*~*~*~*Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2015-2016*~*~*~*

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Would you consider authoring a policy brief a publication?

If not a publication (since I tend to think of that as more strictly scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals), should I put it under Research/Lab? I don't have any other publications so if it would not be misleading to put it under "Publications" I would like to do so
 
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delfin098 said:
Would you consider authoring a policy brief (on climate change, sent to the Ecuadorian government in support of a biotechnology-focused public policy project) a publication? It was never published in a journal, etc -- however it did take a ton of time/background research and was sent directly to President Rafael Correa and the Ecuadorian Ambassador to the US.

If not a publication (since I tend to think of that as more strictly scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals), should I put it under Research/Lab? I don't have any other publications so if it would not be misleading to put it under "Publications" I would like to do so.
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Research/Lab is reserved for hypothesis-driven scholarly investigation that results in new generalizable knowledge that is potentially publishable. It doesn't refer to a review of background information that might be gathered to write a term paper or policy paper.

That said, there are other applicable tags you might pick if you want to discuss the experience of having written a policy brief, such as Teaching, Artistic Endeavors (referring to your writing), or Other.
 
Quick question: Is it OK to mention what you learned from each experience, like for example, I volunteered at a hospital and I learned that I like hospital setting. This isn't strictly resume style, because my school told us to show our "personal side" on the EC section, since we might not get secondary if they don't like primary. Thanks
 
kittycat007 said:
Is it OK to mention what you learned from each experience, like for example, I volunteered at a hospital and I learned that I like hospital setting. This isn't strictly resume style, because my school told us to show our "personal side" on the EC section, since we might not get secondary if they don't like primary.
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It's definitely fine. Don't feel compelled to add it for every experience, but it's logical that many might have had some impact on you that you can express briefly without going into MM-type detail.

Side Note: You might be more specific about what it is that makes you like a hospital setting.
 
For shadowing, if I'm putting down multiple physicians under one box, how would I do that?
Like: Dr. S D, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon, City Hospital, Contact's Info (name, title, number, email)
Dr. D S, MD, General Surgeon, Different City Hospital, Contact
Thank you
 
I have few questions and I appreciate it if people can answer them!

1) use bulletin vs. paragraph?
2) I am a co-author of a research manual that has been submitted but not accepted by any journal yet. Should I just put the manual under the research section OR under the publication section?
 
moemoekyun said:
For shadowing, if I'm putting down multiple physicians under one box, how would I do that?
Like: Dr. S D, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon, City Hospital, Contact's Info (name, title, number, email)
Dr. D S, MD, General Surgeon, Different City Hospital, Contact
Thank you
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Examples:
Catalystik said:
One potential format for listing physician shadowing on an AMCAS application (whichever doc you list first, you'd put the pertinent data in the header and omit it from the narrative box. Total Hours box would be all the hours added together):

**4/2015-Present: 15 hours, Jake Famleedok, MD, Family Practice. [email protected] This was mostly clinic time, but I got to observe a vaginal delivery, too. I cut the cord!

**3/14-5/2014: 20 hours, Ling Ula, MD, Pulmonology, Podunk, AL, Health Clinic, 555-555-5556 ext 45

** 12/2013-Present: 40 hours, Al Abowtgolf, DO, Sports Medicine, Podunk, AL, Health Clinic, 555-555-5555, ext 34

**Spring 2012: 15 hours, John Kutoocure, DO, Surgeon, Meridian, MS. [email protected] Observed a complete bowel resection and a pancreatic cancer resection. Some clinic hours included.
********************************************

-If the Contact is not the physician, you'll need to add that person's name, too.
-If two or more took place at one location, you might list them at the top and have the header Organization apply to both.
-If you have many, many docs, you can list the main ones at the top and later summarize others in a way that fits in the remaining space, like "Also shadowed a rheumatologist, neonatologist, and neurosurgeon for 20 more hours combined" without giving contacts and locations.
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Happy Early Bird said:
I have few questions and I appreciate it if people can answer them!

1) use bulletin vs. paragraph?
2) I am a co-author of a research manual that has been submitted but not accepted by any journal yet. Should I just put the manual under the research section OR under the publication section?
Click to expand...
1) Either is fine, or you can mix and match.
2) If a manuscript hasn't been accepted, it is not a publication. A Research space is intended for hypothesis-driven scholarly investigations. While you might consider discussing it under a Teaching space, since it sounds like it will be educational in nature, you could also consider reserving it for mention on Secondaries, in case it is accepted by then.
 
