*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Work/Activities Tips Thread 2018-2019*~*~*~*

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@Catalystik The dance video is 30 minutes long, and it’s of amateur quality. The poetry video is only about one minute.

The cannabis thesis was investigating the genetic differences between marijuana and hemp. I talk about the genes in cannabis that encode the mRNA for endocannabinoid synthases. I reviewed the evolutionary divergence of the CBD and THC synthase genes, and how it correlates to hemp vs. marijuana classifcation. Basically an evolutionary/anthropological perspective on cannabis.

The high school project was a neuroscience focus. So it fits in with my interests in the mind and brain. I discuss this interest in my PS.

How should i include the public speaking competition? I want to express that I have presentation experience, and that I am a good communicator. I have also given presentations at high schools to encourage them to apply to my undergraduate university.
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I had a poster at a national conference, but honestly it was a long time ago, and it wasn’t anything super impressive. I already have two pubs and a research experience on my app. Is it stupid to leave off the poster to put something else on? I wanted to include a hobby that is sort of unique and means something to me.
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Can you squeeze mention of the long-ag0 poster into the affiliated research space? Otherwise, follow your gut and leave it off.
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I had a poster at a national conference, but honestly it was a long time ago, and it wasn’t anything super impressive. I already have two pubs and a research experience on my app. Is it stupid to leave off the poster to put something else on? I wanted to include a hobby that is sort of unique and means something to me.
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Maybe you could add it to the pubs activity but make sure to clarify that it was just a poster. I think the unique hobby would be better out of the 2 since you have already shown productive research.
 
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Boola Boy said:
@Catalystik 1) The dance video is 30 minutes long, and it’s of amateur quality. The poetry video is only about one minute.

2) The cannabis thesis was investigating the genetic differences between marijuana and hemp. I talk about the genes in cannabis that encode the mRNA for endocannabinoid synthases. I reviewed the evolutionary divergence of the CBD and THC synthase genes, and how it correlates to hemp vs. marijuana classifcation. Basically an evolutionary/anthropological perspective on cannabis.

3) The high school project was a neuroscience focus. So it fits in with my interests in the mind and brain. I discuss this interest in my PS.

4) How should i include the public speaking competition? I want to express that I have presentation experience, and that I am a good communicator. I have also given presentations at high schools to encourage them to apply to my undergraduate university.
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1) Can you edit it down to 5 minutes of the best part, put it on another site (ideally with a short URL), and link to that?

2) and 3) can be grouped. I see no problem with including the marijuana topic.

4) Since you didn't win the public speaking competition, there is no validation that you are "a good communicator." I'm not clear on why you want to include it. Since you've done other presentations to represent your university, why not just include that fact in the job or volunteer activity that required it, to show that you've done some public speaking? [Possibly, if preparing for and engaging in the public speaking competition gave you the confidence to volunteer for the promotional talks, you might briefly mention that in the back story.]
 
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Catalystik said:
So the research that led to the poster was so unremarkable that you didn't even give it a space?
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I have quite a few research experiences but research is not really a big part of my application’s “theme,” if you will. I included my pubs and the research I did my senior year because I got something out of those, but I’m not super into research and wanted to highlight as many aspects and experience types as possible. I’m 34 and had a hard time narrowing down my experiences to only 15.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I have quite a few research experiences but research is not really a big part of my application’s “theme,” if you will. I included my pubs and the research I did my senior year because I got something out of those, but I’m not super into research and wanted to highlight as many aspects and experience types as possible. I’m 34 and had a hard time narrowing down my experiences to only 15.
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Then, as Elsa from Frozen would say, "Let it go." (The poster.)
 
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Catalystik said:
1) Can you edit it down to 5 minutes of the best part, put it on another site (ideally with a short URL), and link to that?
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Youtube also has a share feature (share button underneath any video) that gives a condensed link with the option of choosing a time in the video that the link starts at; however, there would be no way to choose a specific end time with this feature.

Edit: @Boola Boy
 
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@theKingLT @Catalystik

Thanks for your suggestions! I'm working on getting the video shortened.

I also think that I'm over thinking the activities section. As such, I will not include my marijuana thesis (imagine how that sounds when you're deciding if you want to admit that person into medical school...) or the presentations I mentioned earlier. I do not think they are compelling enough to significantly impact my overall application.

