*~*~*~*Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2013-2014*~*~*~*

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When listing publications, I know that we put a full citation in the description, but under "Experience Name" do I put the title of the paper, or do I put "Publishing a Medical Review" or something along those lines?
 
On the same note, is it necessary or even appropriate to give a reason why you stopped participating in the EC?
 
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I don't think that's necessary. I think people reading just understand that activities take their course. Besides, if they wanted to know, they would ask in the interview. Of course, that's my opinion :)
 
If I was selected for a 6-week internship with a paid stipend, how should I classify it? It was basically me shadowing and observing different physicians and surgical procedures for 40 hours a week over 6 weeks, along with some clerical work in off-time. Would this be a paid employment / medical? Or should I put it as Shadowing and describe it was an internship? Thanks!
 
fontaine said:
If I was selected for a 6-week internship with a paid stipend, how should I classify it? It was basically me shadowing and observing different physicians and surgical procedures for 40 hours a week over 6 weeks, along with some clerical work in off-time. Would this be a paid employment / medical? Or should I put it as Shadowing and describe it was an internship? Thanks!
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shadowing sounds good... what program is this? It sounds cool
 
Jaime Lannister said:
Hi friends! I have two questions:

1. Most of my entries are in paragraph form in complete sentences. However, for some awards/scholarships I want to list, I feel like bulleting would be more effective. Is it frowned upon to have a mix of formats, or would I be able to proceed in bulleted form for that section?

2. Would I classify an article I wrote for a student-run, semesterly publication as a 'Publication' or under 'Other'? Right now, I'm leaning towards 'Other' because it's not in an official journal or whatever.
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1. Do whatever feels natural for you in each section. Adcoms aren't going to look down on you for using different formats, especially if it helps you present yourself better.

2. I'm not sure.

survive5 said:
Hey guys, need help here for the conferences and publications.
How can I group mutiple publications or conferences under one category?Coz it only allows one date per category.

Thanks a lot!
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If the AMCAS is like last year, I would put one date down then in the description list all of your things and date them separately there.

SunsFun said:
Hey guys,

Is it worth listing listing intramural college rugby player as EC if I only played for 2 years due to injury?

Thanks
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Depends on if you got a lot out of it - but adcoms won't look down on you for stopping, if that's your fear. Injury is a perfectly reasonable explanation.

dancer150 said:
When listing publications, I know that we put a full citation in the description, but under "Experience Name" do I put the title of the paper, or do I put "Publishing a Medical Review" or something along those lines?
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I would probably just name it "Publications", or alternatively group it together as "Research and Publications" if you have the space to describe everything and include the citation for your pub.

SunsFun said:
On the same note, is it necessary or even appropriate to give a reason why you stopped participating in the EC?
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No need. I didn't do this and it never came up.

fontaine said:
If I was selected for a 6-week internship with a paid stipend, how should I classify it? It was basically me shadowing and observing different physicians and surgical procedures for 40 hours a week over 6 weeks, along with some clerical work in off-time. Would this be a paid employment / medical? Or should I put it as Shadowing and describe it was an internship? Thanks!
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If you were paid as a part of it, then it goes down as paid employment. Your description can enlighten them to the aspects of it.
 
DEAR MEANINGFUL ESSAYS,

Why are you only 1,325 characters? The delivery of the meaning my experience if hampered by your limitations....

Just saying...

Okay I just wanted to vent... I can't wait to submit this primary..

Love you medical school Amcas peeps. :)
 
tinylilron said:
shadowing sounds good... what program is this? It sounds cool
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It was a program offered by a local hospital. They select 12 people from a range of applicants to participate. They offer it as kind of an incentive for med school hopefuls to possibly return to the hospital's "family" after residency. It was an amazing experience, and I was very lucky to be a part of it!
 
Is there consensus on how many hours to list for a pub, particularly ones that resulted from work done during a full-time job?

I can't decide whether to list 0 or estimate the number of hours I spent specific to that pub. I'm leaning towards 0.
 
Hi, I looked for a similar instance on the thread but couldn't find one.
I worked for a research lab one summer and at the end of the summer I gave a PowerPoint presentation to the whole research department, not just my lab, on what I did over the summer, what I learned, and how I contributed. Is this worth mentioning when writing about this research experience?
 
Thank you!!!


2. I'm not sure.



If the AMCAS is like last year, I would put one date down then in the description list all of your things and date them separately there.
 
