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

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Hi all,
Just a quick question about how to list mutilple poster presentation (not published, but presented by the principal investigator).
Conferences were held at different time and differnet states...so should i make seperate listings for each of the three or should I make one and list locaion, date and contact after each?
Please help!
Thanks
 
MD786 said:
Hi all,
Just a quick question about how to list mutilple poster presentation (not published, but presented by the principal investigator).
Conferences were held at different time and differnet states...so should i make seperate listings for each of the three or should I make one and list locaion, date and contact after each?
Please help!
Thanks
Click to expand...

From what I've read, if you need space, you can group them with research.

If you want to highlight them and have the space, I would put them all together. Enter the date/contact, etc for the most recent presentation, and describe the rest in the description.
 
Kuune said:
From what I've read, if you need space, you can group them with research.

If you want to highlight them and have the space, I would put them all together. Enter the date/contact, etc for the most recent presentation, and describe the rest in the description.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Group them together. Seems more logical so that you can use the space for other activities.
 
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gujuDoc said:
The answer to this depends and varies based on who you talk to. People at top tier schools like LizzyM sometimes like you to just get to the point and say what you did as concisely as possible.

However, schools like BUSM and USF have had MD admissions officers saying to write what you did, why you did it, and what you learned from it.

That's the approach I took.

However, whichever approach you take do the following:

1. Keep it concise. i.e. don't write in a round about way. Whether you use paragraphs or bullets, make it to the point.

2. Make sure whichever of the 2 approaches you take from above is that which will help you market yourself better to the schools you are applying to.

Some people can market themselves well with just bullets but some people feel they can make the importance better by writing why an activity was important to them and some adcoms prefer the former approach while some prefer the latter approach.

Use which one you think will work well for yourself and best for you.
Click to expand...

That's just silly IMO, are students just supposed to guess? It just asks for a description of the activity.



By the way, any ideas on my last question:


I work for a company that's partly owned by my father. Should I mention that? It has nothing to do with my job directly.

And if I organized a small (community) sports tournament, would that be in "community service" or "leadership" section?
 
fatalerror said:
I work for a company that's partly owned by my father. Should I mention that? It has nothing to do with my job directly.

And if I organized a small (community) sports tournament, would that be in "community service" or "leadership" section?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't mention that your father co-owns the company.

I'd put the tournament organization under Leadership.
 
Kuune said:
I worked in a private family physician's office for about 5 weeks over the winter break, . . . All I did was push paper. I got a total of about 40 hours and it was paid (very well, might I add).

So on one hand, I want to say that I experienced how a private clinic works and I learned about professionalism.

On the other hand, it was short lived, and there wasn't really contact with the doctor or with actual medical practice.
Click to expand...
As it seems to have been a formative experience, go ahead and list it, calling Short-Term Employment. You could list it with other jobs you held over breaks from school if you need space, or on its own. Alternatively, you could mention it in the PS instead.
 
traitorman said:
i did research during undergrad and I got credit for it. I was listing hours per week and total number of hours when I realized that the numbers don't add up.

On my transcript, 1 credit = 800 minutes. My school credited me 3 credits for research which is 2400 minutes/40 hours a semester. But I was doing about 6 hours of research a week. If one semester is approximately 12 weeks, that should give me a total of 72 hours a semester.

But if I put that down, then it will not be consistent with my transcript. Should I put my actual hours or the calculated credited hours?
Click to expand...
Labs often take far more time than one receives credit for, and this is well known. List the actual hours you invested in the research activity.
 
ronaldo23 said:
Does playing in an intramural sports league in college go under hobbies?

edit: should we also list the time commitment to our hobbies?


Also, in general is it bad to be leaving out the time per week slot and instead writing the time commitment in the description? I just don't have a consistent involvement week-to-week in most of my activities, so I prefer to just list the dates I was involved and the total hours, especially for those that span multiple years...
Click to expand...
I would put intramural sports under Hobbies. An exact time commitment isn't necessary, whichever you prefer.

You can average out your time commitment or you can leave those blanks empty and mention it in the narrative instead.
 
Penner said:
How to enter this research experience on AMCAS?

Research with Professor X
June 2009-September 2009 (14 weeks), 60 hrs/wk

Research with Professor X again
June 2010-July 2010 (7 weeks), 50 hrs/wk

I want to put them together - what should I do about the dates?
Click to expand...
I would list the longer research period's dates in the header, then in the narrative, say you returned to the lab again, list dates, hours/week, discuss project if different. At the end of the space give the total hours for both time spans.
 
Thom1986 said:
I spent my first two summers of college working manual labor in a warehouse full time, is this something I should include? I am only supposed to include meaningful experiences, but why it was meaningful is reserved for interviews and supplemental essays..
Click to expand...
Why do you think it isn't meaningful? Your ability to complete exhausting work assignments and fulfill the commitments you made to a monotonous job say something about your endurance and reliability. Include it.
 
