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Happening to me too - seriously annoying.
*~*~*~*Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2013-2014*~*~*~*
Started by sector9
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Happening to me too - seriously annoying.
You would have a main "Research" entry where you talk about the internship.
You would also have a separate entry for the project that was presented and published as an abstract. For this entry, you would classify the entry with the highest achievement for the project (in your case a publication). You would talk about the abstract publication and the oral presentation in the same entry
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Got it, thanks Sector. I'm just curious though, I assumed the description should be used to explain what you did during the shadowing experiences, not simply to list the contact info of other physicians you had also shadowed...isn't that just a waste of the 700 characters? I guess no one will really know the answer to this question.
One more question, what is everyone who has a publication talking about in the description section? I am using my research as a most meaningful experience and will say a lot about it in that activity. In the publication though, should I just be talking about the experimental design and results of the project? That doesn't really seem right, or is it fine?
Shadowing is a special case because all adcoms know what shadowing is so you don't need to describe anything at all really. The example in the FAQ is almost exactly how mine was listed in its entirety.
For pubs, you want to include a citation (at least a simple one). You also want to describe the big picture of the paper and your specific role on the paper.
Is it a red flag if I don't have a letter of recommendation from an activity that I designate as most meaningful? I worked with a doctor for 6 months as a scribe and I learned a lot from him but I am not quite sure if his letter will be strong. My other letters will be in a committee letter
If I worked at a research lab as a full-time PAID lab manager, should it be categorized as paid employment (also medical/clinical or NOT?) or research/lab? I already have an entry for research/lab from when I did research as an undergrad.
Thank you in advance!
Thank you in advance!
I started a basketball team in a local recreational competitive league. I was responsible for establishing the roster, managing the team, and coaching as well. Is this worth creating an entry for? I am asking this because I know people list "intramural" sports, but technically this isn't considered intramural since it is not a part of the university....or is it considered "intramural" if it wasn't a part of college?
Hey Sector, question for you. Well anyone can answer. How much time/thought did you put into the description of each activity that you entered, not including most meaningful ones? Did you try to build yourself up and make yourself sound exceptionally good in every description? I know there are some options in the FAQ, but I just can't bring myself to not write a good description. For example, dean's list - don't really know what to write.
Also, in the FAQ, it mentions that you might not want to spew when it is a common activity. So for an EMT entry, for example, would you not really describe the activity at all?
Also, in the FAQ, it mentions that you might not want to spew when it is a common activity. So for an EMT entry, for example, would you not really describe the activity at all?
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These could be grouped together right?
Hey Sector or whomever else wants to answer... I am a non-trad. I graduated in 2007. I worked a lot of random jobs in undergrad and I was going to group my part time jobs from 2004-2008 together (does this seem like a good idea). I also worked a full time research job from 2007-2008 (so hopefully the ADCOM will realize that). 2008-2009 I worked another research job at the NIH. 2009-2011 I worked full-time as a waitress... poor economy money for research was sparse. 2010-2011 I worked as a part time clinical research recruiter at NIAAA. So again I was working 60-80 hours per week. Will the ADCOM see the overlap? And 2011-present I have been a full-time clinical research coordinator at NIAAA.
Should I just group my 2004-2008 ones together and do everything else as its own category? I was also thinking about grouping my jobs at NIAAA since they are in the same lab but one year I worked part-time as a different role. Do you think that is okay?
I also have a fair number of abstracts and presentations and I was going to group them with the work that I did. Not as their own category. This should be fine right?
Would the experience title be "2004-2008 jobs" and can I leave the organization name blank and list them in the description box?
Maybe talk about your schools requirement's for deans list. I was not planning on saying anything regarding my awards but it might be a good idea.
for the EMT I think you should describe your role. Maybe he is just saying that it is common so you don't have to worry about it too much.
research... I was paid for most of my research as well...