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My activity descriptions are all the same.

I was a XXX in YYY which is ZZZ. My responsibilities included AAA, BBB, and CCC. From this experience, I have learned XXX, YYY, ZZZ.

Am I doing something wrong here?
 
Apologies if listed elsewhere in the thread, but I have a question about listing Academic Awards/Honors. I received two different merit scholarships that I wanted to group under one entry, but one was received at the start of undergrad and one during my post bacc, so they obviously weren't awarded on the same date.
a) What should I do about the date?
b) If you are grouping activities in general, then is it ok that you just have ONE contact person?
c) Should I include that I was valedictorian of my high school in this entry, or is that WAY too far back? I wouldn't consider including anything else from that long ago, but it seemed maybe still significant. (I'm a non-trad though, so a good 5 years out of college at this point.)
d) Do I list "0" as the hours for this?

Thank you!!!
 
If I tutored/mentored disadvantaged college students through an organization within the school could I list it as community service/volunteer non-medical?
 
So... I did around 60 hours of physician shadowing several years ago. However, the spreadsheet that had all of the relevant information was lost when my last harddrive crashed. I contacted the education coordinator at the hospital, but they don't seem to have records of the shadowing assignments from so far back.

Any thoughts on how to proceed?
 
Ugh, I found 3 typos in my Activity section, I did a final edit before submitting at 5 in the morning and must have overlooked them. How detrimental will this be, two of them were in the same section.
I wrote "... in priority in priority...." and used the wrong spelling of there (their lol)

In another one, I accidentally made a word plural (tasks) because it use to have two aspects, but I deleted one and forgot to change to singular :/ UGH
 
AMCAS is deleting all the spaces between my paragraphs when I preview my work/activities. Did anyone else have this problem? They show up in the text boxes themselves but not on the summary page.

I wrote everything as paragraphs so it's not the worst thing in the world but some things, like citations, i wanted apart.
 
SN12357 said:
AMCAS is deleting all the spaces between my paragraphs when I preview my work/activities. Did anyone else have this problem? They show up in the text boxes themselves but not on the summary page.

I wrote everything as paragraphs so it's not the worst thing in the world but some things, like citations, i wanted apart.
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Print your app to PDF from the main page and see how the formatting looks there. I've already submitted by app already but I think as long as your paragraphs are visible on the PDF printout you're fine. I don't think the summary pages retain hard enters.
 
Is it ok to pick three most meaningful activities that we also talk about in our personal statement? Will it be redundant or just show consistency in our application? TIA!
 
What's the general consensus on listing various one-day volunteer activities? I want to group mine in one activity. I'll list contact info for people who can verify my participation, but some activities are a few years old, and I'm not sure if they will even remember. Are adcoms likely to contact them?
 
I've been trying to go through this thread to make sure nothing like this has been posted and didn't see anything exactly like this, but i apologize if this has been asked already

1. During High School I went on two community service trips to Nicaragua and I listed this as a meaningful experience--It led to a continued interest in community service and was a major learning experience---is it okay to list something from high school as meaningful or should I not include this?

2. Also In 2008 I went to this Youth Leadership Forum thing about Medicine--it was a 9 day thing at Georgetown where we went to a bunch of seminars/lectures at the Georgetown med school, and also were allowed in the OR for two surgeries...I wasn't originally going to put this--but it was the definitive moment I decided I wanted to try to go to medschool--do you think this is important to put even though it's from a while ago? Also since I already have the above high school experience put down, would putting this one add too many experiences from too long ago?

Thanks a lot
 
I currently have 4 empty spots to put in more activities---I was a nanny for a 13 month old, and a math tutor for the 12 year old. The grandma who had severe dementia also lived at home, and once a week, when the nurses aide was off from work, I would help feed and bathe her and give her medication...Is this worth putting in? Should I class this as Paid employment--not medical?
 
If I presented an abstract that I was listed as 1st author and mention it in my research activity do i need to make a separate activity box for it as well?
 
I've read a number of the past posts as well as used the search function but I am still a little uncertain on the best way to approach my work activities. Perhaps the most similar situation to mine is Tinylilron.

I received my masters a year ago and have been working as a research coordinator ever since. I have participated in research of various directions and concerning different clinical conditions for over three years. From this I have been the primary author on one publication and a coauthor on five others. I have presented 18 abstracts as posters at various regional and national conferences, two abstracts of which are published. Thus, the creation of my conundrum.