Also, I have another question. I'm slicing my research into a few EC's. One for the research itself, one for a summer fellowship I did, and one for publications and posters. All of the activities were for the same lab, same project. Should I describe the project in every entry? I describe it in a lot of detail in the "research" entry, but should I at least mention that it is the same lab for the others, or is that clear from the contact information since I list the same PI? I want to make it clear that all three entries were from the same lab to show continuity. Thanks!
 
If I have 2 shadowing experiences and I want to group them together, what should I put for the contact information? Should I leave it blank and then provide it in the description?
 
seanparsel said:
If I have 2 shadowing experiences and I want to group them together, what should I put for the contact information? Should I leave it blank and then provide it in the description?
Click to expand...
List the shadowing under the Other category, name it Physician Shadowing, and put specialty, contact information, dates, total hours in the narrative, with a grand total at the end of the space.

As you have other shadowing as well, they can also be included in the same space.

It is not necessary to tell what you observed/learned. That can be inferred from the specialty of the physician, though a brief mention of something spectacular that really impressed you is fine (eg, saw a baby born).
 
Last edited:
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Kuune said:
Also, I have another question. I'm slicing my research into a few EC's. One for the research itself, one for a summer fellowship I did, and one for publications and posters. All of the activities were for the same lab, same project. Should I describe the project in every entry? I describe it in a lot of detail in the "research" entry, but should I at least mention that it is the same lab for the others, or is that clear from the contact information since I list the same PI? I want to make it clear that all three entries were from the same lab to show continuity. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Personally, I would not list the summer fellowship separately, since it was the same lab, same project. Just mention in the narrative that you applied for and were approved for a paid fellowship for XXXxdates within the narrative about the rest of the research. When you cite the accepted Publication (presumed to mean in a national journal), the title of the article should be enough description. Since Publication trumps Presentation/Posters, it is not necessary to list it under the second category as well. Rather, you could list the Presentations (with conference name, city, date) either at the end of the Research narrative or after the Publication information (making it clear if you were not the presenter).
 
Catalystik said:
Personally, I would not list the summer fellowship separately, since it was the same lab, same project. Just mention in the narrative that you applied for and were approved for a paid fellowship for XXXxdates within the narrative about the rest of the research. When you cite the accepted Publication (presumed to mean in a national journal), the title of the article should be enough description. Since Publication trumps Presentation/Posters, it is not necessary to list it under the second category as well. Rather, you could list the Presentations (with conference name, city, date) either at the end of the Research narrative or after the Publication information (making it clear if you were not the presenter).
Click to expand...

I put the summer fellowship as a separate entry because it involved weekly meetings, presentations, a poster presentation and a written paper within the program, and I felt that it stood out from the rest of my research. Do you think I should still just stick it under my umbrella research entry? Thanks for all of your help!
 
I did a summer intership last year in a research lab and I will be continuing that this summer. I was wondering do I put those two interships (I will do research on the same topic- in the same lab obviously) in separate "Work/Activities" section or put that into one (If I put it into one how do I specify this?)

Thanks!!
 
Kuune said:
I put the summer fellowship as a separate entry because it involved weekly meetings, presentations, a poster presentation and a written paper within the program, and I felt that it stood out from the rest of my research. Do you think I should still just stick it under my umbrella research entry? Thanks for all of your help!
Click to expand...
I think you could make those distinctions just as easily in the narrative of a single entry (which is what I would do), but remember that there's no one correct way to do this. If you have the space and want to do it differently, that's fine.
 
cure0008 said:
I did a summer intership last year in a research lab and I will be continuing that this summer. I was wondering do I put those two interships (I will do research on the same topic- in the same lab obviously) in separate "Work/Activities" section or put that into one (If I put it into one how do I specify this?)
Click to expand...
Since you haven't completed the second experience yet, I would not list them separately for that reason alone. I would enter the first summer internship, then in the narrative say you plan a repeat internship in the same lab/same project and plan to be there 6/10-8/10 (or whatever). Use update letters to report on hours, etc for the second internship.
 
Catalystik said:
Since you haven't completed the second experience yet, I would not list them separately for that reason alone. I would enter the first summer internship, then in the narrative say you plan a repeat internship in the same lab/same project and plan to be there 6/10-8/10 (or whatever). Use update letters to report on hours, etc for the second internship.
Click to expand...


Thank-you Catalystik!!!
 
I received numerous merit/need scholarships(5+), but I also received another award that I am quite proud of as only one person per my department per year receives it, should i still list all the awards together as mentioned earlier in this thread or can I separate my special award from the others?
 