For Paid Employment- should we include what our hourly payment was?
 
I have had a crap ton of hobbies throughout my life, some of which I stuck to more than others, some of which I've not been able to practice in recent years because I don't have money to pay for lessons and such. I have never taken any of them to a competitive level because I'm not that good at any single one. I guess I prefer breadth over depth.

Currently, I have all my hobbies under one entry called "Hobbies", and have listed them under categories and then by frequency under each category. Kinda like:

Art: drawing, video production, fashion
Exercise: Yoga, dance, martial arts
Etc. (goes on for 4 more categories)

Is this okay to submit or is it unclear to a reader? Anyone come up with a better strategy to list lots of hobbies?
 
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halcyonpage said:
I have had a crap ton of hobbies throughout my life, some of which I stuck to more than others, some of which I've not been able to practice in recent years because I don't have money to pay for lessons and such. I have never taken any of them to a competitive level because I'm not that good at any single one. I guess I prefer breadth over depth.

Currently, I have all my hobbies under one entry called "Hobbies", and have listed them under categories and then by frequency under each category. Kinda like:

Art: drawing, video production, fashion
Exercise: Yoga, dance, martial arts
Etc. (goes on for 4 more categories)

Is this okay to submit or is it unclear to a reader? Anyone come up with a better strategy to list lots of hobbies?
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Your system of organization is fine. I suggest you take out anything you haven't engaged in lately (several years) and don't plan to resume soon for whatever reason, unless you developed a high level of expertise and want to include it so your interests/talents are known. If the space is too busy, it might get skimmed.
 
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I shadowed my great-uncle in a foreign (third world) country for ~40 hours. I also have ~350 U.S. shadowing hours. Would it hurt my application if I listed my foreign shadowing as "most meaningful"? I'd write about the stark differences I saw between modernized healthcare and how that changed my view on medicine. I've seen some posts here advise against talking about foreign shadowing as "most meaningful", as it de-emphasizes experiences accrued during domestic shadowing.

Thoughts, @Catalystik?
 
AnchorDown3 said:
I shadowed my great-uncle in a foreign (third world) country for ~40 hours. I also have ~350 U.S. shadowing hours. Would it hurt my application if I listed my foreign shadowing as "most meaningful"? I'd write about the stark differences I saw between modernized healthcare and how that changed my view on medicine. I've seen some posts here advise against talking about foreign shadowing as "most meaningful", as it de-emphasizes experiences accrued during domestic shadowing.

Thoughts, @Catalystik?
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That an activity outside of the US had a significant impact on you, to my mind, does not subtract value from your application. That you will focus on comparing the US health system vs that in another country in your essay can be a positive. But take care that you are able to field any question on the differences and similarities, as mentioning it at all makes the topic fair game for (many common) interview questions.
 
How did everyone else weigh what to choose as most meaningful? I have 4 that could make use of the extra characters, but I want to have balanced application, and beyond that, there's one that could be of more use in my PS...

I feel like I need a coach for this stuff, the indecision is real.
 
heebeejeebies said:
How did everyone else weigh what to choose as most meaningful? I have 4 that could make use of the extra characters, but I want to have balanced application, and beyond that, there's one that could be of more use in my PS...

I feel like I need a coach for this stuff, the indecision is real.
Click to expand...

I only picked 2 MMs. I think I would rather discuss more in secondaries or interviews.
 
CaliforniaDreamer said:
I only picked 2 MMs. I think I would rather discuss more in secondaries or interviews.
Click to expand...

Hmm yeah, I've read that doing 3 isn't necessary if it's forced, I can see the benefit of using more of the experience side of it in the PS...

But I've also seen reapplicants gripe about not doing all 3 MMs the first time.

I guess in the end it doesn't even matter that much...
 
can you just list hobbies without describing? What do we put for total hours in publications since it's a required slot?
 
Sorry if this has been asked before, but is it acceptable to write in shorthand to save space?
Can I say Bio, O Chem, prof, etc...?
@Catalystik
 
sunshine02 said:
1) can you just list hobbies without describing? 2) What do we put for total hours in publications since it's a required slot?
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1) Yes, but you are losing an opportunity if you do so. For example, you could list Cooking. Or you could add that you once asked your grandmother to teach you to make a traditional dish, and thus learned dumpling-making skills as a teen. This led you to an interest in mastering cajun cuisine, but your family continues to clamber for your grandmother-inspired dumplings at family gatherings. This might lead to you being called "The Dumpling-Maker" by adcomms. It makes you memorable, so long as you don't insert excessive hyperbole. (Example culled from a LizzyM post.)

