*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Work/Activities Tips Thread 2016-2017*~*~*~*

[Catalystik]

2. What you suggested does seem like a great compromise! The program starts at the beginning of June so if I applied at the end of June would I still be considered "early" enough to help my applications little, or at least not be so late that I have to deal with the negatives associated with having an application being "late"?

End of June submission will not compromise the success of your application cycle. You would be far from "late."

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[Chromium Surfer]

Great thank you I really appreciate your insightful advice!

 

[Catalystik]

if I were to submit a manuscript to a journal for review either tomorrow/wednesday would I be able to list it as a "publication" with the date being the date I submitted it? I will be sure to indicate in the narrative the author list, title, and journal which it be under review
(i.e. Submitted manuscript on "title", authors for review to "journal name", and write a sentence or two describing the goals/findings of the paper)

A submitted manuscript is not a publication, and IMO does not belong in that space. What if it's not accepted? What if it's returned for major revisions? If you feel compelled to include an activity that will not enhance your application (and many do), it would be better to mention it in the related Research space, and also to be sure that your PI mentions the submission in the LOR to legitimize it.

I would make an exception to my "General Rule" if one already has a track record of accepted manuscripts and has thus proven their research productivity. In that case a submitted manuscript can be included at the end of the grouped list of journal publications in a Publications space.

 

[medbunny56]

A submitted manuscript is not a publication, and IMO does not belong in that space. What if it's not accepted? What if it's returned for major revisions? If you feel compelled to include an activity that will not enhance your application (and many do), it would be better to mention it in the related Research space, and also to be sure that your PI mentions the submission in the LOR to legitimize it.

I would make an exception to my "General Rule" if one already has a track record of accepted manuscripts and has thus proven their research productivity. In that case a submitted manuscript can be included at the end of the grouped list of journal publications in a Publications space.

Thank you for your feedback, I agree with your reasoning. I did have an accepted abstract to a conference which had been reviewed thoroughly for quality over a few months before its acceptance. The main reason I'm compelled to make it its own slot activity under publications is because my PI has been in communication with the specific journal to inquire if they would be interested in publishing this manuscript and they said yes, if we included certain items (which I did) so I have good reason to believe they would accept it (I know nothing is guaranteed but there is a high likelihood) and I believe it would be a great assest to my application as I have been working all year on the manuscript and will hopefully update schools ASAP once/if it is accepted.

 

[Vero Medico]

As the already-completed poster presentations are more important to highlight than the travel awards, I suggest using a Posters/Presentations tag. I suggest the name of the space should be more like, [General Topic] Poster Presentations and Related Travel Awards.

Thanks so much for the response. So, in that case what should I use as my contact info if the presentations are related to two different labs

 

[kingslanding]

.

 

[Catalystik]

So, in that case what should I use as my contact info if the presentations are related to two different labs

Use each of the related PIs.

 

[Catalystik]

What is the general consensus on including short-term community service. I already entered all my long term volunteering but there are still some activities I would like to add that wouldn't warrant their own section. For example, I volunteered for a two month summer tutoring program which adds up to about 20 hours. I have another experience which is only about 10 hours total but I still feel it is worth mentioning. I also have 4-5 experiences that were one day only (like volunteering at fundraiser walks and such). If I group all of this together as "short term community service", I wouldn't have enough room in the 700 characters to put contact info/organization name, etc. for all the activities, unless I skipped describing them. Any idea on what the best plan for this would be? Was considering taking out my hobbies section and making "short term community service 1/2 and 2/2" but I'm not sure about that. Any help would be appreciated.

Don't take out the Hobbies space.

You can use yourself for the Contact in the header, to cut down on the characters used, so you have more room for description. Or list the tutoring first with its detailed contact info in the header, describe it in the space, then add as an addendum at the end, "Besides the above, also volunteered xx hours on [fund-raiser walks] giving our water bottles and y hours with [ZZZZ] doing [whatever]."

 

[Vero Medico]

Use each of the related PIs.

thanks for the response, I appreciate your time. But there is only one space for contact info!

 

[Vero Medico]

You get about 63 characters for the Name of an activity.

Try not to re-use words within an entry, eg don't use Publication in the title since that's the tag you picked for the space. Examples might be: Accepted Second-Author Manuscript on [XXX Topic], or Co-Authored Paper on [XXX Topic] in Peer-Reviewed Journal. Or Scholarly Journal Article on [XXX Topic], or Peer-Reviewed Paper Available On-Line Ahead of Print, or somesuch.

