No Extracurriculars so far as a OMS-2. What can I do?

[Puligoat]

Hello everyone! I recently started my second year at a D.O. school located in the midwest. During my first year of medical school, I was too focused on studying for exams and totally neglected joining any clubs or any other extracurricular activities, and I feel like I have put myself in a huge disadvantage, considering that my residency application will look pretty empty if I let this continue.

Is there still any extracurriculars that I can do before I graduate in 2026, and will I have time to still build a competitive residency application? Off the top of my head, the specialities I prefer would probably be Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and/or Neurology. I would like some advice please, this has been bothering me for days and has put me down. I have contacted my friends that are in clerkship at my school to get advice, and I would like some here as well. Thank you!

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[DOVinciRobot]

The only extracurricular that actually matters is research.

No one cares how many clubs you joined, this isn’t premed anymore

 

[Puligoat]

The only extracurricular that actually matters is research.

No one cares how many clubs you joined, this isn’t premed anymore

So research is the only thing that matters? What else can I do to build a competitive residency application?

 

[DrZoidbergDO]

So research is the only thing that matters? What else can I do to build a competitive residency application?

Step 2

 

[MDMechEngr]

So research is the only thing that matters? What else can I do to build a competitive residency application?

Be 1st quartile, Honor all rotations, S2-265+, fair amount of quality research, pubs, and presentations at national conferences in your field, LOR from leaders in the field, charismatic and good looks will help.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Large scale volunteering or advocacy actually does help for specialties like psych fm maybe im

Just pretty tough to get enough hours to impress. Research is more efficient though starting M2 isn’t ideal especially if at a school without many faculty that churn out pubs

 

[War of Arts]

Be 1st quartile, Honor all rotations, S2-265+, fair amount of quality research, pubs, and presentations at national conferences in your field, LOR from leaders in the field, charismatic and good looks will help.

My school does not disclose rank now unless top 100 or top 50

 

[djiboutiman]

I'd focus on doing well in all of your classes, making sure you have no failures, and have the ability to pass Step 1/Level 1 first. The specialties you are most interested in are not competitive to get into. However, they would be much harder to get into if you fail something (although not impossible).

If you are targeting academic/prestigious programs then you could use some research involvement. Second year is not late at all to start getting involved in research. If there aren't any good projects at your school then reach out to nearby hospitals, residency programs, other medical schools.

Don't feel limited to research/volunteering as extracurriculars either. Hobbies come up often during residency interviews and are important in showing that you are a real person that they'd want to work with. If you don't have any hobbies right now, try to find something you enjoy doing.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Just do research if you want to do research. The truth is you can match FM, IM and Neuro quite easily without doing anything. Maybe join an interest group just to have some BS in your application. Otherwise, enjoy your life, especially if it's FM

 

[Puligoat]

Hey everyone. Thank you all for the advice!