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Fortunately the MD application season begins after spring term is over at my school, which is perfect for giving more time to advising.
*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Work/Activities Tips Thread 2016-2017*~*~*~*
Started by WedgeDawg
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I did an independent research project and presented a poster at the annual neuroscience conference in Washington DC. Should I include a separate entry just for this one poster presentation or include it in the summary of my research?
If you have the space, it deserves its own Posters/Presentations entry.
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What should one include in a description for research? Should we include what our research was about or should we strictly stick to what we did in the lab. I'm having a difficult time expanding upon the position of a "research assistant." I assisted on a few projects my first year and took on an independent project for my thesis during the second year and on. I also mentioned the I presented posters at certain fairs/conferences? Would that be enough of a description? Thank you!
Do you have space to start the narrative with a lay person's description of what the research studied?
If you have more space, you might close with impact or insight, but that's not required.
I have a sentence worth of space to describe the actual research. The remainder of the description was going to address my responsibilities as an assistant, the awards I've been given, and the posters I presented based on my thesis. I saved the impact/insight for my MM summary. Is there anything else I should mention in the description?
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What you have sounds good, but if you still have space, feel free to throw in something technical if you like.
Thank you, Catalystik!!
I have a question about listing shadowing experiences that I was wondering if someone could help me with. At a hospital that I volunteered at for about 2.5 years, I didn't follow a specific doctor around for X number of hours, but just shadowed a random doctor whenever I had the opportunity (like if a patient I was visiting happened to have a check-up with his doctor, I was able to shadow then). Should I still list this under the post that I have for shadowing, and if so, how should I do this? Thanks in advance!
As I gather this is completely undocumented and you have no objective Contact, if you need to list it due to otherwise sparse hours, make a comment at the end of the Shadowing space. "Also observed various staff physicians in a hospital setting for an estimated X hours in the last 2.5 years, included above."
Would being a welcome week captain for incoming freshman in my scholars program be considered leadership? I led freshman in team building activities and gave a tour of the campus and city. I also trained new employees for a couple of years at my previous job, but I never held an official title. I really felt like a leader and I know my manager would agree that I was. I was offered a supervisor position many times but turned it down because it got in the way of my studying. I'm kind of wishing I hadn't turned it down now. Are all of these just stretches or would they count for something?
1) This would be looked at as mentorship, which falls in the Teaching category.
2) This is leadership, whether you had an official title or not. Consider separating out the hours you engaged in job training if they are currently included in your Research space and listing them on their own under Leadership so you have space to describe your role properly.
I got paid "under the table" for a job (paid employment, non-medical) for several months. This was a during-college job, and I had the job for several years.
Option A: List the genuine start and end dates, including the time I was paid "under the table". I was actually working at this time and I can provide documentation. Downside: The employer (and contact person) might either get in trouble for having paid me under the table or deny it to avoid getting in trouble. He may also look at the payroll system and honestly forget the time I was paid under the table, but that is less likely because, in fact, they do this a lot.
Option B: List the nominal start and end dates. Downside: It is not honest. Also, it makes it look like I wasn't doing much for several months, when if fact I was working 20+ hours/week for pay.
Which option? I am leaning toward Option A.
Edit to add: I paid taxes on my income as self-employment income (so I paid extra taxes), so I have zero liability. I actually asked an accountant, I did not break the law and I overpaid my taxes (better than not having a job). The employer actually does face some tax liability and possibly employment law violations (because I would deserve Unemployment Insurance but was not listed for it, etc.), but I suspect the statute of limitations has run out.
Another edit: I am honestly not sure the date when I switched, which pushes me further toward Option A. I might guess at the switch date but expose the situation anyway, accidentally.
Option A: List the genuine start and end dates, including the time I was paid "under the table". I was actually working at this time and I can provide documentation. Downside: The employer (and contact person) might either get in trouble for having paid me under the table or deny it to avoid getting in trouble. He may also look at the payroll system and honestly forget the time I was paid under the table, but that is less likely because, in fact, they do this a lot.
Option B: List the nominal start and end dates. Downside: It is not honest. Also, it makes it look like I wasn't doing much for several months, when if fact I was working 20+ hours/week for pay.
Which option? I am leaning toward Option A.
Edit to add: I paid taxes on my income as self-employment income (so I paid extra taxes), so I have zero liability. I actually asked an accountant, I did not break the law and I overpaid my taxes (better than not having a job). The employer actually does face some tax liability and possibly employment law violations (because I would deserve Unemployment Insurance but was not listed for it, etc.), but I suspect the statute of limitations has run out.
Another edit: I am honestly not sure the date when I switched, which pushes me further toward Option A. I might guess at the switch date but expose the situation anyway, accidentally.
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For others reading, I'd have said A. Adcomms are not IRS police.
