Essay contest that won a prize - where to put on eras.

[crunchywhit]

Well known national contest. Could this be an "other article" on Pubs or just an entry under the other achievements?

also does work experience un-related to medicine that began during college and was continued during time off (summer M1 year). I'm talking waiting tables.

Thanks y'all.

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[soccer1693]

Well known national contest. Could this be an "other article" on Pubs or just an entry under the other achievements?

also does work experience un-related to medicine that began during college and was continued during time off (summer M1 year). I'm talking waiting tables.

Thanks y'all.

My vote is add it to the publications only if it was actually published (IE essay contest winner gets published in JAMA or whatever other fancy journals exist).

And as far as the waiting tables, don't add it. I had a lot of those things during/after college and med school and didn't include it.
General rule of thumb I was told is that if you don't actively think it will help people understand you/your motivations and you don't want to spend 1/4 of your interview discussing it, don't include it.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Probably would put it under "Awards/honors/etc." Not a publication.

I tend to think there *is* value in having had a job with a paycheck, even if not medicine related. So I tend to recommend including it unless you have other work experiences that are more relevant and you don't want to bury them under less relevant things--which doesn't sound like it applies to you. Not everyone agrees with me, though, and it's almost certainly not make-or-break no matter what you do. If you do put it, I would not worry about someone bringing it up in an interview.

 

[crunchywhit]

10-4 on the eras question. I feel most comfortable with that approach.

I was in a situation that I worked nearly full-time from age 15 until starting medical school, and then as much as I could during medical school because I'm from a family where my parents didn't go to college and it was financially necessary. So for me, I find it relevant because it has weight on the path that I've had in applying to residency. Plus, I think that working blue-collar jobs has taught me more about time-management, working with people, and resolving conflict, than any other experience in my life. Would that be a reasonable response in an interview setting if I did move to include it as an experience and was then asked about it?

I do have more relevant "work experience"... undergrad/grad/postdoc paid research fellowships. But to me, that's not the same thing. My job was a function of the degree/certificate that I was working towards.

Haha well I don't know- I'm over here waiting on the email for CK too. I just figure that it might be a pretty analogous process to getting a score report for CS, which I got a couple months ago. And from an email search, I found that I got the email at 10:30 that my score would be available after 11 am.

Probably would put it under "Awards/honors/etc." Not a publication.

I tend to think there *is* value in having had a job with a paycheck, even if not medicine related. So I tend to recommend including it unless you have other work experiences that are more relevant and you don't want to bury them under less relevant things--which doesn't sound like it applies to you. Not everyone agrees with me, though, and it's almost certainly not make-or-break no matter what you do. If you do put it, I would not worry about someone bringing it up in an interview.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I was in a situation that I worked nearly full-time from age 15 until starting medical school, and then as much as I could during medical school because I'm from a family where my parents didn't go to college and it was financially necessary. So for me, I find it relevant because it has weight on the path that I've had in applying to residency. Plus, I think that working blue-collar jobs has taught me more about time-management, working with people, and resolving conflict, than any other experience in my life. Would that be a reasonable response in an interview setting if I did move to include it as an experience and was then asked about it?

I agree, and that's why I'd put it. Not everyone would probably agree. Only you can decide what's best.