*~*~*~* Official AMCAS "Work/Activities" Tips Thread 2021-2024 *~*~*~*

[chilly_md]

I have 4 completed posters and presentations that I was going to list under 1 entry in AMCAS. Now that we can add "anticipated" dates, though, can I list posters that I have upcoming? (ie one in July, two in November which I have already submitted abstracts for, etc). I am kind of pressed for space/entries so I wanted to see if I could group all of these under one entry.

I also have a manuscript submitted for publication like 2 weeks ago that I would like to throw in here if possible since it does not count as a publication yet (has not been accepted).

And, follow-up to all of this, but I obviously do not have space to list the titles for all of these. How should I cite them instead?

Thanks in advance!

You can do this a few different ways. You can try to squeeze in the titles of some kind for the posters and the presentations that are already been accomplished. Or you could take the top/most prestigious one or two and cite them, then mention the rest without necessarily detail. As for the presentations to come, I would just make a short blanket phrase that for others have been accepted for presentation or something along those lines. As for the manuscript it really isn’t worth much as just a submission needs to be accepted. However if you add a blanket phrase about the poster suggested above you can mention Manuscript recently submitted in the same surgery

Quality matters much more than quantity. I would suggest you take the top one or two side them and add the rest As a blanket phrase

I have moved the above 2 posts to the more relevant AMCAS Work/Activities thread.

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[futuredoc2515]

I have one entry for MCAT mentorship that I was going to use as leadership but not sure if I should put that as tutoring instead, but I have another entry for tutoring high school students that I could put as teaching.

 

[Catalystik]

I have one entry for MCAT mentorship that I was going to use as leadership but not sure if I should put that as tutoring instead, but I have another entry for tutoring high school students that I could put as teaching.

Most consider mentorship to be in the Teaching/Tutoring category. If you feel a portion of the activity reflects your leadership capability, you can mention that in the description.

 

[thegirlapplyingMD-PhD]

I'm applying MD-PhD, and I currently work as a clinical research coordinator. I've only been at this job since April. Is it bad to put it as one of my most meaningful experiences due to how recent it is? It truly has been one of my most meaningful experiences.

 

[Catalystik]

I'm applying MD-PhD, and I currently work as a clinical research coordinator. I've only been at this job since April. Is it bad to put it as one of my most meaningful experiences due to how recent it is? It truly has been one of my most meaningful experiences.

What’s important to choosing a MM experience isn’t the length of the activity, or the total number of hours, but rather, what you have to say about it.

 

[Endoxifen]

Hello,

I'm a final year PhD student applying to medical schools this cycle. In undergrad, I participated in shadowing, and both clinical and nonclinical volunteering. However, at this stage of my career, I have far more important experiences that I'd like to write about. Considering my PhD is in public health and all of my work is clinically releveant, is it worth including those typical experiences? Relatedly, should I be using this space to describe my research (undergrad, MPH, and PhD) or should I only pick the most important?

Thank you all very much for your help!

 

[lno1999]

It is important that you not only include those volunteering experiences, but also explain how they pushed you to the stage that you are currently at in your life.

 

[LuxFei24]

I had a question about acronyms. I was wondering if I would need to spell out federally qualified health center in my description or is simply "FQHC" okay?

In addition, for my artistic endeavor the title will partially read "Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.)". I reference the B.F.A. in that activity description as well as in one or two other activity descriptions like awards. Would I need to type out "Bachelor of Fine Arts" in the other non-artistic endeavor activities or is it okay to leave it as "B.F.A."?

 

[Catalystik]

I had a question about acronyms.

1) I was wondering if I would need to spell out federally qualified health center in my description or is simply "FQHC" okay?

2) In addition, for my artistic endeavor the title will partially read "Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.)". I reference the B.F.A. in that activity description as well as in one or two other activity descriptions like awards. Would I need to type out "Bachelor of Fine Arts" in the other non-artistic endeavor activities or is it okay to leave it as "B.F.A."?

1) Sorry, but you’ll need to spell it out once. If you can make it part of the space’s title, with (FQHC) after it, you could save on characters.

2) You can use BFA freely, without the “.”s after defining it once, assuming the context helps jog recall of its meaning.