The title of the manuscript is part of the citation that you'll put in the narrative space. Organization can be the name of the journal. Contact would be your PI or someone on the team.

I also wanted to make sure that the only thing we have to add in the narrative section is the citation of the publication!
Thank you so much, you are so helpful

 

[Vero Medico]

@Catalystik

I noticed that you have mentioned it would be better to use the name of the journal as the organization, I was wondering what if we have more than one paper , in that case would it be ok if we use the department of PI as the name of organization? or just use the name of the one of the journals as the organization and the country and state would belong to the journal being identified ?

Thanks again for ur time

 

[Vero Medico]

As the already-completed poster presentations are more important to highlight than the travel awards, I suggest using a Posters/Presentations tag. I suggest the name of the space should be more like, [General Topic] Poster Presentations and Related Travel Awards.

I also had another question regarding this:

I wanted to know whether it would be better to use the description section to cite the abstract of the poster presentation and name the award associated with the conference or describe it through narrative format.

I attended this conference titled " XXXXXX" and I was awarded by XX

or

Conference name, title of abstract and maybe the name of co-authors and the name of the award

 

[Vero Medico]

It sounds like they'd fit together well as part of an educational mission (or the Artistic Endeavor of writing). But if each has enough hours and you have a lot to say, they could as easily be listed separately.

Could the name of this experience be called " Health Advocate and Scholar" ?
and belong to community service ( non-med) or Extracurricular or artistic endeavor as you mentioned in the previous posts?

One of my activity was to write a article and I was a news reporter where I reported health news in radio

 

[Catalystik]

thanks for the response, I appreciate your time. But there is only one space for contact info!

The second contact must be written in the narrative space.

 

[Catalystik]

I also wanted to make sure that the only thing we have to add in the narrative section is the citation of the publication!

The citation alone is fine, unless you are citing two or more pubs, in which case you'll need to add Contacts for them, since the header doesn't allow for more than one.

 

[Catalystik]

I noticed that you have mentioned it would be better to use the name of the journal as the organization, I was wondering what if we have more than one paper , in that case would it be ok if we use the department of PI as the name of organization? or just use the name of the one of the journals as the organization and the country and state would belong to the journal being identified ?

Yes, you can use the PIs' department instead, as the name of the journal is obvious in the citation anyway. Country and State are elective and need not be entered.

 

[Catalystik]

I wanted to know whether it would be better to use the description section to cite the abstract of the poster presentation and name the award associated with the conference or describe it through narrative format.

I attended this conference titled " XXXXXX" and I was awarded by XX

or

Conference name, title of abstract and maybe the name of co-authors and the name of the award

Either way is fine if you include all the same information (or at least say, "Third-author" in lieu of an author's list). But, a formal citation saves space. Be sure to explain that the award was for travel, where it came from, whether it was competitive, and/or anything else about it, including the amount, if you have space. Also make it clear you gave the presentation and not a co-author.

 

[Vero Medico]

Either way is fine if you include all the same information (or at least say, "Third-author" in lieu of an author's list). But, a formal citation saves space. Be sure to explain that the award was for travel, where it came from, whether it was competitive, and/or anything else about it, including the amount, if you have space. Also make it clear you gave the presentation and not a co-author.

Thanks so much for the response, what if I gave the presentation as well as the first author?

 

[Catalystik]

I was wondering if it would be better to integrate two different activities under one heading: health advocate consisting of university-based news reporter as well as publishing a column in university-based publication platform advocating for health or I should add them separately ?

It sounds like they'd fit together well as part of an educational mission (or the Artistic Endeavor of writing). But if each has enough hours and you have a lot to say, they could as easily be listed separately.

Could the name of this experience be called " Health Advocate and Scholar" ? and belong to community service ( non-med) or Extracurricular or artistic endeavor as you mentioned in the previous posts?

One of my activity was to write a article and I was a news reporter where I reported health news in radio

I would take out "and scholar." Instead, maybe "Health Advocate in Public Media." Use Extracurricular, Artistic Endeavor, or Teaching, depending on what would balance your application best. I would not use Community Service.

[If you refer to a long-ago conversation, it would help if you could quote all the relevant posts. Thanks.]

 

[Vero Medico]

I would take out "and scholar." Instead, maybe "Health Advocate in Public Media." Use Extracurricular, Artistic Endeavor, or Teaching, depending on what would balance your application best. I would not use Community Service.

[If you refer to a long-ago conversation, it would help if you could quote all the relevant posts. Thanks.]

