OMSAS Autobiographical Sketch: Research

[m1428]

OMSAS: Autobiographical Sketch

 

Guide for entering research

 

A. General format for ABS entry

 

Entry

 

Category: Research

From: (year) (month)

To: (year) (month)

*Description (48 chars):

Geographic Location:

 

Add/Change Details:

 

*Title of the Project (60 char):

*Type of Publication (100 char):

*My Role (150 char):

 

B. Description (48 chars):

 

Examples:

• Pub. in "Journal name", 1st author
  
• Poster/abstract at "X conference", 1st author
  

Expand further in details, with full title of publication, type of publication, describing your role in detail, etc.

 

C. Title of the Project (60 char):

 

Abstract/publication title, abbreviated.

 

D. Type of Publication (100 char):

 

OMSAS states: "Indicate the type of publications: paper, abstract and presentation at a scientific meeting etc., accepted or published with a reference, but not submitted or in preparation."

 

Some examples:

• Poster presentation at Sociefy for Neuroscience 2013, 1st author.
  
• Pub. accepted to Nature Neuroscience, 1st author.
  
• Published in Nature; 2013 Aug 29;500(7464):563-6. 1st author.
  
• Pub. in submission at X journal, 1st author.
  

E. My Role (150 char):

 

Describe your specific contributions to the project as concisely as possible. There are multiple ways & styles of doing this.

 

For example:

• Designed & presented poster at conference; wrote abstract summarizing main findings & results; performed main experiments.
  
• Patient recruitment, performed experiments, data extraction and analysis. Wrote paper (1st author).
  

F. What to include and what not to include:

 

Include (in order of priority):

• Publications (accepted, in press)
  
• Conference abstracts (poster, oral presentation)
  
• Thesis: slightly controversial, but general consensus seems to be it's still research experience whether it's published/presented or not
  
• Research experience (various): up for debate
  
  • Employment: RA, summer research (i.e. NSERC projects, studentships...)
    
  • Lab volunteer work (only if you are severely lacking)
    

Do not include:

• Publications in prep, or submission (same for conference abstracts): up for debate
  
  • From Ottawa Med Admissions: "Specify your education level, i.e.: 1st year of university and the title of the project. Indicate the type of publications: paper, abstract and presentation at a scientific meeting etc., accepted or published with a reference, submitted or in preparation."
    
  • So although OMSAS states only published work is acceptable as an ABS entry, it looks like schools might want to know about possible publications.
    

  [*]"Acknowledgment" in a publication

  [*]Course-based research (undergraduate lab/research courses, not thesis)

  [*]Employment in research: enter as employment, and separate and enter actual projects you worked on as research noting your contributions to the project (up for debate)

  [*]NSERCs, or other similar awards: enter as award

G. Caveat and final thoughts

 

This "guide" is based on a consensus of all previous posts on the forums regarding research on OMSAS, not based on my own experience. I compiled this to organize myself but thought it should be useful for other people as well. In the end, it's up to you how you decide to write out your ABS and there is, evidently, a lot of flexibility in doing this. However, the general impression seems to be: it's fine as long as you 1. Use good judgement and 2. Don't make it look like padding at any point.

 

This is still a work in progress- will edit according to people's comments. Please feel free to reply with suggestions, questions, random trolling, etc.

[Lost&Found]

This was very helpful for me. Thanks for sharing

[bluetedbear]

.....................

[future_doc]

I would but explain what you did.

[Nito]

Why is NSERC not considered research? spending 4 months performing experiments, even if not published sounds like research to me.

 

Why not include this as an award and talk about the research project in the Research section

[m1428]

Why is NSERC not considered research? spending 4 months performing experiments, even if not published sounds like research to me.