Gonna stick with my work experiences (worked all throughout college part-time), clinical experiences, a few hobbies and artsy stuff, my research, and keep it moving.

Thanks so much for putting up with my neuroticism!
 
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Am I foolisu for adding an entry on a chronic health condition iv had?

It has taught me a lot and been a major part of my life. Otherwise i fear its not really mentioned in my primary
 
When entering hours for a sport that involved travel, should we include travel time? This was a club sport but we played teams as far as ~7 hour drives away and this would actually add a good chunk of hours to my time but idk if that's overthinking it. Maybe in the description I should just mention we traveled to play other teams but not include the hours?
 
manohman said:
Am I foolisu for adding an entry on a chronic health condition iv had?

It has taught me a lot and been a major part of my life. Otherwise i fear its not really mentioned in my primary
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If it's part of your journey to medicine, it belongs in the PS. If you put in in Activities with more detail, it could hurt you, depending on your comments.
 
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freedoctor17 said:
When entering hours for a sport that involved travel, should we include travel time? This was a club sport but we played teams as far as ~7 hour drives away and this would actually add a good chunk of hours to my time but idk if that's overthinking it. Maybe in the description I should just mention we traveled to play other teams but not include the hours?
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Mentioning travel time, or not, is fine, but if you were studying on the bus and not driving, leave it out of the total hours
 
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Catalystik said:
Mentioning travel time, or not, is fine, but if you were studying on the bus and not driving, leave it out of the total hours
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Good point. I only drove to one game and it was one of the closer ones so I'll leave it out.
 
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Hoping to get some opinions about clinical vs. non-clinical volunteering for a needle exchange. We provide HIV/HCV testing and teach people how to use naloxone which makes me think clinical, but a lot of it is not clinical--actually distributing the needles/other supplies etc. Old threads say non-clinical but they didn't mention HIV/HCV testing or nalaxone.
 
keytonez said:
Hoping to get some opinions about clinical vs. non-clinical volunteering for a needle exchange. We provide HIV/HCV testing and teach people how to use naloxone which makes me think clinical, but a lot of it is not clinical--actually distributing the needles/other supplies etc. Old threads say non-clinical but they didn't mention HIV/HCV testing or nalaxone.
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Do you think of those you serve as patients or clients? They may be high-risk, but it sounds like you're screening asymptomatic folks for HIV and HCV, not treating them. Do you draw blood?What percent are positive? If they are positive, do you meet with them and discuss options, or does a licensed healthcare worker?

Also, to what extent is it important to your application that the activity be perceived as " clinical"?
 
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@Catalystik Thank you for all your input on this thread, first of all.

Second, how important is contact information for each activity in a section? i.e. I would like to list the many jobs I had in college under one heading to give an indication of what I was doing with my time - the challenge being word count and college was a while ago for me, so those contacts may not be accurate.

My personal feeling is these activities aren't exactly glorious, so there isn't much reason to lie about them, but what do admissions think? Is contact info for each activity a strict rule, or a best practice?
 
LordPP said:
@Catalystik Thank you for all your input on this thread, first of all.

Second, how important is contact information for each activity in a section? i.e. I would like to list the many jobs I had in college under one heading to give an indication of what I was doing with my time - the challenge being word count and college was a while ago for me, so those contacts may not be accurate.

My personal feeling is these activities aren't exactly glorious, so there isn't much reason to lie about them, but what do admissions think? Is contact info for each activity a strict rule, or a best practice?
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Contact provision is a best practice, but when jobs happened long ago and were numerous, you might be forgiven for using yourself as the Contact for all of them.
 
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Hey, so if anyone could advise, I would really appreciate it! Currently, I have no hobbies, but I do enjoy antiquing and going to auctions and storage auctions. I also enjoy collecting random things I find and flipping them for profit as well. Would this be relevant to list? Thanks.
 
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hopefuldoctorz said:
Hey, so if anyone could advise, I would really appreciate it! Currently, I have no hobbies, but I do enjoy antiquing and going to auctions and storage auctions. I also enjoy collecting random things I find and flipping them for profit as well. Would this be relevant to list? Thanks.
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Absolutely. Even better, it's kinda unique (the antiquing part).
 
