1) I know clinical volunteering is a huge thing that is looked at on the apps, and I only had around 50-60 hours of it up to this point. However, the lack of hours (compared to what is expected) has not affected my experience as it actually one of my "most meaningful experiences" and most likely a part of my personal statement. I volunteered at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH), however since it was through a student organization, it was not on a consistent weekly basis and it was only 2 hours/session. We helped the kids with homework, played games with them, read them books, and in general tried to keep them in good spirits. The experiences I gained from volunteering are invaluable to me and I honestly could write pages on it. Should I be concerned about the lack of hours or can my description of the experience make up for it?
2) Is it possible for me to use my participation in one student organization under multiple categories? I held three leadership positions (should I put all of them under one heading?) and for 2 weeks, I did non-medical volunteering in a village in Nicaragua where we lived in the community and did service for most of the day for the entire two weeks.
Would I be able to put this under both leadership & non-medical volunteer/community service?
Also a side question about the leadership category. If I held leadership positions in multiple organizations, should I only use one header, or one for each organization?
3) I have been part of 3 research labs.
a) a stroke pathology lab which I only worked for a semester (I signed a contract saying I would only be there for a semester). In this lab I helped in the design of the study and filling in the IRB forms along with one other medical student.
b) a lung cancer lab which I worked for 1.5 semesters. Here, I researched genes and gene mutations (SNPs) related to neurotransmitter systems that could lead to nicotine addiction susceptibility in lung cancer patients. I spent a majority of my time sifting through gene databases and reading published papers to determine which genes mutations would be best for our study. However, due to some complications, I was unable to continue after submitting my results.
c) a neuroimmunology and spinal cord injury lab which I have now been part of for 9 months by the time I submit this app. I’ve been much more involved in experiments and techniques and I participated in lab meetings. I’ve even presented the results of preliminary experiment to my PI.
Should I list all 3 labs (I did gain some valuable experience from the first two although they were short lived)? If so, should I put it all under one lab/research header?
4) I participated in a one-month study abroad where I learned about the history of culture and politics in central Europe. Should I include this even though it was not medically related?
5) I shadowed 7 doctors for a total of 79 hours, however two of them (they were in a private practice together) I shadowed through a summer program for 45 hours. Should I split up those two from the rest, or just mention the program and the increased hours in the description? Also, in the description should I note the descriptions of what each shadowing experience entailed (i.e. relevant surgeries I saw, whether I was on rounds with the doctors, etc.) or just the hours?
6) I have a paid tutoring job. Would that fall under paid employment (non-medical) or teaching/tutoring?
7) Just a general question on the experience description. Is it just supposed to explain the position/organization/award/etc. and what you did in the position/organization or how you earned the award?
8) I’m pretty sure I read this on a previous thread, but I wanted to double check. Should the scholarships I received and the Dean’s List Recognition just go under one heading for awards? I assume in the description, I would explain the scholarship.
1) Without knowing all your clinical experience, I can't say if 50 hours is concerning or not, but critiquing activities lies outside the scope of this thread anyway, and better belongs in the WAMC thread.
2) Depending on the space available, you can choose to keep all the leadership roles for one activity together, or split them up if each is strong enough to stand on its own. It would be most efficient (assuming all the activities mentioned in question 2 are related) to have one Leadership and one Volunteer/Community Service space for the 2-week abroad experience (unless you have another short-term experience that could share a space with the latter).
It's best to have one header that applies to all the activities mentioned in the space, but it's possible to include more than one organization if you put the same header info for the others in with the description.
3) It would be very difficult to do justice to all three research labs and include all the header info for for the second and third if you use one space, unless you designate it as Most Meaningful. It would be most ideal to give each its own space, especially if you're aiming for institutions that emphasize research over, say, primary care. Or you could put two together and the more significant one on its own.
4) Study abroad activity is indicated on your transcript, so you need not include it as an activity unless it was particularly impactful in some way not related to academics.
5) There is no one right way to enter this type of activity. You can split out the two or include them with the others, as you wish. To be more space efficient, you might list the two that are related first, so the header ino applies to both. Then you will have less header info to squeeze into the narrative box of the remainder. See post #58 on page two of this thread for an example of what to include and where you can take shortcuts.
6) You can pick either, depending on what balances your application better. But make the other designation clear from the Name you pick.
7) Yes, and an indication of how selective the award was is also helpful, if you know. Like "Five were selected for this award out of 256 nominees," or some such. Sometimes, to avoid replicating info, it is better to include an award with the original activity description, to keep in in better context.
8) Scholarships and deans list can certainly go in a single space, but deans list, while commonly listed, isn't very helpful, since your GPA will speak for itself, and because the criteria vary by school, so feel free to leave it off. Side note: only include merit scholarships based on college work, and do explain the criteria. Including an amount is fine, if you like. Scholarships based on need or related to HS work can be included in another part of the application where you explain how you paid for school.
