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Yessum.
*~*~*~*Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2013-2014*~*~*~*
Started by sector9
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Yessum.
OCDOCDOCD I am feelin your posts throughout this thread! hehe
You should be able to enter more than 999 hours on something, that is the lack of functionality I am referring to.
Thanks for the thoughts on study abroad!
I ran a trivia night at a bar for a semester when I was in grad school. Wrote all the questions, bought all the prizes, and did the whole thing. Does that sound interesting enough to put down as an activity? I guess I got paid too.
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Paid employment! That sound like the fun sort of thing that makes an adcom say, "I'd like to meet this one." Not everything has to be about medicine and something that indicates that you'd be fun to eat lunch with every day for a month long rotation is a plus.
What if you held a Leadership/founding position in a honor society? Would that be an honor/award or leadership?
What would a paid clinical research position go in as? Clinical, research, or paid non-medical?
I have had several paid research positions 2 at the NIH (NIMH and NIAAA) and 1 at University of Connecticut.
I also have had several non research jobs during and after college 3 retail, and 3 food service jobs. Should I group these together? During the college years I worked an average of 16 hours a week. After college I started working 60-80 hours a week.
Should I list an academic honor society with academic awards if I did not have a significant role?
What about programs that you were selected for like the Summer Medical Education Program or a research mentorship program? For the summer medical education program we did seminars, shadowed physicians, took classes, etc. should I list that as other? Also, if you did research but were not paid would that count as volunteering?
What would a paid clinical research position go in as? Clinical, research, or paid non-medical?
I have had several paid research positions 2 at the NIH (NIMH and NIAAA) and 1 at University of Connecticut.
I also have had several non research jobs during and after college 3 retail, and 3 food service jobs. Should I group these together? During the college years I worked an average of 16 hours a week. After college I started working 60-80 hours a week.
Should I list an academic honor society with academic awards if I did not have a significant role?
What about programs that you were selected for like the Summer Medical Education Program or a research mentorship program? For the summer medical education program we did seminars, shadowed physicians, took classes, etc. should I list that as other? Also, if you did research but were not paid would that count as volunteering?
I'm applying MD/PhD and so I obviously have some research experiences. How in depth do I go for the description of these experiences in the work/activities section?
We have to write a whole separate document for just research as part of the MD/PhD questions, so I don't want to end up repeating myself. Thoughts?
Also- does working in front office/appointments of a doctor's office/hospital count as clinical or non-clinical?
We have to write a whole separate document for just research as part of the MD/PhD questions, so I don't want to end up repeating myself. Thoughts?
Also- does working in front office/appointments of a doctor's office/hospital count as clinical or non-clinical?
At the psych lab I worked at, one of my duties was to put up a full PSG (polysomnography) setup on participants for one of our experiments - so the entire scrubbing scalp, applying electrodes, cannulas, pulseox, respiratory belts, EKGs, etc. It's not really patient contact (since they weren't patients) but is that something that I should mention in the description of the research, or should I use the space in the most meaningful experiences to do it? Will it look good to adcoms?
If I want to list playing an instrument as a hobby what should I put under start date/end date and total hours if I've been doing it since I was like 12 years old?
Hi,
I have several state and national awards, as well as important university awards to mention.They won't fit into a single entry - should I include three separate work/activity entries under names such as state awards, national awards, etc? Also, should there be a description of the award like, 'awarded to less than 1% of students, given to one volunteer in country, etc? I don't want to sound like a cocky person either, just want to represent the things I've accomplished - any tips would be appreciated.
thank you!
I have several state and national awards, as well as important university awards to mention.They won't fit into a single entry - should I include three separate work/activity entries under names such as state awards, national awards, etc? Also, should there be a description of the award like, 'awarded to less than 1% of students, given to one volunteer in country, etc? I don't want to sound like a cocky person either, just want to represent the things I've accomplished - any tips would be appreciated.
thank you!
My highly decorated friend, I think your plan sounds great if you think all the awards are worth including or don't need the slots for something else. Give enough description to give a sense of the accomplishment without waxing on about your incredible feats. I have limited myself to one or two sentences for most of my awards.
For ECs that require more than a few hours of training (for example, working with vulnerable or special needs populations) that is not listed in coursework, is it ok to include that under the total hours and have the start date accommodate it?
2 questions:
1. I am a coauthor on a publication with about 50 authors, with my name being somewhere in the middle. For my 'Publication' entry on AMCAS I want to write a citation, but I am unsure how to handle the names. Should I just put the title and no names? Or maybe:
Title, New England Journal Medicine, ####. First Author....Me....Last Author.
