How to format multiple activities on AMCAS?

[dujingshu]

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[prehealthadvisor55]

Are you short on room? If you can, and these were separate incidents, I would list them separately. If you have 1 hospital or clinic where you shadowed multiple people, group those. Otherwise I'd do them separately.

I don't fully understand the second question. If, for example, you had several projects and activities within one organization, list the organization information in the contact space, and describe the activities in the box. If they're not connected, don't list them together.

 

[LizzyM]

Don't list shadowing experiences separately. It looks like padding. I can't imagine an adcom so suspicious that they would bother a physician to verify that someone who reported having shadowed actually did.

I can imagine a bunch of short-term service projects with a common theme but in different locations under different sponsorship... e.g. serving meals in a soup kitchen in City A, handing out soup and sandwiches from the back of a van to street people in City B, and organizing a food drive on campus to benefit a local charity. Each might be 8-10 hour of total service and using up 3 blocks out of 15 to describe not more than 30 hours of work would seem wasteful. Just lump it and describe it. No one on an adcom gets too agitated about this sort of detail. #notabigdeal

 

[prehealthadvisor55]

Don't list shadowing experiences separately. It looks like padding. I can't imagine an adcom so suspicious that they would bother a physician to verify that someone who reported having shadowed actually did.

That's interesting. I've never seen a student list every shadowing experience under one listing. They've separated them by organization or physician. Adcoms I've worked with have never said it was an issue. I guess if someone was listing every 5 hour experience separately that would be one thing.

 

[LizzyM]

That's interesting. I've never seen a student list every shadowing experience under one listing. They've separated them by organization or physician. Adcoms I've worked with have never said it was an issue. I guess if someone was listing every 5 hour experience separately that would be one thing.

What is in bold above is basically what I'd like applicants to avoid.

 

[prehealthadvisor55]

What is in bold above is basically what I'd like applicants to avoid.

Sure...that makes sense. I was assuming the different incidents were more substantial for OP (not sure why I would automatically assume...I've been off SDN for a while so my meter needs re-calibrating 😀). But if they were smaller, absolutely grouping them is the way to go.

 

[7331poas]

Sure...that makes sense. I was assuming the different incidents were more substantial for OP (not sure why I would automatically assume...I've been off SDN for a while so my meter needs re-calibrating 😀). But if they were smaller, absolutely grouping them is the way to go.

I mean, even if they were 50 hours. Just shadowing 3 doctors is taking up 3 slots on your application. Why waste so much space?

 

[prehealthadvisor55]

I tend to lean with @LizzyM on this. For an adcom who is reading 50 apps and trying to evaluate a candidate's hours and breadth of shadowing, having a single entry with the 3 - 5 experience makes sense. You can quickly see what the applicant has been exposed to and for how long. As in below, I can say, 60 hours plus across 4 areas, with emphasis on primary care. I can also see if a applicant has 1 really "big" shadow and a few smaller to group them as such

Dr. Smith, FM 20 hours (dates, location maybe)
Dr. Jones IM, 20 hours
Dr. Brown, ER, 16 hours
Dr. White, ENT, 12 hours

Good to know! Thanks!

 

[Espressso]

As others have said, I think linking shadowing together is good. Also if you're in multiple student clubs, like as a general member, those can all be placed in the same group.

 

[PatchA]

If I have multiple shadowing experiences, how should I list them on AMCAS? I'm planning on listing a contact and name in the main space, but then should I list the names/hospitals/emails of the other physicians in the "description" box? Or can I simply say, "shadowed cardiologist from date to date" and maybe include the hospital if really necessary? Some of these doctors I shadowed 5 years ago by the time I will be applying, and I'm sure they don't remember me. If some school did end up calling them, I don't want them to think I'm being dishonest when the doctor says they're not sure if they remember me. Hence, why I wonder if it's worth ensuring I don't have to worry about that by not including contact info for all of them.

I grouped them together with total hours and listed them chronologically. Doctor's name, place of work, specialty, email, dates. Done.

 

[ChemCrazy]

Sorry, I was creeping on this thread.
If I may, do you have to list the dates you shadowed each doctor?
Or just the start and end date of your overall shadowing experience?

 

[ChemCrazy]

Thank you. To follow up, I wanted to make sure we were talking about the same thing.

If you shadowed a doctor 3 years ago and then stopped shadowing altogether until recently and did the majority now, I can just write (and not be dishonest):

05/2014
Dr. ABC , Name of Hospital, # Hours
Dr. CDE, Name of Hospital, # Hours
Dr. FGH, Name of Hospital, # Hours
Dr. IJK, Name of Hospital, # Hours
04/2017

 

[hubbsbubbs]

Can you use the characters given to describe how the experience is meaningful to you? Or do adcoms prefer a list without any reflection?

 

[Groggs]

For multiple shadowing experiences lumped into one entry what do applicants typically fill in for the contact info.