Hello all,
I'd just like some advice about whether or not this activity/experience "counts" as research, and if not, what else I could list it under
I worked in my school's health education office/counseling center. we conducted some health outreach screenings (several thousand over the course of 5 years and still ongoing). These screenings are completely anonymous but I added some demographic questions (gender the person identified with, status as a resident/commuter, year of undergraduate study, etc) and coded the data (demographics and responses to screening questions). I then entered it into SPSS (a social sciences statistical data program) and ran some basic analyses to see if there were significant differences in responses among genders, undergraduate study years, resident/commuters, etc (to reject the null hypothesis that there were no differences between groups). This data was used by the health education office to tailor future outreach programs to more effectively reach groups that the data revealed may need additional outreach. A portion of the data was also used in first-year seminar classes for freshmen, among other places on campus.
I worked with a PhD psychologist in the department on this but it was not part of a lab or formal study. No article was written, it hasn't been published in any journal, etc.
My question is, can I still put this down as "research"? It is nowhere near being in the league of what I've seen other applicants having done, working on NIH-funded studies, or being a co-author for a published article. I am not applying to MD-PhD programs or even schools that require research for their MD students. This is not the standout activity on my application that I am hoping will be THE difference between acceptance and rejection. However, I did spend significant time on it, and did for 3 years, and am proud because I really feel it did help shape health education and outreach to at-risk groups at my school (particularly in the area of suicide prevention)
If it's not research (and again, please understand I do realize it hasn't been published, funded, or formally recognized outside of my school, so I could understand how it would absolutely not make me competitive at research-heavy schools/programs) how would I list it?
Thank you for all who take the time to read and advise!
I'd just like some advice about whether or not this activity/experience "counts" as research, and if not, what else I could list it under
I worked in my school's health education office/counseling center. we conducted some health outreach screenings (several thousand over the course of 5 years and still ongoing). These screenings are completely anonymous but I added some demographic questions (gender the person identified with, status as a resident/commuter, year of undergraduate study, etc) and coded the data (demographics and responses to screening questions). I then entered it into SPSS (a social sciences statistical data program) and ran some basic analyses to see if there were significant differences in responses among genders, undergraduate study years, resident/commuters, etc (to reject the null hypothesis that there were no differences between groups). This data was used by the health education office to tailor future outreach programs to more effectively reach groups that the data revealed may need additional outreach. A portion of the data was also used in first-year seminar classes for freshmen, among other places on campus.
I worked with a PhD psychologist in the department on this but it was not part of a lab or formal study. No article was written, it hasn't been published in any journal, etc.
My question is, can I still put this down as "research"? It is nowhere near being in the league of what I've seen other applicants having done, working on NIH-funded studies, or being a co-author for a published article. I am not applying to MD-PhD programs or even schools that require research for their MD students. This is not the standout activity on my application that I am hoping will be THE difference between acceptance and rejection. However, I did spend significant time on it, and did for 3 years, and am proud because I really feel it did help shape health education and outreach to at-risk groups at my school (particularly in the area of suicide prevention)
If it's not research (and again, please understand I do realize it hasn't been published, funded, or formally recognized outside of my school, so I could understand how it would absolutely not make me competitive at research-heavy schools/programs) how would I list it?
Thank you for all who take the time to read and advise!
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Just curious -
Does anyone know how candid we can be in our activities descriptions? Of course I'll have the serious description (what I did, how it relates to medicine, etc) but I remember getting this idea (possibly from some SDN thread) to put a "fun or interesting" tidbit at the very end.
For example, under my hobbies and activities section, I have a interesting tidbit that I almost burned my dining room table in a creme brulee gone wrong.
Good or bad idea?
Does anyone know how candid we can be in our activities descriptions? Of course I'll have the serious description (what I did, how it relates to medicine, etc) but I remember getting this idea (possibly from some SDN thread) to put a "fun or interesting" tidbit at the very end.
