ERAS "Experiences" wording and what to include

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dr123

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How much/how little should I include in the "Experiences" portion of ERAS? Undergrad? High school?

Also, what type of wording should I use in the description section?
Example one: "Worked as a volunteer, duties included..."
Example two: "I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Smith as a volunteer in the clinic..."

Thanks!
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i would put the most important medical/teaching experiences from undergrad but none from high school. and my explanations were 2-3 sentences like example #2. i been hearing short and concise is the way to go. but i think they are totally up to you!
 
It's totally up to you, but I prefer option #1, as it's more along the lines of the format for resumes. My descriptions were 1-2 phrases, beginning with a verb. Option #2 has a lot of unnecessary words. Obviously you had the opportunity to work with Dr. Smith, since you've got it listed, KWIM? :)

Otherwise, agree with above. Undergrad ok, don't include high school unless it was something extraordinary. Good luck.
 
:) oops i meant #1 too!!! totally missed that! what short term memory!
 
I copied and pasted the descriptions from my resume, which were similar to Example #1. Each description is about 3-4 phrases starting with verbs.
 
I picked a number of experiences from ugrad, some from work after ugrad, and only 1-2 (really key) experiences from high school. I described them in prose rather than bullet point format. I think the bottom line is, go with however you feel comfortable. I don't think there's a consensus on the "right way"...
 
As I decide what experiences to include and how to describe them, I keep thinking about the guidelines for writing an admission H&P. On the one hand, I want to be concise and relevant; on the other hand, I want to include enough detail for the reader to really understand my history, which is rather extensive because medicine is my second career.

Here are guidelines I'm considering:
  • Work experiences: Include only (1) the full-time position I held between grad school and med school and (2) the work I did during med school (i.e. teaching, tutoring). I held some interesting jobs as an undergrad and grad student, too, but it just feels like overkill to include them.
  • Volunteer experiences: Include only the ones I had during med school. The ones I did before med school seem largely trivial and irrelevant now (of course, YMMV).
  • Research experiences: This is a tough one. Most of it is unrelated to medicine, but still interesting and diverse. I'll definitely include my PhD work and med school research, but I'm not sure what to do with undergrad research and grad school research that went nowhere (i.e., interesting experiences that didn't result in anything substantial like a paper or poster).

Any thoughts?
 
I planning on just writing 1 descriptive sentence for each experience. I figure they ask ask me if they want to know more. I do feel weird about not using the leftover 900 characters though...
 
So, undergrad research experience (in field of interest - Cards) with poster, but no publication is appropriate?

Also, any thoughts on where to put induction into Research Honor Societies? I've listed it in the society section, but should it also go under a research experience vs. volunteer experience w/ explanation of what is entailed in membership?
 
what about medical school CLINICAL RESEARCH ELECTIVE? does this go under experiences as well?
can i also include that I am expecting a publication out of this under experiences section since it might not have been accepted for publication yet?
 
Oh another question, do we always need a reason for leaving?
 
doc20 said:
what about medical school CLINICAL RESEARCH ELECTIVE? does this go under experiences as well?
can i also include that I am expecting a publication out of this under experiences section since it might not have been accepted for publication yet?
Click to expand...

It can be listed under experiences or research, either would be fine.

Yes, you can write the status of any possible publication.

Pinkertinkle said:
Oh another question, do we always need a reason for leaving?
Click to expand...


No, although most applicants fill it in. Personally, I find it useless.
 
I'm an applicant currently filling out the ERAS. I have one more question on this subject of bullet points vs. prose (I seem to prefer the look of the bullet points): if I did work for a company and it isn't blatantly obvious in the company's name what it is, can/should I do the following:
----------------
XYZ, Inc. is a provider of advanced image analysis to assist in the detection of pathologies on radiologic imaging.
My duties while employed included:
-Worked on this.
-Tried to fix that.
-Screwed up them both.
----------------


Would this look strange on the ERAS CV when other volunteer work (Interest Group President) are self-explanatory and I didn't do the intro sentence or "my duties included:" line?

Thanks guys
 
Hi,

Just wondering if we can list acknowledgments in publications under research or publications? Someone had told me it's not really worth putting but I wanted to see what the consensus was on this....

Thanks!
 
chocoholic129 said:
Hi,

Just wondering if we can list acknowledgments in publications under research or publications? Someone had told me it's not really worth putting but I wanted to see what the consensus was on this....

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I would not do this. The secretary who types the manuscript gets mentioned in the acknowledgements. If you're not an author, then it's not your publication.
 
What about putting I'm a black belt in Martial Arts on ERAS??
 
Is it okay to put scholarships under Medical School Awards and Honors?

How about interest groups with leadership positions under Honorary/Professional Organizations?

