Great tips for entering your "Work/Activities" for AMCAS

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HIVdoc2b said:
Hi LizzyM and others,

I volunteer at a nursing home, as a driver and providing companionship for the residents and clients of the day health program. Is it a stretch to call that "medical/clinical" volunteering? My inclination would be yes it's a stretch, although I definitely smell patients!

I have two national conferences at which I presented data (1 from undergrad, 1 more recent, for different labs), which I list separately. But, I went to the second conference again just as an attendee (had to be selected for that) - can I throw that in with the presentation, since it's the same conference? Or leave it out? I don't have the extra spots to include it on its own (I'm 2 years post-bacc and my college activities are different than my activities since).

Thanks!
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If you "smell patients" it is a clinical experience.

In the text section of the national conference, mention in an off-handed way that you attended the conference again in 2008.
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Thanks so much for your help, LizzyM.

Three more more quick questions.

1) I coach a youth sport on a volunteer basis. Should I list as "extracurricular/hobby" or "volunteer - non-clinical" or "leadership - not listed elsewhere"?

2) My current job is in the same lab as I worked summers as an undergrad, except now I'm a salaried employee with a different title. Can I put the start date as when I started full time and mention that I also worked there as an undergrad in the description?

3) Along the same lines, I shadowed one doc for a month one summer as an undergrad, but the majority of my shadowing experience has been since graduation with another doc, and occurs weekly over the long term. Should I list the start date as the first time I shadowed, or when I started the latest gig and also include the previous doc in the description?
 
HIVdoc2b said:
Thanks so much for your help, LizzyM.

Three more more quick questions.

1) I coach a youth sport on a volunteer basis. Should I list as "extracurricular/hobby" or "volunteer - non-clinical" or "leadership - not listed elsewhere"?

2) My current job is in the same lab as I worked summers as an undergrad, except now I'm a salaried employee with a different title. Can I put the start date as when I started full time and mention that I also worked there as an undergrad in the description?

3) Along the same lines, I shadowed one doc for a month one summer as an undergrad, but the majority of my shadowing experience has been since graduation with another doc, and occurs weekly over the long term. Should I list the start date as the first time I shadowed, or when I started the latest gig and also include the previous doc in the description?
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I'm not LizzyM but here's my take:
1. you can list it either as leadership not listed elsewhere or as volunteer nonclinical. I'd list it as leadership since you are the coach.
2. What you suggest for the work one is fine.
3. I asked Lizzy about shadowing and she said we can clump all shadowing experiences together and list the individual time frames and doc types and names if there is room in the description section.
 
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gujuDoc said:
I'm not LizzyM but here's my take:
1. you can list it either as leadership not listed elsewhere or as volunteer nonclinical. I'd list it as leadership since you are the coach.
2. What you suggest for the work one is fine.
3. I asked Lizzy about shadowing and she said we can clump all shadowing experiences together and list the individual time frames and doc types and names if there is room in the description section.
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so they're not expecting contact info. for the docs you shadow?
 
what if we don't know the exact start date for an activity? I know what month/year it was and the total hours, roughly.
 
perutz said:
what if we don't know the exact start date for an activity? I know what month/year it was and the total hours, roughly.
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Im prettys ure that they only have slots for month and year.
 
Sorry for the previous post. Started my AMCAS today and realized they only asked for month/year.
 
gujuDoc said:
If you didn't take the scholarship then there is no point of mentioning it. If you took it, I still don't know if I'd mention it unless you have nothing better to put on there.

Example of continuance....

You volunteer at ABC shelter, hospital, organization, etc. and continue to do so in college.
You are involved with a form of arts and entertainment from HS and continue so in college.
You work somewhere in HS and continue so in college.
Etc.
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Thank you! :)
 
iduwanna said:
so they're not expecting contact info. for the docs you shadow?
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Lizzy told me that if there's room then list the names, but no they aren't expecting every single doc's contact info.
 
gujuDoc said:
Lizzy told me that if there's room then list the names, but no they aren't expecting every single doc's contact info.
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Thanks.

Anyone declare an Institutional Action?

How did you use the allotted characters? I was put on academic probation after my first semester of college many years ago.

Should I just state what the Institutional Action was and when? Do I need to defend myself with the space they give us there, or should that be addressed in the PS (I already addressed this in the PS)?
 
