Gap Year Job on AMCAS

[dranonymous44]

Hello! I am applying to MD school this cycle and need some advice on the Work/Activities section.

I received a wonderful full-time clinical research job after graduation, which is set to start in the beginning of July. I am currently being oriented to the facility and filling out paper work.

I would love to put this job in my Work/Activities section, yet the start date cannot be in future. How will I be able to communicate to the schools that I have this job? If it's only in the secondaries, I am worried it will weaken my primary application to not have it.

Thank you for your advice!

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[prettylittledoctor22]

One activity in itself will not weaken your primary application-- most people get primaries anyways. I got my job after filling out the primary application and found it beneficial to have something new to talk about in my secondaries/update letters which did not sound redundant.

 

[Catalystik]

Hello! I am applying to MD school this cycle and need some advice on the Work/Activities section.

I received a wonderful full-time clinical research job after graduation, which is set to start in the beginning of July. I am currently being oriented to the facility and filling out paper work.

I would love to put this job in my Work/Activities section, yet the start date cannot be in future. How will I be able to communicate to the schools that I have this job? If it's only in the secondaries, I am worried it will weaken my primary application to not have it.

Thank you for your advice!

You could sneak it in by briefly referring to it at the end of a recent Research description that has ended, ie, not giving it its own space.

 

[neekzg]

If you are just starting a job, you will not have done enough in that role such that leaving it off your primary will hinder your app. You won't be able to speak about that experience in the same way you can for your other activities. The place for jobs started after AMCAS is submitted is your secondary. There are many secondary prompts that will explicitly ask what you have been doing since graduation (if you have graduated). It will be a positive for you to bring something new up in your secondaries that isn't on your primary.

 

[dranonymous44]

Thank you so much for you responses!

 

[WhittyPsyche]

Sorry I don't mean to hijack the thread but don't think this needs to be a whole other thread.

If you start the job before you submit your primary, like two weeks before. (Mine is also clinical research) Should you put on the primary or wait for secondary prompts? Do most schools have the gap year question?


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[jebelali]

I would put it on secondaries under "is there anything else we should know?" I has started something about a week before primary submission and so I chose to include it in secondaries instead.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

I am working off this thread since it is relevant to my question and may help others. I have heard from physicians in medical education at HMS that for people who are applying to medical school while taking a gap year, it is critical to put what you will be doing in the gap year at the end of the personal statement. How accurate is this, or is this more of an institution specific bias?

Also for something like a summer research internship at a top 5 medical school and a 9 month fellowship at the NIH are either of these worth putting in a personal statement no matter what, or should they be exclusively used in secondaries to ensure that there is something new in secondaries? also paging @Catalystik and @gonnif because I would greatly appreciate your well informed opinions! 🙂

 

[Chromium Surfer]

I would consider this institutional specific as the AMCAS Primary PS is why medicine. While the gap year may show continuing evidence of "why medicine;" you should have clearly established that from things you have done, not things you are planning. Kind of hard to make the logical jump "I have decided on medicine from an activity I havent done yet"



They should be in the EC section of the Primary and in secondary if applicable

Hi gonnif thanks for the reply! I have a few follow up questions. If why Medicine is already clearly established but the gap year plans are a continued development of the narrative and theme of the app and the personal motivation for why medicine would it then make sense to include them in PS?

I was told that you can’t include things you have not started yet on the primary is this true? The NIH program would start in September so much after primary submission but it would be an intensive fellowship building again on the themes of the app and why medicine, not something that there is a chance of me not following through with. For the summer program I will only have been in it for a week at the time of primary submission so not much meaningful work will be done but is even more tied to my motivations for medicine and culminates in meaningful products of work.

What is the optimal way to include these activities in a primary and secondary app?

Thank you so much for your time and advice it is greatly appreciated!

 

[Catalystik]

1) I have heard from physicians in medical education at HMS that for people who are applying to medical school while taking a gap year, it is critical to put what you will be doing in the gap year at the end of the personal statement. How accurate is this, or is this more of an institution specific bias?

2) Also for something like a summer research internship at a top 5 medical school and a 9 month fellowship at the NIH are either of these worth putting in a personal statement no matter what, or should they be exclusively used in secondaries to ensure that there is something new in secondaries? also paging @Catalystik and @gonnif because I would greatly appreciate your well informed opinions! 🙂

1) I think most would feel that the PS is not the place for a future plan that is unrelated to the theme expected for that essay.

2) A future research gig would be better alluded to at the end of another Research entry (if you can knit them together smoothly), provided it's definite, or in a Secondary.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

1) I think most would feel that the PS is not the place for a future plan that is unrelated to the theme expected for that essay.

2) A future research gig would be better alluded to at the end of another Research entry (if you can knit them together smoothly), provided it's definite, or in a Secondary.

Hi Catalystik, thank you for replying! I was worried that the information that I was given might have been biased despite good intentions, so I am thankful I went on here to confirm. Just to give a concrete example so that I can clarify and confirm your position.

1. Lets say someone wanted to go into medicine to help address the burden caused by cancer and in their PS they talked about how they did cancer research, worked at a cancer clinic, and did some non clinical volunteering related to cancer. If the summer internship and work at NIH both involved work done to address cancer issues, would that still not be wise to include in the PS? Assuming the applicant included both of these activities as logical next steps in their progression to learn more about cancer so that they could have a more informed insight and knowledge necessary to dedicate their career to it.

2. Do you agree with Gonnif that post grad programs and gap year fellowships should be included in the primary and secondary? I have heard from others about working to minimize "double dipping" but in this context it makes sense.

Thanks again for your time!

 

[Catalystik]

Hi Catalystik, thank you for replying! I was worried that the information that I was given might have been biased despite good intentions, so I am thankful I went on here to confirm. Just to give a concrete example so that I can clarify and confirm your position.

1. Lets say someone wanted to go into medicine to help address the burden caused by cancer and in their PS they talked about how they did cancer research, worked at a cancer clinic, and did some non clinical volunteering related to cancer. If the summer internship and work at NIH both involved work done to address cancer issues, would that still not be wise to include in the PS? Assuming the applicant included both of these activities as logical next steps in their progression to learn more about cancer so that they could have a more informed insight and knowledge necessary to dedicate their career to it.

2. Do you agree with Gonnif that post grad programs and gap year fellowships should be included in the primary and secondary? I have heard from others about working to minimize "double dipping" but in this context it makes sense.

1) I concede it's possible you could make it work in the PS, considering the relatedness of the activities. You could just as easily tack it on to your other cancer research entry. Or, as we discussed elsewhere, perhaps use an Honors/Awards space to discuss your acceptance into the Fellowship/Program and how selective the process was, with expected start date, location, duties, etc.

2) You can mention them in both places, if there is an suitable place to mention them on the Primary and if the Secondary prompt is appropriate.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

1) I concede it's possible you could make it work in the PS, considering the relatedness of the activities. You could just as easily tack it on to your other cancer research entry. Or, as we discussed elsewhere, perhaps use an Honors/Awards space to discuss your acceptance into the Fellowship/Program and how selective the process was, with expected start date, location, duties, etc.

2) You can mention them in both places, if there is an suitable place to mention them on the Primary and if the Secondary prompt is appropriate.

Many thanks for your invaluable advice over the years! I suspect I will be a semi regular contributor to the annual Work/Activities thread but I will work to minimize neurotic questions 😛