Undergrad Work, does it matter anymore?

[Dr. Van Helsing]

I’m starting school in the fall and was just wondering if along the way through med school, residency, fellowship, etc. if you’re ever required to submit an undergrad transcript again or if any extracurriculars that you may have done in undergrad are ever brought up again. Thanks!

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[LebronManning]

College transcript won't ever come up again, but very significant extracurriculars could be brought up during residency applications if still relevant or continued and obviously any research publications.

 

[Stagg737]

I’m starting school in the fall and was just wondering if along the way through med school, residency, fellowship, etc. if you’re ever required to submit an undergrad transcript again or if any extracurriculars that you may have done in undergrad are ever brought up again. Thanks!

Idr if you have to submit the transcript (if so, no one cares about grades, just that you graduated). You can have EC's and research brought up though. I played a sport at a very high level and at 2 interviews I ended up talking with faculty about it. Also had a PD ask about a healthcare related job I held during med school at a residency interview. This will vary based on field though and in my field a lot of interviews were just conversations about what we did outside of medicine/what we wanted to do. So hobbies and past experiences came up frequently.

 

[Dr. Van Helsing]

Ok cool was just curious. Maybe some other people were wondering about this too...

 

[atomi]

Not in medicine. When you apply for residency, you use a common application called ERAS. You are not required to submit your undergrad transcripts for ERAS.

Basically, once you get into med school, you start over. Then you start over again ad infinitum. Residencies will look at what you did in med school. Fellowships will look at what you did in residency, and academic jobs will look at what you did in fellowship. If you want to move to a new institution, they will look at what you did in your old institution.

For dental residencies, I have heard there are some that do look at undergrad transcripts.

 

[Dr. Van Helsing]

Thats a breath of fresh air for me. I guess I just want to get this off my chest... My undergrad grades sucked, they are embarrassing, and I was a sob story applicant long story short. Im not going to go into details, about my personal life, but my story was justified. I will say that I stepped up and did very well on the MCAT, particularly in the biochem section. I am really fortunate to have been given an opportunity at a school who saw something in me. I was accepted the day after my interview. Maybe I just happened to make a good impression on the right person? I’m just glad that I can have a fresh start and dont have to have this overbearing cloud follow me around anymore. From someone working at a 40k a year blue collar job currently, everyone on here, regardless of medical profession, should be grateful for their opportunity to have a great and well paying career. Live long and prosper

 

[Mike Bagwell]

I know of an IM program on the East Coast that asked for the undergrad transcripts of a friend. That is NOT the norm but it does show you how competitive residency can become.

ERAS does not require that you submit undergraduate transcripts or EC's so you should go into medical school with the understanding that you are essentially hitting a reset button and you are going to be evaluated from day 1 of medical school going forward to residency.

 

[atomi]

Thats a breath of fresh air for me. I guess I just want to get this off my chest... My undergrad grades sucked, they are embarrassing

From someone working at a 40k a year blue collar job currently, everyone on here, regardless of medical profession, should be grateful for their opportunity to have a great and well paying career. Live long and prosper

Congrats. Go forward realizing that the mistakes you made in undergrad would be fatal if you made them in med school. You cannot get behind in med school, period. You will need to be much, much more disciplined. Sounds like you already know this.
Keep your eyes on the prize, the time goes by fast, and before you know it you'll be making 400k/year instead of 40k/year.

 

[Rachapkis]

Thats a breath of fresh air for me. I guess I just want to get this off my chest... My undergrad grades sucked, they are embarrassing, and I was a sob story applicant long story short. Im not going to go into details, about my personal life, but my story was justified. I will say that I stepped up and did very well on the MCAT, particularly in the biochem section. I am really fortunate to have been given an opportunity at a school who saw something in me. I was accepted the day after my interview. Maybe I just happened to make a good impression on the right person? I’m just glad that I can have a fresh start and dont have to have this overbearing cloud follow me around anymore. From someone working at a 40k a year blue collar job currently, everyone on here, regardless of medical profession, should be grateful for their opportunity to have a great and well paying career. Live long and prosper

Survive and advance, baby. Congrats, you've made it.

 

[Raryn]

College transcript won't ever come up again, but very significant extracurriculars could be brought up during residency applications if still relevant or continued and obviously any research publications.

I will quibble a little bit.

There exist a tiny handful of insane residency programs that ask for things like undergraduate transcript. From what I recall (it's been a long time), some people applying things like Orthopedic or Plastic Surgery had to submit those materials. I think one classmate even mentioned a program asked for his MCAT score.

Yes, it made no sense to me either. I also have no idea how people submit that material, because there's no space for it on ERAS (the residency application).

I will point out there's something like 6000 residency programs+fellowships in the country, so a few program directors requiring that is a drop in the bucket.

Not in medicine. When you apply for residency, you use a common application called ERAS. You are not required to submit your undergrad transcripts for ERAS.

Basically, once you get into med school, you start over. Then you start over again ad infinitum. Residencies will look at what you did in med school. Fellowships will look at what you did in residency, and academic jobs will look at what you did in fellowship. If you want to move to a new institution, they will look at what you did in your old institution.

For dental residencies, I have heard there are some that do look at undergrad transcripts.

Eh, it's not completely start over at the fellowship level. Residencies (other than the crazy ones I mention above) only care about medical school. But fellowships certainly care about both residency and medical school - they get your med school transcript, you still list med school ECs, report your board scores, etc. Not enough people do sufficient meaningful activities in residency only that they could differentiate their application for fellowship.

Academic jobs are a different beast entirely - they don't care about transcripts at all, but your whole CV including every research experience and extracurricular can have an impact.

 

[vaticrunner]

If you are interested in ophthalmology that residency application requires undergrad transcripts alongside medical school transcripts. I don't know how much emphasis is placed on the undergrad work, but they do ask for it.