Should I join NAMI for a year, or does that look like application fluffing?

[himomitsme]

Hi everyone,

current 3rd year here looking to buff my application for psych by next year.

basically I’m thinking about joining NAMI for which I could only volunteer a couple saturdays a month, or should I keep up with my current hobbies which are reading and competing in local tournaments for the sport I play.

obviously volunteering forNAMI is great, and I wish I had more time or started to look into this earlier. I am concerned that volunteering for nami a couple times a month for a year looks like intentional fluff on an application.Or I can just continue to read books about psychotherapy (shout out the the people who recommended “The art of Psychotherapy” by Anthony Storr), and continue competing in tournaments for my sport on saturdays.

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[phagocytosis41]

do it!

 

[nexus73]

Just don’t tell the interviewer it was only to look good on your cv.

 

[psychacad]

Do what you like and what you think is interesting. No one is going to give you back those missed Saturdays that you spent padding an application. This sort of fluff rarely makes a difference, unless you can show that it's a true passion of yours (unlikely in this case). (and btw, competing locally in a sport you like is nothing to sniff at, and shows a well rounded individual with interests outside medicine. Very important in any medical field).

 

[himomitsme]

Do what you like and what you think is interesting. No one is going to give you back those missed Saturdays that you spent padding an application. This sort of fluff rarely makes a difference, unless you can show that it's a true passion of yours (unlikely in this case). (and btw, competing locally in a sport you like is nothing to sniff at, and shows a well rounded individual with interests outside medicine. Very important in any medical field).

thank you for the constructive feedback. This is the gut feeling that I have, however the neurotic gunner side of me is telling me to do the volunteering. I think volunteering will help with adding stat paddlers to my resume, but I agree when you say it probably won’t make a difference. The actual human in me is telling me to have a life outside of my 6 days a week that go towards trying to build my resume for residency.

I know there’s some attendings on this forum, I wonder what they would suggest

 

[Bartelby]

Joining and volunteering a handful of Saturdays would be a relative "meh" in my opinion. If you get something compelling out of the experience, or contribute something that stands out (such as starting/coordinating a free clinic etc.) then it becomes more impressive. If you have to give up your only free day of the week to do this it probably isn't worth it in my opinion.

With that said, I think some programs do have volunteering weighted in as part of their standard evaluation systems, so if you do not have any other form of volunteer work this could provide some degree of a boost (though probably not major). If you make some meaningful accomplishments in your sport that may actually stand out more in a reviewer's mind though.

 

[Old&InTheWay]

It sounds like your intent with this is to “fluff” your application; if so, it is likely to appear that way to others. Do it if it is meaningful to you and you would do it even if no one else ever knew about it. Otherwise don’t. Being an authentic human being beats a random volunteer experience on an app.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Could I otherwise tell by your resume that psychiatry is your goal and not a back-up? If your resume screams dermatology but you are only applying psych, I’d recommend doing something like this to help convince programs that you aren’t just applying to avoid scrambling for a residency spot.

 

[Old&InTheWay]

Could I otherwise tell by your resume that psychiatry is your goal and not a back-up? If your resume screams dermatology but you are only applying psych, I’d recommend doing something like this to help convince programs that you aren’t just applying to avoid scrambling for a residency spot.

Is this even a thing with psychiatry anymore? Do other highly competitive specialties worry that they are being used as a “backup”?

Also, I think the expectation of “demonstrating interest” is a slippery slope that can result in what has happened to derm, ortho, and optho; that is, applicants essentially have to start demonstrating their interest early in med school by engaging in copious amounts of research, volunteer activities, and professional societies. While tangible and countable, none of these things actually demonstrate to me that you are going into a field for the right reasons or will be a good psychiatrist. They just tell me you are the sort of overachieving person that is overrepresented in medical school.

 

[robellis]

Is this even a thing with psychiatry anymore? Do other highly competitive specialties worry that they are being used as a “backup”?

Also, I think the expectation of “demonstrating interest” is a slippery slope that can result in what has happened to derm, ortho, and optho; that is, applicants essentially have to start demonstrating their interest early in med school by engaging in copious amounts of research, volunteer activities, and professional societies. While tangible and countable, none of these things actually demonstrate to me that you are going into a field for the right reasons or will be a good psychiatrist. They just tell me you are the sort of overachieving person that is overrepresented in medical school.

no, highly competitive specialties do not worry about that..