I obviously have several categories as "options" - research, publications, posters, and conferences. Following the format for "research" given by Gonnif on page 7 of this thread I would describe the research and then list my abstracts/posters/publications associated with the research discussed. 1) Is it a mortal sin to then put these abstracts/posters/publications in more detail in their own category selections or is this the correct way to go about this? 2) In there own categories do you discuss the publications/posters/etc or do you simply cite them in a list format?

3) What did you do when you had a abstract/poster that was published & presented at a conference? Did you put such an example in the presentation/poster category or the conference attended category?

I am not yet certain if I want to follow Gonnif's format, it is very efficient and straightforward but seems perhaps too much so for work I can discuss in great detail and that had a significant impact on me so I am open and appreciative to suggestions.

I guess my main confusion is how to correctly group three different research studies that lead to multiple publications and abstracts that I am an author on in their own right.

Ever grateful for help,
JT
 
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Similar questions. Would like to hear feedback. Also if you are citing abstracts, papers, publications etc. properly it takes up a lot of characters. How would you fit that in with a description of the research that you did if you were to combine it under research tab.

If I am inserting pubs in the publications tab do you just list publications with nothing else? Same with presentations?
 
Hello,

So I've searched through the thread and haven't had much luck.

I have shadowed two physicians, one was an ENT and I am listing him as 265 hours, because 350 may seem like what the heck were you doin, even though it is pretty close to 350.

Second experience is an ER physician who I was on with for each 12 hour shift, he worked about 10 days in the time of winter break and I was there the entire time. This is one of my most meaningful experiences.

However, I am not lumping them together because they have quite a few hours each.

I am not sure what to write about ER, because if they already know everything, it would be pointless for me to list anything that I saw and felt was significant right?

For example for ENT I just wrote
Observation of pediatric and adult patients in the clinic office as well as in the operating room. This experience was my very first exposure to seeing patients from a practitioner's perspective and has allowed me to see a variety of cases from cancer to ....


I feel that is too basic. Am i on the right track?
 
what to do if you shadowed physicians both abroad and domestically? Who to list as contact if there are multiple physicians??? so confused
 
A little over 2 years ago I started a nonprofit organization that provides a support system and social outlet for young adults with chronic illness. I am tempted to put this under clinical experience, but it would fit well under leadership as well. I'm not sure if its appropriate to put as volunteer clinical experience or not. Any advice??

Thanks!
 
Just my opinion RaverMD but I would keep that under leadership since you were the founder, that implies a lot larger role than clinical experience. However, a lot of individuals quote LizaM on "if you are close enough to smell the patient - it's clinical". Thus, from your description it could meet both. If I was in your shoes I would put it under leadership and explain the clinical aspect in the description as well as your role in the organization.

Cheers,
JT
 
Hey Everyone, this might be a stupid question, but in the descriptions of the extracurriculars, should I have a sentence or two describing the organization itself if it is not apparent in its name? or should I stick strictly to describing my role? Thanks!
 
Okay this may sound stupid but I can't seem to find any info on what to put for your end date for activities that you're currently involved in and plan to continue doing possibly up until med school starts or maybe even after.
 
Member5072 said:
Hey Everyone, this might be a stupid question, but in the descriptions of the extracurriculars, should I have a sentence or two describing the organization itself if it is not apparent in its name? or should I stick strictly to describing my role? Thanks!
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If I had room for it I did. It gave a context for my role in the organization.
 
I wish we had 20 slots.

Or just one more slots to fit in my presentations/posters....
Or a slot to tell medical schools to just accept me already. :D


I noticed that this thread has SO MANY QUESTIONS, but not as many answers. I will give my suggestions to take a break from my application editing process, but these are just my suggestions.


SunsFun said:
Okay this may sound stupid but I can't seem to find any info on what to put for your end date for activities that you're currently involved in and plan to continue doing possibly up until med school starts or maybe even after.
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I would put the latest end date, and make sure you explain in the description that you are planning on continuing this activity, etc.

Member5072 said:
Hey Everyone, this might be a stupid question, but in the descriptions of the extracurriculars, should I have a sentence or two describing the organization itself if it is not apparent in its name? or should I stick strictly to describing my role? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Definitely explain the organization! If they don't understand what the organization is about, it's difficult for them to gage why you got involved/why you did what you did in the organization/etc.

