The story of Canadian Olympian and Paralympian Brian McKeever has touch many during the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. He was the first ever to qualify for both the Olympic games and Paralympic games, but at the last minute, the Olympic skiing couch decided that Brian has a smaller chance in winning than his teammates, so he did not get to race.
If you were Brian's friend, what would you do when he found out he couldn't race in the Olympic games? You knew that his Paralympic games would take place 2 weeks after the Olympics.
Monday, March 15, 2010
[MMI prompt] Senior's driving right
Statistics have shown that effects of advanced age such as changes in vision and response time may adversely affect elderly drivers' ability to drive safely. As a matter of fact, many doctors discuss the issue of stopping driving with their older patients as a precaution for the safety of theirs as well as the public's.
Do you think older drivers have to give up driving when they reach a certain age?
Do you think older drivers have to give up driving when they reach a certain age?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Non academic score
I received the following question from a reader:
This question is probably of interest to some more of you, so I'll jog down some of my thoughts on this topic.
First, before I try to answer this big question, let me say this: NAQ score is very important for some schools, so good for you for wanting to work on it! A friend of mine who applied with me last year had a stunning GPA (~95%) and MCAT (~40), which were much better than my slightly-above-average academic record, but his NAQ was quite lacking. He didn't volunteer or join clubs or such. The only thing he could write about was playing on an intramural sports team. As a result, he did not even get an interview at some particular schools. (Although he had no trouble getting into some other ones, which are said to focus more heavily on academics.)
Tip 1: find your passion
Now, I believe that people do well when they do what's interesting to them, not when they are trying to impress someone or ramp up a mysterious score that no one knows much about. Once they focus their energy on the things that they enjoy, what's left is just the presentation of their experiences on paper. Of course, they can probably pull it off when they do something that's not their biggest passion, but when it's time to write about their experiences, it would be difficult for them to compete, on paper, with others who did the same stuff with real passion.
Of course, I don't mean if your passion is watching TV, you should watch TV all day. Watching House does not count as showing passion for medicine. What I mean is, if you enjoy working with kids, you should volunteer/work for a summer camp rather than in a hospital. If you enjoy community projects, you shouldn't force yourself to stay in a lab. If you enjoy soccer, play it till you are at the highest level of competition you'd like to be. Don't try to guess what the admission committee wants. Know what you want.
Tip 2: be referenceable
You pretty much need a reference for anything you say on the application. If you like jogging, join a group. Better, lead a team at a jogging event/fundraiser. If you like a sport, play on a team. If you are into arts/music, then join a club, win a competition, or do a project that involves your talent. If the only person knows what you did is your mom, it could be difficult to use on an application.
Tip 3: know your weakness and work on it
It's no a secret what categories each med school is looking for. Some common items include: community services, leadership, extracurricular experiences such as arts and sports. Some schools may actually specifically ask for experiences in rural or aboriginal communities especially if the provincial climate demands it.
There is a lot of room to interpret each heading, and not all headings need to be filled. But if you find yourself severely lacking in many of these categories, perhaps you should consider strengthening them. In general, a good balance between school work, community service, research, sports, creative pursuits, etc. would only work to your benefit.
So, if you feel that the tips above are nice and all, but completely useless because you only have 6 months to finish your application, here's
Tip 4: sell yourself like you mean it
There is no room to down play the significance of your experiences. No matter how you might feel about them (I always feel shamefully inadequate whenever I have to write an application or a resume), you must present your stuff with confidence and passion. Don't just list what you did, describe how well you did or what you've learned. Use specific examples to back up what you claim. If you learned the importance of empathy, how did you learn this? If you thrived in the face of great challenge, how did you do that?
Tip 5: get help if you need it
It's worthwhile to have your application/resume/essay reviewed by someone with an objective eye. Friends and family are a good start, but sometimes you need a Simon Cowell to get the job done. I've worked with the Career Services at my school before as a resume reviewer, and I know they offer phenomenal help students in terms of career advise and resume review. I'm sure other schools have similar services. If you have a mentor in a professional field/academia/industry/or wherever else who can speak to reviewing an application, feel free to ask them for their advise as well.
