*~*~*~*Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2014-2015*~*~*~*

[Catalystik]

I'm an author on a couple of posters that were presented at Society for Neuroscience conferences, but I wasn't actually at the conference presenting it. Can I still list these as "presentation/poster" but just specify in the description that I didn't personally present?

Even though you were not present, if your research work was included and your name was mentioned on the author list of the poster or in the presentation description in a conference brochure, then you may give it a Posters/Presentations space, taking care to credit the actual presenter (or say, "Poster Presented by first author", or somesuch).

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[Alfie99]

Catalystik, I had two entries in which I did not list any contact information. One of them was my travelling experiences (mostly backpacked by myself), and the other was growing up playing competitive sports. Do you think this will be a redflag and should I perhaps message schools individually to add contact information? I could add someone that knows I travelled, and perhaps an old golf coach for my sports section. I applied wayyy back on the first day.

 

[Catalystik]

Catalystik, I had two entries in which I did not list any contact information. One of them was my travelling experiences (mostly backpacked by myself), and the other was growing up playing competitive sports. Do you think this will be a redflag and should I perhaps message schools individually to add contact information? I could add someone that knows I travelled, and perhaps an old golf coach for my sports section. I applied wayyy back on the first day.

I don't think that failing to list contacts will be a big deal in these cases, as most with similar entries list themselves as the contact anyways. So, not to worry.

 

[knower214]

Catalystik, I have several similar community service activities that I am grouping into one slot on AMCAS EC. What do I put for the total hours box? Also, What do I put for the contact info box for these activities? Should I put a contact info for each activity in the description ?

For example how to put this in the AMCAS EC slot:

Community service volunteer- non medical

· Participating in various science fairs around Central Arkansas ( 5-6 per year from Fall 2011 – Present)

o Teaching elementary students basic science concepts through experimentation.

· Helped with the tornado disaster relief in in Vilonia, AR. (50 hours)

· Helping in organizing and assisting with cultural activities and events that take place for the Indian Gujarat community in the Dallas, Texas area. ( 5-6 events per year from 2007 – Present)

· Helping my hometown community with their technological needs ( 2010-2011, Summer of 2012 and 2013)

o Troubleshooting hardware/software errors and connectivity issues.

 

[Catalystik]

Catalystik, I have several similar community service activities that I am grouping into one slot on AMCAS EC. What do I put for the total hours box? Also, What do I put for the contact info box for these activities? Should I put a contact info for each activity in the description ?

For example how to put this in the AMCAS EC slot:

Community service volunteer- non medical

· Participating in various science fairs around Central Arkansas ( 5-6 per year from Fall 2011 – Present)

o Teaching elementary students basic science concepts through experimentation.

· Helped with the tornado disaster relief in in Vilonia, AR. (50 hours)

· Helping in organizing and assisting with cultural activities and events that take place for the Indian Gujarat community in the Dallas, Texas area. ( 5-6 events per year from 2007 – Present)

· Helping my hometown community with their technological needs ( 2010-2011, Summer of 2012 and 2013)

o Troubleshooting hardware/software errors and connectivity issues.

That's a lot for one slot. Can you break it into two? I'd want to know what you did for disaster relief and some examples of your roles in cultural activity involvement, if you had more space.

I suggest you put the hours for each activity with its description, and then the grand total for all the included activities in the Total Hours slot. Choose a name for the activity slot that covers everything, like "Short-Term Volunteer Positions". Put the most recent first (or the most impressive), with its contact info, location, etc in the header. For each of the others, put contact info in the description. Hopefully, the final version of your formatting will be less confusing than the above.

 

[knower214]

That's a lot for one slot. Can you break it into two? I'd want to know what you did for disaster relief and some examples of your roles in cultural activity involvement, if you had more space.

I suggest you put the hours for each activity with its description, and then the grand total for all the included activities in the Total Hours slot. Choose a name for the activity slot that covers everything, like "Short-Term Volunteer Positions". Put the most recent first (or the most impressive), with its contact info, location, etc in the header. For each of the others, put contact info in the description. Hopefully, the final version of your formatting will be less confusing than the above.

Oh okay. I will group the above slot into two slots like you mentioned. I will also add more description for the disaster relief and the cultural activity. Thanks for your input!

 

[Eklipz]

For physician shadowing, say I shadowed more than one physician from different organizations/cities. How do I account for more than one organization/city/contact information? should i provide the contact information for just 1 of the doctors i shadowed?

EDIT: I found this

If you participated in an experience more than once, check Yes next to the "Repeated?" field for that particular entry. You may then enter up to three additional date ranges.

