1) No one will notice the date overlap and if they do they won’t care. If they do care, it won’t be enough to deter an interview and you can explain it there. If you wanna be cautious just say the California one started Sep 2017, but you seriously don’t have to.
Get rid of the ‘Researcher at XYZ” and use it in the story - “My role in Dr. Does’s Lab at XYZ hospital was to ABC. Here I learned to 123.”
I personally have one box that I shoved 7 different activities with 4 different contacts in. Used the title to give as much of a description as a I could and moved on. That saves stories for the interviews.
2) In general, more recent is better, but the instructions state you should emphasize the activities most important to being a good candidate.
1) Consider using bullet points rather than full sentences to save characters.
1) Yes.
For Experience #2, I suggest following the same model as for #1, with the activity description after the dates and subtotal of hours. At the end: Contact J Doe, PhD, PI, [email protected]. Whether the organization needs to be included depends on the activity. What is the category of this space? Was your "position" implied by the description you provided?
If all your active clinical hours with patients come from one research-project affiliation, it needs to stay in a box labeled "Clinical Volunteer" so it won't be overlooked.
For volunteer positions, I suggest you don't include training time/orientation hours. For employment, if you got paid to be there, go ahead and count them.
No, they don't. That you dipped your toe into the waters of scholarly research and learned the process is what is deemed important. Some specific research areas become relevant in the residency selection processes, though.
That's fine.
Did you already condense the entries according to this example: *~*~*~* Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2019-2020 *~*~*~* (which we discussed previously)?
I used similar format, but I completely missed that you could omit other authors if you keep yourself and state your position in the lineup,
1) Yes.
1) No. A Bioethics PhD or PharmD faculty member wouldn't know what that means. Define it first "prefrontal cortex (PFC)," then you can use the abbreviation.
Thank you so much! With your advice I got it down to 2 regular entries!
How about, "in envisioning a future as a physician..." or "in envisioning a possible future as a physician..."? You will have to decide based on the greater context of what you are trying to say. It never hurts to be humble.
1) Whether merit scholarships are worth mentioning depends in the dollar amount and the criteria for receiving the monitary award. Strangely enough, it isn't considered tacky to disclose the dollar value, but if it's low, I wouldn't bother. If it's at least $3K, do be specific.
A small part of the listed duties would be looked upon as the type of peer leadership that adcomms are looking for, namely the training of new volunteers. If you were to provide ongoing oversight and responsibility for new members' activities, that would qualify also, but they don't mention that. If you chaired a subcommittee that would qualify, too.I don't really have any leadership experience. Any advice? (I feel like it's too late to get involved in student clubs).
Would something like this count as leadership experience?
1) The point of getting involved in research prior to med school application is to gain an understanding of the scientific method. Some applicants get involved in years' long projects at the beginning and never see all the results, the data analysis, or conclusions. Are their contributions to be less valued? Of course not. Research is a team sport. Just be honest about your role in the project. That you were recruited to do data analysis speaks well of you, so mention that, too.
1) Does this project have a hypothesis? What are you trying to prove or disprove? To be considered "research" you need more than just building a database. If you're not sure, ask for a copy of the IRB application or the original grant proposal.
Give it its own space. That you have any medically-related pub, and first-author at that, still carries some weight. Be aware that publications in medical center journals don't carry the same luster as those in regional or national journals, as peer review is generally assumed to be less rigorous. Also, the work behind researching and writing up a clinical vignette tends to be significantly less than that for a presentation or poster.
A) Yes.
I'm sorry, my PM box is closed.
Using that format is fine. I'd try hard not to make it a MM entry for the purpose of having more space. Instead, to fit it all into one standard space, omit campus publications or thesis, anything where you honestly didn't put much work into it (authorship was a "gift" from the PI), or any "accepted pending major revision" papers. Or condense the journal name further.
1) Fifty hours of medical records management is a decent amount. to list on a med school application. You also have the option of grouping it with other nonmedical short-term volunteering you might have done, if you're short on spaces.
For a research experience to add value to a med school application it need not be in a hard science discipline. What is important would be whether it's original, hypothesis-based research that uses the scientific method. And that you can explain it, if asked, at an interview.
If the data set was the same/similar for all the venues (pub, posters, and podium presentation), then you'd use a Publications space for the citation and note in the same space the other dates and locations where you shared it.
-Institution would be Chicago State University
Label it Teaching/Tutoring, or Employment-Not Medical/Clinical. Even though I wouldn't consider the activity you've discussed to be the peer leadership adcomms expect to see under a Leadership tag, it's still an excellent demonstration of teamwork.
I think you'd be better off keeping the membership fees. Clubs are helpful to a med school application if they lead to leadership and volunteer opportunities (which can also be found off campus). They might be useful in signaling special interests to adcomms to start an interview conversation (but without adding to your candidacy). Campus clubs are not essential to a good med school application.
1) It depends on how many spaces you have at your disposal and/or how much you have to say. It's your choice to spread them out or group them. There isn't one right way to do it.
One expects friends to help friends, so listing this activity under Community Service/this isn't the best option if you want to demonstrate your altruism. Nor does it show that you're willing to go outside your comfort zone to work with folks unlike yourself. And who would you use as a Contact to validate the activity? Is a faculty or staff member of your school aware of the activity and willing to attest to it?
If you have an open space to use, then by all means, go ahead and list these honors. If space is tight, then it's better to include an activity that will have more impact on your candidacy with med schools, since your year-by-year GPA on the transcript is evident.
1) Evidence of teamwork and dedication are of value.
While you could split it into multiple entries, I think it would have far more impact if left in one space, considering that you stayed with some organizations for less than a year. But I suggest you put the subtotaled hours before the organization names.
