Questions on common application form/CV on ERAS!

[m_taha]

Hey guys!

I know I'm kind of late in asking this but I'm hoping that someone reads this and gives me some advice with regards to the CAF on ERAS.
I'm an IMG applying for the 2020 main residency match.

Questions I have:
1 - How long should the whole CAF be? My prepared one right now is about 6 pages
2 - How many experiences should be added (is there a suggested minimum and more importantly a maximum)?
3 - How much information should be provided under each work/volunteer/research experience? Currently I've got 3-4 sentences under each experience... Is that too much?
4 - I've worked a couple of researches during medical school while doing core rotations, but they were a requirement (not the topic but just to work on one) by the university in order to learn about how to conduct a research - can I put those under research experience? What I mean to ask is - is this section purely for people who've been a legit "researcher" or held a researcher position (paid/unpaid)?
5 - Is it true that if you have a research under the publication section then you shouldn't add that same one under the research experience section?


Thank you so much and looking forward to your reply 🙂

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[gutonc]

Hey guys!

I know I'm kind of late in asking this but I'm hoping that someone reads this and gives me some advice with regards to the CAF on ERAS.
I'm an IMG applying for the 2020 main residency match.

Questions I have:
1 - How long should the whole CAF be? My prepared one right now is about 6 pages

However long it is. Don't worry about this at all.

2 - How many experiences should be added (is there a suggested minimum and more importantly a maximum)?

However many relevant ones you have. Or the ones that explain what you were doing for a particular period of time that's otherwise unexplained in your CV.

3 - How much information should be provided under each work/volunteer/research experience? Currently I've got 3-4 sentences under each experience... Is that too much?

2 max. Although 1 is more than enough unless you're describing the experience that won you the Nobel Peace Prize...in that case, 2 is good.

4 - I've worked a couple of researches during medical school while doing core rotations, but they were a requirement (not the topic but just to work on one) by the university in order to learn about how to conduct a research - can I put those under research experience? What I mean to ask is - is this section purely for people who've been a legit "researcher" or held a researcher position (paid/unpaid)?

If it's part of a rotation and wasn't an ongoing experience, don't list it.

5 - Is it true that if you have a research under the publication section then you shouldn't add that same one under the research experience section?

Not true. Tell whoever told you that to STFU and stop giving horrible advice.

 

[m_taha]

However long it is. Don't worry about this at all.

However many relevant ones you have. Or the ones that explain what you were doing for a particular period of time that's otherwise unexplained in your CV.

2 max. Although 1 is more than enough unless you're describing the experience that won you the Nobel Peace Prize...in that case, 2 is good.

If it's part of a rotation and wasn't an ongoing experience, don't list it.

Not true. Tell whoever told you that to STFU and stop giving horrible advice.

Thank you so much for your reply!

Oh man, I've got of word cutting to do then. I read on an online article that descriptions should be around 3 sentences with 1 saying what it was, 2nd sentence saying what you did. 3rd sentence saying how it helped.

Thanks again!

 

[gutonc]

Thank you so much for your reply!

Oh man, I've got of word cutting to do then. I read on an online article that descriptions should be around 3 sentences with 1 saying what it was, 2nd sentence saying what you did. 3rd sentence saying how it helped.

That may be true for med school apps, but this is a job application. Nobody really cares about the 2 Saturday afternoons you spent in a soup kitchen that one summer.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Thank you so much for your reply!

Oh man, I've got of word cutting to do then. I read on an online article that descriptions should be around 3 sentences with 1 saying what it was, 2nd sentence saying what you did. 3rd sentence saying how it helped.

Thanks again!

Honestly I'd say most experiences can be summed up in a single sentence where you say what it is AND what you did in the same sentence. If for some reason it's not apparent "how it helped" or how vital your contribution was you can include a second sentence, but most of the time people know what you did just from the title of the experience.

 

[Dominus]

Should we even include one-time volunteer events? For example, I went down to Houston for a weekend to help clean out homes after Hurricane Harvey hit. Would that be too insignificant?

 

[gutonc]

Should we even include one-time volunteer events? For example, I went down to Houston for a weekend to help clean out homes after Hurricane Harvey hit. Would that be too insignificant?

Yes. That's a med school thing.

 

[cat_loverr]

Hi everyone, quick question
If after graduating Medical School I am working as a paid post-doc research fellow, does that count in the CAF under "Research Experience" or "Work Experience"? Context: this is my first job and I have no other work experience.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Hi everyone, quick question
If after graduating Medical School I am working as a paid post-doc research fellow, does that count in the CAF under "Research Experience" or "Work Experience"? Context: this is my first job and I have no other work experience.

Work

 

[m_taha]

Hey guys, have another question about the CAF. How important is the number of hours part of the description of experiences? I mean I have experiences that I really cannot tabulate the number of hours for...

Help 🙁

 

[Geber]

Hey guys, have another question about the CAF. How important is the number of hours part of the description of experiences? I mean I have experiences that I really cannot tabulate the number of hours for...

Help 🙁

Why not? I would just consider adding the number of hours I spent at the facility as a student/observer.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Hey guys, have another question about the CAF. How important is the number of hours part of the description of experiences? I mean I have experiences that I really cannot tabulate the number of hours for...

Help 🙁

Estimate. We all did it.