 

[itsElmo]

For shadowing, do you have to put down contact info and clinic/hospital for all physicians you shadowed? I'll put down the contact info for the physician I shadowed most under primary contact, but may not have enough space for the other info within the 800 characters.

 

[Catalystik]

For shadowing, do you have to put down contact info and clinic/hospital for all physicians you shadowed? I'll put down the contact info for the physician I shadowed most under primary contact, but may not have enough space for the other info within the 800 characters.

Do you have the space to add maybe two more contacts in the narrative space? After that you could summarize, along the lines of the example in post 2, item #10 of this thread.

 

[LuxFei24]

I wanted to ask about humanities research for publications/research.

I pursued a master's in humanities while finishing my undergrad -- cultural studies were intriguing to me and helped to instill more cultural competence; I felt the lessons and skills would be very useful for becoming a physician.

I finished a humanities honor's thesis and a separate department humanities thesis for undergraduate. And then for my master's I finished a departmental paper ~50 pages (I did not quite have enough time to finish a traditional M.A. thesis, nor was it required). All of these things I received credit for so I don't know if that automatically prevents them from qualifying as publications or research.

I did not have any of these published in journals as M.A level work does not seem often published in my field. But I learned a lot about and conducted humanities research (non psychology/non social science research) and it was neat to see the differences from life science research. I wonder if these can qualify at all for publications or research activities?

 

[a_distant_dream]

Looking back at my AMCAS primary, I undercounted my hours by 80 for teaching / tutoring (wrote 16x and the correct value is 24x). Additionally, I mistyped 2023 as 2022 on a future date (so a projected activity is June 2022 - June 2022 instead of June 2022 - June 2023). Are these worthy of an update to schools or should they be accompanied by a more significant result (hypothetically, a publication)? Thank you for your time.

 

[Endoxifen]

It is important that you not only include those volunteering experiences, as well as explain how they pushed you to the stage that you are currently at in your life.

Hi Ino1999, thanks so much for the response. I have a few follow up questions. Firstly, since it's been quite some time since I did some of these volunteering hours, I'm not entirely sure how many I did. Would providing a rough estimate be a problem? Secondly, at one stage, I volunteered at a number of different local Meals on Wheels. Would it be problematic to combine them into a single item? If not, who's contact information would be wise to provide? Finally, would it be an issue if 7 of the 15 spots are occupied by awards/honors? Some of them are effectively stand-ins for degrees and I plan to write about them there.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Catalystik]

I wanted to ask about humanities research for publications/research.

I pursued a master's in humanities while finishing my undergrad -- cultural studies were intriguing to me and helped to instill more cultural competence; I felt the lessons and skills would be very useful for becoming a physician.

I finished a humanities honor's thesis and a separate department humanities thesis for undergraduate. And then for my master's I finished a departmental paper ~50 pages (I did not quite have enough time to finish a traditional M.A. thesis, nor was it required). All of these things I received credit for so I don't know if that automatically prevents them from qualifying as publications or research.

I did not have any of these published in journals as M.A level work does not seem often published in my field. But I learned a lot about and conducted humanities research (non psychology/non social science research) and it was neat to see the differences from life science research. I wonder if these can qualify at all for publications or research activities?

Did your "research" start with a Hypothesis? Were there described Methods, accumulation of Data, Analysis of data, and a Conclusion? Did it result in new, generalizable knowledge? Then you can discuss it under a Research tab.

It doesn't appear to me that your work qualifies as a Publication (even if it exists somewhere in your school's archives).

If these were not scholarly investigations resulting in new generalizable knowledge, you might consider using an Other tag (as most do), and discussing the process of doing background reading and creating your thesis, or if you want to include the departmental paper in the same space, call it Humanities Investigations, or some such that covers both efforts.

 

[Catalystik]

Looking back at my AMCAS primary, 1) I undercounted my hours by 80 for teaching / tutoring (wrote 16x and the correct value is 24x). 2) Additionally, I mistyped 2023 as 2022 on a future date (so a projected activity is June 2022 - June 2022 instead of June 2022 - June 2023). Are these worthy of an update to schools or should they be accompanied by a more significant result (hypothetically, a publication)? Thank you for your time.

