What constitutes a leadership position?

[PreMedStudent55555]

I've recently realized that I don't have a single leadership position yet as a Sophomore so I wanted to ask what constitutes a leadership position. According to AAMC, it's one of the most important extracurricular activities I should have but does that mean they want me to become president of a club or become a tutor for students because I've been lurking around the forums and being president of a club pretty much constitutes throwing pizza parties so... What constitutes as a extracurricular activity?

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[Lawpy]

Leadership can be anything dealing with supervising, training, and guiding other groups of people. They don't have to be formal positions, as activities like training new volunteers at a hospital can be considered leadership. Tutoring is considered a teaching experience, but directing tutors to follw shifts, setting up tutoring hours, acting as a liasion with supporting academic departments and providing tutoring guides are all considered leadership.

Serving as a president at a club but doing useless things like organizing pizza parties is not meaningful nor worthwhile. You need to be productive and take initiative. Organize events to promote your group, set up networking opportunities, and collabrate with academic departments related to your club.

 

[Turkishking]

I've recently realized that I don't have a single leadership position yet as a Sophomore so I wanted to ask what constitutes a leadership position. According to AAMC, it's one of the most important extracurricular activities I should have but does that mean they want me to become president of a club or become a tutor for students because I've been lurking around the forums and being president of a club pretty much constitutes throwing pizza parties so... What constitutes as a extracurricular activity?

 

[LizzyM]

I've recently realized that I don't have a single leadership position yet as a Sophomore so I wanted to ask what constitutes a leadership position. According to AAMC, it's one of the most important extracurricular activities I should have but does that mean they want me to become president of a club or become a tutor for students because I've been lurking around the forums and being president of a club pretty much constitutes throwing pizza parties so... What constitutes as a extracurricular activity?

Citation?

 

[Lawpy]

Citation?

They are probably referring to the AAMC survey on adcom preferences

Leadership is listed as highest priority

 

[Goro]

Go to the U UT SOM Web page. They have a very good definition if leadership.

I've recently realized that I don't have a single leadership position yet as a Sophomore so I wanted to ask what constitutes a leadership position. According to AAMC, it's one of the most important extracurricular activities I should have but does that mean they want me to become president of a club or become a tutor for students because I've been lurking around the forums and being president of a club pretty much constitutes throwing pizza parties so... What constitutes as a extracurricular activity?

 

[LizzyM]

Go to the U UT SOM Web page. They have a very good definition if leadership.

Leadership

Leadership is defined as a position of responsibility for others, with a purpose to guide or direct others. Dedication, determination, ability to make decisions and a willingness to contribute to the welfare of others are indicators of one's ability to succeed in medicine. Individuals with these characteristics readily accept positions of leadership and are an asset to their community and profession. Leadership capacity can be demonstrated in a variety of ways. Positions in employment, church, the community, and school organizations including coaching, tutoring, and mentoring will satisfy this requirement.

• The minimum leadership requirement is one leadership experience lasting three months within the last four years.
• The average applicant has three different leadership experiences each lasting three months within the last four years.

That's U UT's definition. It is fine as far as it goes but it would not be my definition. That said, I put less emphasis on "leadership" and more on "teamwork". I'm looking more at how you relate to peers and if you work well with others and, perhaps, lead a team of peers, but leading second graders through the times tables would not be leadership in my book.

 

[ScottTenorman54]

The beautiful thing about med school apps is that unlike college apps, having a flashy title like "president" or "sergeant-at-arms" earned via popularity contest isn't nearly as important anymore.

I may still be a bit salty about losing my HS Key Club VP election.

 

[Nomtastic]

It doesn't have to have a flashy title for it to be considered leadership (i.e. President, Founder, etc.) It's about what you did/ the impact you had/ how you write about it on your AMCAS.

 

[PreMedStudent55555]

Are you sure that's the case because I have the book and it doesn't mention that? It states that they were received similar importance ratings and made no mention of ranking them in the sections? Regardless this is going off-topic but if you get the chance to verify that for me I'd appreciate it.

These are also in ranked order, so leadership is behind healthcare experience, community service/volunteer experience, experience with underserved populations, and navigated thru cultural barriers or challenges.

 

[deleted801953]

Woah!!

It's in the table last sentence of footnote 1

"Variables are ordered by overall mean importance rating."

 

[PreMedStudent55555]

I thought that was referring to how they organized the table into different groups based on the range of importance ratings that certain criteria were placed under but you're probably right. Thanks for pointing it out. Nice to know that I shouldn't feel too sad if I lose the popularity contest for my premed club election.