Should I Combine or Separate Similar Experiences on My ERAS CV?

The default ERAS advice about listing every experience separately is wrong for most applicants.

If you don’t combine some things, your CV looks scattered and junior. If you combine the wrong things, it looks vague and inflated. The people reading it are tired, impatient, and making snap judgments. Your structuring choices matter more than you think.

Here’s the answer you’re looking for.

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The Core Rule: Combine for a Story, Separate for Impact

The single best rule for ERAS experiences:

Combine when it clarifies your story. Separate when it increases impact.

You’re trying to do three things with your Experiences section:

1. Show you’re productive and reliable over time
2. Highlight a few big, meaningful roles
3. Make your application easy to skim in under 2 minutes

Combining and separating is just a tool to do that.

So:

• If multiple entries are small, similar, and would clutter your CV → combine.
• If an experience stands on its own (title, responsibility, or outcome is clearly strong) → separate.
• If you’re combining purely to hide gaps or fluff → don’t. Programs see through that.

You should be thinking like a program director scrolling on a phone between cases, not like a premed trying to stuff a resume.

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What You Should Usually Combine

Let’s go through the common categories where combining is usually the right call.

1. Very Similar Volunteer Roles Over Time

If you’ve done similar service at the same place or in the same role, combine it.

Examples you should combine:

• Four semesters at the same student-run free clinic, with similar responsibilities
• Three different hospital volunteer roles that are basically “transported patients / restocked supplies / assisted staff”
• Multiple health fairs doing BP checks, simple education, screenings

How to structure it:

• One entry with a clear umbrella title
• Use the description to briefly list distinct components

Example:

Title: Clinical Volunteer – Community Health and Screening
Organization: University Free Clinics and Community Events
Dates: 08/2020 – 05/2024
Description:

• Volunteered weekly at student-run free clinic (intake, vitals, EMR documentation under supervision)
• Participated in 8+ community health fairs providing BP/glucose screening and education
• Assisted with referral coordination and follow-up calls for uninsured patients

Why this works: It shows continuity, volume, and responsibility without burning three separate entries on similar low-impact tasks.

2. Short, Low-Intensity Activities

If an experience was:

• Less than ~15–20 total hours and
• Not especially prestigious or unique

…it can go into a combined “Other Activities” type entry.

Examples to group:

• One afternoon volunteering at a vaccine drive
• One-day anatomy teaching event
• A weekend premed mentorship workshop you helped with

You can title it something like:

Community Outreach and Short-Term Volunteer Activities

Then list 3–5 bullet points, each 1 line.

That’s much better than 5 tiny entries that scream, “I’m trying to pad my application.”

3. Repeated Roles in the Same Organization

If you stayed in the same group but changed responsibilities slightly, combine unless each role was clearly a major step up.

Good to combine:

• “Member → Small committee role” in the same interest group
• “Volunteer → Shift lead” at the same clinic (if the shift lead role wasn’t major leadership)

But in the description, show progression:

Started as weekly front-desk volunteer; later trained to serve as shift lead, organizing team assignments and troubleshooting workflow issues.

Where you don’t combine (we’ll get to this in detail later): when the leadership role was explicit and impressive (e.g., “President,” “Director,” “Founder”).

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What You Should Almost Always Separate

Some experiences deserve their own spotlight. Combining them with smaller things waters them down.

1. Formal Leadership Positions

If you’ve held clear, named leadership roles, give each one its own entry if:

• The title sounds strong on its own (President, Vice President, Director, Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder)
• You had distinct responsibilities and real oversight
• You can write 3–4 substantial lines without fluff

Example to separate:

• President – Surgery Interest Group
• Director – Student-Run Free Clinic
• Co-Founder – Global Health Initiative

Don’t bury these under “involvement in organizations.” That’s how your leadership disappears into white noise.

2. Major, Longitudinal Research Projects

If a research experience checks any of these boxes, separate it:

• Took place over a year or more
• Led to a publication, first- or second-author abstract, or presentation
• You had meaningful ownership: data analysis, project design, IRB, etc.
• Different labs / PIs / institutions

You can sometimes combine closely related projects under one “Research Assistant – [Lab Name]” entry, but:

• Don’t mix an R01 translational project with a summer QI chart review just to “clean it up.”
• Don’t lump oncology research and dermatology research together if you’re applying derm and need to show depth.

