*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Work/Activities Tips Thread 2016-2017*~*~*~*

[federer875]

If you've been part of an organization for four years, but have worked your way up (e.g. volunteer --> volunteer coordinator --> president), do you list them separately or under the same activity?

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[Catalystik]

Will do, thanks. Also I'm having troubling fitting all my shadowing experience into one entry (700 characters). Should I just split it into 2 entries? So far I am giving name, number, city, hours, and a 1-2 sentence explanation on what I observed/got from it.

You might consider giving detailed info mainly on the most intense shadowing experiences and then summarizing lesser ones with a sentence like, "Also shadowed a radiologist, OBGYN, and ED staff for an additional 25 hours," or some such. You don't need two spaces, but if an extra is available, you can spread it out, if you have lots to say.

 

[Catalystik]

I worked at a hospital for 3 months doing a quality improvement project for their clinic and received a stipend. I got to shadow the providers and interacted with patients as part of the project and incorporated their feedback into the final product.

Would this be considered a paid clinical experience or just paid employment?

Sorry for the repost, but I wanted to get a more qualified opinion. Thanks!

The last time I responded to this inquiry, you never answered my question, which was to help to clarify whether this experience was clinical or nonclinical, seen here: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...hread-2016-2017.1189311/page-22#post-17849708

If you want another "qualified opinion" despite insufficient information, let's ask @gonnif .

 

[Catalystik]

If you've been part of an organization for four years, but have worked your way up (e.g. volunteer --> volunteer coordinator --> president), do you list them separately or under the same activity?

If one space will do, list them together with the leadership title included in the name of the Volunteer activity. If you want to highlight the leadership component and need lots more space, split the activity and the hours into both a Volunteer and a Leadership space. Have the start and end dates of the Leadership space encompassing the leadership roles only and ditto for the volunteer space.

 

[MedHopeful09]

.

 

[Callmedoc15]

The last time I responded to this inquiry, you never answered my question, which was to help to clarify whether this experience was clinical or nonclinical, seen here: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...hread-2016-2017.1189311/page-22#post-17849708

If you want another "qualified opinion" despite insufficient information, let's ask @gonnif .

Sorry! I didn't recognize my post and overlooked your quote. I received a response from another pre-med on a different thread, which is why I mentioned qualified. You are definitely qualified to help!

To answer your question, I went into patient rooms and interviewed them. I also participated (as much as a pre-med can) during the physician meetings/conferences and was treated as a colleague. Would I get dinged for marking this as a paid clinical experience? Thanks!!

 

[yungspleen]

Who do I put as my contact for dean's list?

 

[Catalystik]

Who do I put as my contact for dean's list?

The college Registrar.

 

[Catalystik]

Sorry! I didn't recognize my post and overlooked your quote. I received a response from another pre-med on a different thread, which is why I mentioned qualified. You are definitely qualified to help!

To answer your question, I went into patient rooms and interviewed them. I also participated (as much as a pre-med can) during the physician meetings/conferences and was treated as a colleague. Would I get dinged for marking this as a paid clinical experience? Thanks!!

If you took out the Shadowing, what % of your remaining time was spent interviewing patients? How long did one interview take? You can add polite social chit chat to that total. What % meetings?

 

[Lost In Transcription]

Hello again. Thanks to gonnif and Catalystik for answering all my previous questions...

One thing I hate about my application is that it looks like I never did much besides k-12 stem education volunteering (~350 hours). But I was always doing small volunteer things and was even the volunteer chair for my department when I was in undergrad

I basically just didn't keep a record of the various blood drives/park clean ups I did and I am wondering if I can list my volunteer leadship position as a volunteer and not leadership? Or does it not matter?

I only recently started doing hospital volunteering again (havent since HS), and I know that won't look good, although I have a year commitment to do 200 hours and possibly another position (been waiting two months...interview is Monday).

Any suggestions on how to make it sound better? I really am pretty service focused, but that doesn't come out formally in my app....

 

[Catalystik]

One thing I hate about my application is that it looks like I never did much besides k-12 stem education volunteering (~350 hours). But I was always doing small volunteer things and was even the volunteer chair for my department when I was in undergrad

1) I basically just didn't keep a record of the various blood drives/park clean ups I did and I am wondering if I can list my volunteer leadship position as a volunteer and not leadership? Or does it not matter?