 

[TexasPhysician]

Is this even a thing with psychiatry anymore? Do other highly competitive specialties worry that they are being used as a “backup”?

Also, I think the expectation of “demonstrating interest” is a slippery slope that can result in what has happened to derm, ortho, and optho; that is, applicants essentially have to start demonstrating their interest early in med school by engaging in copious amounts of research, volunteer activities, and professional societies. While tangible and countable, none of these things actually demonstrate to me that you are going into a field for the right reasons or will be a good psychiatrist. They just tell me you are the sort of overachieving person that is overrepresented in medical school.

Psychiatry is not “highly” competitive, and some poorly informed med schools still advise fam/IM/psych as back-up options.

Demonstrating early interest is not important. Demonstrating some level of interest at some point is helpful.

 

[himomitsme]

Psychiatry is not “highly” competitive, and some poorly informed med schools still advise fam/IM/psych as back-up options.

Demonstrating early interest is not important. Demonstrating some level of interest at some point is helpful.

Would multiple electives in psych and a couple letters, and some psych aways be enough to show that you are aiming for psych and not using it as a backup.

I am an APA member (if that matters) and planning on attending the APA conference as long as it’s still gonna happen next year in May

 

[Stagg737]

Would multiple electives in psych and a couple letters, and some psych aways be enough to show that you are aiming for psych and not using it as a backup.

I am an APA member (if that matters) and planning on attending the APA conference as long as it’s still gonna happen next year in May

Imo attending APA would certainly be enough on it's own. I haven't met any med students or residents that actually travelled to a conference outside of their field of interest. Psych LORs are a must, multiple electives is good, aways are not necessary and may or may not be helpful. I had no interest in psych until 3rd year and attending a few local psych conferences. No one questioned my commitment to psych during applications.

thank you for the constructive feedback. This is the gut feeling that I have, however the neurotic gunner side of me is telling me to do the volunteering. I think volunteering will help with adding stat paddlers to my resume, but I agree when you say it probably won’t make a difference. The actual human in me is telling me to have a life outside of my 6 days a week that go towards trying to build my resume for residency.

I know there’s some attendings on this forum, I wonder what they would suggest

To give some anecdata, interviewers asked me about my sports history during residency interviews more than my psych-related volunteering. I recall talking to at least 4 people (including 2 of the PDs) about athletics and those conversations seemed to go very well.

 

[clausewitz2]

To give some anecdata, interviewers asked me about my sports history during residency interviews than my psych-related volunteering. I recall talking to at least 4 people (including 2 of the PDs) about and those conversations seemed to go very well.

Interviewers are going to ask you more about the things that make you interesting or stand out as a person that are also different from the bajillionty applications they've seen in the past. I literally had more questions about listing "Byzantine history" as an interest than I did about my PhD during my residency interviews. They may not have been prepared for the torrent of enthusiasm and minutiae that followed but it was still probably more entertaining than another person explaining their passion for being treasurer for their chapter of PsychSIGN.

 

[himomitsme]

Imo attending APA would certainly be enough on it's own. I haven't met any med students or residents that actually travelled to a conference outside of their field of interest. Psych LORs are a must, multiple electives is good, aways are not necessary and may or may not be helpful. I had no interest in psych until 3rd year and attending a few local psych conferences. No one questioned my commitment to psych during applications.



To give some anecdata, interviewers asked me about my sports history during residency interviews than my psych-related volunteering. I recall talking to at least 4 people (including 2 of the PDs) about and those conversations seemed to go very well.

Thanks for your response! Glad to hear all this. I’ll look up some local conferences in my area. Hoping to attend a couple purely out of curiosity.

 

[himomitsme]

Interviewers are going to ask you more about the things that make you interesting or stand out as a person that are also different from the bajillionty applications they've seen in the past. I literally had more questions about listing "Byzantine history" as an interest than I did about my PhD during my residency interviews. They may not have been prepared for the torrent of enthusiasm and minutiae that followed but it was still probably more entertaining than another person explaining their passion for being treasuerer for their chapter of PsychSIGN

This is great! I have a similar experience in my medschool interviews. They asked for for like 5 minutes why medicine why here, and then for 20 minutes asked me what my sport is, how do you play, explanation of rules etc... it was great! They even had me explain the dimensions of the court, and the dimensions and materials that the racquet is made out of. I nerded out so hard haha

 

[TexasPhysician]

Would multiple electives in psych and a couple letters, and some psych aways be enough to show that you are aiming for psych and not using it as a backup.

Yes