Putting together a personal statement for medical school can be challenging, as applicants may have many ideas but are unsure which to include in their narrative.
Prospective students often ask which ideas are appropriate for the personal statement and which should be reserved for other parts of the medical school application, such as the supplemental essays. The answer is that there is no single formula for writing a good personal statement and a variety of approaches could work.
Having said that, regardless of the approach you take, consider including these four key components to ensure that your statement is compelling.
[Read: 5 Medical School Personal Statement Writing Pitfalls.]
Personal narrative. As the name implies, a personal statement is meant to have a personal touch, and one of the most effective ways to give it that touch is by including a bit about who you are as a person.
Virtually every medical school essay will have something about the applicant’s experiences in a hospital, service to the community, academic achievements or research involvement. Give your essay a personal touch by sharing something outside of your passion for medicine to make sure your essay stands out.
For example, where were you born? What was your upbringing like? What are some key life events that have had an impact on you? What are some of your outside interests?
Taking the time to reflect on questions like these and weaving responses into your essay will help the reader connect with you on a human level. In so doing you will come across as a multidimensional individual who is more than just a GPA, an MCAT score and a series of clinical experiences.
[Read: Craft a Stellar Medical School Application With a Personal Story.]
Reflection on patient-care experiences. Virtually all personal statements allude to the applicant’s involvement in clinical care as a volunteer, scribe, shadow or medical assistant. However, not every personal statement includes careful reflection on what those experiences meant and how they helped the applicant realize that medicine is his or her calling.
After you have briefly described the nature of your clinical experiences, reflect on what insight you gained from them about the medical profession. Use this opportunity to show the reader you understand what kind of career you are embarking on. Also, draw on your clinical experiences to demonstrate in concrete terms what you saw that solidified your desire to pursue medicine.
For example, you may share a few anecdotes in which you observed a physician form trusting relationships with his or her patients. What did these anecdotes teach you about the patient-doctor relationship? How did these observations make you more excited about becoming a physician?
Reasons for pursuing medicine. Too often admissions committees read medical school personal statements that don’t directly and clearly express the reasons an applicant is pursuing a career in medicine. As a result, the reader is left to read between the lines and infer from anecdotes and experiences why you want to be a physician.
You can make the reader’s job much easier by summarizing your reflections on clinical experiences and stating in one sentence why you are pursuing medicine.
There is nothing wrong with having a sentence in your personal statement where you state, “I want to be a physician because I like A, B and C about the medical profession.” For example, if you shadowed a surgeon and observed a variety of surgical procedures, you may cite the opportunity to perform intricate procedures as one reason why you want to be a physician.
[Read: Avoid Common Mistakes on the Medical School Personal Statement.]
Your strengths. Medical schools want to know what strengths you believe you can bring to your medical education and to the profession.
But it is not just about what positive attributes you possess or how many you have. It is more important to show how you acquired each positive quality. As you reflect on various personal and professional experiences, ask yourself what each experience taught you and present each as an acquired strength.
For example, your essay will sound convincing if you state that you have learned to be a good team player through your involvement in various team-based activities. Conversely, if you just state that everyone considers you a solid team player without explaining how you acquired that skill, you will have a harder time convincing your audience that this is a genuine strength.
Taking the time to plan what goes in your personal statement can make the difference between writing a strong essay and a weak one. Think about the four points above and discuss them with others to further develop each one. It may take some time to articulate these ideas, but with careful consideration, you can put together a convincing personal statement.
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4 Points to Include in Every Medical School Personal Statement originally appeared on usnews.com
