I would save it for an update letter that you send in later, as soon as the time you submit the Secondary, if you feel it critical to your application. Future events should not be listed on the application. If you are found to be overly-creative with an entry in the manner you suggest, it will call into question the legitimacy of your other entries. It isn't worth it.
I don't think a concrete example will hurt you.
Had your essay appeared in a national or regional literary (paper) publication , I'd have said to include it under Publications. Since it was published in a campus journal, you might mention this accomplishment elsewhere, like under Other, or at the end of an entry about writing as a Hobby or Artistic Endeavor.
Personally, I feel the best approach is to say what you did and keep the introspection to a minimum, especially if you already touched on that in the PS. However, some school websites reportedly advise you to put in some fluffy, "What did it mean to you," or "Tell what you learned" narrative. I've never seen this in print myself. I'd hope it's a minimal number of schools. But because schools vary in the approach they prefer, a solid recommendation on style can't be made. So do what feels right to you. But keep it as succinct as possible.
If you have little other clinical experience, which is hard to imagine for someone whose MCAT is already expiring for some schools, then send in the update sooner, like a month from now, as you won't have much, if any, chance without it. If this summer's involvement will just be beefing up previously acquired clinical experience, then September would be fine.
I would list the Research, including your contribution, mentioning the abstracts at the end (I assume the abstracts were put in the conference publication, and not a national paper journal) and that you were an author of a poster seen at XXXX conference in XXXX City, on XX/XX/XX date. And that the work was also presented at XXXX Conference by XXXX, in XXXX City, on XX/XX/XX date.
1) You may, but if an adcomm wants to know, it's easy enough to look up from the citation.
1) List both under Teaching. It's fine to group the experiences.
It is rare that you'd be asked for documentation. Just do your best to honestly list the hours you participated in an activity. Your contact (if available) should be able to vouch that your numbers are fairly representative.
Hopefully, you know the approximate first date that the review board meets so you can meet that target time with your letter.
I would put the most recent date range and then add the second set of dates in the narrative with pertinent information. Give a grand total for shadowing at the end.
These are both good things to keep. Can't you group some other experiences so as to include them? Or add one of these two experiences to another Research or Teaching entry?16 experiences....
which one to throw out
1) Research- lab work for 1 year during my 2nd year of college(2005). did PCR, gel electrophoresis, and DNA analysis
(i have other research experiences, but this starts in my 3rd year of college)
OR
2) Elementary school tutor (only did it for 6 months during my freshmen year...which was in 2004). tutored an immigrant from china on english and math every summer.
i don't know which one to get rid of!
1) No. You could put a modified version of the abstract in the Research listing.
They are too different to group together. And both are important. What are some other candidates for grouping? Short-term volunteering, shadowing, summer jobs? Hobbies?
How about putting the two leadership in a student org together? Or, take out the childcare volunteer? Or, take the medical mission out and use that experience more in the Personal Statement? Or put hospital volunteer and medical volunteer together? Or lastly, with regret, the Cardiology research, moving the shadowing to the other shadowing entry?
This would be an exercize in prioritizing. Put yourself in the average adcomms shoes who isn't going to be particularly savvy about the intricacies of your research. Write down only what is going to enhance your application for the average adcomm, namely, bare-bones explanation and explain what you did. Save the juicy details for interviews if asked. Some of the details could maybe spill out of the research listing into the slots where you discuss your Presentations, Posters, etc. You could take out any abstracts you've mentioned if the same material was made public in a higher format: campus journal publication < campus presentation/poster < e-abstract national journal < published (paper national journal) abstract < poster < presentation < national journal paper publication.
I would save changing hospital departments and completing a CPR course for an update letter.
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It won't hurt, but getting certified and 'planning' to find a job isn't too helpful. I'd wait to mention this until after you've gotten a position and been employed for two months to give it more weight than mere intensions would. JMO.
1) It is not necessary or desirable to specify your future field of practice in a med school Primary Statement. That you have no shadowing at all other than some OR observation (and therefor little understanding of day-to-day activities of a doc outside of surgery) is more of a handicap to your application than the fact that you haven't had orthopedic shadowing. Adcomms prefer an attitude of open-mindedness toward future specialization. About 80% of entering med students change their minds before they apply for residency. If your board scores aren't sufficiently competitive for orthopedics, where will that leave you if you have never considered any other field?
There is another thread for general AMCAS questions. This thread is just for the Experiences section.
