listing non-work/research/volunteer experiences in eras?

[chitown82]

Hey all
A few classmates of mine been having disagreements when it comes to listing non-work/research/volunteer experiences in ERAS. Where would you categorize leadership positions (AMA national council positions, leadership in school organizations, etc). Technically, these are not work in the traditional sense. I don't fully consider them volunteer experiences as well (I think more of the line of free clinics, etc). Certainly they are not research. How and where would you categorize them? Put them in the Misc. section? There are only 510 characters allowed in that section and it would be impossible to mention various leadership positions and explain them in 510 characters.

Along the same lines, where would you list awards and grants? Same problem, if you have a several awards, they won't fit (along with explanations) in the 510 character Misc. section. Would you put them under experiences? Plus, if they are significant, putting them in the Misc. section without explanation seems like you are dismissing them to a certain extent.

Any help?

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[NotAProgDirector]

I would list them under volunteer. You are not paid for this, so it's clearly a volunteer activity.

I thought there was a box for awards/grants somewhere on the CAF.

If you have a grant for a project/research, then you'd list it in the listing for the research project.

Be brief!

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Hey all
A few classmates of mine been having disagreements when it comes to listing non-work/research/volunteer experiences in ERAS. Where would you categorize leadership positions (AMA national council positions, leadership in school organizations, etc). Technically, these are not work in the traditional sense. I don't fully consider them volunteer experiences as well (I think more of the line of free clinics, etc). Certainly they are not research. How and where would you categorize them? Put them in the Misc. section? There are only 510 characters allowed in that section and it would be impossible to mention various leadership positions and explain them in 510 characters.

Along the same lines, where would you list awards and grants? Same problem, if you have a several awards, they won't fit (along with explanations) in the 510 character Misc. section. Would you put them under experiences? Plus, if they are significant, putting them in the Misc. section without explanation seems like you are dismissing them to a certain extent.

Any help?

The directions specifically say to put things like interest groups, medical school leadership positions, etc. under the "volunteer" category. You are being too strict in your use of "volunteer" - it is not a synonym for "community service" but rather any activity that you have "volunteered" your time to.

There is a category for "medical school honors" under the misc section for awards and grants. Just do a bullet point list and it should be able to fit in 500 characters (unless you're throwing in every trivial thing).

 

[chitown82]

thanks to both of you.

 

[notdeadyet]

After reading these forums a bit, I went from understanding this issue to confused...

For the experience section, ERAS reads:

Include Clinical and Teaching experience as work experiences, include all unpaid extra-curricular activities and committees you have served on as volunteer experiences

Could someone correct me on these below?

Under the work category, you'd have:
- Unpaid teaching volunteering done as an MS III/MS IV (teaching sections of pre-clinical courses to med students) ...
- Unpaid clinical volunteering at free health clinics
- Paid past work experience of any kind that you decide to include

Under the volunteer category, you'd have:
- Student leadership roles
- Involvement in clubs
- Non-clinical volunteer/charity work

Any tips would be greatly appreciated...

 

[DF38]

After reading these forums a bit, I went from understanding this issue to confused...

For the experience section, ERAS reads:

Include Clinical and Teaching experience as work experiences, include all unpaid extra-curricular activities and committees you have served on as volunteer experiences

Could someone correct me on these below?

Under the work category, you'd have:
- Unpaid teaching volunteering done as an MS III/MS IV (teaching sections of pre-clinical courses to med students) ...
- Unpaid clinical volunteering at free health clinics
- Paid past work experience of any kind that you decide to include

Under the volunteer category, you'd have:
- Student leadership roles
- Involvement in clubs
- Non-clinical volunteer/charity work

Any tips would be greatly appreciated...

That's how I interpreted it.

 

[notdeadyet]

That's how I interpreted it.

Thanks for your input.

I'm just surprised. By reading statistics, it seems that most folks have more Volunteer listings, whereas my experiences section is dominated by Work. I find that all of my volunteer experience is either clinical or teaching-related, which strangely fall under Work.

Just wanted to verify, as my application looks as if I work like a dog, but don't seem to volunteer much...

 

[clement]

Just wanted to verify, as my application looks as if I work like a dog, but don't seem to volunteer much...

...programs value applicants who are proven hard workers-
you won't have a lot of volunteer time as a resident either.

 

[DCDAWG]

how far back in your life did you all go with this stuff? I graduated college 6 years ago and feel weird putting down clinical stuff i did back then. Research and such I am sure is more relevant.

 

[alwaysaangel]

how far back in your life did you all go with this stuff? I graduated college 6 years ago and feel weird putting down clinical stuff i did back then. Research and such I am sure is more relevant.

The only thing I include from college is a job that I continued full-time in my year off. Since it covered my year off I discuss it but it was technically a 3 year experience.

I think for the most part its like applying to medical school: you didn't include high school stuff to apply for medical school, you shouldn't include college stuff when applying to residency (just things since graduating college).

 

[notdeadyet]

how far back in your life did you all go with this stuff? I graduated college 6 years ago and feel weird putting down clinical stuff i did back then. Research and such I am sure is more relevant.

The only thing I included that was pre-medical school was full-time employment.

I think for the most part its like applying to medical school: you didn't include high school stuff to apply for medical school, you shouldn't include college stuff when applying to residency (just things since graduating college).

Good analogy.