resume Q

having just went through the interviewing process, no one really cares about that stuff. stats (step 1 and aoa status) will get you the interview.

once there, the interviews are usually about where you did your aways at, your letters of rec (if they know the guy who wrote it), your research, any interesting hobbies you have, and of course: 'what questions do you have for me?'. amsa membership and tutoring really dont fit in there. having those on your CV will never hurt you and pursue them if you truly enjoy them but unless the activity is really unique or interesting it will never get noticed or mentioned.

*also, find out if your school's aoa chapter considers the activities you mentioned when electing members (my school looks purely at rank and clinical grades). if they do highly consider these extra-circs when making their decision, then stick with it provided your grades stay high. otherwise, dont sweat it.

as an ms2, find the most famous ortho guy in your school and get in good with him, your goals being = stellar letter of rec and submittable research . and for sure keep your stats up at all costs. drop any or all activities if its cutting into your grades. just my advice based on my experience.

while I respect that jules may have had a different interview experience than I just had, I couldn't disagree more.

yes, all the B.S. that was mentioned ("where did you do you aways?") of course gets brought up. this is a given, but rarely do these topics lead to any kind of meaningful discussion. some of the best conversations I had on my interviews dealt with my extracurriculars, especially those in which I participated during my M1 and M2 years. even some things I did as a high school student were brought up. the sentiment that these activities "will never get noticed or mentioned" is misleading and untrue, in my opinion.

I agree that you shouldn't spread yourself too thin. don't sacrifice your academic performance for the sake of myriad extracurriculars. at the same time, please don't let yourself become some AOA-mongering individual who becomes one-dimensional because of some idea of what "residency directors want to see."

as a ms2, you should focus on learning what you need to become a good doctor. of course, do some shadowing/research in ortho if you want, but realize that your goal should be to learn the pathophysiology that is necessary to become an excellent physician. not only will this help you to score well on step 1, but you'll be a much better clinician as a result (regardless of the field you ultimately choose). your experience with ortho will come mostly during your 4th year. this is true for most everyone, and you will not be at a disadvantage.

there's more to life than tests. there's more to your career than AOA. spend the extra hour here and there doing some tutoring or participating in student leadership. take a night off and play some IM broom ball or basketball with your classmates. go talk to some high school kids about what fascinates you about your education. relax on a saturday night and pound some brews. whatever.

you'll do fine. keep up with your classes, do what interests you, and stop worrying about what some application reviewer will think two years from now. you'll thank yourself, I promise.

i totally agree with everything that gocubbies just said. maybe this was not apparent in my earlier post. my most enjoyable interviews were all about my hobbies and interests, too. im pretty sure the original poster knows the importance of not being a tool, being well-rounded, etc. this is all common sense stuff. i was just trying to give him/her some specifics.

i feel putting in time/energy into amsa secretary or whatever is not time well spent unless you happen to love being an amsa secretary. especially if you overload your plate with bland activities like that (gocubbies, im pretty sure the extra-currics you talked about with your interviewers were not med school clubs). that being said, the things you really do like to do, you should do them in order to remain a sane and normal person, regardless if a PD notices or not--obviously no argument there.

i do stand by my original suggestions which are: to find a well known ortho faculty to advise you early on--this will help come time for letters of rec and get involved with research if given a chance--this shows your commitment to the field. waiting till 4th year to do this may add unnecessary stress. also aoa does help. so finding out the selection criteria is beneficial as it can open doors. of course you can match without doing any of these things and many people do, but i feel they are helpful and worthwhile pursuing. (learning how to be a good clinician and understanding pathophysiology is of course worthwhile pursuing, i just felt that it went without saying.)

just do not downplay the importance of academics as ortho is a competitive speciality, that is the reality. the rest of gocubbies advice is very relevant and helpful and i completely agree with it. just wanted to clear up my previous post as i can now see how it could be misleading.

Hey all.

I'm a resident at a big northeast program. Relaxing is fun, but ortho programs want good doctors, and by good doctors I mean top numbers, top research, top extracurriculars, top personalities. We don't want some tool who should have been in pathology JAOA who can't bench a gnat, but we also don't want some super tool who is a questionable med school admission who feels he/she can make up for their academic shortcomings by listing the number of times they've watched Patch Adams in the past week on their resume.

Good doctors know their stuff, are cool to be around, and rock it out in intramurals (and with the undergrads afterwards). Wannabes sit around dreaming of ortho while secretly attending the family practice interest group as their backup.



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BoneHard
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Bonehard,

It's ironic you should mention "tools" in your post. You seem to imply that they are unlikely to match into ortho. It seems at least one has.
Oh well, I guess one slips through the cracks every now and then.

I love sports as much as the next guy, but not every orthopod needs or is an "intramural superstar" like you. (kind of an oxymoron isn't it?) Sorry, didn't mean to use such a big word around such a "jock" like you.

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That is hilarious, but in all seriousness.

I think what got me in was the fact that with my maximized improved fireball, my level 13 wizard leads usally leads the kill count in Dungeons & Dragons Online.

Ortho is looking for the UberL33t.

just reading through bonehard's posts in numerous threads is quite enlightening....this dude (or dudette...u never know) is an absolute idiot.....to think u might be sitting next to him at the next academy meeting......

i am guessing his intramural skills didnt come up on the interview trail at all...nor did his ability to bench press a gnat or whatever the hell he is mumbling.......and to my knowledge, being a Division I athlete got me the undergrads, not being a intramural flag football "superstar".......

god bless him though, that he stills wakes up every morning and is convinced he is a going to be one of the "Good doctors (who) know(s) their stuff"