For example, under my hobbies and activities section, I have a interesting tidbit that I almost burned my dining room table in a creme brulee gone wrong.
Good or bad idea?
Hey guys, I asked these questions a little while ago, but I'm not sure if anyone read them:
1. If I just started training for a new teaching position, but may not actually start working for a couple weeks, should I still list the activity (May start date)?
2. Should I include one-time shadowing experiences (~3 hours each)? Or stick to the long-term ones?
thanks!
1. If I just started training for a new teaching position, but may not actually start working for a couple weeks, should I still list the activity (May start date)?
2. Should I include one-time shadowing experiences (~3 hours each)? Or stick to the long-term ones?
thanks!
If I am supposed to write how many hours for research in one slot, do I also add how many hours it took to do the publication in my publication space, or not list hours?
For my poster presentation, do I only list how long the session was, how long it took for me to prepare or how long the whole conference was? This is all so complicated!
For my poster presentation, do I only list how long the session was, how long it took for me to prepare or how long the whole conference was? This is all so complicated!
Here is a general comment about research and publications:
You work in research lab; you list the lab, the subject or project under study and the hours. I would note briefly in the description if a publication or poster was produced.
In the publication section list all publications and posters with full citations, even if all originate from same lab or project
EXAMPLE.
Research :Worked in under Professor Cream Cheese in the Lox and Bagel lab for XXX hours contributing to two group publications and one individual poster presentation.
Publication : "Effect of Scallions on Lox-Eating Rats" Journal of Bagel Research, etc
"Genetic Analysis of Bagel - Eating Rats" International Bagel Genetics, etc
"Identification of Scallion Gene in Rats" Poster Session at Northeast Genetic Bagel Symposium, NYC, dates
(I think I need a bagel and lox for lunch)
You do research for XXX amount of hours. this research led to publication (I assume)
You simply list the publication with full citation(no hours) in the publication section
Note the poster with full "citation" (ie complete conference info) but no hours
get used to complicated hoops to jump thru like a trained seal; if your lucky u will get a fish in the end
You work in research lab; you list the lab, the subject or project under study and the hours. I would note briefly in the description if a publication or poster was produced.
In the publication section list all publications and posters with full citations, even if all originate from same lab or project
EXAMPLE.
Research :Worked in under Professor Cream Cheese in the Lox and Bagel lab for XXX hours contributing to two group publications and one individual poster presentation.
Publication : "Effect of Scallions on Lox-Eating Rats" Journal of Bagel Research, etc
"Genetic Analysis of Bagel - Eating Rats" International Bagel Genetics, etc
"Identification of Scallion Gene in Rats" Poster Session at Northeast Genetic Bagel Symposium, NYC, dates
(I think I need a bagel and lox for lunch)
You do research for XXX amount of hours. this research led to publication (I assume)
You simply list the publication with full citation(no hours) in the publication section
Note the poster with full "citation" (ie complete conference info) but no hours
get used to complicated hoops to jump thru like a trained seal; if your lucky u will get a fish in the end
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I don't think it is a big deal. When I applied, I marked an activity as Most meaningful without having a LOR from it.
It appears that you are able to enter 0 into the total hours box, even though it is a required field. I would do that.
I dunno, hobbies? Leadership? Extracurricular activities (I don't know what this one is supposed to be for...)? Other?
Well I ended up using bullet points on some activities and paragraphs on other activities. I thought that some stuff (like jobs) was really easy to summarize in a bullet point list and make it really compact. I think you definitely want to make yourself sound good but not so much that your readers want to puke. That can be a fine line
I wouldn't say anything about dean's list except what semesters you got it. I guess you could also give a line about the selection criteria used at your undergrad, but that might be overkill. If you have an honor or award that is school-specific or otherwise not nationwide/well recognized, then you'll want to explain the selection criteria and possibly the competitiveness of the honor as well (if known).