I am trying to decide between two specialties Anest and Rad (one this month and one next month) so was planning on having LOR and turn in app by Oct.1, is this gonna be too late?
 
Nicholaus said:
What about putting I'm a black belt in Martial Arts on ERAS??
Click to expand...

You could put that under hobbies and interests if you really wanted to :)...would lead to an interesting non-medical discussion.
 
ResidentMD said:
You could put that under hobbies and interests if you really wanted to :)...would lead to an interesting non-medical discussion.
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I am just a lowly YELLOW belt, can i put that there as well?
 
How many experiences does the average medical students list? I currently have 5 and feel its so little compared to my old AMCAS list.
 
codeb1ue said:
How many experiences does the average medical students list? I currently have 5 and feel its so little compared to my old AMCAS list.
Click to expand...
Look at the match data. For ortho it is something like 4-5 volunteer, 1 research, and maybe 1 work
 
What do you guys suggest for working as a Research Asst. It fits under research and work, but I think it would look better under research. Should I outline it as such?
 
aProgDirector said:
I would not do this. The secretary who types the manuscript gets mentioned in the acknowledgements. If you're not an author, then it's not your publication.
Click to expand...
I just found out I was acknowledged in a paper - would that be something I put it under Awards section of ERAS?
 
RxnMan said:
I just found out I was acknowledged in a paper - would that be something I put it under Awards section of ERAS?
Click to expand...

I would avoid putting acknowledgments in papers anywhere on the ERAS. Technically, it's just a way of thanking those who contributed in some way to the project, but have not carried out the majority of the work or project development that someone who is listed as an author would have. (Even if you did do the majority of the work and your PI for some reason only listed you in the acknowledgment section then it would still not be appropriate to include as the person reading your application really has no idea how much work you did on the paper).

This is based upon my own personal experience (had an acknowledgment and my Dean said not to include it) and also what aProgdirector said above. You can by all means include what you actually did for the project in the experiences section, but in my opinion trying to polish up an acknowledgment by including it under awards or publications seems a little desperate.

Best of luck with your application!
 
what's this junk on the Charting Outcomes document about "number of volunteer experiences"? Was there a spot on that on the ERAS app? Who has time to volunteer at 4 different places?
 
MacchinaDaCaffe said:
I would avoid putting acknowledgments in papers anywhere on the ERAS. Technically, it's just a way of thanking those who contributed in some way to the project, but have not carried out the majority of the work or project development that someone who is listed as an author would have. (Even if you did do the majority of the work and your PI for some reason only listed you in the acknowledgment section then it would still not be appropriate to include as the person reading your application really has no idea how much work you did on the paper).

This is based upon my own personal experience (had an acknowledgment and my Dean said not to include it) and also what aProgdirector said above. You can by all means include what you actually did for the project in the experiences section, but in my opinion trying to polish up an acknowledgment by including it under awards or publications seems a little desperate.

Best of luck with your application!
Click to expand...
Hold on - I'm not saying I should list this as a publication. Far from it. I agree wholeheartedly with what APD wrote and acknowledgment is not authorship. I'm asking about listing it as some sort of award or notification, something on the order of how some schools give a prize to the student with the best pathology grade, or getting a prize for having a good research poster.

howelljolly said:
what's this junk on the Charting Outcomes document about "number of volunteer experiences"? Was there a spot on that on the ERAS app? Who has time to volunteer at 4 different places?
Click to expand...
I think it's number of instances. If you spent a weekend working a student health fair, another working at a local free clinic, and raised money for a local charity, that would count as three experiences.

It's easily inflated.
 
RxnMan said:
Hold on - I'm not saying I should list this as a publication. Far from it. I agree wholeheartedly with what APD wrote and acknowledgment is not authorship. I'm asking about listing it as some sort of award or notification, something on the order of how some schools give a prize to the student with the best pathology grade, or getting a prize for having a good research poster.
Click to expand...

Maybe APD can offer input again and give you the perspective of someone who reads the ERAS apps or perhaps you can ask an advisor at your school about your specific situation. As I said in my post there does not appear to be a logical place in the ERAS (even in the awards section) where an acknowledgment on a paper would fit. Believe me, if I could have found a way to put the acknowledgment I received on a paper into my ERAS then I would have. I would just describe what you did in the research project and be prepared to talk about it if asked on interviews.
 
MacchinaDaCaffe said:
Maybe APD can offer input again and give you the perspective of someone who reads the ERAS apps or perhaps you can ask an advisor at your school about your specific situation. As I said in my post there does not appear to be a logical place in the ERAS (even in the awards section) where an acknowledgment on a paper would fit. Believe me, if I could have found a way to put the acknowledgment I received on a paper into my ERAS then I would have. I would just describe what you did in the research project and be prepared to talk about it if asked on interviews.
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Actually, I've spoken to a few others, and they confirm what you've written. Sorry I doubted. Thanks, and best of luck to you.
 
