Hobbies in medical school are essential. Beyond the fact that they keep you sane and allow you the moment to escape stress, they are colossal talking points during interview seasons. If you and the interviewer share the same hobby, it creates a bonding moment and may positively influence your decision to rank that program; or for them to rank you.
My hobbies were great conversations throughout my interview season. They displayed my ability to be a well-rounded applicant and time manage between pre-clinical and clinical rotations, studying and caring for myself, which is vital for residency.
Running
During my second year of medical school, things started to get more stressful, and I began running. Running became my escape for 30 minutes. All I can think about is the music in my ears, the beautiful views I’m looking at (at the time, it was the beautiful beaches and palm trees in Antigua), and of course, my pace. I try to maintain my optimal pace for 30 minutes straight. When I returned to studying, I felt refreshed, energized, and ready to tackle more ANKI, UWORLD, or whatever else was on the to-do list.
I took my hobby of running one step further by signing up for 5KM runs for charities I was passionate about, a 100 KM a month challenge for another charity, and a Sprint Triathlon, including biking and swimming. Most students will have some physical activity or exercise on their resume, but not everyone will take it one step further, and that’s how to differentiate yourself.
I most certainly did not sign up for these activities to put them on my residency application. But when it came time to put my residency application together, I had mentors and residents inform me to add them as they differentiated me from classmates, and well, they were right. It was brought up in almost all of my interviews, and I had plenty of 15-minute interviews talking about running, biking, or how to sustain endurance in a long day!
Biking
I enjoy biking in the summer and challenging myself with long-distance rides. The 84KM bike ride or 40 Mile 5 Boro Bike Tour tested my endurance and ability to not give up on a difficult task that day.
During one of the 84KM bike rides, our bike tires kept deflating; instead of calling someone to pick us up, we continued to find gas stations to fill up our bikes with air fixing the problem, and, most importantly, continuing. It taught me perseverance in a much different way than Medical School did. However, it was another way of expressing my commitment and dedication to the goals I put out for myself, big or small.
Yoga
Yoga has become a vital portion of my life that I took in further steps, but that’ll be shared at a later time. Our bodies are our vehicles; just like cars need gas and rest, we, too, need food and rest. Yoga is a form of stretching out the body and an opportunity to create a moment of self-awareness and reflection. Learning to take deep breaths can go a long way to help you go from a state of sympathetic fight or flight; to parasympathetic rest and digestion.
When asked during interviews, “How do you cope with a difficult day?” I consistently replied, “I participate in a yoga flow or a meditation to ease my mind.” The beauty of completing a meditation is the ability to focus on one thing for a moment and to allow me to breathe.
Baking
Baking, to me, is a way of following a step-by-step recipe, making desserts, and sharing it with friends and colleagues. It became a great talking point during interviews to express my ability to follow instructions and create delicious baked goods as a reward. Although I have had some failed recipes, I tried again and fine-tuned the steps to whip up a sweet dessert.
One of my interviewers had asked me, “What’s one thing I don’t know about you?” I light-heartedly answered, “I like to bake banana bread on Sundays for the week ahead to share with my friends and colleagues if I have ripened bananas.” It created a conversation about how I enjoy baking and finding new recipes.
I also had another interviewer ask me, “Describe a task for me to do from the beginning to end, and pretend I don’t know anything about the topic” I responded, “May I share how to make banana bread?”—and then proceeded to share the recipe from my head with the interviewer in simple terms.
Meal Prepping
The importance of meal prepping throughout medical school was simply eating healthy. If I didn’t meal prep weekly, it would be challenging to cook each and every day after a long day at the hospital, and therefore I would end up eating unhealthily.
My knowledge about meal prep and the variety of easy recipes is a way to encourage my patients to pursue healthy eating habits—the incorporation of all four food groups daily and eating “unhealthy food” in moderation is essential to the primary prevention of many diseases.
Reading
I LOVE reading books about self-growth, habits, productivity, and religious books. It allows me to reflect upon myself, focus and gain knowledge. It’s also a great way to stay off your phone before sleeping. I spoke about this in various interviews by sharing stories of ways I encouraged my patients to reflect upon their unhealthy habits during clinical rotations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I chose Family Medicine to pursue disease prevention and hope to empower my patients to a healthy lifestyle. My daily habits and hobbies have enabled me to live a healthy life, and I hope to encourage my friends and family to live healthier lives and my future patients.
And well, that is how I incorporated my different hobbies into my residency application.
List of Hobbies
Don’t be afraid to TRY something NEW today! You’ll never know if it’ll end up being your hobby.
- Running
- Biking
- Weight Lifting
- Sport Teams
- Skiing
- Snowboarding
- Kayaking
- Video Games
- Gardening
- Cooking
- Baking
- Reading
- Traveling
- Painting
- Knitting
- Dancing
- Pottery
- Journaling
- Writing
- Visiting Museums
- Marketing