1) I don't think this mistake will make a difference to your application, so I suggest not bringing it to attention.

2) How many hours did you project for this activity that appears to be of 1 month duration? What was the category? How many hours did you list as Completed?

 

[Catalystik]

I have a few follow up questions. 1) Firstly, since it's been quite some time since I did some of these volunteering hours, I'm not entirely sure how many I did. Would providing a rough estimate be a problem? 2) Secondly, at one stage, I volunteered at a number of different local Meals on Wheels. Would it be problematic to combine them into a single item? If not, who's contact information would be wise to provide? 3) Finally, would it be an issue if 7 of the 15 spots are occupied by awards/honors? Some of them are effectively stand-ins for degrees and I plan to write about them there.

1) A rough, good-faith estimate is sufficient.

2) Yes, combine them. Use the most recent Contact in the header, or list yourself.

3) Using 7 spaces for recognitions is excessive. Combine a lot of them and omit those that won't impact your candidacy (examples being Deans List, Latin graduation honors, Phi Beta Kappa).

 

[Catalystik]

should I be using this space to describe my research (undergrad, MPH, and PhD) or should I only pick the most important?

You are not obliged to mention every research activity. Or to go into those that weren't productive/impactful in great detail. Research from long ago, eg, might be summarized briefly as part of the backstory that led to your pursuit of advanced degree opportunities.

 

[Endoxifen]

You are not obliged to mention every research activity. Or to go into those that weren't productive/impactful in great detail. Research from long ago, eg, might be summarized briefly as part of the backstory that led to your pursuit of advanced degree opportunities.

You are not obliged to mention every research activity. Or to go into those that weren't productive/impactful in great detail. Research from long ago, eg, might be summarized briefly as part of the backstory that led to your pursuit of advanced degree opportunities.

Hi Catalystik, thanks very much for the reply. That was incredibly useful advice. If you don't mind, I have some additional questions:

1. Listing myself as the contact would certainly prevent issues caused by having multiple items combined. I don't want them calling a Meals on Wheels location and asking them if I worked >100 hours there, when it was only 40 with the others done elsewhere. However, isn't it a bit sketchy for a real volunteering experience like that? Should I only do that when it's something I created?

2. I should be listing my papers and presentations under my research experiences, and not separately, correct? If they should be separate, should I be listing critcal papers in progress? Due to significant delays caused by COVID, I'm in the process of putting together the big papers for my PhD now. We expect them to publish in quite well, but it won't be in time for submitting my application.

3. Is it problematic if my personal statement overlaps with my most meaningful experiences? My personal statement outlines my career path thusfar and therefore covers the moments I find most critical. While I can go into more detail in the activities section, for two of the three, the key point is already covered in the personal statement. Is redundency ok or would you advise I pick a different experience for the list.

Thanks again for the help! I really appreciate it.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi Catalystik, thanks very much for the reply. That was incredibly useful advice. If you don't mind, I have some additional questions:

1. Listing myself as the contact would certainly prevent issues caused by having multiple items combined. I don't want them calling a Meals on Wheels location and asking them if I worked >100 hours there, when it was only 40 with the others done elsewhere. However, isn't it a bit sketchy for a real volunteering experience like that? Should I only do that when it's something I created?

2. a) I should be listing my papers and presentations under my research experiences, and not separately, correct? b) If they should be separate, should I be listing critcal papers in progress? Due to significant delays caused by COVID, I'm in the process of putting together the big papers for my PhD now. We expect them to publish in quite well, but it won't be in time for submitting my application.

3. Is it problematic if my personal statement overlaps with my most meaningful experiences? My personal statement outlines my career path thusfar and therefore covers the moments I find most critical. While I can go into more detail in the activities section, for two of the three, the key point is already covered in the personal statement. Is redundency ok or would you advise I pick a different experience for the list.

1) You can solve this problem by explaining that in the narrative that you worked 40 hours at that location (with the header Contact) and the rest at X other sites, with the Total Hours in the header being the grand total.

2) a) Yes, they can be added to the Research or Other space experience, rather than being listed separately.
2) b) Do not list "critical papers in progress." Save them for mention in Secondaries, Update letters (where allowed), and interview conversations.

