{"id":18361,"date":"2019-08-19T16:15:06","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T21:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/?p=18361"},"modified":"2020-09-11T20:41:23","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T20:41:23","slug":"medical-school-admission-amcas-extracurriculars-and-work-activities-sections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/mcat\/medical-school-admission-amcas-extracurriculars-and-work-activities-sections\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical School Admission: AMCAS Extracurriculars and Work Activities Sections"},"content":{"rendered":"

After four years as a pre-med, you\u2019ve racked up quite a list of academic awards, community service hours, club memberships, and even a publication for which you proudly received seventeenth author credit. Then there are the various part-time jobs you held down during college, not to mention your participation in the intramural curling team, jiu jitsu training, and trombone playing.
\nThe work\/activities section of the\u00a0AMCAS application<\/a>\u00a0is just the place for you to tout these endeavors and show the committee that your life is not comprised entirely of memorizing flashcards and regurgitating formulas (even if it feels that way sometimes).
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Adding work and activities to your AMCAS application<\/h3>
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\nOther than the\u00a0personal statement<\/a>, the\u00a0work and activities<\/a>\u00a0summary is the section of the primary application that requires the most writing. Your first mission is to determine which activities to include\u2014and how many.
\nStart by making a list of all of the jobs, volunteer work, honors, awards,\u00a0extracurricular activities, clubs, and\u00a0hobbies\u00a0that you have been involved in post high school. The limit is fifteen experiences, though each entry can include up to four occurrences. So, if you are a \u201cjoiner\u201d you may need to pare the list down to the most relevant ones. Note, however, that not filling all of the spaces is perfectly acceptable\u2014the goal is quality, not quantity. After all, two years in one research lab will only take up one entry but is much more impressive than several four-month stints working part-time in retail.
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Selecting your three \u201c<\/span>most meaningful\u201d<\/span> experiences<\/h3>
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\nOn the AMCAS application, you can choose up to three experiences to highlight as the most meaningful. All entries must appear in chronological order, so this is your chance to draw attention to the achievements that you want the admissions officers<\/a> to notice.
\nOne helpful way of deciding which experiences are most meaningful is to categorize your list of 15 by type, such as \u201cResearch\/Lab\u201d or \u201cPaid Employment.\u201d Use these categories as a guide for what to highlight. Keep in mind that clinical and research experience should take priority; however, aim for a mix of activities.
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Explaining why your experiences were meaningful<\/h4>
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\nThe next step is to compose a clear, concise description of each of your three most meaningful activities. Give enough context so that the committee understands the nature of the selected activity. How large was the\u00a0pre-med club\u00a0of which you were president? What were your duties within this role? Significant accomplishments?
\nWhile you shouldn\u2019t turn these descriptions into mini-personal statements, some reflection on what you learned\/gained from your experience for certain entries, particularly those related to medicine, is appropriate. The goal is to convey how these activities or experiences were transformative to your path to medical school, what kind of impact you made while engaging in them, and how your participation resulted in personal growth. As with every part of the application, good writing and meticulous proofreading are essential.
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Why are medically-oriented extracurricular activities important?<\/h3>
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\nBeyond the obvious (that this is what you\u2019re going to be doing for the rest of your life), the significance of medical extracurriculars is the demonstration that you have explored medicine as a career field\u2014and still want to become a medical professional. Many students come into undergrad with an idealized version of the medical field; they \u201cwant to help people.\u201d But\u00a0medical schools<\/a>\u00a0want to be assured that you really know what medicine is all about. Sure, you\u2019ve seen the glamorous side of medicine: the success of a cure, the intimate rapport with a patient, the translation of basic science knowledge into therapeutics. But what about the rest?
\nMedical schools want to know that you\u2019ve seen some of the frustrations of medicine: research that doesn\u2019t quite pan out as expected, challenging or noncompliant patients, dealing with insurance and paperwork. This is not meant to sour you or dissuade you from becoming a physician. It\u2019s just that schools would like you to make an educated decision when pursuing a medical career. They want to be assured that you\u2019ve truly seen medicine as a practice\u2014not just the latest episode of Grey\u2019s Anatomy.
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What are some common medical extracurriculars?<\/h3>
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\nWhile this is by no means an exhaustive list, these are some of the most common medically-oriented extracurricular activities pre-medical students pursue:<\/p>\n