Question on talking about residency/fellowships in secondaries

[vp100]

Hi all!

So, I'm HEAVILY interested in pursuing a career in EMS medical direction (or being an EM physician). I say this as I have over 400 hours working in EMS and about 300-400 hours working at a Level 1 trauma center as an ER tech. Overall, I really enjoy it, and I briefly talk about why I like it in the "why us" secondary (I usually elaborate more in other secondary prompts). A lot of schools don't have direct EMS opportunities for medical students, but have a TON of stuff for residents and fellows. Is it okay if I mention interest in the teaching hospital and the programs for these residents and fellows? I'm kinda worried about it now because I submitted some of my secondaries already and the burnout is starting to set in.

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[AJS59]

If you already submitted the secondaries the point is moot (nothing you can really do) but FWIW most schools (at MD ones that are tied to academic institutions) have EM. I'd also say that the activities that residents and fellows participate in are more or less irrelevant to what it is you'd be doing in med school. I personally would focus any why us questions around the school size, academic structure, extracurriculars, location (if relevant to you), etc.

 

[LizzyM]

I know many mid-career physicians IRL who I've known since they applied to medical school 25+ years ago. (I read their application essays and got to know them as students, too.) Emergency Medicine and Infectious Disease seem to be two that are very persistent with respect to interest/experience pre-med and subsequent training and practice. That said, I wouldn't point to experiences available to residents and fellows as a reason for attending a specific medical school. Keep looking at school's websites for info on electives and special interest clubs that might be open to med students and pertinent to your career goals.

 

[vp100]

If I had already done so, do you think this will be a net negative on my app or meh? For a lot of them, I mention a few things, but an EM residency/fellowship at that hospital is usually one of the key things.

 

[AJS59]

If I had already done so, do you think this will be a net negative on my app or meh? For a lot of them, I mention a few things, but an EM residency/fellowship at that hospital is usually one of the key things.

As long as you haven't focused the entirety of your why us around EM I think you should be okay. But if you've already submitted, I'd just live with what you've written, you can't go back now

 

[vp100]

For some of them I sadly did , I'm thinking of adding more schools since I'm now worried I essentially wasted my chances at the few that I focused on why I liked EM so much.

 

[LizzyM]

I don't think that being focused on EM is a deal breakers. Like I said earlier, it is one of the more interests that in my limited experience tend to persist through med school while students interested in other specialties often change their minds as they gain more exposure.

 

[vp100]

I also have a pretty strong record in EM/EMS with a lot of research, projects, and clinical exposure in these fields. I have a few hundred hours in another few specialties too, but overall, if you look at my application, it screams "EM"

 

[ablanco]

Fellow ems guy here, I don’t think it’s like a bad thing to talk about but that’s a very specific/young type of medicine that is mainly administrative as a doc (and not a well-understood role). I find people come off as more humble/personable when they genuinely present with an open mind while still appreciating your background. I feel a lot of the discussions around those entering schools now are about how they appreciate the humanistic impact of the specialty they’re interested in so food for thought there.

 

[Med Ed]

People get interested in what they are exposed to. That's fine as long as you realize just how little you have been exposed to. Applicants who have more conviction than knowledge sometimes come off as naive.

Also, EM is currently a pretty dead field.