What are the most worthwhile extracurriculars in medical school?

[daffodil017]

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[WhittyPsyche]

Current MS1 thinking ahead for residency applications. One of my biggest regrets while applying to medical school was that I had very few truly interesting extracurriculars. Besides the obligatory research, what are some unique ECs that people are participating in during medical school? What kind of activities hold more weight for residency applications?

Seriously get out of the mindset that you need to do check box ECs to get in. Do things you’re interested in, nothing worse than not being genuine.

 

[Chelsea FC]

Current MS1 thinking ahead for residency applications. One of my biggest regrets while applying to medical school was that I had very few truly interesting extracurriculars. Besides the obligatory research, what are some unique ECs that people are participating in during medical school? What kind of activities hold more weight for residency applications?

Depends on the field ur going into. Some care more than others some institutions care more than others. If u have a. interest then do something similar to ur interest so when you are interviewing ur activities match a story and u will more likely to come across better because ur passionate about it

 

[deleted1081396]

Research. Free clinic. Teaching opportunities. Programs love students with teaching experience. Literally all of my interviews have asked about my teaching experiences. So if there are opportunities to be a TA, do it.

 

[calivianya]

Seconding pick something you like. Also, if you had any work experience, put all of it on there.

My interviewers have completely glossed over everything I did in medical school, but I get asked about my jobs at every interview. I worked in multiple fields and made a listing for each field and added in miscellaneous facts (met XYZ celebrity, did XYZ task, liked XYZ feature of the job), and it’s given interviewers a lot of things to ask about.

 

[Ganon]

They don’t seem to care about clubs/orgs etc.

I work with Covid patients part time and that has been discussed at every interview so far. Not everyone can make time to do something like that, but I think it is better to be notable than to be excellent.

 

[Maximus2020]

Curing cancer or HIV, Rank to match guaranteed.

Honest response: Research is the king - not just doing it; rather, publishing and presenting. Consider pursuing a 2nd degree (MA, MS, MBA, MPH) in something you have interest in - sets you apart from the herd of teachers and volunteers.

 

[Cheese Machine]

Crossfit

 

[clozareal]

Lots of bad advice above for those who don't know how to be intentional with their time as you are looking to be.

Here's a post about what you can do to beef up your applications for psychiatry, but you can get an idea of a template that you can generalize to other specialties. Other specialties will have much more of a focus on research, but even deciding how to prioritize what research projects are most appropriate and likely to be productive for a medical student is something to get mentorship on.

how med students can beef up their psychiatry applications

Here are some (not necessary but encouraged) ways to enrich your medical school experience and make yourself more competitive for psychiatry residency. Moreover, these experiences can help position you to more successfully carve out your chosen career path. Ultimately however, board scores...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[IlDestriero]

Figure out what you actually want to spend your limited available time on and do that.
I’d rather hear about someone’s amateur car racing or cave diving trips than about volunteering at the free clinic, weekend vaccine clinics, lame poster presentations, etc.
You are who you are. The time for checking bogus boxes and pretending to be interested in primary care in rural America, or whatever is over, unless of course you are.

 

[operaman]

Good advice above. Generally speaking you can focus more on things that actually interest you. There’s little to no value in amassing lists of meaningless clubs and volunteer positions, a stark contrast from pre Med days.

That said, there’s something to be said for the overall size of your CV and having nearly nothing on it isn’t good either. Find things that actually interest you and give some time to those and you should be fine.

You’re right that research is king though.