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Question:

A few years ago I took a CNA class and passed the state CNA licensing exam. I never pursued employment as a CNA though, because I was in school and already had another full-time job (I got it just to get exposure to some basic clinical skills and in case I wanted to find a CNA job as a contingency). This was a while ago, and the license has in fact lapsed b/c I wasn't able to renew for a second year having not had paid employment as a CNA.

I wasn't planning on listing it in my activities, because I already have 15 activities that I really want to list. I'm under the impression that medical schools may have access to records showing previous licenses and certifications. Is it a red flag if I don't list the CNA cert on my application?
 
timephone said:
Question:

A few years ago I took a CNA class and passed the state CNA licensing exam. I never pursued employment as a CNA though, because I was in school and already had another full-time job (I got it just to get exposure to some basic clinical skills and in case I wanted to find a CNA job as a contingency). This was a while ago, and the license has in fact lapsed b/c I wasn't able to renew for a second year having not had paid employment as a CNA.

I wasn't planning on listing it in my activities, because I already have 15 activities that I really want to list. I'm under the impression that medical schools may have access to records showing previous licenses and certifications. Is it a red flag if I don't list the CNA cert on my application?
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No. If you didn't use the certification in a work or volunteer position, it gives no value to your application. Unless maybe you are short on active clinical experience and took classes that required patient interaction, there's no reason to bring up the classes (tho they might be listed on your transcript if you took them through a CC).
 
I started doing maintenance on my family's cars while I'm back home and since I have all the necessary tools, I thought I'd extend this and provide free brake service labor to anyone in need, should I just file this under a hobby?
 
Catalystik said:
No. If you didn't use the certification in a work or volunteer position, it gives no value to your application. Unless maybe you are short on active clinical experience and took classes that required patient interaction, there's no reason to bring up the classes (tho they might be listed on your transcript if you took them through a CC).
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The classes were not for credit and won't show up on my transcript, it was just a prep class offered through the university on a couple weekends. Thanks!
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Question about awards. I listed the military awards that reflect an individual achievement. I included their name and the year I got them. Should I include a description of what I got them for, or is that not necessary?
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It would make the entry more interesting if you have space to elaborate on some of them.
 
Two questions about the presentation/poster category:

1. I have two capstone projects that are related to medicine. They were pretty significant to my undergrad experience and I'd like to list them. I did present both at my school's design poster sessions, so would I list them as "presentation/poster" or "other"?

2. I attended a conference (BMES) where i submitted an abstract and then presented a poster. If I have two other "presentation/poster" entries, would it be better to list this as "conference" so I'm checking more boxes? or is "presentation/poster" more important?
 
shakyjelly said:
Two questions about the presentation/poster category:

1. I have two capstone projects that are related to medicine. They were pretty significant to my undergrad experience and I'd like to list them. I did present both at my school's design poster sessions, so would I list them as "presentation/poster" or "other"?

2. I attended a conference (BMES) where i submitted an abstract and then presented a poster. If I have two other "presentation/poster" entries, would it be better to list this as "conference" so I'm checking more boxes? or is "presentation/poster" more important?
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1) I need more info as to what you mean by "project." Are they related to original, hypothesis-driven research, which you listed under a Research tab? Or are they team-based approaches to solving an engineering issue, which you described and tagged as Other? Or something else?

2) Presentations/Posters is FAR more important.
 
Is there a recommended “max” number of hobbies someone could put down where it’d be too much? Right now I have two but I could add another one.

With that being said, I think I’m only going to have 10-11 entries listed. Is that enough?


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Another shadowing question....
At my job we have the 3rd year EM residents ride along with us on the ambulance sometimes. There really there to learn what we do, but obviously there's a lot of exchange about what goes on after we drop people off in the ED. These experiences are part of my decision to go on to medical school, but should I list this under shadowing?
 
initialize said:
Is there a recommended “max” number of hobbies someone could put down where it’d be too much? Right now I have two but I could add another one.

With that being said, I think I’m only going to have 10-11 entries listed. Is that enough?
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Nine to ten entries is the average listed, so you're fine.

Most use one Hobbies space and group them all there. Picking 2-3 separate hobbies works fine. If you want to use two spaces to have more room for description, that's fine. IMO using three spaces would be too much.
 