TotalDomination said:
what to do if you shadowed physicians both abroad and domestically? Who to list as contact if there are multiple physicians??? so confused
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Maybe your pre-health advisor if you could give her a list of contacts for all your shadowing experiences? Or if you're close to one of the physicians you shadowed, list him/her as the main contact, and provide him with contacts for everyone you shadowed (maybe an e-mail for the person you shadowed abroad).

DrDreams said:
Hello,
So I've searched through the thread and haven't had much luck. I have shadowed two physicians, one was an ENT and I am listing him as 265 hours, because 350 may seem like what the heck were you doin, even though it is pretty close to 350. Second experience is an ER physician who I was on with for each 12 hour shift, he worked about 10 days in the time of winter break and I was there the entire time. This is one of my most meaningful experiences. However, I am not lumping them together because they have quite a few hours each.

I am not sure what to write about ER, because if they already know everything, it would be pointless for me to list anything that I saw and felt was significant right?

For example for ENT I just wrote
Observation of pediatric and adult patients in the clinic office as well as in the operating room. This experience was my very first exposure to seeing patients from a practitioner's perspective and has allowed me to see a variety of cases from cancer to ....I feel that is too basic. Am i on the right track?
Click to expand...
For your ENT experience (I shadowed an ENT too for quite a chunk of hours and thought it was awesome--plenty to see and learn), I would just go with the 350 hours. Good to be truthful. As for your description, I think that's a good start! Explain what you did/saw while shadowing, why it was significant, why you shadowed the doctor for that many hours possibly? (I suggested these since if you're listing the shadowing experiences separately, then that means you have a whole 700 characters to fill if you need them.) 350 hours is no small feat.
 
SunsFun said:
Okay this may sound stupid but I can't seem to find any info on what to put for your end date for activities that you're currently involved in and plan to continue doing possibly up until med school starts or maybe even after.
Click to expand...

In the AMCAS instruction manual page 57 of 90 (just so you know I'm not making this up :D):
Your start date must be no later than the current month and your latest end date must be no later than the August of the current application cycle.

Have another question: Should I include the name of the physicians I shadowed in my description? It's one of my most meaningful experiences, so wanted to mention them by name to distinguish between the two docs I shadowed in the meaningful paragraph.
 
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Hi SDNers,

My transcript has about many course entries that are just titled "Field Study". Can I list additional information (like "Field Study: Meditation")? Same with "Physical Education". I clarified it with "Physical Education: Basketball". Will my application get returned to me?
 
I've been playing & competing heavily in a sport since 2002 continuously till my senior year at college and to be honest, I do not know how many hours I've been on it. Should I just list like 999? Or Should I break up the period (repeating) into 4 equal time periods and put like 999 each?
 
I founded my own web/graphic design business in 2011 and have designed for a few national organizations as well as some local ones, should this go under Artistic Endeavors or Non-Medical Paid Employment?
 
Do you have to mark 3 meaningful experiences? i accidentally marked 2 and did not use the extra to write anything about it? i was gonna come back to it but forgot. already submitted?

did I screw up?
 
Xpectation said:
Do you have to mark 3 meaningful experiences? i accidentally marked 2 and did not use the extra to write anything about it? i was gonna come back to it but forgot. already submitted?

did I screw up?
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Naw, you're fine. You're only required to mark one and can mark up to three. Two is perfectly fine :)
 
Pandaeac said:
Naw, you're fine. You're only required to mark one and can mark up to three. Two is perfectly fine :)
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ok good. i really didnt have anything extra to say about them


edit: ahhh ****. i also entered the wrong city on one of my activities. entered the city i live in. i dont know why. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! should i just let it be ?
 
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Hi guys,

So in one of my activities, i did more than 4000 hrs. what am i supposed to do since max is 999 X 4??
 
Hi everybody, quick question:

Let's say that I worked in my research lab only during the school year (Sept 2010- May 2011) during my freshman year, and school year + summer during my sophomore year (Sept 2011- July 2012) and just the first semester during my junior year (Sept 2012-Dec 2012).

Do I have to add this information in separately using the "Repeated?" option or can I just clump it all together and say I worked from Sept 2010-Dec 2012?

Edit: I have an additional question: If I just started my volunteer 2 months ago, but made a 1 year commitment. Should I write my hours and end date assuming I will complete the 1 year commitment?

Thanks!
 
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had a question too.

i made a mistake in the amount of hours i entered. I entered a much higher number. i dont know i think auto fill changed it or something. what should i do?
 
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