Extracurriculars besides pubs

[Guest]

im going to begin medical school soon and was wondering what is needed in terms of extracurriculars for NS. In order to get into med school I needed research, clinical experience , nonclincal experience, etc. what is needed in order to match neurosurgery besides grades, test scores, LORs,etc. basically what I’m asking is: what do I need to do in terms of extracurriculars in order to successfully match? Do I just need to work on research and pubs?

[Guest]

Did have a few questions on the trail about leadership and volunteering but shouldn't hurt you if you don't have them. You should have time to volunteer at your student run clinic or get an officer position in your AANS interest group.

[Guest]

So going into med school what should be my extracurricular goals? Research, pubs, student run clinic, AANS....?

[Guest]

There is only one correct answer: softball.

[Guest]

You shouldn't need to use extracurriculars as a check box. People ask you about these for residency purposes not because anyone cares that you were an officer in some med student organization (no one cares), but to see if you have any legitimately interesting aspects of your life outside of neurosurgery. Because they will potentially spend 7 years with you... So I wouldn't focus on just finding extracurriculars because it might look good on a resume, but find interests you might have for your own sake. Also, softball actually isn't a bad interest to have, people get really competitive with that tournament.

[Guest]

Would someone be able to give an example of their extracurriculars including pubs/research?

[Guest]

How many hours a week does someone looking to do NS spend on research?

[Guest]

(06-05-2020, 10:31 AM)Guest Wrote: There is only one correct answer: softball.

Haha, seriously, not wrong on this.

Do research, publications, quality and quantity both matter.

Do one thing you’re interested in genuinely, not as a #HarveyJunior robot, just something that makes you whole. And I don’t mean be a social media editor.

[Guest]

(06-05-2020, 05:07 PM)Guest Wrote:

(06-05-2020, 10:31 AM)Guest Wrote: There is only one correct answer: softball.

Haha, seriously, not wrong on this.

Do research, publications, quality and quantity both matter.

Do one thing you’re interested in genuinely, not as a #HarveyJunior robot, just something that makes you whole. And I don’t mean be a social media editor.

Social media editors = those kids in the front of the class reminding the teacher she forgot to give homework

[Guest]

Before I caught the neurosurgery bug I was pretty heavily involved in business/entrepreneurship/etc. I started a med-tech company that is surgery related (not neurosurgery though; still in early stages but is up and running) and have invested in life science as a VC. Is this something I should put on my app? I wasn't sure for fear that programs will think I might leave in the middle of residency to pursue industry for whatever reason.