2) I only recently started doing hospital volunteering again (havent since HS), and I know that won't look good, although I have a year commitment to do 200 hours and possibly another position (been waiting two months...interview is Monday).

3) Any suggestions on how to make it sound better? I really am pretty service focused, but that doesn't come out formally in my app....

1) It looks like you are particularly strong already in nonmedical volunteerism. So why not pick a leadership tag, so as to cover as many of the categories as you can?

2) Good luck.

3) How can 350 hours not look good? Or, are you actually asking about the clinical experience? Are you saying you have zero active clinical experience since HS? Any shadowing? Then (for MD-only schools) it will "sound better" if you wait a year to apply when you have a decent number of recent patient contact hours accumulated.

 

[Lost In Transcription]

1) It looks like you are particularly strong already in nonmedical volunteerism. So why not pick a leadership tag, so as to cover as many of the categories as you can?

2) Good luck.

3) How can 350 hours not look good? Or, are you actually asking about the clinical experience? Are you saying you have zero active clinical experience since HS? Any shadowing? Then (for MD-only schools) it will "sound better" if you wait a year to apply when you have a decent number of recent patient contact hours accumulated.

Thanks.

And yeah I haven't donehospital volunteering since then. I did some shadowing in college and I have been now (a lot). It was not very common for people to be allowed to do hospital volunteering in my college town..

If it makes a difference, I am applying mostly MD/PhD. Is it still unforgivable to have started the volunteering so late? I got 30 hr of shadowing in college and have done a significant amount here at the NIH (6-8 hr/week since April) and have had some really meaningful experiences...so much so that it pushed me to apply this year.

 

[Catalystik]

I am applying mostly MD/PhD. Is it still unforgivable to have started the volunteering so late?

I got 30 hr of shadowing in college and have done a significant amount here at the NIH (6-8 hr/week since April) and have had some really meaningful experiences...so much so that it pushed me to apply this year.

MD/PhD programs are generally less concerned about any EC other than research. It won't hurt that you are strong in shadowing and community service, and maybe have some leadership to report, too.

 

[Lost In Transcription]

MD/PhD programs are generally less concerned about any EC other than research. It won't hurt that you are strong in shadowing and community service, and maybe have some leadership to report, too.

I have a bunch of leadership, even some pretty good ones. I also did stuff like start a mentoring program at my uni...just worried that the lack of clinical volunteering specifically will shoot me out of the running completely.

 

[Catalystik]

I have a bunch of leadership, even some pretty good ones. I also did stuff like start a mentoring program at my uni...just worried that the lack of clinical volunteering specifically will shoot me out of the running completely.

If you are otherwise well positioned to appeal to MD/PhD programs, hopefully it won't be an issue, but if not, you already have a plan in place for application improvements.

 

[gonnif]

The last time I responded to this inquiry, you never answered my question, which was to help to clarify whether this experience was clinical or nonclinical, seen here: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...hread-2016-2017.1189311/page-22#post-17849708

If you want another "qualified opinion" despite insufficient information, let's ask @gonnif .

Stipend/honorarium would not quite be paid employment, but it could pass
Shadowing itself, while falls under the heading of healthcare experience , isnt clinical experience as much as observing
Research is, at best, being mildly involved with the project from a administrative sense
Clinical is, at best, interacting briefly with patients, to an extent that does not seem clear.

If you were involved with the research aspect in compiling the data gathered, some analysis, in a clinical setting, could you defend it as research? Maybe

You might get away with the experience as "clinical", describing the shadowing, the brief interaction with patients , and the research. Seems a bit iffy. Some more detail might make this solid

 

[Astra]

Can Tutoring College Freshmen be considered volunteering? ( unpaid)

 

[Catalystik]

Can Tutoring College Freshmen be considered volunteering? ( unpaid)

All tutoring doesn't go under Volunteering. I need more context. Did you do it for a class, as part of an organization, as an expectation of a job? What was your motivation? What organization sponsored the activity?

 

[Astra]

All tutoring doesn't go under Volunteering. I need more context. Did you do it for a class, as part of an organization, as an expectation of a job? What was your motivation? What organization sponsored the activity?

I TA'd for a class and several students asked if I could tutor them. I spoke with the instructor and set up times where I would tutor the students in the class along with people who might be interested to come by and get help. It was around 2-3 hours per week all unpaid and the topics were pre req math classes ( algebra, trig etc)

Motivation was that lots of people were doing poorly in the class I TA'd due to poor math backgrounds and I wanted them to pass.

