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*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Work/Activities Tips Thread 2018-2019*~*~*~*
Started by Lucca
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I shadowed a lot of physicians and I'm having trouble listing them. Right now I listed their name, hours, and what I saw like if I saw a certain surgery etc. The problem is I have about 200-250 hours of shadowing with various physicians so it is taking 3 slots. I also grouped them in 3 slots based on the hospital and general time period that I did it. Should I just scrap all of that and somehow group it in 1 slot? If I have to group it in one, then I would just have space for their name, phone number, and hours
If it's PubMed searchable, it's a Publication.
Not necessarily, especially if you have lots to say about some/all of them. Certainly not if you are not strong in nonclinical volunteer experiences, as you'd want to highlight that category by picking the most suitable tag to do so. So, use three spaces, maybe each tagged differently (Teaching, Employment, Volunteer), or two, or one, as is best suited to adequately display the activities.
You don't have to group it in one space, but it's commonly done. To free up some space to add the specialty and a bit of description, since you have well over what any school would expect hours-wise, you might summarize some of them by saying at the end without adding more detail, "Also shadowed for a total of 65 hours a nephrologist, physiatrist, and a hand surgeon."
I'm thinking of indicating my consulting experience as a clinical because I was in physician practices while patients were there. I interviewed physicians on their clinical workflow, too. I even interacted with patients (they asked me who I am and what I do since I wasn't wearing scrubs).
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Sketchy. At best, it was almost physician shadowing, except you didn't observe physician-patient interaction.
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Question: I was in a service org/scholarship program that gave me a monthly stipend for meeting certain criteria. One of those criteria was an internship that I was matched with by the program. My first instinct is to list this as paid employment, but I wasn't paying taxes or anything. Should I list it as volunteering? Thoughts?
Interrnships are usually best designated as "Other." You haven't said anything to convice me it's volunteering (in the same way that Americorps is volunteering, despite a stipend that barely covers one's cost of living), but do you think it might be?
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deleted927529
It was a position with EHS at my university, and what I did there doesn't really match the idea of volunteering in my head. The only thing pointing it toward volunteering is that the students were matched up across the campus based on which departments needed an extra pair of hands. I hadn't considered Other. That might be the best spot for it.
I was invited to lecture / present my research by one of my previous Professors. The presentation was to show the students the project I am currently working on, talk to them about how research is typically done, and how to get involved in research as an undergrad. Should I list this as Presentation/Poster? I am also going to be presenting research next fall at an undergrad research festival. Is it ok to just list them both under presentation/poster and write a bit about it? I am planning on clarifying what the presentation/lecture was and also going to clarify that the poster will be presented in the fall.
1) I'd call it Teaching.
2) You can't list future events on AMCAS. The program won't allow a future date to be entered. But you could refer to the future poster, if it's been accepted for inclusion already, in the affiliated Research entry.
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Definitely group them. A hundred hours is a decent number unless you have three times that elsewhere for NonClinical volunteering .
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The latest date the program allows is Aug 2019. Please make clear hours already completed vs future projections.
When you say "make clear" do you mean specifically state future projected hours in the description, or is it clear enough to just use the repeated hours feature to break it up (completed until June 2018 and future june 2018-2019) and assume they will be able to tell by the dates?
Either way is fine.
Hi everyone,
I recently started shadowing a doctor and after a couple of weeks, I was given more work to do. I now take vitals when the staff is busy, help put in orders, get info from hospitals, and other admin stuff when I go there. Should I list this as shadowing and describe the activity (with other shadowing)? or should I make a separate entry for first couple weeks (shadowing) and the rest for something else?
This one so far is about 70 hrs and I'll continue working with him for a while. I might even start scribing for him in a couple months time.
I only have one other shadowing which is 8 hrs over the course of 2 weeks.
Also, another question on the app:
For Childhood info under Biographic info. I lived in a rural area in India from Birth to age 9, then in suburban from age 9 to 13. Then I and lived in a suburban area (US) from 13 to 18. Would it be wrong to list the first rural area since the questions asks "In what area did you spend the majority of your life from birth to age eighteen?"
I recently started shadowing a doctor and after a couple of weeks, I was given more work to do. I now take vitals when the staff is busy, help put in orders, get info from hospitals, and other admin stuff when I go there. Should I list this as shadowing and describe the activity (with other shadowing)? or should I make a separate entry for first couple weeks (shadowing) and the rest for something else?
This one so far is about 70 hrs and I'll continue working with him for a while. I might even start scribing for him in a couple months time.
I only have one other shadowing which is 8 hrs over the course of 2 weeks.
Also, another question on the app:
For Childhood info under Biographic info. I lived in a rural area in India from Birth to age 9, then in suburban from age 9 to 13. Then I and lived in a suburban area (US) from 13 to 18. Would it be wrong to list the first rural area since the questions asks "In what area did you spend the majority of your life from birth to age eighteen?"
What kind of hobbies can I list for the hobby section? Do people actually list everything they do and describe them or just list them?
I'm an outdoorsy/active person so I have a lot of hobbies/activities that I do but I don't know if it's actually worth it.
Examples:
Muay Thai Kickboxing / MMA
Snowboarding, snowmobiling, fishing, hiking, running, weight lifting, reading books
I've also seen every episode of Game of Thrones 6 times, which I believe deserves its own entry
I'm an outdoorsy/active person so I have a lot of hobbies/activities that I do but I don't know if it's actually worth it.