If a project is in the “Scholarly Projects” or “Publications” section as a major bullet, it probably deserves its own Experience entry.

3. Distinct Jobs and Employment

Paid work usually deserves separation, especially if:

• Different employers
• Different skill sets
• Substantial hours

Example: Don’t combine “ER technician” and “barista” as “Employment.” Those tell very different stories. One shows clinical comfort and teamwork under pressure; the other shows work ethic and customer service. Both can matter.

You can combine minor campus jobs (e.g., “Exam proctor, library aide, front desk attendant”), but real clinical or long-term jobs should stand alone.

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The 5-Question Test: Combine or Separate?

Here’s the quick framework I use when I review ERAS drafts.

Ask these five questions for a cluster of experiences you’re considering combining:

1. Same general bucket?
   Are these experiences essentially the same type of activity (clinical volunteering, similar research tasks, general community service)?

2. Same level of responsibility?
   Or is one clearly a big leadership role while the others are minor?

3. Will separation change how strong they look?
   If you pull one out, does it suddenly look much more impressive on its own?

4. Can I describe the combined entry clearly without sounding vague?
   If combining makes you write fuzzy phrases like “various clinical responsibilities and leadership,” that’s a red flag.

5. Does combining reduce clutter on my CV?
   If you’re going from 18 nearly identical entries to 7 well-structured ones, combine. If you’re going from 9 solid entries to 8, probably not worth it.

General rule of thumb:
If you can’t write 2–3 concrete, non-repetitive bullets about a single experience, it’s likely a good candidate to combine.

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How Programs Actually Read Your ERAS CV

You need to optimize for skimming, not for obsessively detailed completeness.

Most faculty skim like this:

1. Education, exams, maybe class rank.
2. Research/Pubs (especially in academic or competitive specialties).
3. Then Experiences: their eyes jump to:
   • Big leadership titles
   • Longitudinal commitment
   • Brand-name institutions
   • Anything that sounds genuinely unique or hardcore (e.g., “paramedic,” “Division I athlete,” “full-time caregiver”)

If what they see instead is:

• 15 separate entries that all say some variation of “volunteer, shadowed, participated,” they tune out.
• Or 3 giant entries that combine everything into mushy generalities, they can’t tell what you actually did.

You want 8–15 total experiences that look intentional, not random.

Here’s a rough structure that works well for most applicants:

Category	# of Entries	Combine?
Major Leadership	2–4	Separate
Research (substantial)	2–4	Usually separate
Clinical Volunteering	2–3	Combine similar roles
Community Service	1–2	Combine small activities
Employment	1–3	Separate major jobs

This is not a rigid rule, but it gives you a sense of proportions.

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Concrete Before-and-After Examples

Let’s walk through a couple realistic scenarios.

Example 1: Clinic and Health Fairs

Bad (cluttered, separate entries):

• Volunteer – Jefferson Student-Run Clinic
• Volunteer – Lincoln Community Health Fair
• Volunteer – Roosevelt Community BP Screening
• Intake Volunteer – Madison Homeless Outreach

Each of these will get maybe 0.3 seconds of attention.

Better (combined):

Title: Clinical and Community Health Volunteer
Organization: Multiple community and student-run programs
Dates: 09/2020 – 05/2024
Description:

• Weekly intake and vitals at Jefferson student-run clinic, serving uninsured adults
• Assisted at multiple community health fairs (BP, glucose screening, vaccine education)
• Participated in mobile homeless outreach, connecting patients with shelter and follow-up care

Now it reads like a sustained pattern, not four random one-offs.

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Example 2: Leadership vs Participation

You were:

• Member of Internal Medicine Interest Group
• Member of Pediatrics Interest Group
• President of Surgery Interest Group

Wrong approach (over-combined):

Title: Student Interest Group Leadership and Participation
Description: Participated in multiple specialty interest groups and served in leadership roles coordinating events and activities for peers.

Your standout role just got buried.

Better:

1. Title: President – Surgery Interest Group

   • Led 14-member executive board to organize 10+ faculty panels, skills workshops, and OR shadowing opportunities
   • Increased active membership from 30 to 75 students over one year

2. Title: Member – Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Interest Groups

   • Attended lectures and case discussions related to IM and Pediatrics
   • Participated in mentorship sessions with residents and faculty

You separated the one thing that actually shows leadership. Correct move.

