More ERAS questions...

[ginger60]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I've tried doing searches but haven't found definitive answers to these. I realize that they don't matter much in the end because they are just related to my CV, but at the same time I don't want to annoy PDs with too much information or not provide enough.

- Is number of hours for an experience always necessary? I wanted to list a few volunteer activities related to my specialty that lasted an entire day but just once per year for a few years. However, if I put down 6 hours per week January 2005 - January 2007, I feel like I'm misrepresenting how much time I devoted; alternatively, I could list no hours and just specify that the commitment was 1 day per year for those years in the description if it doesn't look bad to list no hours.

- Do people use dashes or anything to set apart different items in a list in the miscellaneous section (hobbies, memberships, awards, etc.)?

- How many experiences, on average, do people list? I am trying to avoid listing anything from undergrad except for research, and exclude experiences not related to my specialty that I did in medical school. Yet, I feel that some of these experiences would make for interesting interview material (i.e. working several months at a coffee shop before medical school, leadership of a medical school interest group whose specialty I'm not applying to but seriously considered), and some undergraduate experiences were significant (i.e. sorority/club sport leadership position for a year, summer jobs as a camp counselor or at a clinic). But even without those 6 experiences I mentioned above, I have 15 entries for experiences mostly from medical school and mostly "volunteer" experiences (community service activities or leadership positions I held for a year). Is this too much, or should I add back some of the experiences I mentioned above? I don't want to include so much on the CV that its difficult to read or seems like I'm padding it, but I also don't want to leave off experiences that are interesting or that make me more personable.

- Are abbreviations like SOM a no-no when listing experiences?

 

[Law2Doc]

- How many experiences, on average, do people list? I am trying to avoid listing anything from undergrad except for research, and exclude experiences not related to my specialty that I did in medical school. Yet, I feel that some of these experiences would make for interesting interview material (i.e. working several months at a coffee shop before medical school, leadership of a medical school interest group whose specialty I'm not applying to but seriously considered), and some undergraduate experiences were significant (i.e. sorority/club sport leadership position for a year, summer jobs as a camp counselor or at a clinic). But even without those 6 experiences I mentioned above, I have 15 entries for experiences mostly from medical school and mostly "volunteer" experiences (community service activities or leadership positions I held for a year). Is this too much, or should I add back some of the experiences I mentioned above? I don't want to include so much on the CV that its difficult to read or seems like I'm padding it, but I also don't want to leave off experiences that are interesting or that make me more personable.

Honestly, unless you are a nontrad with substantial work history prior to med school, 15 entries (notwithstanding those 6) is going to be an awful lot. If we are talking about single day volunteer events, mere membership experiences or very short work experiences (like a few months in a coffee shop), then I probably wouldn't put them down. List volunteer/organizational things where you were an organizer or officer, things you spent substantial time involved in, and certainly list things like your clinic job. Hard to know from your post what these 15 experiences related to. But if you are listing every single cancer walk you participated in, you really shouldn't.

 

[ginger60]

So then, what would be an appropriate number of experiences for someone to list who worked for a year or two after college, participated in several research projects, and had several leadership positions in medical school? 10? 12? Or is looking through 10 even too much?

 

[Law2Doc]

So then, what would be an appropriate number of experiences for someone to list who worked for a year or two after college, participated in several research projects, and had several leadership positions in medical school? 10? 12? Or is looking through 10 even too much?

It's not about the number, it's about how substantial they are. If you merely participated in 15 cancer walks but were not an organizer, then 1 would list zero. If you were in charge of 15 major organizations, I would list all 15. This is not something a PD is going to look at and count them up. They are going to look at each item and evaluate it to see if it's something that makes them feel you have leadership or other qualities that merit giving you one of their rationed interview slots.

 

[ranmyaku]

So then, what would be an appropriate number of experiences for someone to list who worked for a year or two after college, participated in several research projects, and had several leadership positions in medical school? 10? 12? Or is looking through 10 even too much?

I'd put down every experience that I could have a 10 or 15 minute discussion about. (intelligently)