Work Related ECs...

[vpersan]

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Where I work I am the head of two committees/groups. One is a women's leadership forum where we develop leadership skills of female employees as well as reaching out to the females in need in the community (women's shelters and such). The other is an employee engagement committee that is geared towards reducing turnover by increasing employee engagement. We plan activities for employees as well as community involvement activities. I work closely with a few schools and organizations in the area. I always partake in these volunteer opportunities but I'm curious if my role as the leader of these committees will be useful on med school applications. I spend a lot of time outside of work organizing these events and it's eating into my clinical volunteer opportunities. Next semester I'm planning to work full time while going to school full time and volunteering at the children's hospital. In order to fit everything in I will most likely have to hand over the responsibilities of these two committees to someone else at work. I would like to stay on as the leader, especially if it will help my med school apps. I don't do it just because I want it to look good on an application. I enjoy the work and I love to see how grateful people in need can be even with the smallest amount of help. But, I don't want to kill myself trying to fit everything in if it's not going to help. I still plan to take part in the volunteering whenever I can regardless of my leadership of these committees.

So I guess my real question is this: does it look good for me to lead these committees even though they are both work related?

 

[LizzyM]

In the adcom we are asking ourselves, would this person be a good addition to our community? We want people who are altruistic and willing to serve others, who have an informed interest in medicine as a career, a curiosity about the world and who have engaged in scientific inquiry, and who get along well with others and who can lead a group with a common purpose.

Now, in general, things that you do in the workplace outside of your usual duties should go in the EC section separately and indicate the number of hours per week above & beyond your usual work hours (don't double count work hours & committee service hours). Describe the activies. I think that they really added another dimension to your experiences on the job and point to someone who would be an asset to the med school community (the kind of person willing to organize a softball team or a movie night, etc).

 

[Catalystik]

So I guess my real question is this: does it look good for me to lead these committees even though they are both work related?

Leadership activities are definitely valued in the med school application process. If I were you I would list your employment and leadership separately so you can highlight the latter, though in a way they are a single activity (it's OK to do this). One aspect of leadership is the ability to delegate responsibility, so exercizing this is perfectly acceptable to give yourself more time to fit in the other expected extracurriculars.

 

[vpersan]

Thanks for the replies 🙂