 

Why not include this as an award and talk about the research project in the Research section

 

C. What to include and what not to include:

 

Include (in order of priority):

Publications (accepted, in press)

Conference abstracts (poster, oral presentation)

Thesis: slightly controversial, but general consensus seems to be it's still research experience whether it's published/presented or not

Research experience (various): up for debate

Employment (RA, summer research, etc)

Lab volunteer work (only if you are severely lacking)

 

Do not include:

Publications in prep, or submission (same for conference abstracts): up for debate

From Ottawa Med Admissions: "Specify your education level, i.e.: 1st year of university and the title of the project. Indicate the type of publications: paper, abstract and presentation at a scientific meeting etc., accepted or published with a reference, submitted or in preparation."

So although OMSAS states only published work is acceptable as an ABS entry, it looks like schools might want to know about possible publications.

"Acknowledgment" in a publication

Course-based research (undergraduate lab/research courses, not thesis)

Employment in research: enter as employment, and separate and enter actual projects you worked on as research noting your contributions to the project (up for debate)

NSERCs, or other similar awards: enter as award

 

D. Caveat and final thoughts

 

This "guide" is based on a consensus of all previous posts on the forums regarding research on OMSAS, not based on my own experience. I compiled this to organize myself but thought it should be useful for other people as well. In the end, it's up to you how you decide to write out your ABS and there is, evidently, a lot of flexibility in doing this. However, the general impression seems to be: it's fine as long as you 1. Use good judgement and 2. Don't make it look like padding at any point.

 

This is still a work in progress- will edit according to people's comments. Please feel free to reply with suggestions, questions, random trolling, etc.

 

Happy now?

[Nito]

Happy now?

 

My question was 'why' NSERC is not considered research. I was hoping for some speculation as to why 4 months of research is excluded from the research section. Oh well, in the end its up to the individual to decide.

 

However, for anyone who is curious, an individual in the Ottawa forum said that he put NSERC-URSA position in the research section of the ABS and got into Ottawa. So while the consensus says leave NSERC as an award, it doesn't seem to have a negative effect on your application to include it in research as well.

[m1428]

My question was 'why' NSERC is not considered research. I was hoping for some speculation as to why 4 months of research is excluded from the research section. Oh well, in the end its up to the individual to decide.

 

However, for anyone who is curious, an individual in the Ottawa forum said that he put NSERC-URSA position in the research section of the ABS and got into Ottawa. So while the consensus says leave NSERC as an award, it doesn't seem to have a negative effect on your application to include it in research as well.

 

Research experience (various): up for debate

Employment (RA, summer research, etc)

Lab volunteer work (only if you are severely lacking)

 

It was never excluded. In the case of NSERCs, it's seems fair game to put two entries- 1 as award (describe qualifications & competition, etc), and 1 as research (describing the actual project you worked on).

[m1428]

much needed bump

[kairosa]

This thread is really helpful. Much appreciated!

....but why wouldn't course-based research be included? could someone elaborate? it would help me navigate my way through my application better

[Raiya]

For the research section, in "my roles", what else can u write other than the duties that u performed/lab project?

[Pirenzepine]

Still would like to clarify, basically paid research that did not result in publication should go into Employment? Thanks.

[lemons22]

Should you include what the lab you worked at was too? Or it doesn't matter?

[jdr44]

OMSAS: Autobiographical Sketch

 

Guide for entering research

 

A. General format for ABS entry

 

Entry

 

Category: Research

From: (year) (month)

To: (year) (month)

*Description (48 chars):

Geographic Location:

 

Add/Change Details:

 

*Title of the Project (60 char):

*Type of Publication (100 char):

*My Role (150 char):

\

C. Title of the Project (60 char):

 

Abstract/publication title, abbreviated.

 

D. Type of Publication (100 char):

 

OMSAS states: "Indicate the type of publications: paper, abstract and presentation at a scientific meeting etc., accepted or published with a reference, but not submitted or in preparation."

 

Some examples:

[*]Poster presentation at Sociefy for Neuroscience 2013, 1st author.

[*]Pub. accepted to Nature Neuroscience, 1st author.

[*]Published in Nature; 2013 Aug 29;500(7464):563-6. 1st author.

[*]Pub. in submission at X journal, 1st author.

 

 

____

Thank you for such a great post!

I am a little bit confused however with what to put for publication type...