When listing repeated experiences, you should list the most recent contact in the designated contact fields (name, e-mail, phone, etc.) and list prior contacts in the body of the experience description.

Anything else to add to this?

 

[Catalystik]

For physician shadowing, say I shadowed more than one physician from different organizations/cities. How do I account for more than one organization/city/contact information? should i provide the contact information for just 1 of the doctors i shadowed?

EDIT: I found this

If you participated in an experience more than once, check Yes next to the "Repeated?" field for that particular entry. You may then enter up to three additional date ranges.

When listing repeated experiences, you should list the most recent contact in the designated contact fields (name, e-mail, phone, etc.) and list prior contacts in the body of the experience description.

Anything else to add to this?

Considering there is so much dis-similarity among your shadowing experiences, I suggest not using the Repeated button. One potential format for listing physician shadowing on an AMCAS application (whichever doc you list first, you'd put the pertinent data in the header and omit it from the narrative box):

** December 2011-Present: 35-40 hours, Al Abowtgolf, DO, Sports Medicine, Podunk, Alabama, Health Clinic, 555-555-5555, ext 34

**April 2012-Present: 15 hours, Jake Famleedok, MD, General Practice. [email protected] Able to observe a vaginal delivery.

**March 2012-Present: 20 hours, Ling Ula, MD, Pulmonology, Podunk, Alabama, Health Clinic, 555-555-5556 ext 45

**Spring 2012: 15 hours, John Kutoocure, DO, General Surgery, Meridian, Mississippi. [email protected] Observe a complete bowel resection and a pancreatic cancer resection.

 

[RTC19]

Nevermind-solved my own problem.

 

[justadream]

In the "description" portion for research (I am referring here to bench lab research where I did PCR/Westerns), what exactly should I be writing in here?

Am I supposed to provide

1) a high-level overview of my research hypothesis and findings
2) what I actually did (e.g., did RT-PCRs to investigate expression of these genes that are involved with X)
3) both of the above

???

Also, I am just unsure of how detailed to be (and how much scientific knowledge I should assume the adcoms know and/or care about).

 

[Catalystik]

In the "description" portion for research (I am referring here to bench lab research where I did PCR/Westerns), what exactly should I be writing in here?

Am I supposed to provide

1) a high-level overview of my research hypothesis and findings
2) what I actually did (e.g., did RT-PCRs to investigate expression of these genes that are involved with X)
3) both of the above

???

Also, I am just unsure of how detailed to be (and how much scientific knowledge I should assume the adcoms know and/or care about).

#3 of the above, assuming you are targeting research oriented med schools. But for the sake of screeners and interviewers with a less comprehensive science background, a summary introduction in lay language is advisable. The degree of detail you go into will depend on whether you'll have the extra space that comes with a "most meaningful" designation.

 

[untraditionalpremed]

@Catalystik Since this thread is a bit old I thought to tag you. These questions are for either this coming application cycle or the next. I'm a non-traditional premed a few years out of college.

There is an AmeriCorps position I did in college that was meaningful but for which I do not have a contact person because the site director left years ago and the current one is not familiar with my term of service. Since it was an AmeriCorps position, I have an account at their website and there is an option to print a service letter with an official AmeriCorps letterhead and insignia that "certif[ies] [my] time of service in an AmeriCorps program." Would this be an acceptable form of verifying this activity? The letter states my program name, location, and term of service. It also has contact information if someone would like to follow up on the letter, but the contact information is general and the letter is meant to come before the follow-up. The way I see it I have three options: (1) list myself as the contact person for this activity saying that I have proof that I can provide if asked; (2) ask the new site coordinator if I can submit the certification letter to her so she can be my contact person, (3) give the contact information listed on the letter. I'm leaning toward option #2, but if the coordinator says no should I go for #3 or #1?

Another question I have is related my participation in Greek Life during college. I was very involved in a social fraternity and held leadership positions, however we did a lot of volunteering on campus...for example, weekly tutoring with children at a nearby school. Should I list my fraternal leadership and volunteering experiences separately? Or should I list them together? If I list them together, should I classify them as "leadership" or "volunteering" ? These are many of my primary non-clinical volunteering hours so I was hoping I could list them separately as volunteering I did through the fraternity or list the fraternity as volunteering and then put the leadership roles in the description. I figured if I list leadership roles that would be obvious leadership to anyone reading the application, but if I listed the fraternity and classified it as leadership adcoms may not realize that I did a lot of volunteering through this organization.

Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

@Catalystik Since this thread is a bit old I thought to tag you. These questions are for either this coming application cycle or the next. I'm a non-traditional premed a few years out of college.