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LordPP said:
Another shadowing question....
At my job we have the 3rd year EM residents ride along with us on the ambulance sometimes. There really there to learn what we do, but obviously there's a lot of exchange about what goes on after we drop people off in the ED. These experiences are part of my decision to go on to medical school, but should I list this under shadowing?
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No. Having it in the PS is good though.
 
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Is it ok not to include future hours? I am moving about a month into the application cycle back to my state of residency (just been living in my current state for about 10 months) so obviously any of my current activities I won't be continuing, other than an online tutoring job I recently started. Is there a place I should explain this? I'm not concerned about my current number of hours and should be ok without including the future hours.
 
Reader88 said:
Is it ok not to include future hours? I am moving about a month into the application cycle back to my state of residency (just been living in my current state for about 10 months) so obviously any of my current activities I won't be continuing, other than an online tutoring job I recently started. Is there a place I should explain this? I'm not concerned about my current number of hours and should be ok without including the future hours.
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It's fine not to include future hours, and best not to for anyone who has doubt that the projected hours would be completed. You would not be alone in not including them and no explanation is necessary. You will have opportunities with some med schools to explain your plans when they are more sure in Secondary essays or update letters (where allowed).
 
Catalystik said:
It's fine not to include future hours, and best not to for anyone who has doubt that the projected hours would be completed. You would not be alone in not including them and no explanation is necessary. You will have opportunities with some med schools to explain your plans when they are more sure in Secondary essays or update letters (where allowed).
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Thank you! As always, I appreciate your feedback.
 
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Catalystik said:
Do you think of those you serve as patients or clients? They may be high-risk, but it sounds like you're screening asymptomatic folks for HIV and HCV, not treating them. Do you draw blood?What percent are positive? If they are positive, do you meet with them and discuss options, or does a licensed healthcare worker?

Also, to what extent is it important to your application that the activity be perceived as " clinical"?
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Good points--thank you. Much appreciated!
 
this might be a REALLY stupid question so i apologize in advance. When entering the "contact title" are they asking for Mr. Mrs. etc. or like "assistant director of operations"
 
Eagleye2 said:
When entering the "contact title" are they asking for Mr. Mrs. etc. or like "assistant director of operations"
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They are looking for professional designations, job titles, and/or credentials, like:

-Tobias Madras, PhD, Principal Investigator

-Antonia Kumar, RN, Director of Clinical Services

-Tom Smith, Volunteer Coordinator

-Japhia Patel, Volleyball Coach

-Kitty Li, MD, Gastroenterologist
 
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Catalystik said:
They are looking for professional designations, job titles, and/or credentials, like:

-Tobias Madras, PhD, Principal Investigator

-Antonia Kumar, RN, Director of Clinical Services

-Tom Smith, Volunteer Coordinator

-Japhia Patel, Volleyball Coach

-Kitty Li, MD, Gastroenterologist
Click to expand...

Man, what a missed opportunity to have hilarious punny names. @gonnif would be so disappointed in you.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Man, what a missed opportunity to have hilarious punny names. @gonnif would be so disappointed in you.
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Frieda Wales, PhD, Assoc Prof of Marine Biologist
Marge Innovera, PhD, Prof of Social Statistics
I.C. You, MD, Opthamologist and Director of CF Eyecare
Upton K. Easter, MD, and Carmeron Diaz, MD , co-drectors of Colonscopy Research Lab
Lewis D. Mind, MD, Psychatrist
Barron Greymatter, DO, Neurologist
Angie O’Plasty, MD, Cardiologist
Betty Bayh, MD, Director Sleep Clinic
Seymour Robbins, PhD, Prof of Ornithology
Victor Analysis, PhD, Chair Dept of Physics
Fay Slift, MD, FACS, Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery
Jean Poole, PhD, prof of Genetics
Louis Stuhls, MD, Gastroenterologist


Above list provided in part by Hugh Lewis Dewey, JD, legal counsel from Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe
 
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Hoping to get some feedback.