2) Enter a zero.
 
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I'm considering marking a job that I started in high school and continued in the summers before freshman and sophomore year as one of my most meaningful. It was a factory type job where I averaged 60 hours per week in the summer. Prior to this I was vaguely interested in medicine but didn't think I could work that much. I had no problem with the hours but was often bored and sore. I came to understand the importance of enjoying work rather than running from it. Medicine re-emerged as an option and I started really exploring it (getting a hospital volunteer gig)

Essentially that high school job led to interest in medicine. I know activities from high school are generally not supposed to be heavily relied on. Would using this as one of my three most meaningful activities be seen negatively?
 
NotYou20 said:
I'm considering marking a job that I started in high school and continued in the summers before freshman and sophomore year as one of my most meaningful. It was a factory type job where I averaged 60 hours per week in the summer. Prior to this I was vaguely interested in medicine but didn't think I could work that much. I had no problem with the hours but was often bored and sore. I came to understand the importance of enjoying work rather than running from it. Medicine re-emerged as an option and I started really exploring it (getting a hospital volunteer gig)

Essentially that high school job led to interest in medicine. I know activities from high school are generally not supposed to be heavily relied on. Would using this as one of my three most meaningful activities be seen negatively?
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It's fine to use an experience that started in HS and continued into the college years. The insights gained from this type of work can be worthy of an MM space.
 
For research funding awards (institutional or state/provincial) would it be appropriate to just provide details of the award? Like the institution governing the award, the amount, the selection criteria (proposal strength/academic/community involvement etc.), the project being funded etc.

I have 2 of these I want to include because they're fairly competitive and substantial scholarships/grants/studentships, but adcoms likely won't recognize them.

I was thinking making the Experience Name: Recipient of XXXX (2015) and using the description box to explain the above.
 
heebeejeebies said:
For research funding awards (institutional or state/provincial) would it be appropriate to just provide details of the award? Like the institution governing the award, the amount, the selection criteria (proposal strength/academic/community involvement etc.), the project being funded etc.

I have 2 of these I want to include because they're fairly competitive and substantial scholarships/grants/studentships, but adcoms likely won't recognize them.

I was thinking making the Experience Name: Recipient of XXXX (2015) and using the description box to explain the above.
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That sounds fine. If you have access to the number applying vs number getting an award, include that too.
 
halcyonpage said:
I have read elsewhere that you can enter 99999 or the like to show that you have been engaging in this hobby for a long, unrecorded amount of time. Is this incorrect?
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I have in the past posted, suggesting 99 or 999 (maybe even a 9999) to imply high hours not kept track of, accompanied by a note in the narrative, since for hobbies its not important anyway. The actual highest number possible to enter is 99999 ( without a comma). Were you to suggest 5000 hours per year of involvement for 20 years, I think you'd raise a few eyebrows with disbelief.
 
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I'm struggling to figure out how to indent in the AMCAS text editing boxes without burning precious characters on spaces. Help? Or am I just stupid..
 
This isn't that important actually, because the PDF view makes the paragraph breaks very apparent, even without indents. Thanks again Catalystik for all of your help on this thread--it's been so helpful and I'm hoping to submit tonight or very soon :soexcited:
 
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This might be nit picky but when do we use "et al" for research pubs? For example, can I list "sunshine02 et al." to save characters?
Also, in the heading "publications" can we describe the research as well or is it better to list research under a separate heading?
 
Thanks for all your help Catalystik!

Wrote my experiences in paragraph form. Removed most I's from descriptions such as I am doing here. Worried it may sound odd but it's pretty much bullet form without the bullets.

Is this okay?
 
Janus_Kinase said:
Thanks for all your help Catalystik!

Wrote my experiences in paragraph form. Removed most I's from descriptions such as I am doing here. Worried it may sound odd but it's pretty much bullet form without the bullets.

Is this okay?
Click to expand...

I'm starting to realize it doesn't matter so much, as long as you're clear about what you did and its influence on your decision to apply to medicine, any format is fine.