Hi!
I have several question about the W/A section in regards to what to put for multiple hospital volunteer positions. For example, one semester i volunteered at an opthamology clinic and the next it was a geriatrics ward. Fast forward a couple years i am volunteering at primary care center, surgery unit and ED. Should I classify this under one? Or should I group them based on the hospital? Since well there is only one contact name.
2.) If I received credit for research should I NOT put this under the work/A section?


Thank you so much!
:luck:
 
sigle said:
Hi!
I have several question about the W/A section in regards to what to put for multiple hospital volunteer positions. For example, one semester i volunteered at an opthamology clinic and the next it was a geriatrics ward. Fast forward a couple years i am volunteering at primary care center, surgery unit and ED. Should I classify this under one? Or should I group them based on the hospital? Since well there is only one contact name.
2.) If I received credit for research should I NOT put this under the work/A section?


Thank you so much!
:luck:
Click to expand...
Sorry I also forgot to mention that I want to list working either FT or PT throughout college but it was at different organizations. How should I go about listing this..? I dont want it to look like i'm just filling space for the heck of it.

Once again, thank you!
 
Hey,

If I've taken a directed research course which ended with a paper, would this be something to put on the the activities/work section?

Also, can anyone spare some time to read through 2-3 activities/work descriptions that I've put in so far just to get a feel if I'm including enough/too much/not enough information.

Thanks!
 
burningheat said:
I received numerous merit/need scholarships(5+), but I also received another award that I am quite proud of as only one person per my department per year receives it, should i still list all the awards together as mentioned earlier in this thread or can I separate my special award from the others?
Click to expand...
If you feel the special award warrants its own space, you can list it separately.
 
sigle said:
Hi!
1) I have several question about the W/A section in regards to what to put for multiple hospital volunteer positions. For example, one semester i volunteered at an opthamology clinic and the next it was a geriatrics ward. Fast forward a couple years i am volunteering at primary care center, surgery unit and ED. Should I classify this under one? Or should I group them based on the hospital? Since well there is only one contact name.
2.) If I received credit for research should I NOT put this under the work/A section?
Click to expand...
1) You may group them all together or split them out based on the hospital where the activity occurred if you have enough space.

2) Research is always listed under "Research," whether paid, volunteer, or for class credit.
 
sigle said:
Sorry I also forgot to mention that I want to list working either FT or PT throughout college but it was at different organizations. How should I go about listing this..? I dont want it to look like i'm just filling space for the heck of it.
Click to expand...
Under "Employment" or "Other" name the activity "Short-Term Employment." For each job, put the title, dates, contact person, organization, hours per week, and total hours.
 
Prateek said:
If I've taken a directed research course which ended with a paper, would this be something to put on the the activities/work section?
Click to expand...
If by using the word research you mean that you performed a scholarly investigation that added new information to human understanding, then:
Catalystik said:
Research is always listed under "Research," whether paid, volunteer, or for class credit.
Click to expand...
But if you mean you wrote a term paper, that is not the type of research you're meant to list in that section.

If the paper you're referring to was accepted and published in a national journal, you may cite it under Publications, in addition to describing the research under Research.
 
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UMICHPremed said:
So in general, in the activity description box, should you bullet points or write complete sentences?
Click to expand...
This was answered recently by gujuDoc:


gujuDoc said:
The answer to this depends and varies based on who you talk to. People at top tier schools like LizzyM sometimes like you to just get to the point and say what you did as concisely as possible.

However, schools like BUSM and USF have had MD admissions officers saying to write what you did, why you did it, and what you learned from it.

That's the approach I took.

However, whichever approach you take do the following:

1. Keep it concise. i.e. don't write in a round about way. Whether you use paragraphs or bullets, make it to the point.

2. Make sure whichever of the 2 approaches you take from above is that which will help you market yourself better to the schools you are applying to.

Some people can market themselves well with just bullets but some people feel they can make the importance better by writing why an activity was important to them and some adcoms prefer the former approach while some prefer the latter approach.

Use which one you think will work well for yourself and best for you.
Click to expand...
 
Catalystik said:
Under "Employment" or "Other" name the activity "Short-Term Employment." For each job, put the title, dates, contact person, organization, hours per week, and total hours.
Click to expand...

Thanks Cat! Just to clarify when you say name the activity 'short-term employment' I should put this in the 'experience name' box, correct? I'm sorry it sounds silly but I want to make sure. Otherwise, I'll have a lot of experiences listed as 'short-term employment'

TY
 
sigle said:
Thanks Cat! Just to clarify when you say name the activity 'short-term employment' I should put this in the 'experience name' box, correct? I'm sorry it sounds silly but I want to make sure. Otherwise, I'll have a lot of experiences listed as 'short-term employment'

TY
Click to expand...
Yes, that would be the experience name. I meant for you to list all the brief jobs in a single space. I'm assuming they were brief because you implied there were many of them, both full- and part-time. If you held any job for a year, then you could give it its own space. Did I understand you correctly?
 