I would give it to a few readers as well to make sure that you are coming across the right way. Sometimes I write something and I think it sounds good but someone else will tell me that it sounds conceited or whatever.
You're right about the EMT thing, it is pretty common so you don't need a full blown description IMO. You could always briefly address it (like "Covered all emergency medical calls on campus"). Be sure to bring up any leadership positions from it as well. And just because a short description is appropriate doesn't mean you can't use that activity as most meaningful or in your PS. It just means that you acknowledge that an adcom will probably be familiar with the duties of an EMT.
As always, these are just my thoughts and don't represent the only way to fill out this section.
My understanding of a lab manager is a person who just orders chemicals and makes sure supplies are well stocked and stuff. I didn't think they did any actual "research". If that's all you did, then I would probably just put it down as paid employment (I would assume non clinical?).
If you were doing research, then I would list it as research as tinylilron suggests.
1. Yeah. They're usually separated for traditional students but you could group them if you were really running out of room. Pubs are somewhat unusual among med school applicants though so I'd hate to see those lumped together in a regular research entry. See gonnif's post about research too. For a traditional student, as an example, let's say that s/he worked in one research lab on two different projects. The first project had a poster at a national conference and the second project yielded two posters and a pub. In this example, the student would typically have a main "Research" entry that details most of the research. The student would also have a "Posters/Presentations" entry for the first project (which is the highest level of achievement on that project) and the student would also list a "Publications" entry, where the student lists both posters and the pub from the second project.
If you don't have room to do all that, then you will just have to make due with more grouping.
2. Sure, grouping is your friend. If you run out of room, then I would suggest that some of those older part time jobs may not be important to list. (Jobs from 2004 will be 10 years old by the time you matriculate!)
Some adcoms will carefully go through your application, taking note of dates and try to make a mental timeline of what you've been doing. Some secondary applications will ask you to make a timeline using their application. But I would say that a lot of adcoms probably aren't going to spend that much time on trying to sort out overlapping activities, unfortunately. You'll have no problem looking plenty busy on paper though, with all that you've posted about on here, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.
3. Sure. Have you mapped out all of the activities you want to include to see how you want to fit everything into 15 entries? That's probably the first step. For nontraditional students, we generally advise to emphasize the most recent activities with less grouping and a little more description, then group and minimize the older activities. Perhaps gonnif has more to add about this, or there are probably old threads in the nontrad forum you can dig up on search to see how others listed their stuff.
4. See #1.
5. Yeah sure. I like to save room by listing the contact info and organization stuff for the first job in the boxes then use the "Also:" idea to list additional jobs (like the example in FAQ#4). Maybe something a little more formal for the title would be appropriate though (like "2004-2008 Part-Time Employment"?)
I would put it down as research
If I want to list my research as a most meaningful experience but it also counts as class credit, can I list it again in my activities? I have also done some posters and presentations and am planning on creating a separate "posters/presentations" section, but I guess basically my question is... would it be overkill to create a "research" section when I already have that other section and the class credit? Another option I suppose would be to list the posters/presentation as most meaningful, but I'm not sure what would be better, any ideas?
I have some research experience but I'm not sure how to classify it since most of it was done through courses, for credit. In addition to a summer of volunteering in a lab before my sophomore year and a "regular" research course last year, I am currently taking a 9 credit course for my honours thesis (which I will defend in front of a panel of several professors) and I am in the lab close to 50 hours/week throughout the summer. I would really like to list this under Research, as I am quite involved in the lab as a whole, presenting in lab meetings and contributing data and analysis to several of the other projects being done, including for an upcoming publication. (1) Would it be best to have this summer's project as a separate entry, and the other two grouped together? (2) Also, how would you recommend filling out the description, considering the end date of this project is August 2013?
Thanks!
Thanks!
So now that we can put dates up till matriculation, would people recommend putting "expected hours" for the last start/end date? For example for my research and volunteer activities I am doing at school I am entering a start/end of September 2013-May 2014 and for that time range would I leave hours blank or just put expected hours?
