Worth going to AAN conference as a med student?

[deleted978973]

OMS2 here. Anyone gone as a 2nd or 3rd year? I think I've heard that there's a med student section there on certain days... Is it a section with booths for PDs and their programs?

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[BlueBleck]

I know you're mainly asking for M2-3 experiences, but I'm an M3 and I went as an M1.

I didn't attend the med student section, but in retrospect, I wish I did. They had a whole program including round robin PD speed dating. They had a poster session. And I met a few residents randomly that gave me their cards without asking (so nice!).

If you do go this year, unfortunately, I think the scholarships deadline is over (but check anyways, I might be wrong). If you go next year, be sure to apply for those scholarships. The majority of non-local med students were being supported by them.

 

[deleted978973]

I know you're mainly asking for M2-3 experiences, but I'm an M3 and I went as an M1.

I didn't attend the med student section, but in retrospect, I wish I did. They had a whole program including round robin PD speed dating. They had a poster session. And I met a few residents randomly that gave me their cards without asking (so nice!).

If you do go this year, unfortunately, I think the scholarships deadline is over (but check anyways, I might be wrong). If you go next year, be sure to apply for those scholarships. The majority of non-local med students were being supported by them.

What all do they have in the med student section? I'd assume booths with PDs and residents sitting at them but is that it? Is it every day of the conference? The speed dating thing sounds... intimidating. Is it just you asking them questions or is it like a mini-interview? Because if it's that I definitely don't trust myself not to be awkward and make a bad impression lol

 

[BlueBleck]

What all do they have in the med student section?

Wish I knew more. I didn't attend the student track. I just attended lectures that I thought would be interesting.

Is it every day of the conference?

IIRC, the bulk of the medical student program was in 2 days. But students were welcome to almost every lecture.

The speed dating thing sounds... intimidating. Is it just you asking them questions or is it like a mini-interview?

It'd be hard to be more awkward than me. So I think you'll be fine!

And it's definitely not a serious thing where they'd grill you. They're just making themselves available for questions. So if you're curious about your competitiveness, you can ask if they consider DOs. If you're wondering about how to judge residencies, you can ask what they think makes a solid training experience.

I haven't really looked at the program for the meeting this year. Maybe the med student track was a one year thing. No idea. But in either case, you can always stalk out 2-3 people you'd like to meet, like PDs from programs you're interested in, and see if they can spare 5 minutes for some questions. (that's actually advice I got from an AAN meeting session on networking haha).

Advice I got from a resident: If you can make the trip, and want to spice up your application a bit, it would definitely not hurt to attend a meeting to demonstrate interest.

 

[Alkain]

With my luck I’ll go say hi to a PD and immediate start getting pimped on neuroanatomy.