???
2. Can I list being an asst manager at a retail store as leadership? I frequently had to deal with disputes, provide customer service, it required good communication and listening skills, etc. I feel like it was too much work to just relegate as paid employment.
1. I am a coauthor on a publication with about 50 authors, with my name being somewhere in the middle. For my 'Publication' entry on AMCAS I want to write a citation, but I am unsure how to handle the names. Should I just put the title and no names? Or maybe:
Title, New England Journal Medicine, ####. First Author....Me....Last Author.
???
2. Can I list being an asst manager at a retail store as leadership? I frequently had to deal with disputes, provide customer service, it required good communication and listening skills, etc. I feel like it was too much work to just relegate as paid employment.
I started out as a member of a pre-med club, then became treasurer, and finally president my senior year. How should I put that into my application?
Also, if was elected onto a health advisory council in April for the first time and will continue through May of next year, what should I put for my end date?
Also, if was elected onto a health advisory council in April for the first time and will continue through May of next year, what should I put for my end date?
Who should I put as a contact for my Honor's rewards at my school? Should I just put the office of the registrar as the first, last, and title names and just give them the phone number for the office? Or should I just put myself as the contact? This seems pretty unclear from the PDF guide they have up
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To add to this....
1) what should one put for hours?
2) How about hours and contact information for things such as Phi Beta Kappa?
Thanks.👍
Would working at as a special education aid count as medically related or non-medically related?
I would put what you have so far.
Hi All
When the time you put into an experience varies by week (sometimes 15 hours sometimes 3), do you put the average or you would just leave that blank?
When the time you put into an experience varies by week (sometimes 15 hours sometimes 3), do you put the average or you would just leave that blank?
^still seeking answers on above^
How are you all selecting your most meaningful experiences? I was going to select an experience that I had doing research in 2006, a summer medical education program that I attended in 2005, maybe and being founder/president of a national biological honor society at my college 2004-2007. Are these too far removed, should I select something more current? I mention 2 of these experiences in my personal statement (that I may be re-writing) and I know the goal is to have minimal overlap.
I was thinking about writing about my serving experience as a meaningful experience because I don't talk about it in my personal statement but I am a reapplicant and (like most people) I struggled when jobs were limited. I spent two years working 60-80 hours serving to pay the bills while I searched for a clinical research position. Now that I have had this position, I am finally able to continue the pursuit of my becoming a doctor dream. Would this be something to include on the application? I feel like ADCOMs are going to be like she applied in 2006 and then we never heard from her until now. I feel like I have to explain myself and come out as a mature, confident, candidate who has life experience. Please let me know your thoughts. I greatly appreciate them.
Thank you!!!
A quick question!
I was planning to attend a conference in Boston to present a poster on my research. It was completely finished but I wasn't able to attend the conference due to the unfortunate bombings that weekend.
Am I still able to say my abstract/poster was accepted? Or should I not list it at all?
I was planning to attend a conference in Boston to present a poster on my research. It was completely finished but I wasn't able to attend the conference due to the unfortunate bombings that weekend.
Am I still able to say my abstract/poster was accepted? Or should I not list it at all?
was the conference cancelled? was their a poster presentation? was the abstract published in a journal? If the abstract was published in a journal it counts as a publication. If none of the above, will you present it elsewhere?
Not cancelled. Yes, there was a poster presentation. I had published an article on my work in a journal. The poster had information on further work done since publishing the paper. However, this abstract I submitted to the conference was different from that one....
I can't present anywhere until the school year starts again since I'll be out of the country all summer. And by then, my work will have updated, so I'd probably redo the poster.
So....
If I worked for 40 hours per Week for three years, how do I enter that? I don't see an hours per Week section, and there's a three digit cap on total hours. Help here?
I assume that you just put 999 and admissions will figure out it means 1000+
For the planned activities in the TMDSA ( I don't know if AMCAS has it since I haven't started it), do we just list activities that we planned on doing that WASN'T listed in the previous section? Or do we list everything that we planned on doing, including activities that we have already listed?
How do you "enter" for activities? I want to list 3 different shadowing experiences in the same activity but they show up all mushed together in the summary page.
I doubt adcoms are just skimming over the list looking at the number of hours you put in the box. If it's a ton, just put 999 and then in the description explain 40hrs/wk for three years. I don't think it's about precise hours of an experience demonstrating anything, rather it's a display of experience and commitment to something and what you learned.