AMCAS guide did say to put hours expected for the time frame indicated and since it is in the future it should be fairly obvious to adcoms that these are "expected" not "actual" hours.
AMCAS guide did say to put hours expected for the time frame indicated and since it is in the future it should be fairly obvious to adcoms that these are "expected" not "actual" hours.
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I have done the same. My thoughts are that if it shows dedication and uniqueness, then list it. If not anything more, it'll be an interest point for interviews. Who knows-maybe your interviewer shares the same passion.
I asked this a little earlier but it hasn't been answered. Could anybody look over the format I've been going with? I decided to do bullet format as paragraphs seemed hard to do with just 700 characters.
I sorta feel as if I have too much "CV-type" material explaining the logistics of what I did. Should I be more personal and talk about what I got out of it (as in do a reflection instead of description)?
Here's two examples.
Thanks!
I sorta feel as if I have too much "CV-type" material explaining the logistics of what I did. Should I be more personal and talk about what I got out of it (as in do a reflection instead of description)?
Here's two examples.
Activity #1
Hours per week: 15-20 hrs/wk. 40 hrs/wk in summer.
Total cumulated hours: 1440
Total expected hours: 3500
(Could I take out the above or should I still include?)
- Paid research assistant since June 2011. Continuing full-time post-application.
- Research directed at finding interventions to improve outcome following acute brain injury by identifying potential candidates in experimental stroke models from those drugs either already in use or in human trials for other purposes.
- Involved in tasks ranging from microscopy to cell counting.
- Current Project: Confocal analysis of the effects of progesterone and allopregnanolone on neurogenesis following cerebral ischemia in mice.
Activity #2
Hours per week:
Total hours accumulated: 160
- Assisted with daily Event Services operations including room set-ups, cleaning of meeting rooms and equipment set-ups.
- Set up and operated AV equipment (sound systems, VCR/DVD/Monitor combinations, data projection, overheads, slide projectors, etc.).
- Quickly responded to radio calls to assist customers holding events or meetings in the student union building.
- Involved in a number of event related personnel functions, such crowd control, security, and ticket taking.
- First job ever - able to gain an understanding of working with a superior and employing teamwork with colleagues.
Hours per week: 15-20 hrs/wk. 40 hrs/wk in summer.
Total cumulated hours: 1440
Total expected hours: 3500
(Could I take out the above or should I still include?)
- Paid research assistant since June 2011. Continuing full-time post-application.
- Research directed at finding interventions to improve outcome following acute brain injury by identifying potential candidates in experimental stroke models from those drugs either already in use or in human trials for other purposes.
- Involved in tasks ranging from microscopy to cell counting.
- Current Project: Confocal analysis of the effects of progesterone and allopregnanolone on neurogenesis following cerebral ischemia in mice.
Activity #2
Hours per week:
Total hours accumulated: 160
- Assisted with daily Event Services operations including room set-ups, cleaning of meeting rooms and equipment set-ups.
- Set up and operated AV equipment (sound systems, VCR/DVD/Monitor combinations, data projection, overheads, slide projectors, etc.).
- Quickly responded to radio calls to assist customers holding events or meetings in the student union building.
- Involved in a number of event related personnel functions, such crowd control, security, and ticket taking.
- First job ever - able to gain an understanding of working with a superior and employing teamwork with colleagues.
Thanks!
Thank you very much gonnif, that was very helpful!
If put a link to school newspapers that I wrote in/was photographer for my EC's, would that look stupid, should I just list it and not put the link?
When I write about my hospital volunteering experience, can I say it helped me realize my desire to help the elderly more and I hope to volunteer in a nursing home soon, or is this a bad idea to list something I "want" to do?
If put a link to school newspapers that I wrote in/was photographer for my EC's, would that look stupid, should I just list it and not put the link?