1)There is an AmeriCorps position I did in college that was meaningful but for which I do not have a contact person because the site director left years ago and the current one is not familiar with my term of service. Since it was an AmeriCorps position, I have an account at their website and there is an option to print a service letter with an official AmeriCorps letterhead and insignia that "certif[ies] [my] time of service in an AmeriCorps program." Would this be an acceptable form of verifying this activity? The letter states my program name, location, and term of service. It also has contact information if someone would like to follow up on the letter, but the contact information is general and the letter is meant to come before the follow-up. The way I see it I have three options: (1) list myself as the contact person for this activity saying that I have proof that I can provide if asked; (2) ask the new site coordinator if I can submit the certification letter to her so she can be my contact person, (3) give the contact information listed on the letter. I'm leaning toward option #2, but if the coordinator says no should I go for #3 or #1?

2) Another question I have is related my participation in Greek Life during college. I was very involved in a social fraternity and held leadership positions, however we did a lot of volunteering on campus...for example, weekly tutoring with children at a nearby school. Should I list my fraternal leadership and volunteering experiences separately? Or should I list them together? If I list them together, should I classify them as "leadership" or "volunteering" ? These are many of my primary non-clinical volunteering hours so I was hoping I could list them separately as volunteering I did through the fraternity or list the fraternity as volunteering and then put the leadership roles in the description. I figured if I list leadership roles that would be obvious leadership to anyone reading the application, but if I listed the fraternity and classified it as leadership adcoms may not realize that I did a lot of volunteering through this organization.

Thanks!

1) I like option #3 best, but maybe you should call the number yourself first, and see how user friendly they'll be for someone wanting to confirm your dates.

2) I suggest listing the Leadership and the Volunteer hours in separate spaces. You don't want either component to be missed and will benefit from the extra space for description.

 

[untraditionalpremed]

1) I like option #3 best, but maybe you should call the number yourself first, and see how user friendly they'll be for someone wanting to confirm your dates.

2) I suggest listing the Leadership and the Volunteer hours in separate spaces. You don't want either component to be missed and will benefit from the extra space for description.

Thank you Catalystik, your advice is greatly appreciated.

For option #3 in situation #1 they only give an email, but I will email them to see how that goes and what advice they would give me.

Additionally, is it bad to give emails instead of phone numbers? I feel like half of my contacts said they would be more comfortable being reached over email. Is that bad? I assumed the two contact methods were interchangeable so I gave both options while asking but now I'm not sure if one is better than the other.

 

[Catalystik]

Additionally, is it bad to give emails instead of phone numbers? I feel like half of my contacts said they would be more comfortable being reached over email. Is that bad? I assumed the two contact methods were interchangeable so I gave both options while asking but now I'm not sure if one is better than the other.

Either is fine. I prefer email contact myself.

 

[CelinaBelle]

I logged over 400 hours in a paid summer internship as a medical assistant... in high school. Should I include this as an activity or just put it in my personal statement?

 

[Catalystik]

I logged over 400 hours in a paid summer internship as a medical assistant... in high school. Should I include this as an activity or just put it in my personal statement?

Unless the same office hired you during the college years, it would be best to include it in the PS rather than the Work/Actities section.

 

[yellowbluegreen]

If for clinical experience, I have three different volunteer activities such as:
1. Adult Day Care (400 hours)
2. Hospital Surgical Department (50hrs)
3. Clinical Research Assistant and Shadowing (150 hours)

These happened at very different times.

Would I separate them into three different volunteering with the same heading? because when it asks from when-when did you do this....its not a continuous time line.

Thank you for all your help,

 

[Catalystik]

If for clinical experience, I have three different volunteer activities such as:
1. Adult Day Care (400 hours)
2. Hospital Surgical Department (50hrs)
3. Clinical Research Assistant and Shadowing (150 hours)

These happened at very different times.

Would I separate them into three different volunteering with the same heading? because when it asks from when-when did you do this....its not a continuous time line.

The first two should be Community Service- Medical/Clinical. The last should be split into Research (but making the patient contact clear in the title and description) and Shadowing (splitting out those hours and listing them separately).

 

[yellowbluegreen]

The first two should be Community Service- Medical/Clinical. The last should be split into Research (but making the patient contact clear in the title and description) and Shadowing (splitting out those hours and listing them separately).

Thank you!

 

[Catalystik]

Thank you!

I case I wasn't clear, just don't double count any shadowing hours.

 

[Catalystik]

A new application season is about to begin. Let's close this thread out and move to the new one for the 2015-2016 season at: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...ork-activities-tips-thread-2015-2016.1130356/