There was no organization that sponsored this activity aside from me and the instructor reserving a room for me to help students.

 

[Catalystik]

I TA'd for a class and several students asked if I could tutor them. I spoke with the instructor and set up times where I would tutor the students in the class along with people who might be interested to come by and get help. It was around 2-3 hours per week all unpaid and the topics were pre req math classes ( algebra, trig etc)

Motivation was that lots of people were doing poorly in the class I TA'd due to poor math backgrounds and I wanted them to pass.

There was no organization that sponsored this activity aside from me and the instructor reserving a room for me to help students.

It's fine to label this as volunteer. Sounds like you have a good contact to list.

 

[Shreenagar]

Hello everyone,

Could someone please guide me on these?
1) I have been involved with 2 different research studies. One in my university and the other outside. Do you think it is a good idea to list these two as one activity? I am quite confused what`s best because I plan to use one of the research studies as one of my most meaningful activities.
2) Again a similar problem: I have worked as cashier at 2 different places and currently I work as an Administrative Assistant at a clinic, which is one of my most meaningful experiences. Do you recommend me to use one activity slot for all work activities and expand on the most meaningful one in the bottom space? or rather separate them?

Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

Could someone please guide me on these?
1) I have been involved with 2 different research studies. One in my university and the other outside. Do you think it is a good idea to list these two as one activity? I am quite confused what`s best because I plan to use one of the research studies as one of my most meaningful activities.
2) Again a similar problem: I have worked as cashier at 2 different places and currently I work as an Administrative Assistant at a clinic, which is one of my most meaningful experiences. Do you recommend me to use one activity slot for all work activities and expand on the most meaningful one in the bottom space? or rather separate them?

1) I think it's best to use two spaces, if you have the room, unless they took place in the same lab. If you don't have room, then group them.

2) Separating is better. Why not put the two cashier positions in a single space and the current job in another.

 

[MDhopeful324]

Is it necessary to include a description for honors/awards that everyone is familiar with (i.e latin honors, deans list, phi beta kappa)?

 

[Shreenagar]

1) I think it's best to use two spaces, if you have the room, unless they took place in the same lab. If you don't have room, then group them.

2) Separating is better. Why not put the two cashier positions in a single space and the current job in another.

Thank you so much Catalystik! Unfortunately I am running out of space, but I am thinking if I should reduce my non-clinical volunteering activity to give more space to include my work activities? Do you recommend doing that since I have 4 non-med volunteering activities listed?

 

[Catalystik]

Is it necessary to include a description for honors/awards that everyone is familiar with (i.e latin honors, deans list, phi beta kappa)?

Unfortunately, the criteria for all these awards vary by school. Include criteria where possible, but it won't be a huge issue if you don't have space.

 

[Shreenagar]

Unfortunately, the criteria for all these awards vary by school. Include criteria where possible, but it won't be a huge issue if you don't have space.

adding on to this, do you think it is a good idea to mention you graduated with Honors from college somewhere under Honors/Awards/Recognition activity?

 

[Catalystik]

Unfortunately I am running out of space, but I am thinking if I should reduce my non-clinical volunteering activity to give more space to include my work activities? Do you recommend doing that since I have 4 non-med volunteering activities listed?

Maybe some of the nonclinical volunteering could be grouped, but I'd emphasize those activities over jobs that are nonclinical.

Recall, it is not essential to include every activity, only those that you feel add to your candidacy.

 

[Catalystik]

adding on to this, do you think it is a good idea to mention you graduated with Honors from college somewhere under Honors/Awards/Recognition activity?

If you already have such a space, include it there, but I don't feel listing it is essential, since your GPAs speak for themselves.

 

[pithy84]

Line breaks / newlines / LF:

If I use a line break (newline character, linefeed, LF) in my Experience Description, will it show up when the AdComs read it?

Line breaks do not show up when you do "Print HTML" on the AMCAS website. The lines run together.

Line breaks do show up when you do "Print PDF" on the AMCAS website, the lines are separated nicely.

Formatting my descriptions nicely will be much easier if I can use line breaks, but they may look borked to some AdComs, so this is a tough decision. It hinges on what format these are delivered in.

 

[Shreenagar]

If you already have such a space, include it there, but I don't feel listing it is essential, since your GPAs speak for themselves.