I was hired as an ophthalmic technician and was promoted to lead ophthalmic tech for the practice. I am planning on making 2 separate entries where I will speak about different aspects of my position:
1.) ophthalmic tech under paid clinical
2.) lead ophthalmic tech under leadership

Other than my role as lead tech I have not held a lot of leadership roles, besides a manager at a pizza shop, which I listed as paid-non clinical. I have about 3500 total hours currently (have worked there almost 2 years) and am guessing taking some of the hours away from paid clinical and giving it to leadership will not hurt me. Does separating my roles in order to have a leadership entry seem like a good move?

Also, I was planning on making the leadership entry a "most meaningful" because I talk about my experience as a tech and how that has influenced my decision to become a physician/patient stories in my PS.
 
enchilada12 said:
Hoping to get some feedback.

I was hired as an ophthalmic technician and was promoted to lead ophthalmic tech for the practice. I am planning on making 2 separate entries where I will speak about different aspects of my position:
1.) ophthalmic tech under paid clinical
2.) lead ophthalmic tech under leadership

1) Other than my role as lead tech I have not held a lot of leadership roles, besides a manager at a pizza shop, which I listed as paid-non clinical.

2) I have about 3500 total hours currently (have worked there almost 2 years) and am guessing taking some of the hours away from paid clinical and giving it to leadership will not hurt me.

3) Does separating my roles in order to have a leadership entry seem like a good move?

4) Also, I was planning on making the leadership entry a "most meaningful" because I talk about my experience as a tech and how that has influenced my decision to become a physician/patient stories in my PS.
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1) Be sure to include the pizza shop manager role in the name you give the activity. In the narrative mention when you got promoted.

2) Not so long as your Contact agrees with the division of hours.

3) Yes.

4) If it's the leadership aspect that is MM, your comments should focus on that in a Leadership spot. If being a tech is what you want to talk about, maybe the Employment -Medicsl/Clinical space should be the MM.
 
So im kinda almost done with my work section (yay). I have my 3 MM as clinical volunteering, community volunteering, and research (full time clinical employment but listed as research). I have 14 spots filled with 3 of them being "me related" like photography (artistic endeavor), snowboard team (intercollegiate athletics with some community volunteering in the description), and recreational athletics (extracurricular activities). Would putting something else such as hobbies really make sense because I have all of these which are basically hobbies? I was going to put like....concerts (since Ive been to something like 60+), modeling, coffee enthusiast, and slam poetry. Right now I have (with hours): 1 research (1600+), 1 poster/presentation, 1 non clinical volunteering (100+), 1 shadowing group (75), 4 clinical volunteering (300+), 1 teaching (40), 1 extra curricular (1600+), 1 intercollegiate athletics (1000+), 1 artistic endeavor (330), 1 awards slot, 1 leadership (2000).

Also for the leadership, it was through my work position and at one of the jobs I wasnt a crew trainer the whole time (about 9/12 months there). Should I list the total hours worked or only list the leadership hours? And do schools take note of activities that cover multiple criteria? Such as my research job where Im the lead for the trials so it is a mix of research and leadership but I marked as research because I didnt have any other research and I already had leadership.
 
I previously found an AMCAS tutorial video on how to enter shadowing hours into one work/activities entry, but now I can't find it... Does anyone know where I can find the video or how I should enter my shadowing hours? I have multiple different physicians but don't want to enter each one separately: 2 Orthopedic surgeons, Neurosurgeon, Pediatrician and Pathologist. Thanks!
 
gonnif said:
Frieda Wales, PhD, Assoc Prof of Marine Biologist
Marge Innovera, PhD, Prof of Social Statistics
I.C. You, MD, Opthamologist and Director of CF Eyecare
Upton K. Easter, MD, and Carmeron Diaz, MD , co-drectors of Colonscopy Research Lab
Lewis D. Mind, MD, Psychatrist
Barron Greymatter, DO, Neurologist
Angie O’Plasty, MD, Cardiologist
Betty Bayh, MD, Director Sleep Clinic
Seymour Robbins, PhD, Prof of Ornithology
Victor Analysis, PhD, Chair Dept of Physics
Fay Slift, MD, FACS, Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery
Jean Poole, PhD, prof of Genetics
Louis Stuhls, MD, Gastroenterologist


Above list provided in part by Hugh Lewis Dewey, JD, legal counsel from Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe
Click to expand...

last one stolen from CarTalk on NPR, youre going to jail
 
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