I worked as a RA and RCoordinator from 2009-2013 and participated heavily in the research for ~10 or more studies over that time ...

Many papers have been published - but I have only been 2nd author on a few.

 

What the heck do you think I should do with that?

Include each one as a new heading .... ??

 

Yikes :|

[ecobeco]

So we should refrain from including research done as part of a lab course? Will this disqualify our application?

[m1428]

Still would like to clarify, basically paid research that did not result in publication should go into Employment? Thanks.

 

With paid research, you can divide it up to Employment & Research entries- employment to describe things like working in a team, responsibility (and other crap like that), and research entry to describe whatever publications/abstracts, or even projects you contributed to.

 

Should you include what the lab you worked at was too? Or it doesn't matter?

 

I think that's up to you- probably won't have room to enter what lab you were working in. but the nature of the lab will probably be implied in the description of the project anyways.

 

So we should refrain from including research done as part of a lab course? Will this disqualify our application?

 

It probably won't disqualify your application, but the general consensus is that it doesn't look good to enter it (and OMSAS states course-based research should not be entered)- and I agree with this.

 

OMSAS: Autobiographical Sketch

____

Thank you for such a great post!

I am a little bit confused however with what to put for publication type...

I worked as a RA and RCoordinator from 2009-2013 and participated heavily in the research for ~10 or more studies over that time ...

Many papers have been published - but I have only been 2nd author on a few.

 

What the heck do you think I should do with that?

Include each one as a new heading .... ??

 

Yikes :|

 

Include all publications where you were an co-author. For unpublished work, I would personally refrain from entering.

[meaningful_life]

What is your take on including transferrable skills/what you learned under the "my role" section instead of keeping it exclusively to your responsibilities? Especially since schools like Ottawa and Queen's that look at the ABS closely and have no essays want to know what you've gained?

[future_doc]

Absolutely, go for it.

[robclem21]

Since Ottawa wants to see publications "submitted or in-progress" as per their website, will other schools simply ignore if we include these in our sketch (ie. U of T)?

 

I don't want to seem like padding, but when you have one application process for multiple schools with different requirements, it seems like being inclusive makes more sense?

 

Thoughts anyone?

[future_doc]

Yes, it makes more sense and they will ignore it.

[123456789trial]

Are we allowed to include future/upcoming presentations?

I'm going to be presenting at a department conference in about a month, so can I include that on my ABS?

 

And if we're included as a co-author on the abstracts for oral presentations, can we put that on the ABS too?

[thumpinJD]

What do I do if each project I worked on yielded >=3 publications (peer-reviewed journal articles and conference presentations)? I find it impossible to include references if I include them all...

 

[Dr. Brule]

Can we add poster presentations at conferences where an abstract submission was not required?

[m1428]

Are we allowed to include future/upcoming presentations?

I'm going to be presenting at a department conference in about a month, so can I include that on my ABS?

 

And if we're included as a co-author on the abstracts for oral presentations, can we put that on the ABS too?

 

If your presentation/abstract was accepted, then it seems okay. Listing co-authorship for oral presentations is reasonable imo- I did the same actually.

 

What do I do if each project I worked on yielded >=3 publications (peer-reviewed journal articles and conference presentations)? I find it impossible to include references if I include them all...

 

 

Separate the publications & conference presentations.

 

Can we add poster presentations at conferences where an abstract submission was not required?

 

Your call. I think this would depend on the "level" of the conference and whether this addition would actually improve your application or not, especially when reviewed by a subjective reviewer who possibly has experience in research.

[Dr. Brule]

It's a provincial conference in an ophthalmic network sponsored by NSERC, with collaborations in Toronto Medicine, so I think it's pretty significant, and the fact that I did 6 or them is something that I would like to mention.

 

When we're adding research entries for presentations, do we have to mention the abstract somewhere? I was confused on this point. Also, do we have to provide a reference for an abstract accepted at a conference? I have no idea where I would find older ones or even how to cite them, to be honest. I've never had to do that for applications before.