Thank you so much

 

[Catalystik]

Line breaks / newlines / LF:

If I use a line break (newline character, linefeed, LF) in my Experience Description, will it show up when the AdComs read it?

Line breaks do not show up when you do "Print HTML" on the AMCAS website. The lines run together.

Line breaks do show up when you do "Print PDF" on the AMCAS website, the lines are separated nicely.

Formatting my descriptions nicely will be much easier if I can use line breaks, but they may look borked to some AdComs, so this is a tough decision. It hinges on what format these are delivered in.

A line break (created with two hard returns, or pushing Enter twice) will appear as a space between two blocks of text and is often used as a paragraph break rather than indented text. The view that adcomms will see is the PDF view, accessed for review from the Main Menu > Print > PDF. Ignore the HTML view.

 

[pithy84]

A line break (created with two hard returns, or pushing Enter twice) will appear as a space between two blocks of text and is often used as a paragraph break rather than indented text. The view that adcomms will see is the PDF view, accessed for review from the Main Menu > Print > PDF. Ignore the HTML view.

Oh, thank dog. Are you sure? I plan to make use of line breaks, and it will get badly smushed up if the HTML view is what the AdComs see.

This would be reassuring: Do the vast majority of applicants use line breaks? If they do, then I assume AdComs need to figure out a way to view them, whether or not it was their default. If very few applicants used line breaks, then I would worry that certain schools would use the wrong view.

 

[Catalystik]

Oh, thank dog. Are you sure? I plan to make use of line breaks, and it will get badly smushed up if the HTML view is what the AdComs see.

This would be reassuring: Do the vast majority of applicants use line breaks? If they do, then I assume AdComs need to figure out a way to view them, whether or not it was their default. If very few applicants used line breaks, then I would worry that certain schools would use the wrong view.

Yes, I'm sure.

Line breaks are used more commonly as they use fewer character spaces than indentations.

 

[pithy84]

Awesome.

The AMCAS Instruction Manual PDF really leaves this question open. It never mentions the phrases "line", "lines", "new line", or "blank line", and it does mention "paragraph" five times, but only in the context of not supporting "indented paragraphs" - which avoids the key question of non-indented paragraphs separated by a blank line.

 

[Catalystik]

Awesome.

The AMCAS Instruction Manual PDF really leaves this question open. It never mentions the phrases "line", "lines", "new line", or "blank line", and it does mention "paragraph" five times, but only in the context of not supporting "indented paragraphs" - which avoids the key question of non-indented paragraphs separated by a blank line.

Sometimes it "takes a village" to discover the most efficient path.

 

[pithy84]

1. I have shadowed four (4) doctors. One of them was for only half a day, and I feel like maybe I should not list her. I suspect she would say nice things if someone emailed to ask about me, but I am feeling paranoid about listing her. She adds breadth to my list, but I really barely know her, and there is also a chance she wouldn't remember me. If a school does a spot-check, I would much rather they call any of the other three doctors. Should I leave out the fourth doctor?

2. Should I include "Future Shadowing Plans" in my Experience Description? I have lined up plans with two more specialties, dermatology and cardiology, which will add more breadth.

 

[egil_skallagrimsson]

I don't understand how people are listing their honors? It asks for contacts and hours? What in the world am I supposed to put for those if I am just listing deans list items and some other random awards I got for grades?

 

[Catalystik]

I don't understand how people are listing their honors? It asks for contacts and hours? What in the world am I supposed to put for those if I am just listing deans list items and some other random awards I got for grades?

Your college Registrar has a record of all collegiate recognitions. Total Hours would be the time you sat in various award ceremonies, or a 0 or 1 is fine too.

 

[Catalystik]

1. I have shadowed four (4) doctors. One of them was for only half a day, and I feel like maybe I should not list her. I suspect she would say nice things if someone emailed to ask about me, but I am feeling paranoid about listing her. She adds breadth to my list, but I really barely know her, and there is also a chance she wouldn't remember me. If a school does a spot-check, I would much rather they call any of the other three doctors. Should I leave out the fourth doctor?

2. Should I include "Future Shadowing Plans" in my Experience Description? I have lined up plans with two more specialties, dermatology and cardiology, which will add more breadth.

1) You might list the fourth doc, but not give contact information, since you have three other solid ones.

2) I suggest you save these for Secondaries or update letters, so as to have something fresh to say.