For sure, thanks so much,
much appreciated,
You are the best!

 

[Catalystik]

what if I gave the presentation as well as the first author?

Any of the authors can give the presentation, so it's best if you make it clear you both did it on that occasion. Say "co-presented with first author."

 

[Vero Medico]

The second contact must be written in the narrative space.

So we just have to name the second contact? what about their email address?
sorry if this has been asked elsewhere!

 

[Catalystik]

So we just have to name the second contact? what about their email address?
sorry if this has been asked elsewhere!

Office phone or email is fine.

 

[Vero Medico]

Office phone or email is fine.

so, in that case it would be fine to include that contact list on the description section!?

 

[Catalystik]

so, in that case it would be fine to include that contact list on the description section!?

There is no other choice.

 

[Vero Medico]

Thanks for answering all my questions:

I was wondering if I was a camp counselor of summer medical camp and we were paired with a disabled child, and I was involved with child diagnosed with Turners Syndrome, would that be a community service/ medical? or should it be categorized as leadership since we had to be their role model during the camp?

 

[Catalystik]

I was wondering if I was a camp counselor of summer medical camp and we were paired with a disabled child, and I was involved with child diagnosed with Turners Syndrome, would that be a community service/ medical? or should it be categorized as leadership since we had to be their role model during the camp?

Mentoring of this nature would not be considered medical/clinical, nor is it peer leadership, but could be tagged as either Volunteer - Not Medical or Teaching (which encompasses mentoring).

 

[kingslanding]

.

 

[Catalystik]

You can use yourself for the Contact in the header, to cut down on the characters used, so you have more room for description. Or list the tutoring first with its detailed contact info in the header, describe it in the space, then add as an addendum at the end, "Besides the above, also volunteered xx hours on [fund-raiser walks] giving our water bottles and y hours with [ZZZZ] doing [whatever]."

1. If I do it the second way is it gonna be a problem if I don't put contact info for the small activities? (I'll try to put an email if it fits but would rather save room for description).

2. As far as activities that haven't begun, I know AMCAS won't allow us to enter a start date that hasn't started, but I have some other volunteering like above that I'm all registered for but wouldn't be until August/September. Since it would be in the description, If I note that it starts/is in a month or so, would that be looked down upon?

3. If I shadowed 3 doctors in the same emergency department, would this format work or is there a better format?

(also grouping other shadowing with this shadowing)

XXXXX Emergency Department Shadowing (26 hours total)
*contact info for secretary of the ED*

-Dr. xx (12 hours)
-Dr. yy (8 hours)
-Dr. zz 6 hours)

4. I scribe and I also have other clinical activities that definitely consisted of me watching a physician practice medicine (shadowing). In that case, would it be reasonable to assume that adcoms would understand that (especially for scribing) my shadowing hours are more than what appears under the shadowing category on AMCAS?

1) If the admissions office wants to verify the activity, they can contact you for more specific contact info. This is less likely to happen as the small number of hours reported doesn't make this a major keystone to your application's success. Sometimes you have to balance what will help your application more: legitimating the activity vs reporting description, impact etc.

2) Yes, it would be looked down on if included in the primary. Instead save it for Secondary prompts and update letters.

3) You could save characters by saying instead, "26 hours - Shadowed 3 staff Emergency Department physicians. Contact ED Secretary at ... ."

4) Now that "Distance Tele-Scribing" exists, you can't make that assumption. Make it clear in the scribing title and description, and also consider an addendum at the end of the Shadowing entry: "Not included are the 1500 hours of in-person ED scribing mentioned elsewhere in my Employment entry."

 

[kingslanding]

.

 

[Catalystik]

Ok this makes sense. Thank you again, you just cleared up so much for me. I also PMed you another question for the sake of anonymity if that is alright.

You might have noticed that my PM box is closed. Sorry.

 

[kingslanding]

.

 

[Mandalore]

Hey guys,

So I have a little bit of a situation here. I volunteered at a hospital near my hometown from HS through sophomore year of uni (same hospital and volunteer office). About two weeks ago I emailed someone in the volunteer office seeing if I could get the total hours worked specifically between high-school ending and through college. Called once and no answer. I got radio silence and I was getting antsy and so I guesstimated the hours.