I feel like some stuff I did over the summer might make adcoms go... there's no proof

I, like a poster a few posts up, coached a group of children on an individual sport for 2 summers. It was for fun (volunteering I guess), I didn't get paid and spent around 8 hours a week doing it. Wasn't through an organization or anything.
 
bozz said:
I feel like some stuff I did over the summer might make adcoms go... there's no proof

I, like a poster a few posts up, coached a group of children on an individual sport for 2 summers. It was for fun (volunteering I guess), I didn't get paid and spent around 8 hours a week doing it. Wasn't through an organization or anything.
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ehhh..Im sure ppl lie all the time, and they probably arent skeptical

As long as you can talk intelligently about the ec, they have no reason to question you....Im putting down I do triathlons but theres no way for them to verify it, and im not worried.
 
serikk85 said:
Just found out I got a paper into Nature Genetics! :hardy: I had included the manuscript in the desciption section of my research, but now that the paper is "in press" does it merit its own section?
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Congrats on getting into Nature, that's impressive.:thumbup:
 
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I was awarded the Regents Scholarship during college, can I list this as a separate EC instead of lumping this with the rest of my "Awards"?

The Regents Scholarship pertains to the UC system and is basically a full ride (7.5k/year). I had to apply for this, and I wasn't given the scholarship as an incoming freshman (90% Regent Scholars are incoming freshman).

Thanks in advance.
 
In the activities section...

1) Is it wise to list the tasks we had in a position on a research project?
1a) If so, can we do this with bullet points?
2) Should we discuss the impact that activities had on us with regard to medicine?

If anybody could post an example of one of their's, that would mean a lot.

... just answering those questions would be more than enough, though.

Thanks!
 
Should I mention a research project that I did last summer with the surgeon I shadowed? We submitted an abstract to a conference, it was rejected, and I didn't pursue it any more after that.

This person is already writing me a LOR about the extensive shadowing, and I have no idea if he's going to mention the research or not. It was important to me because it was the first time I tried clinical research and I realized I liked it more than basic science. I ended up pursuing other, ongoing, projects with other surgeons, but not with this one.

So, is it worth it to list a project that spans July - October, 2007 but would only average 1-2 hrs/wk? I don't think I want to cite the abstract if it was REJECTED from a conference, right?
 
Should we even bother mentioning weekend trips or day trips to Mexico or special olympics events on our work/activities list? I consider those short trips helpful in shaping my view on medicine, but is it worth putting down on the application?

Thanks!
Monica
 
majahops said:
In the activities section...

1) Is it wise to list the tasks we had in a position on a research project?
1a) If so, can we do this with bullet points?
2) Should we discuss the impact that activities had on us with regard to medicine?

If anybody could post an example of one of their's, that would mean a lot.

... just answering those questions would be more than enough, though.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I'm doing 1 and 1a, but I don't have room for discussion on mine. I don't think it would hurt you threw in a sentance about how it impacted you. Just keep it short....
 
moniquash said:
Should we even bother mentioning weekend trips or day trips to Mexico or special olympics events on our work/activities list? I consider those short trips helpful in shaping my view on medicine, but is it worth putting down on the application?

Thanks!
Monica
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If it was a one time thing, you might skip it. If you did it two or more times, you might list the dates of the first and last times, leave hours per week blank and in the description say something like:
made four weekend-long service trips to Mexican border towns. Provided translation services, assisted with physical exams, distributed hygiene packets (soap, toothpaste, etc).

or

volunteer with Special Olympics for one week each summer.
--2004 assisted one athlete in the swimming competion
--supervised athletes waiting for their events
--served as a chaparone in the Olympic Village
 
FON86 said:
I'm volunteering for an organization with many different outpatient clinics ( for example they have urgent care, diagnostic and surgery centers). Should i put all the clinics under one activity, and describe what i did in each center in description section. my responsibilities were pretty much the same, checking patients into the clinic, but other centers gave me more some more responsibilities.

also i am getting one letter from the supervisor of volunteering for all the clinics, idk if this affects how i should put in this activity in amcas.
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Yeah, I'd just put it all in one section, especially if you did essentially the same thing at all of them. Include the different responsibilities in the description.
 