 

[premedprincess26]

Can i put fashion blogging as a hobby? I run an instagram fashion blog, and I don't always keep up with it, but I love posting in my free time and have about a 1K followers. Also, would I have to include a link? I saw someone say that the youtube person can include theirs, but do we have to?

 

[Catalystik]

Can i put fashion blogging as a hobby? I run an instagram fashion blog, and I don't always keep up with it, but I love posting in my free time and have about a 1K followers. Also, would I have to include a link? I saw someone say that the youtube person can include theirs, but do we have to?

Of course you can list fashion blogging as a hobby. A link is not required (or expected). You can elect to provide it or not as you wish.

 

[rummyraisin]

Quick question about contact information for listed experiences:

In the AMCAS guide, it lists that "If the experience was a student-organized group and there is no advisor, you may list a staff member in the Student Affairs/Activities Office who can verify your experience." I was part of a couple of student-organized groups. Does this mean that I can't list the students who were in charge of those groups (i.e. the contact person must be a faculty/staff member or non-student)? I'm not sure there's any real record of my involvement in the Student Affairs/Activities Office as these groups were fairly independently organized by students only. Maybe my name is floating around somewhere in the record of my school's clubs or something but they definitely can't confirm my involvement as well as some of the other students managing the groups.

 

[allofthegood]

For hobbies is it okay to just list them or would we need some kind of description? For example, I like skiing and doing origami but those are pretty self explanatory. Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

In the AMCAS guide, it lists that "If the experience was a student-organized group and there is no advisor, you may list a staff member in the Student Affairs/Activities Office who can verify your experience." I was part of a couple of student-organized groups. Does this mean that I can't list the students who were in charge of those groups (i.e. the contact person must be a faculty/staff member or non-student)? I'm not sure there's any real record of my involvement in the Student Affairs/Activities Office as these groups were fairly independently organized by students only. Maybe my name is floating around somewhere in the record of my school's clubs or something but they definitely can't confirm my involvement as well as some of the other students managing the groups.

If someone with an academic title isn't available to use as a Contact, you may use any officer of the group. As a last resort, one can use oneself.

 

[Catalystik]

For hobbies is it okay to just list them or would we need some kind of description? For example, I like skiing and doing origami but those are pretty self explanatory. Thanks!

Description isn't necessary, but it might make it more interesting to include some context (though also not obligatory), like why you got involved, do you share it at all, age of onset, hours/week of involvement, best bird you created/number of folds, skill level, best dish you cook, or somesuch. I'm talking just one extra little blurb that might provide a talking point at interviews, if you have space.

 

[pithy84]

2) I suggest you save these for Secondaries or update letters, so as to have something fresh to say.

I will have a TON of fresh stuff to say within one or two months. Do you think I should actively avoid mentioning my shadowing plans, in light of the fact that I don't need to "save" anything for later? I suspect it is a judgment call.

 

[Catalystik]

I will have a TON of fresh stuff to say within one or two months. Do you think I should actively avoid mentioning my shadowing plans, in light of the fact that I don't need to "save" anything for later? I suspect it is a judgment call.

If you had already shadowed these docs before and this was added hours, I'd be more supportive of including them. As it is, "There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip." If you list it and it never happens for one reason or another, and it comes up in interviews, it can be stressful.

 

[yungspleen]

Who do I put as my contact for dean's list?

I already asked this questions and someone said my college's registrar, but I have no idea what that means. Is there a single person I should put?

 

[Catalystik]

Who do I put as my contact for dean's list?

I already asked this questions and someone said my college's registrar, but I have no idea what that means. Is there a single person I should put?

There is a designated person at your school who holds the title of Registrar, whom you can mention by name or not, as you wish. If you don't want to look that person up, you can still list the office as a Contact like this:

First name: Registrars
Last name: Office
Title: name of your school (University of Arizona, eg)
On the application it will print off as Contact Name & Title: Registrars Office, University of Arizona

You will still need to look up a phone number for the office.

 

[Lost In Transcription]

How many hours is required to not look asinine when listing something as "most meaningful"? I have recently done shadowing at my institution, which was so moving to me that it pushed me to apply this year and helped me decide what field I believe I want to pursue. Though it is only currently like 70ish hours, I plan on continuing throughout the year and will get about 400 hours as an absolute minimum...

Can I list it as most meaningful since it is new (April)?