3) Overlap is fine. Redundancy is fine, as you can't assume the same reader will see all your entries. Try to use slightly different language when repeating info.

 

[Talldoctor96]

Hi Catalystik, thanks very much for the reply. That was incredibly useful advice. If you don't mind, I have some additional questions:

1. Listing myself as the contact would certainly prevent issues caused by having multiple items combined. I don't want them calling a Meals on Wheels location and asking them if I worked >100 hours there, when it was only 40 with the others done elsewhere. However, isn't it a bit sketchy for a real volunteering experience like that? Should I only do that when it's something I created?

2. I should be listing my papers and presentations under my research experiences, and not separately, correct? If they should be separate, should I be listing critcal papers in progress? Due to significant delays caused by COVID, I'm in the process of putting together the big papers for my PhD now. We expect them to publish in quite well, but it won't be in time for submitting my application.

3. Is it problematic if my personal statement overlaps with my most meaningful experiences? My personal statement outlines my career path thusfar and therefore covers the moments I find most critical. While I can go into more detail in the activities section, for two of the three, the key point is already covered in the personal statement. Is redundency ok or would you advise I pick a different experience for the list.

Thanks again for the help! I really appreciate it.

Also regards to number 1; I can assure you no admissions office in the country is going to care or have enough time or resources to follow up on 100 service hours.

 

[chilly_md]

Hi Catalystik, thanks very much for the reply. That was incredibly useful advice. If you don't mind, I have some additional questions:

1. Listing myself as the contact would certainly prevent issues caused by having multiple items combined. I don't want them calling a Meals on Wheels location and asking them if I worked >100 hours there, when it was only 40 with the others done elsewhere. However, isn't it a bit sketchy for a real volunteering experience like that? Should I only do that when it's something I created?

2. I should be listing my papers and presentations under my research experiences, and not separately, correct? If they should be separate, should I be listing critcal papers in progress? Due to significant delays caused by COVID, I'm in the process of putting together the big papers for my PhD now. We expect them to publish in quite well, but it won't be in time for submitting my application.

3. Is it problematic if my personal statement overlaps with my most meaningful experiences? My personal statement outlines my career path thusfar and therefore covers the moments I find most critical. While I can go into more detail in the activities section, for two of the three, the key point is already covered in the personal statement. Is redundency ok or would you advise I pick a different experience for the list.

Thanks again for the help! I really appreciate it.

I have merged your post with the main AMCAS Work/Activities section as it could benefit students with similar questions.

 

[Hamber_Gorl]

This might be a dumb question, do we need to list the organization we volunteered with as a Nonprofit? Or will adcoms google them themselves?

The club I was an officer for on campus was also a non-profit, should I list it as a club when describing leadership positions and as a nonprofit when doing community service?

 

[Catalystik]

1) This might be a dumb question, do we need to list the organization we volunteered with as a Nonprofit? Or will adcoms google them themselves?

2) The club I was an officer for on campus was also a non-profit, should I list it as a club when describing leadership positions and as a nonprofit when doing community service?

1) If the nonprofit status is important to your application, then mention it in the description.
2) If you feel the fact that it was a nonprofit has a bearing on your how your leadership role will be interpreted, then by all means, mention it in that entry, too.

 

[sadppremed]

Hello,

Can someone please give me feedback on my descriptions and most meaningful essays? I'm reapplying and would really appreciate any insight. Thank you so much!

 

[wysdoc]

Hello,

Can someone please give me feedback on my descriptions and most meaningful essays? I'm reapplying and would really appreciate any insight. Thank you so much!

@sadppremed that is beyond the scope of this activities help thread.
There is another thread where applicants like you have offered to swap/review each other's essays: Feedback On My Work/Activities List

 

[futurebraindoc123]

Hello Everyone! for one of my hobbies on my primary application, I am listing "making smoothies" as my hobby. What would I put for the organization's name and a number of hours? Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

for one of my hobbies on my primary application, I am listing "making smoothies" as my hobby. What would I put for the organization's name and a number of hours?

Organization name is elective, so you don't have to fill it in.

Hours for Hobbies isn't a critical issue. Enter a zero, a 99, or a good-faith estimate, as you wish.