I mean, prose paragraph vs CV-style list, one adcom may prefer one, another may prefer the other, and even within an adcom there may be members with differing preferences. Being consistent is key.

I've used a paragraph format where the majority is describing what I did, roles and responsibilities while clarifying the setting, with a final line describing what I gleaned from the experience. I did avoid personal pronouns (not entirely though), but I'm just OCD about those in work like this in general.
 
Is it bad if one of our meaningful activities is an activity that we no longer participate in? For example, I participated in an activity all through college but am no longer a part of the program as I've moved.
 
sunshine02 said:
1) This might be nit picky but when do we use "et al" for research pubs? For example, can I list "sunshine02 et al." to save characters?
2) Also, in the heading "publications" can we describe the research as well or is it better to list research under a separate heading?
Click to expand...
1) If you're first author that works fine, otherwise maybe expand to "Third author with (insert first author), et al."

2) Best to have a separate Research space for description.
 
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Janus_Kinase said:
Thanks for all your help Catalystik!

Wrote my experiences in paragraph form. Removed most I's from descriptions such as I am doing here. Worried it may sound odd but it's pretty much bullet form without the bullets.

Is this okay?
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No. I would be distracted by what you're trying to convey as it sounds too odd.
 
apologies if this has been asked before - for activities such as customer service jobs encompassed into one entry, what should i list for contact info? should i list self since there are more than 1 organizations included
 
takeonme said:
- for activities such as customer service jobs encompassed into one entry, what should i list for contact info? should i list self since there are more than 1 organizations included
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In the header, enter the contact for the most recent, longest, or most interesting position that you placed first on your list. The other contacts will be added at the end of each subsequent job listed and described in the narrative space.
 
Do adcoms look down on bartending (as in is it a relatively controversial activity for some people and therefore I should shy away from mentioning this)?
 
sunshine02 said:
Do adcoms look down on bartending (as in is it a relatively controversial activity for some people and therefore I should shy away from mentioning this)?
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Every adcomm is different in their views and it will depend on how you spin it. The general perception of "bartender=good listener & counselor with excellent people skills" probably makes it worth the perceived risk though. And I expect most adcomms (at least those outside the Bible Belt) have used the services of a bartender at some time in their life, which makes the chances of negative outcome small in most regions.

Consider omitting Loma Linda, LUCOM, and UUtah from your application list if you proceed.
 
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Catalystik said:
In the header, enter the contact for the most recent, longest, or most interesting position that you placed first on your list. The other contacts will be added at the end of each subsequent job listed and described in the narrative space.
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I was planning on just lumping them together. So should I just list customer service jobs and then the contact for the most recent then in the narrative space, list worked at x from 2010-2012 and x from 2012-14? Etc?
 
takeonme said:
I was planning on just lumping them together. So should I just list customer service jobs and then the contact for the most recent then in the narrative space, list worked at x from 2010-2012 and x from 2012-14? Etc?
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When you say "lumping them together", I assumed you meant grouping multiple jobs into one space, and not that you'd infer all the jobs were one job. Job #1 on the list wouldn't need a contact in the narrative space as it's already in the header. Jobs 2,3,&4, etc would each need their own contact.

You have the choice of giving a date span in the header that encompasses all the jobs (and Total Hours all added together), and then listing specific dates/hours in the narrative. Or giving the date span (and Total Hours) for just job #1, but then listing individual date spans and hours for the other jobs in the narrative (noting that they are in addition to the Total listed above).

It would be good if the title you give the space suggests intermittency, if that is the case, like Short-Term Customer Service Jobs, or Seasonal Work in Customer Service, for example.
 
Catalystik said:
When you say "lumping them together", I assumed you meant grouping multiple jobs into one space, and not that you'd infer all the jobs were one job. Job #1 on the list wouldn't need a contact in the narrative space as it's already in the header. Jobs 2,3,&4, etc would each need their own contact.

You have the choice of giving a date span in the header that encompasses all the jobs (and Total Hours all added together), and then listing specific dates/hours in the narrative. Or giving the date span (and Total Hours) for just job #1, but then listing individual date spans and hours for the other jobs in the narrative (noting that they are in addition to the Total listed above).

It would be good if the title you give the space suggests intermittency, if that is the case, like Short-Term Customer Service Jobs, or Seasonal Work in Customer Service, for example.
Click to expand...

Great thanks! Each one would still need contact information? Would it be acceptable that the narrative actually describing it is short then?
 
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