1) how about community service activities that have continued since undergrad..? for example, i volunteered at a clinic for 85 hours in undergrad. In med school, i spent another 80 hours volunteering there.... should I list it all combined?

2) i helped start an informal discussion club for my medical school class, like a hobby. can i list this organization in ERAS under hobbies and interests?

3) for any research project... can it be listed in multiple sections? ie Activities Publication Poster Presentation? this amounts to 3 items for 1 activity, is this generally acceptable?

thank you, this thread has been very helpful
 
mnemosyme said:
1) how about community service activities that have continued since undergrad..? for example, i volunteered at a clinic for 85 hours in undergrad. In med school, i spent another 80 hours volunteering there.... should I list it all combined?
2) i helped start an informal discussion club for my medical school class, like a hobby. can i list this organization in ERAS under hobbies and interests?
3) for any research project... can it be listed in multiple sections? ie Activities Publication Poster Presentation? this amounts to 3 items for 1 activity, is this generally acceptable?
Click to expand...
1.Community service activities are important, college and beyond. Some continuity may be viewed very positively, since it might indicate a serious commitment on your part.
2. Hobbies are whatever you want them to be. But make sure you are willing to talk about them during an interview. So if you aren't, don't put them down. Whether they will be viewed positively will be in the eye of the beholder, however.
3. Nothing wrong with multi-listing productive research activities in the appropriate sections. If you have done research, presented a poster and are an author on a publication related to the project, that would legitimately be listed in all 3 sections. The same is done of faculty CV's (for example, grant funding for a project, resulting presentations, and publications from that project would all be listed in various parts of a CV).
 
thanks twilight doc.

i have one last question... i'm already guessing the answer is no --- should i list shadowing hours in the specialty that i'm trying to match into?
 
sry to bump into an old post. just wondering that being concise is still the principle now? I was told by my AMG friends that it's better to write a short paragraph describing each experience...
 
qPCR said:
sry to bump into an old post. just wondering that being concise is still the principle now? I was told by my AMG friends that it's better to write a short paragraph describing each experience...
Click to expand...
Yes. A short paragraph is fine. As long as it's only 1 sentence long.
 
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I worked on 4 separate research projects with one PI, should this be listed under Research activities as 1 experience or 4? I don't want to look obnoxious by separating them all out when it was all during the same few months but the descriptions (which are very concise) do not all fit in the allotted space.

As an edit, the research was with a mentor who is in the department I am applying to.
 
funkymonkey0987 said:
I worked on 4 separate research projects with one PI, should this be listed under Research activities as 1 experience or 4? I don't want to look obnoxious by separating them all out when it was all during the same few months but the descriptions (which are very concise) do not all fit in the allotted space.

As an edit, the research was with a mentor who is in the department I am applying to.
Click to expand...
If the research was different, list it as a different experience. If the research was a continuation of the same project, list it as a single project.
 
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gutonc said:
Yes. A short paragraph is fine. As long as it's only 1 sentence long.
Click to expand...
I understand the descriptions need to be concise, but would 2-4 phrases be alright? For some of these, I need to explain what the organization is and for research projects, I have typically been using 1-2 phrases for description of project and role and another phrase for resulting poster/paper
 
funkymonkey0987 said:
I worked on 4 separate research projects with one PI, should this be listed under Research activities as 1 experience or 4? I don't want to look obnoxious by separating them all out when it was all during the same few months but the descriptions (which are very concise) do not all fit in the allotted space.

As an edit, the research was with a mentor who is in the department I am applying to.
Click to expand...
I kind of find it a little unlikely that you truly had four completely unrelated research projects; even if they were separate presentations or papers or whatever, chances are that somehow they are all aspects of a larger over-arching project/topic. I generally would say one PI=one project, and figure out how to discuss the separate parts as one big project.
bloop213 said:
I understand the descriptions need to be concise, but would 2-4 phrases be alright? For some of these, I need to explain what the organization is and for research projects, I have typically been using 1-2 phrases for description of project and role and another phrase for resulting poster/paper
Click to expand...
Don't fret over these things, nobody is really going to read them beyond a couple of buzz words. They really care about whether the research was published/presented, and whether you can talk intelligently about what you did in an interview. So put whatever you think is necessary in there, but there's nothing you can put in the description that is going to wow anyone.
 
GoSpursGo said:
Don't fret over these things, nobody is really going to read them beyond a couple of buzz words. They really care about whether the research was published/presented, and whether you can talk intelligently about what you did in an interview. So put whatever you think is necessary in there, but there's nothing you can put in the description that is going to wow anyone.
Click to expand...

Alright, that makes things easier. Thanks!
 
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