 

[futurebraindoc123]

hi everyone! if I am putting a cultural tradition that I practiced as one of my work/activities, what would I classify it as and what would I put for the organization name, contact title, name, phone number, and email?

 

[Catalystik]

hi everyone! if I am putting a cultural tradition that I practiced as one of my work/activities, what would I classify it as and what would I put for the organization name, contact title, name, phone number, and email?

How you’d classify it depends on what the activity was and if you practiced it in public (like culural dance, which is an Artistic Endeavor). Feel free to give more detail.

If you didn’t belong to a college group or religious institution that practiced this tradition, you can use yourself as the Contact. And you don’t need both email and phone. Just providing one of those is sufficient.

 

[futurebraindoc123]

How you’d classify it depends on what the activity was and if you practiced it in public (like culural dance, which is an Artistic Endeavor). Feel free to give more detail.

If you didn’t belong to a college group or religious institution that practiced this tradition, you can use yourself as the Contact. And you don’t need both email and phone. Just providing one of those is sufficient.

I am just talking about how a specific holiday got disrupted due to the pandemic and how my family and I had to improvise. Usually, my family and I would prepare food and take it to the religious places of worship but due to the pandemic, we could not go to the temple. Hence, I am just confused as to what category to put it under? Thanks!!

 

[Catalystik]

I am just talking about how a specific holiday got disrupted due to the pandemic and how my family and I had to improvise. Usually, my family and I would prepare food and take it to the religious places of worship but due to the pandemic, we could not go to the temple. Hence, I am just confused as to what category to put it under? Thanks!!

Other? Extracurricular Activity? Or was it a Community Service because by improvising you found another arena in which to share your food?

You could also consider saving this situation for a Secondary prompt.

 

[futurebraindoc123]

hi! if I designed cards and sent them to a hospital, would that count as community service/volunteer WITH medical or NO medical? thanks!!

 

[Catalystik]

hi! if I designed cards and sent them to a hospital, would that count as community service/volunteer WITH medical or NO medical? thanks!!

NOT Medical.

 

[futurebraindoc123]

NOT Medical.

thank you so much for your help!!

 

[SentientWave]

Hi! I have a couple questions.

1) I have received some notable awards at my highschool, this happened outside of the USA (I graduated HS outside US, started bachelors here as a permanent resident) and I have the certificates/trophies. Who should I list as a contact? Just my highschool and their international phone number? I think I can format that into the first name/last name required fields like I've seen one user do it in this thread but it would obviously be unconventional - currently I have listed myself with the title field reading "Applicant". I did mention for each award that I have the certificate and/or the trophy.

2) Additionally, I have a campus presentation in association with research here at my univeristy, no posters or publications. I should list this under the research experience itself, but I am out of characters. I have only used one "most meaningful" so I have two to spare, should I use that or will it be inappropriate and I should just make a new entry? I have like seven more entries to spare.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Catalystik]

Hi! I have a couple questions.

1) I have received some notable awards at my highschool, this happened outside of the USA (I graduated HS outside US, started bachelors here as a permanent resident) and I have the certificates/trophies. Who should I list as a contact? Just my highschool and their international phone number? I think I can format that into the first name/last name required fields like I've seen one user do it in this thread but it would obviously be unconventional - currently I have listed myself with the title field reading "Applicant". I did mention for each award that I have the certificate and/or the trophy.

2) Additionally, I have a campus presentation in association with research here at my univeristy, no posters or publications. I should list this under the research experience itself, but I am out of characters. I have only used one "most meaningful" so I have two to spare, should I use that or will it be inappropriate and I should just make a new entry? I have like seven more entries to spare.

Thanks a lot!

1) High school recofnitions are generally not included on med school applications. Which among them do you feel enhances your application? If any , listing yourself as Contact is fine.
2) Either make a new entry since you have lots of open spaces ir make Research MM so you have space to include it there.

 

[medstud16]

Hi! I updated a publication with new/expanded research but it has not been published yet. What is the best way to show and reference this? It is a newer version of a previously published article. TIA!

 

[wysdoc]

Hi! I updated a publication with new/expanded research but it has not been published yet. What is the best way to show and reference this? It is a newer version of a previously published article. TIA!