Submitted over the weekend and just today got an email from the volunteer department apologizing for the lateness and including my hours from when I started in HS through time spent at university. While the total number of hours I worked exceeded what I reported to AMCAS, the breakdown didn't really match my estimation of what I specifically did in college. In the context of the strength of my application, it's a pretty trivial number of hours, I think. I've done a lot more since then. And these hours were mostly from early in my college career when I went home in the summers. In that regard, if I could reduce the hours somehow to be more truthful, I'd be fine with it.

Obviously I wanted to be truthful in reporting the hours and because I feel they're trivial in the context of the overall app, I don't care if I have to drop some. But I don't really know how to report it now that I've submitted. Do I literally send a little addendum to each school I apply to? "Hey, ~50 or so of these hours may have actually been from high-school."? Do I just wait to get called out and try to explain myself? Can I somehow just email AMCAS and have them change the start date, assuming I don't care about including HS stuff? I mean, I worked *more* than the hours reported, I'm just not sure if all of it was since HS graduation.

Frustrated that the volunteer lady didn't get back to me sooner, but I know her and she's nice. lol

Any help is greatly appreciated. :\

 

[Catalystik]

Yea I just realized after I finished typing the message . Is there a different way to send you the message privately through SDN, as it may contain pertinent information about my application? I understand if that is not possible.

Public posts are the best way for me to maximize the benefits of time on SDN, as literally thousands of SDNers read this thread. Please look to others for private consultations.

 

[Catalystik]

So I have a little bit of a situation here. I volunteered at a hospital near my hometown from HS through sophomore year of uni (same hospital and volunteer office). About two weeks ago I emailed someone in the volunteer office seeing if I could get the total hours worked specifically between high-school ending and through college. Called once and no answer. I got radio silence and I was getting antsy and so I guesstimated the hours.

Submitted over the weekend and just today got an email from the volunteer department apologizing for the lateness and including my hours from when I started in HS through time spent at university. While the total number of hours I worked exceeded what I reported to AMCAS, the breakdown didn't really match my estimation of what I specifically did in college. In the context of the strength of my application, it's a pretty trivial number of hours, I think. I've done a lot more since then. And these hours were mostly from early in my college career when I went home in the summers. In that regard, if I could reduce the hours somehow to be more truthful, I'd be fine with it.

Obviously I wanted to be truthful in reporting the hours and because I feel they're trivial in the context of the overall app, I don't care if I have to drop some. But I don't really know how to report it now that I've submitted. Do I literally send a little addendum to each school I apply to? "Hey, ~50 or so of these hours may have actually been from high-school."? Do I just wait to get called out and try to explain myself? Can I somehow just email AMCAS and have them change the start date, assuming I don't care about including HS stuff? I mean, I worked *more* than the hours reported, I'm just not sure if all of it was since HS graduation.

Frustrated that the volunteer lady didn't get back to me sooner, but I know her and she's nice. lol

Any help is greatly appreciated. :\

No. It doesn't matter that some of the hours are from HS, as it's legit to include a HS activity that continued into the college years. It sounds like maybe you reported dates on the application since HS graduation, so it isn't a matter of incorrect hours but rather an incorrect starting date perhaps? If so, this is easily explained, so don't worry about it and don't try to correct it. AMCAS never corrects errors in the Activities section.

 

[medbunny56]

For a poster presentation from "Undergraduate Research Day" at my university-should it go under it's own "posters/presentations" tab?

 

[Mandalore]

No. It doesn't matter that some of the hours are from HS, as it's legit to include a HS activity that continued into the college years. It sounds like maybe you reported dates on the application since HS graduation, so it isn't a matter of incorrect hours but rather an incorrect starting date perhaps? If so, this is easily explained, so don't worry about it and don't try to correct it. AMCAS never corrects errors in the Activities section.

Correct. The hours in AMCAS are actually an underestimation of the total time spent volunteering. The start date just technically occurred prior to my starting undergrad, which I was led *not* to include because it was a HS activity. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, as they say.

You've assuaged my fears. Thanks for your help!

 

[Catalystik]

For a poster presentation from "Undergraduate Research Day" at my university-should it go under it's own "posters/presentations" tab?

It's best left with the affiliated Research description unless you presented the same data at a regional or national conference, or published it. Are any of the latter true?