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I tried to answer your questions in bold
You need to be looking at the PDF version of your application from the "Print application" function in the main menu. That's the one that AMCAS has said is the formatting that adcoms see
Hey guys, I'm trying to update the FAQ section. Is the "Total hours" field a required field or is it still optional?
Thanks
Thanks
It's required now.
I would agree that putting what you have so far would be the logical thing, but I had the same question and the instruction manual states:
I learned when writing a CV that published abstract triumps presentation... and not to mention it twice... if it was presented just mention it... doesn't matter who presented it. besides I am sure the ADCOM will understand
Yeah pretty annoying. What should we put under Total Hours for Awards???
I called them and the lady said to just write the number of hours that I already put in. She seemed unsure......
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Academic Awards
Thanks for the advice!
Just a question - what do you mean exactly by a published abstract? I do have a full, published article. This poster was of my work done after my paper. Is the published abstract in reference to that I submitted my abstract to the conference and they accepted it and published it for the conference?
Alright, I have a question regarding hobbies. Assuming I have an extra slot open (which I do), is it worth creating a hobby-only activity slot? Fwiw, I'd put Christian hip hop (remixing, beat production, emceeing), beer brewing, and basketball/volleyball in there.
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Hey guys! Can you guys help me out with some questions I have about my activities? The questions are in bold:
1) EMT-B certified- 40+ hours shadowing that was part of the training, 40 hours volunteering as EMT should I split the training/shadowing/certification and volunteering into 2 activities?
2) Statistical analysis and literature review for a professor I thought that I was going to get published in a paper for doing some statistical analysis, but I didn't 🙁 I am going to include the fact that I did the statistical analysis and lit review, but should I also include the paper that it was for, even if my name wasn't published in the paper?
3) Project for my biostats class on interracial dating the project wasn't anything major, but it was interesting and I had fun doing it, so want to add it. Should I keep it?
4) Condom couture fashion show with a group of people we designed and constructed a costume made of condoms for fashion show promoting AIDS awareness. I modeled the costume and our design won 3rd place.I wanted to add a "fun" activity, so I added a condom couture. Should I keep it?
For the last two, I don't want to seem like I am trying to pad my resume, but I enjoyed the projects so I want to add them.
1) EMT-B certified- 40+ hours shadowing that was part of the training, 40 hours volunteering as EMT should I split the training/shadowing/certification and volunteering into 2 activities?
2) Statistical analysis and literature review for a professor I thought that I was going to get published in a paper for doing some statistical analysis, but I didn't 🙁 I am going to include the fact that I did the statistical analysis and lit review, but should I also include the paper that it was for, even if my name wasn't published in the paper?
3) Project for my biostats class on interracial dating the project wasn't anything major, but it was interesting and I had fun doing it, so want to add it. Should I keep it?
4) Condom couture fashion show with a group of people we designed and constructed a costume made of condoms for fashion show promoting AIDS awareness. I modeled the costume and our design won 3rd place.I wanted to add a "fun" activity, so I added a condom couture. Should I keep it?
For the last two, I don't want to seem like I am trying to pad my resume, but I enjoyed the projects so I want to add them.
I'm putting 0 hours for things like awards, publications, posters, etc. where it was just something you obtained, not something you did if that makes any sense.
Definitely worth adding. Adcoms like to see interesting hobbies.
1) List it all as EMT and in the description put something like "40 hours training/shadowing, 40 hours volunteering".
2) List it as research, say the analyses you did were later incorporated into a paper. You can give the citation if you have room, but since you're not an author I don't think it's a big deal if it's there or not.
3) Don't put that in. Projects done for classes don't count as an experience.
4) I would keep it, but find another way to describe it. Maybe "Won 3rd Place in AIDS Awareness Fashion Show". However you choose to name it and describe it, leave out any mention of condoms. If it gets brought up in interviews then you can talk about it, but I would be very weary of talking about how you made a dress out of condoms on your application.
Hey all,
So I've been working at a lab since freshman years. I've accumulated over a 1000 hours. But the total hours slot only goes up to 3 digits. Any advice?
Thanks
So I've been working at a lab since freshman years. I've accumulated over a 1000 hours. But the total hours slot only goes up to 3 digits. Any advice?
Thanks
My advice: Scroll up.
The general advice seems to be that put in 999 and indicate in description # of hrs/wk.
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