-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
1/22
The Medical SchoolPersonal Statement
and Essays
Office of Career Services
Spring 2014
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
2/22
The Personal Statement
“If we wish to know a man, we must ask, ‘Whatis his story, his real, inmost story?’ for each of usis a biography, a story. Each of us is a singular
narrative, which is constructed continually andunconsciously by, through, and in us—throughour perceptions, our feelings, our thoughts, ouractions; and, not least, through our discourse,our spoken narrations. Biologically,
physiologically, we are not so different fromeach other; historically, as narratives, we areeach of us unique.”
-Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
3/22
Topics to Cover
1. Primary & secondary essays; additional
comments on AMCAS
2. Purpose of the personal statement3. What to discuss and highlight
4. How to approach/craft your essay
5. Do’s & don’ts6. Feedback & resources
7. Q&A
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
4/22
Types of essays
Personal comments:
• “Use the space provided to explain why you
want to go to medical school”
• 5300 characters – 1.5 single-spaced pgs
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
5/22
Types of essays
Activities section:
• Experience description (700 or fewer
characters)
• Select three as “most meaningful
experiences:”
Summarize why selected (maximum of1325 characters)
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
6/22
Types of essays
MD/PhD additional essays:
• Reasons for wishing to pursue combined
MD/PhD degree (maximum of 3000
characters)
• Describe significant research experiences
including supervisor, nature of problemstudied, contribution to project (maximum
of 10,000 characters)
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
7/22
Types of essays
Examples of secondary questions:
• What do you think will be your greatest personal
challenge as a physician, and how will you address this?
• How will you contribute to the diversity of your medicalschool class?
• Are there any special circumstances that we should be
aware of?
• Describe your interest in our med school.• Tell us about a difficult or challenging situation that you
have encountered and how you dealt with it.
• more on the handout…
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
8/22
Special circumstances
Questions on the AMCAS:
• Institutional Action: If you answer “yes” to
this question, you must include anexplanation. (Limited to 1325 characters orapproximately 1/4 page)
• Felony: If you answer “yes” to this question,
you must include an explanation. (Limited to1325 characters or approximately 1/4 page)
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
9/22
Special circumstances
Disadvantaged status:
“Explain why you believe you should be
considered a disadvantaged applicant”
(maximum of 1325 characters)
This is an optional question:Be prepared to discuss anything in your AMCAS
application during your medical school interview; if you
can’t/don’t want to talk about, don’t write about it
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
10/22
Purpose of the personal statement
1. To discover the person behind the numbers
and in the context of the rest of your
application
2. To hear what has motivated you to pursue
a career in medicine, how you know
3. To see a sample of your writing
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
11/22
Questions to consider
• How do you know—not simply why do you
know—that you want to be a doctor? How you
have demonstrated this interest?
• How has your interest in medicine changed anddeveloped over time?
• How did you overcome your doubts?
•
Why medicine and not other career fields, e.g.,teaching, science, public health, nursing, etc.?
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
12/22
Questions to consider
• Have you faced any obstacles in your life (for
example, economic, familial, or physical)? How
did you handle these?
• How have you been influenced by certainevents and people?
• Recall a time when you had a positive impact
on another person. How did you and the
person change as a result?
• What were major turning points in your life?
• What do you want the committee to know that
is not apparent elsewhere?
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
13/22
Drawing from your experiences:
• Use a concrete anecdote/experience to draw
the reader in; perhaps circle back to it at the
end to create bookends
• Approach the essay as a chance to share the arc
of your journey to this point
• Reflections can be unique even if
opportunities/experiences are not
• Consider whether to discuss fluctuations in
performance, hardship affecting academic
record, and/or personal medical situation
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
14/22
Stuck?