Here's a random question I just thought of.....Eagle Scout, is it worth mentioning in my Awards section?
 
serikk85 said:
Here's a random question I just thought of.....Eagle Scout, is it worth mentioning in my Awards section?
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If you already have an awards section, I don't see any reason not to throw it in there. It's obviously something that you've devoted a lot of time to and you're proud of the accomplishment. I don't see how it could hurt.
 
shemarty said:
Should I mention a research project that I did last summer with the surgeon I shadowed? We submitted an abstract to a conference, it was rejected, and I didn't pursue it any more after that.

This person is already writing me a LOR about the extensive shadowing, and I have no idea if he's going to mention the research or not. It was important to me because it was the first time I tried clinical research and I realized I liked it more than basic science. I ended up pursuing other, ongoing, projects with other surgeons, but not with this one.

So, is it worth it to list a project that spans July - October, 2007 but would only average 1-2 hrs/wk? I don't think I want to cite the abstract if it was REJECTED from a conference, right?
Click to expand...

I'd mention the project, not the abstract.
 
serikk85 said:
Here's a random question I just thought of.....Eagle Scout, is it worth mentioning in my Awards section?
Click to expand...

Use the Advance Search to search Eagle Scout from more than a year ago on the pre-allo forum. I'm record of saying don't include it as it is something earned while one is in H.S., correct? One adcom member I know gets very annoyed to see Eagle Scout for that reason (HS activity), many others see it infrequently and tend to ignore it.

People will say it came up during the interview but I suspect that is only because it is an easy thing to ask about as many people know someone who is an Eagle Scout and they know that a project is required and it is interesting to hear about a project and hear how someone describes in an interview the project that he led.
 
Thanks LizzyM! While we're on the topic of Awards, Honors, Etc., I did a quick research internship at Johns Hopkins Dept. of Biophysics over winter break. I've described it in my research section. Is it over the top to also list in in my Awards, Honors, and Scholarships section? I had to turn in letters of recommendation to be allowed to go there so I guess I feel "honored" that I got to go. I dunno, maybe it's a stretch. BTW, thanks again so much for taking the time to answer all of our dumb questions, LizzyM.
 
LizzyM,

As a high school senior, as a white guy, I was voted "best sense of humor" by my almost exclusively african american classmates. In my opinion, this says just as much about who I am today as any other honor I might put in my activities... But you'd recommend that I not put it, simply because it happened in HS?
 
majahops said:
LizzyM,

As a high school senior, as a white guy, I was voted "best sense of humor" by my almost exclusively african american classmates. In my opinion, this says just as much about who I am today as any other honor I might put in my activities... But you'd recommend that I not put it, simply because it happened in HS?
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Leave it off the application. It gives you something to mention in the interview if you are offered the opportunity to say something about something not on your application and you are at a loss for what to say.
 
serikk85 said:
Thanks LizzyM! While we're on the topic of Awards, Honors, Etc., I did a quick research internship at Johns Hopkins Dept. of Biophysics over winter break. I've described it in my research section. Is it over the top to also list in in my Awards, Honors, and Scholarships section? I had to turn in letters of recommendation to be allowed to go there so I guess I feel "honored" that I got to go. I dunno, maybe it's a stretch. BTW, thanks again so much for taking the time to answer all of our dumb questions, LizzyM.
Click to expand...

It is research, not an honor.
 
Hi Lizzy, you are great.

I was project leader in 3 different group projects that we did for different classes. Can I put that in my leadership section or does it have to be non-class related?

Also, since there is a separate paid work field then I guess all leadership activities must be non-paid, right? Thanks!
 
LizzyM said:
Leave it off the application. It gives you something to mention in the interview if you are offered the opportunity to say something about something not on your application and you are at a loss for what to say.
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Damn you slick.
 
Gavanshir said:
Hi Lizzy, you are great.

I was project leader in 3 different group projects that we did for different classes. Can I put that in my leadership section or does it have to be non-class related?

Also, since there is a separate paid work field then I guess all leadership activities must be non-paid, right? Thanks!
Click to expand...

The categories are not mutually exclusive; you must choose which is the best description. If someone were a platoon leader in the military, that is paid but also leadership, right?

The section of the AMCAS is called "experience". It doesn't say "extra curricular" and I have discovered that sometimes people sneak in stuff that they did for credit (research, social service volunteer work in a sociology class, shadowing as part of a health professions class) into that experience section. So, if that seems like a good use of one of your spaces, go for it.
 
