medical residency application: the personal statement writing well to sell yourself elizabeth...

Medical Residency Application:The Personal Statement

Writing Well to Sell Yourself

Elizabeth Lefebvre,McGill UniversityUGME Career Planning OfficeMay 19, 2010

What Is a Personal Statement?• Narrative picture of you

• “What I’ve done” = residency application + CV

• “Who I am” = personal statement• Essential element of your

application package• A good one won’t guarantee you a

match• A bad one CAN ruin your chances

Structure: Overview• MUST have a logical flow• Verify with individual program

descriptions or websites any unique required topics and maximum word count

• Create generic template, then tailor as necessary

Structure: Starting Point

Introduction

Why this Specialty

Why You for this Specialty

General Career Goals

Why this Institution

Conclusion

Structure: Introduction• DO

• Be concise, interesting, and personal• Employ a brief “story” or vignette from

your life• AVOID

• Vast generalities about medicine/the specialty

• Giving an exhaustive history of your life

Structure: Why This Specialty• DO

• Provide honest information about your path

• Be specific and use brief, concrete examples

• AVOID• Generalizing without providing

evidence from your personal experience

Structure: Why You• DO

• Identify your personal strengths• Relate your strengths to your chosen

specialty• Provide concrete examples of how your

strengths “look” in real life• Draw upon items in your CV,

contextualizing their relevance for this program/specialty

Structure: Why You• AVOID

• Citing traits applicable to all medical students without illustrating from your life/making it personal

• Simply listing the items on your CV

Structure: Career Goals• DO

• Describe:• Your ideal practice setting• How research will fit with your career (if at all)• Indicate subspecialty interests (generally)• What you hope to accomplish

• AVOID• Committing yourself to one

subspecialty or practice location, etc.

Structure: Why This School• DO

• Identify several unique points of the program

• Explain why these are positive to you• Identify geographical factors (family,

recreational/cultural opportunities, etc.) • AVOID

• Speaking only to geographic location• Citing common program characteristics

Structure: Conclusion• DO

• Refer back to your intro if possible• Be concise, interesting, and personal• Express enthusiasm about

specialty/program• AVOID

• Bland, generic statements that “end” the statement but add little to overall impact

Length? Check on CaRMS• www.carms.ca - “Main Residency

Match (R-1)” – “Program Information” – “Program Descriptions”

• Always watch for max. word length for each program

How many versions?• Generally, a basic version with some

modifications for each program can be ok, BUT…

• Check on CaRMS! Each program may give very specific guidelines about what they want from you.

Resources: General• McGill Career Planning Websitehttp://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/careerplan/gettingintoresidency_6d.htm

• Resumes & Personal Statements for Health Professionals by James Tysinger

• AMA Websitewww.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/member-groups-sections/minority-affairs-consortium/transitioning-residency/writing-your-personal-statement.shtml

Resources: Personal• We are happy to review and assist

with editing drafts of your personal statement(s)• Send Word documents by e-mail to

careeradvisor.med@mcgill.ca• Expect one-week turnaround time at

peak periods (October/November)