Can we list future research publications? Our paper is going to be published some time in teh summer but I'm not sure exactly when. Can I just say "soon to be published" or should I just include the abstract instead?
 
Another quick question. When entering LOE's can I put the professors school address or is it asking for the place of residence?

Why the heck is it asking for postal code?! 🙄
 
I'm debating whether I should include something as an activity on my application.

I helped take care of my grandfather at home on the weekends for a couple months. I helped him dress, shower, got food, helped with medication. Is this type of thing normally included?
 
Catalystik said:
You would definitely never use the home address. The office address at the school is most appropriate. Postal code? To drive you crazy, of course!
Click to expand...

Ohh Cat despite feeling like an incredible loser you managed to make me laugh. Thank you for being so darn helpful.

As per your other response thats exactly what I thought you meant to go ahead and list it as one experience.

You da bomb!😀
 
LetsGo352 said:
It has not been accepted yet, but they are reviewing it.
Click to expand...
No you can't list a submitted publication that is not yet accepted. But when it is, that would be great to include in an update letter to schools.

If the abstract was published in a national journal and you are listed as an author, you may list that under Publication.

Or you can list it under Presentation if the data was presented verbally or on a poster (if your name was on it), giving credit to whoever presented it, if it wasn't you.
 
Catalystik said:
No you can't list a submitted publication that is not yet accepted. But when it is, that would be great to include in an update letter to schools.

If the abstract was published in a national journal and you are listed as an author, you may list that under Publication.

Or you can list it under Presentation if the data was presented verbally or on a poster (if your name was on it), giving credit to whoever presented it, if it wasn't you.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks!
 
EpicBearMan said:
I'm debating whether I should include something as an activity on my application.

I helped take care of my grandfather at home on the weekends for a couple months. I helped him dress, shower, got food, helped with medication. Is this type of thing normally included?
Click to expand...
You would not list it as a clinical experience or as a volunteer experience, but you could put it under Employment (if paid) or under Other, if not (as it is an altruistic activity, but not a community service). Aside from giving medication, did you do anything else that was therapeutic, like range of motion exercise, physicial therapy, empty urine bag/manage catheter, give suppositories, change dressings, check blood sugar, etc? Or did you mainly assist in activities of daily living? make it clear whether it was one or the other.

Alternatively, if the experience has anything to do with refining your interest in medicine, you could discuss it in the Personal Statement instead.
 
Catalystik said:
You would not list it as a clinical experience or as a volunteer experience, but you could put it under Employment (if paid) or under Other, if not (as it is an altruistic activity, but not a community service). Aside from giving medication, did you do anything else that was therapeutic, like range of motion exercise, physicial therapy, empty urine bag/manage catheter, give suppositories, change dressings, check blood sugar, etc? Or did you mainly assist in activities of daily living? make it clear whether it was one or the other.

Alternatively, if the experience has anything to do with refining your interest in medicine, you could discuss it in the Personal Statement instead.
Click to expand...

I changed bandages on a few occasions (he got up in the middle of the night and fell), but mainly it was assisting in activities of daily living. I think I will list it under other and just give a brief description of what I did. Thank you Cat.
 
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EpicBearMan said:
I'm debating whether I should include something as an activity on my application.

I helped take care of my grandfather at home on the weekends for a couple months. I helped him dress, shower, got food, helped with medication. Is this type of thing normally included?
Click to expand...


Then I should probably put my brothers- who I basically raised. ---9 years of helping my brothers dress, shower, make and prepare food. Hope that gets me an interview :xf:
In all seriousness, I would not put that you took care of your grandfather. I think if this changed your view of medicine then you should put it in your Personal Statement.
 
Hi everyone,

I tried searching this but didn't come up with anything:

If I've been working at an on campus student store for the past three years, and got promoted to supervisor, a leadership role, should I list that under "Paid Employment" or "Leadership"? Or should I do something like:

Experience Type: Paid Employment, not military
Experience Name: Leadership - Supervisor

?

Thanks!
 
echang said:
IIf I've been working at an on campus student store for the past three years, and got promoted to supervisor, a leadership role, should I list that under "Paid Employment" or "Leadership"? Or should I do something like:

Experience Type: Paid Employment, not military
Experience Name: Leadership - Supervisor
Click to expand...
I'd choose the category of Employment-Nonmilitary. I'd give an experience name of Retail Sales/Supervisor, then in the narrative relate the timeframes of being an entry-level worker who moved up in the ranks and got increasing responsibilities, with the dates of the supervisory role specified.
 
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