medical residency application: the personal statement writing well to sell yourself elizabeth...
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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
[email protected]• Expect one-week turnaround time at
peak periods (October/November)