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Grey Zones: When It’s Truly Debatable

Some things are legitimately borderline. Here’s how I’d call them.

Multiple Shadowing Experiences

If it’s pure shadowing (no real responsibility), almost always combine:

Physician Shadowing – Various Specialties

Then list specialties and approximate hours.

Don’t waste 5 entries on 10 hours each of shadowing. That’s premed energy, not residency-application energy.

Multiple Short Research Stints Without Output

If you did:

• 6 weeks in one lab
• 4 weeks in another
• No publications or presentations

I’d usually combine as one:

Research Assistant – Various Projects (No formal output)

Your description should be honest and specific, but you don’t pretend each tiny stint is a Major Research Experience.

Same Lab, Very Different Responsibilities

For example:

• Year 1: Basic data entry and chart review
• Year 3–4: You designed your own subproject, presented a poster, helped write the manuscript

You have two options:

• Combine but emphasize progression in bullets and date ranges
• Separate into “Research Assistant” and “Student Investigator” if the later role was truly substantial

If you’re not sure, ask: If I separate this, will I sound like I’m trying too hard? If yes, combine and describe the growth within one entry.

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How to Actually Edit Your ERAS CV Right Now

Here’s the simple workflow I’d use if I were sitting next to you going through your draft:

ERAS Experience Review Flow

Step	Description
Step 1	List all experiences
Step 2	Mark obvious standouts
Step 3	Mark tiny or similar items
Step 4	Group under combined entries
Step 5	Keep as separate entries
Step 6	Rewrite descriptions for clarity
Step 7	Count total entries and adjust
Step 8	Tiny or repetitive?

Step-by-step:

1. Print or list every experience you’re thinking of including.
2. Put a star next to:
   • Real leadership
   • Major research
   • Substantial employment
3. Circle everything under 15–20 hours or clearly low-intensity.
4. Group circled items into logical clusters (clinical, community service, short research, etc.).
5. Write combined entries with specific bullets, not vague filler.
6. Make sure your total number of entries is in a sane range (often 8–15).
7. Check that your 3–5 strongest experiences each have their own clearly labeled entry.

If you do just that, your ERAS CV will already look dramatically more mature and focused.

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FAQs: Combining vs Separating ERAS Experiences

1. Is there a maximum or minimum number of experiences I should list?
There’s no magic number, but 8–15 solid entries is the sweet spot for most applicants. Fewer than ~6 and you may look under-involved unless your roles were huge. More than 18–20 and you usually look scattered or like you’re padding. Quality, clarity, and continuity beat raw quantity every time.

2. Will combining experiences make it look like I did less?
No, if you write it correctly. Programs look at duration, responsibility, and type of work, not just line count. A combined “Clinical Volunteer – 4 years, weekly shifts, multiple settings” looks much stronger than six anemic one-liners. If anything, combining can make your involvement look more sustained and intentional.

3. Should I combine research in one specialty with research in another?
Usually no, especially if you’re applying to a competitive field and one of those specialties is your target. If you have derm research and random med ed research, keep derm separate so you can highlight it. You can combine smaller, non-core projects if they’re short, similar, and don’t deserve full entries individually.

4. How do I handle multiple publications from the same project?
Publications go in the Publications section, not the Experiences section. In your Research Experience entry, you can write one bullet like: “Project resulted in 2 peer-reviewed publications and 3 national conference presentations (see Publications section).” Don’t create separate Experience entries for each paper from the same project.

5. Should I combine leadership roles across different organizations into one ‘Leadership’ entry?
Usually no. That’s how strong titles get watered down. Keep real roles like “President,” “Director,” “Chief Editor” separate. You can combine small committee roles or generic “member of the fundraising committee” type things if they’re truly minor and you’re short on space.

6. What if I’m not sure whether something is ‘big enough’ to stand alone?
Ask yourself: Could I speak for 2–3 minutes about this at an interview with specific actions, outcomes, and what I learned? If yes, it probably deserves its own entry. If you’d struggle to say more than “I went, I helped, it was good,” it probably belongs in a combined entry with similar activities.

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Open your ERAS experiences list right now and do one pass: mark your 3–5 strongest roles to keep separate, then circle every tiny or similar activity you can combine into something cleaner. Don’t overthink it—just that first pass will make your CV look more like a resident’s and less like a college activities sheet.