In terms of the last question regarding my naq activities, let me just say that I am not a varsity athelete, I'm not musically or artistically talented. I have no publications, and I haven't volunteered outside my community. I'm just a regular guy doing regular things. But I'm happy to say, more often than not, I do them with a passion :)
any tips for getting a high naq score?
my naq activities include :
- 2 publications (student journal + canadian pharmacist journal)
- med ssrp (summer research)
- clinical work (pharmacy student at shoppers drug mart)
- played soccer for 10 years (community soccer)
- old folks' home volunteering
- ...i go to the gym...
cheers, [sender]
what were your naq activities?
This question is probably of interest to some more of you, so I'll jog down some of my thoughts on this topic.
First, before I try to answer this big question, let me say this: NAQ score is very important for some schools, so good for you for wanting to work on it! A friend of mine who applied with me last year had a stunning GPA (~95%) and MCAT (~40), which were much better than my slightly-above-average academic record, but his NAQ was quite lacking. He didn't volunteer or join clubs or such. The only thing he could write about was playing on an intramural sports team. As a result, he did not even get an interview at some particular schools. (Although he had no trouble getting into some other ones, which are said to focus more heavily on academics.)
Tip 1: find your passion
Now, I believe that people do well when they do what's interesting to them, not when they are trying to impress someone or ramp up a mysterious score that no one knows much about. Once they focus their energy on the things that they enjoy, what's left is just the presentation of their experiences on paper. Of course, they can probably pull it off when they do something that's not their biggest passion, but when it's time to write about their experiences, it would be difficult for them to compete, on paper, with others who did the same stuff with real passion.
Of course, I don't mean if your passion is watching TV, you should watch TV all day. Watching House does not count as showing passion for medicine. What I mean is, if you enjoy working with kids, you should volunteer/work for a summer camp rather than in a hospital. If you enjoy community projects, you shouldn't force yourself to stay in a lab. If you enjoy soccer, play it till you are at the highest level of competition you'd like to be. Don't try to guess what the admission committee wants. Know what you want.
Tip 2: be referenceable
You pretty much need a reference for anything you say on the application. If you like jogging, join a group. Better, lead a team at a jogging event/fundraiser. If you like a sport, play on a team. If you are into arts/music, then join a club, win a competition, or do a project that involves your talent. If the only person knows what you did is your mom, it could be difficult to use on an application.
Tip 3: know your weakness and work on it
It's no a secret what categories each med school is looking for. Some common items include: community services, leadership, extracurricular experiences such as arts and sports. Some schools may actually specifically ask for experiences in rural or aboriginal communities especially if the provincial climate demands it.
There is a lot of room to interpret each heading, and not all headings need to be filled. But if you find yourself severely lacking in many of these categories, perhaps you should consider strengthening them. In general, a good balance between school work, community service, research, sports, creative pursuits, etc. would only work to your benefit.
So, if you feel that the tips above are nice and all, but completely useless because you only have 6 months to finish your application, here's
Tip 4: sell yourself like you mean it
There is no room to down play the significance of your experiences. No matter how you might feel about them (I always feel shamefully inadequate whenever I have to write an application or a resume), you must present your stuff with confidence and passion. Don't just list what you did, describe how well you did or what you've learned. Use specific examples to back up what you claim. If you learned the importance of empathy, how did you learn this? If you thrived in the face of great challenge, how did you do that?
Tip 5: get help if you need it
It's worthwhile to have your application/resume/essay reviewed by someone with an objective eye. Friends and family are a good start, but sometimes you need a Simon Cowell to get the job done. I've worked with the Career Services at my school before as a resume reviewer, and I know they offer phenomenal help students in terms of career advise and resume review. I'm sure other schools have similar services. If you have a mentor in a professional field/academia/industry/or wherever else who can speak to reviewing an application, feel free to ask them for their advise as well.
In terms of the last question regarding my naq activities, let me just say that I am not a varsity athelete, I'm not musically or artistically talented. I have no publications, and I haven't volunteered outside my community. I'm just a regular guy doing regular things. But I'm happy to say, more often than not, I do them with a passion :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)