 

[meddesire]

Hey guys, I don't know if I should mention this in the EC's?
I know that I will have an independent research in this fall but still haven't started yet, like reading papers, finding hypothesis...
I plan to do it when the school starts
So should I mention this and if so, how could I describe it in the description part? cuz I still have no idea what my project topic will be about
Thanks,

 

[Catalystik]

Hey guys, I don't know if I should mention this in the EC's?
I know that I will have an independent research in this fall but still haven't started yet, like reading papers, finding hypothesis...
I plan to do it when the school starts
So should I mention this and if so, how could I describe it in the description part? cuz I still have no idea what my project topic will be about

I would not mention it. The AMCAS application won't allow one to enter and save a future Start Date. Since you don't know the future project yet and haven't started, you have nothing to say that would positively impact your application. Some Secondaries will give you the opportunity to discuss future activities, and that would be a better venue for communicating this information.

 

[medbunny56]

It's best left with the affiliated Research description unless you presented the same data at a regional or national conference, or published it. Are any of the latter true?

It has not been presented at a conference or published yet although I anticipate it would be published sometime during the next few months. Since I have room for another activity slot would it be okay to put it as its own activity? I tried to put it in the affiliated Research description but there wasn't much room and I feel that I couldn't expand on the description/findings of the poster well enough in the research slot to be fully understood.

 

[Catalystik]

It has not been presented at a conference or published yet although I anticipate it would be published sometime during the next few months. Since I have room for another activity slot would it be okay to put it as its own activity? I tried to put it in the affiliated Research description but there wasn't much room and I feel that I couldn't expand on the description/findings of the poster well enough in the research slot to be fully understood.

How rigorous was the selection process for your poster abstract? Is everyone who applies accepted? Or are you required to present?

 

[Vero Medico]

I am so confused about my RA positions, I have held 4 RA positions in 4 diff labs and I have only one spot available for research, I have described about the positions in 1 or 2 sentences but I cannot put the name of the PI of the other 3 in the description since it takes so much space. Would it be fine if I just add the one RA position where I spent the most time as my contact info and in case if they ask him, I know that he knows about my other RA positions, would that get me in trouble?

 

[Catalystik]

I am so confused about my RA positions, I have held 4 RA positions in 4 diff labs and I have only one spot available for research, I have described about the positions in 1 or 2 sentences but I cannot put the name of the PI of the other 3 in the description since it takes so much space. Would it be fine if I just add the one RA position where I spent the most time as my contact info and in case if they ask him, I know that he knows about my other RA positions, would that get me in trouble?

You need someone to vouch for your involvement in each lab and it sounds like this person potentially could. But it might be wise to review all your other positions with him and be sure he recalls correctly.

 

[Vero Medico]

You need someone to vouch for your involvement in each lab and it sounds like this person potentially could. But it might be wise to review all your other positions with him and be sure he recalls correctly.

Thanks so much for your helpful insights.
I wanted to get your opinion regarding this scenario:

I have only 3 spots left for my work/activities, and one of them should be dedicated to two paid employments I had, but the two were different, one was finding donors for scholarships and the other was teaching assistant , I am not sure what category I should choose for these and what could be a good experience name for this combination and again I will have problem with contact info since each has different verifier!

 

[piotrkol1]

What should I put down for total hours when its sort of ambiguous? Under the leadership category I'm going to include that I was a founding member of a fraternity, and then I served as the athletics chair for 3 semesters.

 

[meddesire]

I volunteered in 2 different hospitals at 2 different times, but basically do the same thing, so pretty much same description. Should I list them separately or list them as one?
If I list them as 1 activity, should I include the contact of both or just either one of them? If both, how?

 

[Catalystik]

I have only 3 spots left for my work/activities, and one of them should be dedicated to two paid employments I had, but the two were different, one was finding donors for scholarships and the other was teaching assistant , I am not sure what category I should choose for these and what could be a good experience name for this combination and again I will have problem with contact info since each has different verifier!

Use an Employment - Not Medical/Clinical tag.
Call it Miscellaneous Collegiate Jobs.
Use the most recent for the header info and the first job description.
Give similar info for the second in the narrative space.
Each should have its own subtotal of hours.
The Total Hours space should add together both subtotals.

 

[Catalystik]

What should I put down for total hours when its sort of ambiguous? Under the leadership category I'm going to include that I was a founding member of a fraternity, and then I served as the athletics chair for 3 semesters.

How is it ambiguous (which means doubtful or uncertain)?

 

[Catalystik]

I volunteered in 2 different hospitals at 2 different times, but basically do the same thing, so pretty much same description. Should I list them separately or list them as one?
If I list them as 1 activity, should I include the contact of both or just either one of them? If both, how?

They each deserve their own space. Does each have enough hours to stand alone? Do you have slots to spare? Then spread them out into two spaces so you have room for more description, reflection, impact, etc.