If you already submitted your primary, and this has not been published yet, don't send any update for this detail.
If published by the time you get secondaries or interviews, you can mention it then

 

[j_lo]

I did an independent qualitative research project on GDM this past year as a senior undergrad. I had to do a poster and present it at a symposium. I have about 300 hours of research from this experience which I was going to list as an activity. Should I also make a separate entry for the poster/presentation or just include it in the research activity?

 

[chilly_md]

I did an independent qualitative research project on GDM this past year as a senior undergrad. I had to do a poster and present it at a symposium. I have about 300 hours of research from this experience which I was going to list as an activity. Should I also make a separate entry for the poster/presentation or just include it in the research activity?

I have moved your question to this main work/activities thread.

As per #20 in Catalystik’s post, I would mention it within the research activity if it was a campus symposium as opposed to a larger setting.

 

[Schadret]

How would you recommend counting the hours for "live-in dog-sitting"? Twice a year my daughter moves into a house for 2 weeks at a time (4 weeks total) to dog-sit while the family is away. She gets paid so it's a job, but she's not sure how to add up the hours. She can go out for a bit here and there (not for any longer than 2 hours) but does have to pretty much be there pretty often the entire day to keep the dog on its schedule.

 

[wysdoc]

How would you recommend counting the hours for "live-in dog-sitting"? Twice a year my daughter moves into a house for 2 weeks at a time (4 weeks total) to dog-sit while the family is away. She gets paid so it's a job, but she's not sure how to add up the hours. She can go out for a bit here and there (not for any longer than 2 hours) but does have to pretty much be there pretty often the entire day to keep the dog on its schedule.

This is a part-time occasional job so she doesn't have to list it at all, especially since it isn't all that relevant to her preparation to being a doctor.

 

[j_lo]

I took a nutrition capstone course my spring semester senior year and was wondering if its worth including this in my work/activities section? It required a lot of collaboration and teamwork. We had a final poster at end of semester and various scientific writing assignments. we had to come up with our own research project as a team. If I do include it would this be considered research, extracurricular, or other?

 

[Catalystik]

I took a nutrition capstone course my spring semester senior year and was wondering if its worth including this in my work/activities section? It required a lot of collaboration and teamwork. We had a final poster at end of semester and various scientific writing assignments. we had to come up with our own research project as a team. If I do include it would this be considered research, extracurricular, or other?

As the experience was curricular and includes components of multiple categories, “Other“ would be a good choice.

 

[itsElmo]

For poster/publications activity, who and what would be an appropriate contact and organization, especially if I did research for multiple people?

 

[Catalystik]

For poster/publications activity, who and what would be an appropriate contact and organization, especially if I did research for multiple people?

Pubs can be authenticated if they are available through an online search with the information in your citation, so a more recent PI can be used in the header without including other Contacts. For posters, the PI of the project is often used; after the first in the header, give contact information for others in the narrative space.

 

[ZombieDante]

Do I need to list every doctor I shadowed or can I group them? Most of my shadowing comes from program such as SMDEP and such. I got a lot of hours, but it was overall about 12 different doctors in short spurts. Can I list shadowing done during those programs and what speciality it was or do I actually need to list Dr. X 8 hours, Dr. Y 8 hours, etc.

 

[Catalystik]

Do I need to list every doctor I shadowed or can I group them? Most of my shadowing comes from program such as SMDEP and such. I got a lot of hours, but it was overall about 12 different doctors in short spurts. Can I list shadowing done during those programs and what speciality it was or do I actually need to list Dr. X 8 hours, Dr. Y 8 hours, etc.

Its fine to summarize, especially when one Contact can validate many if the “short spurts.” So you dont need to list the name of every doc. See item #10 in post 2 of this thread.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Do I need to list every doctor I shadowed or can I group them? Most of my shadowing comes from program such as SMDEP and such. I got a lot of hours, but it was overall about 12 different doctors in short spurts. Can I list shadowing done during those programs and what speciality it was or do I actually need to list Dr. X 8 hours, Dr. Y 8 hours, etc.

You can list SHPEP as an academic enrichment opportunity and mention ypu shadowed a dozen providers. (Others may suggest differently?)