LizzyM said:
The section of the AMCAS is called "experience". It doesn't say "extra curricular" and I have discovered that sometimes people sneak in stuff that they did for credit (research, social service volunteer work in a sociology class, shadowing as part of a health professions class) into that experience section. So, if that seems like a good use of one of your spaces, go for it.
Click to expand...

So does it look bad if I use one of my 15 slots for a Genetics Preceptorship that I got credit for? I got a LOR out of it and it was one of the experiences that really influenced me to pursue academic medicine.
 
LizzyM said:
The categories are not mutually exclusive; you must choose which is the best description. If someone were a platoon leader in the military, that is paid but also leadership, right?

The section of the AMCAS is called "experience". It doesn't say "extra curricular" and I have discovered that sometimes people sneak in stuff that they did for credit (research, social service volunteer work in a sociology class, shadowing as part of a health professions class) into that experience section. So, if that seems like a good use of one of your spaces, go for it.
Click to expand...

This is a very useful comment. I am trying to cut down, and I guess I should have remembered that adcoms will be looking at my transcript too. :rolleyes: Thanks!
 
phatib said:
Personally, I put down 14 items. Wanted to leave 1 blank precisely because didn't want to be viewed as the person who just had to fill in all the blanks on the application.
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I'm sure there are more than one of those people. I think that as long as all of the slots are filled with quality, meaningful experiences, filling all 15 is fine.
 
Is it a good idea to include a website link on the activities section? (if you own a personal website)
 
chad5871 said:
So does it look bad if I use one of my 15 slots for a Genetics Preceptorship that I got credit for? I got a LOR out of it and it was one of the experiences that really influenced me to pursue academic medicine.
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No, it doesn't look bad. Frankly, I was reading applications for 6 years before I realized that some of the things listed in experience were also part of a for credit class. I don't fault anyone for listing something that is also listed among their courses, such as the shadowing, research or a community service component of a course.
 
LizzyM said:
No, it doesn't look bad. Frankly, I was reading applications for 6 years before I realized that some of the things listed in experience were also part of a for credit class. I don't fault anyone for listing something that is also listed among their courses, such as the shadowing, research or a community service component of a course.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Lizzy!
 
shemarty said:
Should I mention a research project that I did last summer with the surgeon I shadowed? We submitted an abstract to a conference, it was rejected, and I didn't pursue it any more after that.

This person is already writing me a LOR about the extensive shadowing, and I have no idea if he's going to mention the research or not. It was important to me because it was the first time I tried clinical research and I realized I liked it more than basic science. I ended up pursuing other, ongoing, projects with other surgeons, but not with this one.

So, is it worth it to list a project that spans July - October, 2007 but would only average 1-2 hrs/wk? I don't think I want to cite the abstract if it was REJECTED from a conference, right?
Click to expand...

scarletgirl777 said that I should mention the research experience. What should I even say for hours per week? This was a small project and most of the time was spent getting the human subject protocol approved. I did a lit review, pulled an all nighter to actually get all 80 patients' data out of the hospital's database, and a post-doc helped me analyze the data and draw conclusions because this was the first time I was ever involved in a clinical research project.

I don't know. It hardly seems worth mentioning it at all, because it didn't take up a significant amount of time in the grand scheme of things, and I didn't pursue more research projects in the same field with the same person.

Or maybe it is worth mentioning just because it was still a research project even if it didn't end up getting accepted at a conference or anything, and I worked with somebody who I otherwise know pretty well and is writing a LOR for my shadowing experience anyway.

LizzyM or anybody else, do you have any more suggestions?
 
shemarty said:
scarletgirl777 said that I should mention the research experience. What should I even say for hours per week? This was a small project and most of the time was spent getting the human subject protocol approved. I did a lit review, pulled an all nighter to actually get all 80 patients' data out of the hospital's database, and a post-doc helped me analyze the data and draw conclusions because this was the first time I was ever involved in a clinical research project.

I don't know. It hardly seems worth mentioning it at all, because it didn't take up a significant amount of time in the grand scheme of things, and I didn't pursue more research projects in the same field with the same person.

Or maybe it is worth mentioning just because it was still a research project even if it didn't end up getting accepted at a conference or anything, and I worked with somebody who I otherwise know pretty well and is writing a LOR for my shadowing experience anyway.