Examples:
Muay Thai Kickboxing / MMA
Snowboarding, snowmobiling, fishing, hiking, running, weight lifting, reading books
I've also seen every episode of Game of Thrones 6 times, which I believe deserves its own entry
I had a hospital volunteering position in the summer between high school and the start of undergrad. It started after I had graduated high school and ended before I started my 4 year undergrad; is that still okay to put on my app or is that considered high school? I was taking a tech school course at the time, if it makes a difference.
1) I suggest grouping the dedicated shadowing time with your other shadowing. If you are light on clinical volunteering, you might put the "helpful" hours in another space on their own if they are sufficiently notable, or group them with other clinical volunteering.
2) My response would be to ask which of those years do you remember best, which is obviously not going to include the first 3-4 years of your life. But see what Gonnif has to say. Repost this question in the general AMCAS thread here: *~*~*~*Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2018-2019*~*~*~*
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1) Pick the three most interesting hobbies and include some description (a well known trail you hiked recently, fly fishing where you tie your own lures?, genre of books, especially if you collect them, length of races you might run, etc). Be sure they are those you'd enjoy discussing in an interview.
2) No.
It is not considered in the HS years after you graduated, so it's legit to include on your application.
Watching, no. Drawing, collecting, yes.
Although I was kidding It's funny that you say that because I actually do like to sketch a lot of the characters, but I've never done anything original. Just sketches of already existing ones. Is that actually something worth including? I actually have a book full of them.
Edit: if it was, I could also mention my manga collection along with it? Also read a ton of fantasy novels.
Never considered putting these because I thought 1) wasn't sure if most adcom knew what anime is 2)if they did know, they might look at it in a bad light lol
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Everywhere I’ve been, the anime kids always had a reputation of being weird. Not sure I’d want to risk being associated with that rep for what is probably a very minor benefit at best.
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lol that is exactly why I never considered putting it in the first place, maybe I can be general and say something like cartoon character drawings. Most likely won't put it at all though.
I worked a temp employee at a needle exchange for 120 hours and then continued to volunteer at the same place, doing pretty similar things, for about 70 more hours. Can I categorize this as clinical community service?
1) Art as a hobby is worth mentioning.
2) Don't overdo it. You don't want to seem one dimensional and uninvolved with living people.
3) It depends on their age, possibly.
4) That works for me.
Yes to calling it community service (but I can't say it would necessarily be looked on as clinical. It would depnd on what you describe as your duties), but don't include the paid hours and dates in the header, just mention them as an addendum in the description.
See this post about needle exchange categorization: *~*~*~*Official AMCAS Work/Activities Tips Thread 2018-2019*~*~*~*
Got it. Also, how much of an extrapolation do you think is too much when it comes to future hours. For example, say you have done 70 hours of activity X in the past 7 months and plan on continuing this activity until med school (next 12 months) would you say it's fair to say 175 hours for total (at the same rate of 2 hours per week)?
If talking about my written poetry is it ok to mention the titles of the poems (edit: not all of them but like one or two as examples) in the description? Also one of my poems won a contest with a cash prize, but it was the summer after high school and before college, should I still mention it?
At the same rate of 10 hours per month, it would come to ~120 extra future hours, which I'd prefer to see separated from the already completed 70 hours. You can use the Repeated feature to do this so all the hours appear in the header (same month for end of span 1 and start of span 2), or you can mention the future hours in the narrative. If you aren't absolutely sure of the duration and hours in the future, just say you intend to complete 10 hours/month through May 2019.
Perfect. Thank you!
Stating general topics might be better, rather than titles.
Yes, mention the prize.
My hospice volunteering is a big part of my application, and I'm writing extra for it as Most Meaningful.
I want to mention specific patients who had an impact on me, but I don't want to violate HIPAA by disclosing any confidential information. Is it okay to mention the patients' first names and small details about my visits? I'm not discussing anything about their diseases or the facilities where they lived.
I want to mention specific patients who had an impact on me, but I don't want to violate HIPAA by disclosing any confidential information. Is it okay to mention the patients' first names and small details about my visits? I'm not discussing anything about their diseases or the facilities where they lived.
Why not use fictitious initials or 2-3 letter names so as to use fewer characters? Then you can say what you like.
FWIW, for my fiction, I listed my most recent title and the publication, then generalized everything else.
My stuff isn't published though, just listing it as a hobby.
I work as a Patient Care Assistant (PCA) (one of my most meaningful activities) at my local hospital. I have had interactions with patients with substance use disorders (the opioid problem is huge where I am) that have led me to volunteer in an addiction helpline (I also consider this one of my most meaningful activities). I really want to briefly mention one of those interactions I've had as a PCA as a reason for starting to volunteer in the helpline. What do you think of that?
Oh okay. Yeah, I’d just go with general descriptions.
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I think connecting two activities like that, where one inspired participation in the other, is a good thing. Be sure to anonymize the patient story.
Awesome! Thanks for the input! I will absolutely keep it anonymous.
Question on whether to classify this as clinical or non-clinical. Working at a rural free clinic open 2 days/week, my role is to coordinate scheduling appointments with outside specialists and then contacting the patient (via phone) to confirm appointments. I process paperwork/records, coordinate with the clinic doctors to identify specialists, reach out to them to confirm they will accept our patient, and schedule the appointment. I have minimal to no contact with the patient while the clinic is actually open, only over the phone.
going back to this, is it better to list the contact's professional title or their title within the organization that the activity entry is for?
I've seen mixed feelings on talking/drawing attention to massive failures and I need some advice. A group of friends and I started a business that ended in bankruptcy (the business entity went bankrupt, not I). Even though the outcome was awful, I put in A LOT of time and effort into this venture. Is it worth mentioning in activities? Also, I contemplated using this for the typical failure question on secondaries. I am just worried about admissions thinking I am irresponsible.
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