV-padders. Volunteering? Let me know when you're taking a paycut to do pro-bono work.

I myself am involved with a couple of things, but I would be comfortable leaving them off my resume.
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YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
 
confusedhokie said:
I'm just about to wrap up my first semester of med school and it's been eye opening to say the least. It's been difficult, but honestly the hardest part has been finding the motivation to put the hours and effort in.

Aside from studying, I haven't gotten involved in any club or activity outside the classroom. No volunteering or anything like that. People say all the time not to do anything just for residency apps and to do stuff you enjoy, but honestly all I really like to do is sleep and watch Netflix. I'm only a first year so I can't say for sure what I want to do, but I like surgery and I think I'd want to do something procedure heavy, but most of those fields are very competitive.

I feel so far beyond in making myself stand out, but at the same time I don't really have an interest in many EC related things. Anyone else gone through this or have advice? Thanks and congrats to those just finishing their first semester as well!
Click to expand...
I would try to find something, because studying day in/out gets old, as you have discovered. But don't choose something that feels like a huge effort. I try really hard not to choose anything that is superficial or "CV padding" and really focus on things where I could actually do something useful.
 
NickNaylor said:
I think you should try and do something with your free time - even if that means pursuing unorganized hobbies. I agree that activities etc. don't matter nearly as much in the residency application process as they do in the medical school process, but I do think it's helpful to at least have the appearance of being a somewhat normal person that has interests outside of medicine. However, I have a fair degree of bias as I'm in a field where that sort of stuff matters significantly more than most other fields.
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I agree, you gotta have something in that Hobbies/Interests box on ERAS that makes you look like a person with healthy outside interests.

Interest groups, clubs, and token volunteering are not endeavors that garner any points in the residency application game.
 
Shipping News said:
I agree, you gotta have something in that Hobbies/Interests box on ERAS that makes you look like a person with healthy outside interests.

Interest groups, clubs, and token volunteering are not endeavors that garner any points in the residency application game.
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what else is there? lol
 
asdf123g said:
what else is there? lol
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Are you asking what activities help you in residency applications? In my personal experience, academic success is #1, research is #2, and not being a complete idiot on interview day is #3.
 
Shipping News said:
Are you asking what activities help you in residency applications? In my personal experience, academic success is #1, research is #2, and not being a complete idiot on interview day is #3.
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so basically OP is gonna be OK!
I thought u meant there was some other EC that you had in mind (excluding research) that would be beneficial.
 
asdf123g said:
so basically OP is gonna be OK!
I thought u meant there was some other EC that you had in mind (excluding research) that would be beneficial.
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Well, I mean, if you started a company or did some big humanitarian thing that you were committed to (not just a week of volunteering or something), that would be impressive and not go unnoticed. The residency application, outside of the academic credentials you need, is not box-checking like the med school application system is. It's not like x # of clinical volunteer hours, check! Leadership position, check! Residency program directors are typically busy clinicians, unlike the med school adcoms who typically sit around all day dreaming of new hoops for applicants to jump through. If you do something impressive or if you have a passion in medicine that leads you devote a lot of time and energy into a project or involvement in committees and boards beyond the local level, go for it.

At the end of the day, the residency application process is extremely flexible. You can do as little or as much as you want with your free time, which is great. I chose to not do much in medicine outside of my academics and research, and it turned out fine. Other people I knew were obsessed with medicine and spent all their free time vaccinating people or being involved in med school admissions or posting on SDN but that wasn't my cup of tea, but it turned out fine for them too (except those that posted so much on SDN that it affected them academically; true story).
 
Save your time on club involvement working with easily offended neurotic losers and go to bar and pick up girls or get a hobby
 
I didn't get involved outside of some leadership activities, and had zero interests in the clubs, clinics, etc. available.
The only place it may hurt is if they value this heavily, as they did at my school, in determining who gets AOA.
I didn't, didn't lose any sleep about it, and have since done well.
 
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IlDestriero said:
I didn't get involved outside of some leadership activities, and had zero interests in the clubs, clinics, etc. available.
The only place it may hurt is if they value this heavily, as they did at my school, in determining who gets AOA.
I didn't, didn't lose any sleep about it, and have since done well.
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If AOA is given at your school to those who are "involved" the most, then it's definitely not worth getting for the headache of those hoops you'd have to jump through.
 
operaman said:
It's not like premed where a giant list of ECs is basically required; however, having none at all may stand out in a bad way, especially against fellow applicants who did a lot.
Click to expand...

I kind of doubt this... I would think very few on these selection committees think highly of the diversity warriors and their 20 different social justice clubs.

Those people tend to be very easily offended, hard to work with, maintain a victim mentality, and are generally all around annoying. I would think they are also at the greatest risk for severe depression in residency when they come to see first hand that their Superior Virtue of the Oppressed worldview was a total sham.

I think someone with literally nothing listed may look bad simply because they arent playing the game. The inability to at least not leave the hobbies/special interests/EC line blank is showing that you dont know how to play the game. That is its own micro red flag given that residency itself has more games than Milton Bradley.
 
While I don't think it's essential to be part of any clubs or volunteer work, I would use the clubs as a way to make sure that I'm interested in the fields I'm considering (so that I do research I'm fields I'm definitely interested in). Either way, you'll be okay.
 
imadome said:
What about community service clubs? Any value in having substantial leadership in one of these for residency apps? I'd imagine primary care fields would care but doubt the more competitive ones would (ophtho, derm, plastic/neuro/orthopedic surgery)
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It's not important
 
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