LizzyM or anybody else, do you have any more suggestions?
Click to expand...

Put the emphasis on getting human subjects approval. I'd guess that every adcom member knows how hard that is and how relevant it is to research that you might do as a physician.
 
LizzyM,

presentation/poster

Which is worse: Leave this section blank, or use presentation done for honor's course??

forgive the *****ic nature of this question and don't yell at me for asking it. But I think at some point this cycle can make a person go mad and ask questions they probably know the answer to, but just wanted to hear it from someone else.
 
Coffee said:
LizzyM,

presentation/poster

Which is worse: Leave this section blank, or use presentation done for honor's course??

forgive the *****ic nature of this question and don't yell at me for asking it. But I think at some point this cycle can make a person go mad and ask questions they probably know the answer to, but just wanted to hear it from someone else.
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blank. All those categories aren't meant for having someone put 1 for each. they are there to help categorize the nature of your ECs if you've done oral presentation/poster presentations of research and it has been meaningful.

Also, honor courses don't count as presentations/posters. Only research presentations are what they are generally referring too.

For those of you who are asking this question repeatedly about research and rejection of research for presentation/poster/publication. if its been rejected for any of the above, then don't list it as the above. However, you can focus on the fact that it is still research or lab work and use the lab/research tab or whatever the specific tab is to talk about your work because you still invested a lot of time and it shows the potential to do research and understand how the research process works.
 
Caveat to my above post might be research thesis.

If you have a research thesis, and you've created a poster/presentation, etc. presented somewhere you could list it even if it is listed in courses.

But perhaps LizzyM can confirm. This is how I'd do things though.
 
thanks gujudoc, that's what I thought. I have another question though for either you or LizzyM or anyone who can respond.

I've tried to do a search but I couldn't find the answer I was looking for. I'm wondering if the "conference attended" section is also meant to be exclusive for research related conferences, or nationally known ones. I'm asking because I go to a monthly conference, it's not a big one, but there is a different doctor that presents each month, based on his/her specialty, and I'd like to put it down as it's been quite enjoyable to still be learning/listening to science/medically related topics.

Again, I'm just trying to see what's "ok" to put down and what's just considered silly since I'm sort of an amcas neophyte.
 
This has probably been brought up before, but here it goes. I've shadowed 5 physicians over my undergrad years, one for 6 months (4 hours/week), and the other 4 for about 3 months (6 hours/week each). Should each of these physicians have their own listing, or should I list one "physician shadowing" activity and then describe each individual physician? Thanks in advance!
 
GatorCHOMPions said:
This has probably been brought up before, but here it goes. I've shadowed 5 physicians over my undergrad years, one for 6 months (4 hours/week), and the other 4 for about 3 months (6 hours/week each). Should each of these physicians have their own listing, or should I list one "physician shadowing" activity and then describe each individual physician? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Lump them together unless you have 4 extra spaces on your AMCAS. Then, for each, write the name of the physician, the specialty, and how many hours you shadowed in the experience description.
 
chad5871 said:
Lump them together unless you have 4 extra spaces on your AMCAS. Then, for each, write the name of the physician, the specialty, and how many hours you shadowed in the experience description.
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unless? I'm lumping them together even though I only have 11 slots filled. I just don't want it to cause confusion....?
 
jgberken said:
unless? I'm lumping them together even though I only have 11 slots filled. I just don't want it to cause confusion....?
Click to expand...

Well I know that some people are just obsessing over having all 15 slots full. So if you're one of those applicants, separate them out if you have the space. If you want to save space (or to eliminate confusion), just lump them together and name the experience "Physician Shadowing" or something like that.

By the way, if we add activities that don't have a start/stop date (e.g. things lumped together, avocations/hobbies, honors/awards) do they appear at the top or the bottom of the activities list?
 
chad5871 said:
Well I know that some people are just obsessing over having all 15 slots full. So if you're one of those applicants, separate them out if you have the space. If you want to save space (or to eliminate confusion), just lump them together and name the experience "Physician Shadowing" or something like that.

By the way, if we add activities that don't have a start/stop date (e.g. things lumped together, avocations/hobbies, honors/awards) do they appear at the top or the bottom of the activities list?
Click to expand...
bottom. it's weird
 
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