When I write about my hospital volunteering experience, can I say it helped me realize my desire to help the elderly more and I hope to volunteer in a nursing home soon, or is this a bad idea to list something I "want" to do?
Two questions:
Is it okay to only have two things listed as most meaningful?
And I spent last summer taking care of my mom as she is very disabled. I'm doing that again this summer. I talk about her in my PS but is there any way I can put this in my work and activities so adcoms know I don't just slack off over summer and I'm doing something that I care about? I wouldn't list it as most meaningful since I talk about it in my PS.
Is it okay to only have two things listed as most meaningful?
And I spent last summer taking care of my mom as she is very disabled. I'm doing that again this summer. I talk about her in my PS but is there any way I can put this in my work and activities so adcoms know I don't just slack off over summer and I'm doing something that I care about? I wouldn't list it as most meaningful since I talk about it in my PS.
I thought hours / week is gone now, or does AMCAS calculate this itself? Also should we or should we not list future hours since AMCAS guide says to list "expected" hours during the time frames indicated.
The highlighted and underlined is excessive and waste of space. Be concise and use that space more meaningfully. You can say: Research Assistant (2 years; 20 hr/wk). Not sure what's the consensus on abbreviating (hr and wk), but I am abbreviating mine.
The descriptions look fine. To make them more effective, I would go for more CV like description. i.e. focus more on what you achieved and not what you did. Use action verbs.
As far as whether to use CV type material or to talk about personal development aspects, that is a personal decision. You can have a mix of both for each activity and you can also vary the style for different activities.
1. Yes. They give you the option to select up to three.
2. This is difficult. I would be curious to hear what others say. I don't feel right about someone listing "taking care of mom" as an Extracurricular activity. It is a given (I hope) that you would take care of a relative/SO if needed. Get other opinions on this.
If you are doing the activity this summer and it will not begin by the time you submit the application you will not be able to enter it into AMCAS. For previous summers I would put:
Start Date: June 2012
End Date: August 2012
Total Hours: how many hours you worked
Question about contact info. So I read the shadowing FAQ and the advice is to list the first physician I shadowed as the contact info. However my first shadowing experience occurred some years ago, went for only a few days and I am not sure that this physician would even remember me. Could I list contact info for the physicians I've shadowed more recently and for more hours?
I'm running into the same problem with another EC that was done discontinuously. I started it years ago, stopped, re-started recently and have put in a significant amount of hours.
Thanks!
I'm running into the same problem with another EC that was done discontinuously. I started it years ago, stopped, re-started recently and have put in a significant amount of hours.
Thanks!
I dunno... I get the feeling that most of these entries are pretty serious but I've never seen a specific answer to this question
1. I would list it since you've started training. By the time you submit you should be done with training and on to work right?
2. Sure, no problem grouping them with all your other shadowing
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Yes you can still list it as research on your ECs. The class credit will be in your Coursework section still since it is on your transcript. You'd have a research entry and a posters/presentations entry in ECs.
See above. Yes, you can list it as research even though it was for credit.
1. Are all of these experiences in the same lab?
You'd usually have one research entry for each lab you're a part of. You would then a separate posters/presentations entry or publications entry for each project that was presented or published.
An honors thesis can be listed though if you want, so if you want to split up your research into the pre-thesis work and then another entry to the thesis, then I think that would be ok.
2. I'm unclear about what you're asking.
You still can't enter future activities. You can enter a future end date but not a future start date.
1. Have you thought about putting together an album or some other website of your work? Might look better than the school newspaper where it may be unclear what you did and what others did. Just a thought
2. I wouldn't talk about it as a future activity but you could mention your interest if you want. Try not to make it sound like you're dead set on a specialty 😉
1. That's fine. I listed 2. See FAQ
2. You can list it as other if you wish. This has been a "hot button issue" on SDN before so maybe do a few searches. I'm a fan of listing it (under the "other" category) so adcoms know what you did with your time
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