AMCAS Work and Activities: The Ultimate Guide (With Examples)

What Is the AMCAS Work and Activities Section?

The AMCAS Work and Activities section is where you list up to 15 of your extracurriculars, paid jobs, shadowing, volunteering, leadership roles, research, and more. Think of it as your resume for med school, but instead of just listing titles, you get to show how each experience shaped your journey.

You also get to mark 3 of these entries as "most meaningful" and write an additional mini-essay for each one. This is your chance to add depth and reflection.

How Many Activities Should I Include?

You can list up to 15 activities. That doesn’t mean you must include all 15. Focus on quality, not quantity. If you have 10 strong experiences, that’s better than stretching to find 5 more just to fill the space.

Types of Activities to Include on AMCAS

Here are examples of the kinds of extracurriculars you can include:

• Research
• Clinical experience (e.g. scribing, CNA, EMT)
• Shadowing physicians
• Volunteering (clinical and non-clinical)
• Paid employment (even non-medical)
• Leadership roles (clubs, organizations, teams)
• Teaching and tutoring
• Artistic endeavors (music, art, writing)
• Athletics
• Hobbies or personal pursuits

Don’t leave out non-medical roles if they were meaningful. If you worked part-time to pay for school, that shows responsibility and time management.

How to Fill Out Each Entry

Each entry has 3 main parts:

1. Experience Type: Choose from the provided categories (e.g., Community Service/Volunteer, Research/Lab, Paid Employment, etc.).
2. Contact Information: Add the organization, supervisor, and contact info.
3. Experience Description (700 characters max): Briefly describe what you did and what you learned.

Tips for Writing Descriptions

• Start with what you did (action verbs work best).
• End with what you learned or how it shaped you.
• Don’t just describe the job, reflect on it and connect the lessons learned to medicine.

Sample Entry Description:

As a volunteer at the children’s hospital, I assisted nurses with non-clinical tasks, organized playroom activities, and supported patients during long stays. I learned how to communicate with empathy, especially with children in distress. These lessons are important for a career in medicine because compassionate communication between a physician and patient can ease suffering and build trust.

Choosing Your 3 Most Meaningful Experiences

For the AMCAS Most Meaningful Experiences, remember the following guidelines:

1. You get 1,325 additional characters for each most meaningful entry. Choose the experiences that:
2. Deepened your interest in medicine: These are the moments where you realized you were on the right path. It could be witnessing a powerful interaction between doctor and patient or your own moment of clarity about wanting to serve others through medicine.
3. Taught you something significant about yourself: Admissions committees want to understand your personal growth. If an experience challenged your assumptions, tested your resilience, or helped you grow in a meaningful way, it's worth highlighting.
4. Reflect your values or growth: Pick activities that align with your values like compassion, perseverance, curiosity, or service. Show how your actions match your motivations and long-term goals. Use the AAMC core competencies to help generate ideas about what is important to mention.
5. These experiences aren’t just about what you did. They're about who you became because of what you did. Use the space to reflect deeply and show your journey in medicine is intentional.

What to Include in the Most Meaningful Statement

• Why the experience mattered to you
• How it influenced your decision to pursue medicine
• Specific examples or turning points

Sample Most Meaningful Statement:

During my time as a crisis hotline volunteer, I learned to listen without judgment. One call in particular challenged me to stay calm and fully present as a young caller shared thoughts of self-harm. I focused on validating their emotions, gently guiding the conversation toward safety, and resisting the urge to “fix” their pain, an instinct I had to unlearn. I realized that empathy is not passive; it’s an active, intentional stance that requires emotional regulation, humility, and trust in the other person’s agency. This experience shaped my desire to provide compassionate care in high-stress environments, where patients may feel most vulnerable and unseen. I now understand that being a physician means not only treating illness but also bearing witness to suffering with steadiness and grace.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Listing too many shallow activities: Don’t try to impress by listing everything you’ve ever done. Admissions committees would rather see fewer experiences with clear purpose and reflection. Choose substance over volume.
• Using vague language: Saying “I helped with research” or “volunteered at hospital” isn’t enough. What exactly did you do? What skills did you gain? Specificity shows credibility and makes your story more memorable.
• Forgetting reflection: This isn’t just a task list. Schools want to know what you learned and how each experience affected your journey. Reflection shows maturity and insight, two qualities every future physician needs.
• Repetition: Don’t repeat the same story or takeaway across multiple entries. If everything teaches you “compassion” or “teamwork,” it gets repetitive. Show a range of lessons and qualities.
• Overuse of jargon: Avoid technical language or acronyms unless they’re widely known. Reviewers may not have the same background as you. Write clearly so that anyone reading can understand your role and its impact.

Final Tips

Be honest about what you did. Admissions committees value authenticity. Exaggeration can backfire and undermine trust in your application.

Show growth and learning. Medical schools want to see how experiences shaped your character, judgment, and readiness for medicine, not what you did.

Think of this section as storytelling, not just listing. A compelling narrative helps reviewers remember you and understand your motivations beyond surface-level achievements.

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