• Pretend you are writing to a friend, not an
admissions committee; free write
• Ask a friend/family member which qualities
they think distinguish you from others
• Reflect on two or three personality
characteristics that you feel are your strengths
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
15/22
Do’s
Tell a story
Keep it interesting by using specific examplesand anecdotes
Provide information, insight, or a perspectivethat cannot be found elsewhere in yourapplication
Describe experiences in terms of what theymean to you and what you learned
Make sure the reader learns about you, not just what you did
Use strong action verbs and vivid images;paint a picture
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
16/22
Do’s (cont’d)
Be concise. Make sure every sentence needs to bethere
Describe what you learned in your research, not
the details of the specific research project (unlesswriting the MD/PhD essay)
Allow plenty of time to write, revise, reflect,revise, etc. Step away often so you can revisit youressay with fresh eyes
Proofread. Spell checking will will () not catcheverything! Then, proofread again and getsomeone else to do the same
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
17/22
Don’ts
Just list or summarize your activities. This is nota resume and can be found elsewhere
Try to impress the reader with the use of formalor “fancy” language
Directly tell
the reader that you arecompassionate, motivated, intelligent, curious,dedicated, unique, different than mostcandidates, etc.
Focus only on childhood experiences Use slang or forced analogies
Lecture the reader, e.g., on what’s wrong withmedicine, what doctors should be like
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
18/22
Don’ts (cont’d)
Make excuses for poor grades
Begin every sentence or paragraph with “I”
Overwork the essay to the point where you loseyour own voice
Make it your premier creative writing piece
Use generalizations and clichés
Follow the advice of too many people
Try to share everything there is to know aboutyou
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
19/22
Getting feedback
Ask family, friends, and advisors:
• Does this sound like me?
• Do you want to meet this person?
• Could someone else write this essay?
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
20/22
Group exercise
Review of EXAMPLE 1:
“I’ve been asked many times why I wish to
become a physician. Upon considerable
reflection, the thought of possessing the abilityto help others provides me with tremendous
internal gratification and offers the feeling that
my life’s efforts have been focused in a positive
direction. Becoming a physician is the
culmination of a lifelong dream; and I am
prepared to dedicate myself, as I have in the
past, to achieving this goal. “
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
21/22
Group exercise
EXAMPLE 2:
“I also shadowed a cardiologist, Dr. A., and later a team of immunologists led by Dr. B, seeking insights on
how physicians make use of technology and the nature of their daily routine. While volunteering for Dr. A., I
could not help but contrast his daily experience to mine as an engineer. His superlative relationship with his
patients crystallized the unique responsibilities and rewards of being a doctor in my mind. I admired many
things about his work: the dedication to serving others with a dignity and sincerity mostly absent from the
“business” world, the importance of his ability to educate, and his palpable sensitivity toward the concerns
expressed by his patients.
Most of all, I witnessed the importance of trust. In order for Dr. A. to effectively treat his heart failure
patients, they had to confide in him a completely honest account of their lives and trust his expertise when
prescribing medication and changes in lifestyle. Furthermore, by simply allowing me in the room to
observe, both doctor and patient had also placed trust in my ability to keep confidentiality on everything I
saw and “do no harm.” It was a privilege to simply shadow, much less to wear the shoes of a physician….
…After working at a totally different career for nearly three years, and watching doctors like Dr. A. and Dr.B., I’ve found that I’m inspired most when using my talents to make a tangible, immediate difference in other
people’s lives… I often mingle with CS students who admire the geek-centric universe portrayed in new
movies like The Social Network and namedrop internships they’re landing at Google and Microsoft. Coding
JavaScript in a terminal on my laptop, I’ll be showing a small group how to put create a mobile app and
deploy it online. Inevitably at some point they’ll ask me about my future plans and their response is
bewildered: to them, it’s like Mark Zuckerberg wanting to become a paleontologist. So, they ask me why I’d
want to be a doctor… I think about Dr. A. and Dr. B.—the amazing work that they get to do every day, how
to explain my feelings about it… The words are bursting from the tip of my tongue. I need to stay calm!”
-
8/17/2019 Graduate - Medicine - Personal Statement Workshop
22/22
Resources
• Premed tutors (resident and non-res)
• Writing center
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/undergrad.html • Applicant Website:
• www.aamc.org/amcas
•
Telephone: 202-828-0600 (M-F 9am-7pmEST)
• Email: [email protected]
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/undergrad.htmlhttp://www.aamc.org/amcashttp://www.aamc.org/amcashttp://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/undergrad.html