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Hi I have another question - I'm currently employed full time as a study coordinator/associate researcher in my lab. I have been there for a year and intend remain full-time at this job until matriculation if I do get in somewhere.
Do I list out the intended full-time hours up until Aug 2017?
Or just list the hours I've had so far until the AMCAS submission (i.e. June 2016)?
Thank you again for doing us a great favor for answering us!
Do I list out the intended full-time hours up until Aug 2017?
Or just list the hours I've had so far until the AMCAS submission (i.e. June 2016)?
Thank you again for doing us a great favor for answering us!
Yes, you can list dates until you plan to quit the job, but I suggest you differentiate the completed vs future hours in some way. Consider using the Repeated feature for the first date span of 6/15-6/16 and 6/16-8/17 for date span #2 (or whatever, as some med schools start in June or July).
D
deleted482591
Let's say I volunteered at two different hospitals or hospices and want to group them together.
Do I just list the "Organization Information" for the first one and then list the info for the second one in the 700 char box?
Do I just list the "Organization Information" for the first one and then list the info for the second one in the 700 char box?
Yes. You could also list the individual subtotal for hours for each place in the narrative (and dates, Contact, etc for the second organization), with the grand total in the Total Hours box.
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deleted482591
Thanks so much for your advice in this thread! We appreciate you a lot
Happy to help.
I took a couple of classes the summer following my freshman year. Should I list them as taken during the summer of my freshman or sophomore year?
If I am a club officer for an organization that travels and performs volunteer /medical work out of the country, should I list my experience as club officer as leadership, and then list the actual volunteer experience as volunteer work thats medically related (therefore separate activities). Or should I combine the two activities? My role as a club officer was different than the volunteer work I did in the various countries, but they are a part of the same organization. Need opinions.
Sophomore.
It sounds like it would work well to split into two spaces.
They could if you're short on space and if your responsibilities were very similar, as you'd have little space for description, impact, etc after listing the essentials of each. Ideally, you'd give each its own space.
Wow, I found a lot of helpful advice here. Thanks!
Some say its best to describe what the activity was or what the organization is with a little bit of background info and then explain your involvement, what you actually did, who'd you work with, and what was accomplished vs. the impact and rewards it had on you, and what you learned from the experience. What do you guys think? Should the impact and rewards maybe be left for the interview, or is it best to place in the description?
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deleted482591
What category does an unpaid internship with a stipend, or a paid internship belong to? It really really did not feel like "Community service/volunteer" especially since I traveled 3000 miles away to do it.
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Maybe "extracurricular", or "other". Honestly, if you got a stipend, couldn't it be considered paid employment?
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deleted482591
Yeah I edited my post. I guess it would just be called a "paid internship" which is paid employment.
Thank you so much!!
Thanks for the suggestion! I do have other shadowing hours (about 30 hours with a specific physician and 20 with another), but I wasnt sure if just those would be enough.
Also, there was something else that I was wondering if you could help me with. I worked in a lab during high school and our paper was published right before I started college. I'd like to list this publication, but I wasn't sure whether I should also describe this research and what I learned etc. in more depth (like I did for the research that I conducted in college), since technically the research itself was a pre-college activity.
Fifty hours is the average listed. Ideally, one of them a primary care doc.
You're welcome.
Since you also engaged in research during the college years, I think it's fine to have a Research space for your HS research, to show your trajectory in this area, if you plan to target research-oriented med schools.
Enter a zero. All other hours can be included in the Research Total Hours.
Every activity doesn't lend itself to gaining significant insights, but if you have the space in an activities slot that's not MM, and have something to say, go for it.
Usually, the "Other" category is used. One doesn't pay taxes on a stipend, so strictly speaking, it's not Employment, but that is another possibility.
Thanks so much!
Cautionary note: If you're aiming for primary care, OTOH, too much dedication to research could backfire on you.
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Deans List is commonly listed, even though one's GPA speaks for itself. Do you have other academic recognitions you might group it with?
yes I have some other recognitions I could place in there as well. For the hours, do I just put 0?
You would enter the time you spent sitting at awards ceremonies. Or zero works fine, too.
1) If you have various shadowing experiences but shadowed a DO the most , would be okay to list this as one of the meaningful experiences for the AMCAS application?
2) Would it be okay to send a DO letter of rec to allopathic schools? Although its a DO, he can testify to many good things about myself that a letter of rec is meant for. But im not sure if you are supposed to keep DO letters only for DO schools, and MD letters for allopathic schools.
2) Would it be okay to send a DO letter of rec to allopathic schools? Although its a DO, he can testify to many good things about myself that a letter of rec is meant for. But im not sure if you are supposed to keep DO letters only for DO schools, and MD letters for allopathic schools.
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