"Having a background in Public Relations I know the most important thing you can do is paint a picture/tell a story to show people who you are. It’s also important to make it clear how and why you chose your specialty. I started off by sharing a moment with a patient, and describing what I took away from the moment. My second paragraph was More about my background, my struggles growing up, past experiences that will make me relatable to my patients and that will allow me to succeed as a physician in my chosen field. The last paragraph I quickly summarized and reiterated my qualifications for the job.
In every interview I had, I was complimented on my statement and many of my interviewers quoted directly from it and recalled my story. This made me realize how important the statement really is, and how it allows programs to get a sense of who you are before Interview day, and I think that is what a strong statement should be. It shouldn’t be all about why you’re going to be great at your field, or about why you choose your field. It should truly paint the picture of who you are & how that will make you a hard working employee.
If you need inspiration, look at your personal statement for medical school or read the statement of someone who matched into your specialty from the year before you!"
-Applied into Internal Medicine
"I started with a broad outline answering the following questions: Why medicine is for me, why I am for medicine, and what I want to do with my medical training. I made sure to have a compelling patient experience as the center of my personal statement and tried to invoke it as often as necessary to maintain a sense of continuity and purpose. I had MANY versions and they key to getting started is just writing stuff down. "
-Applied into Internal Medicine
"Started from my medical school and MPH personal statements and edited to fit the specialty I was applying into. I think that is a good approach, but did make large edits to highlight what about my specialty was important. I got advice early on that the residency personal statement that it is not the most important aspect of the application. It should be good and free of grammar errors, but doesn't need to be great. That being said, I did get compliments from several programs about my personal statement, so maybe its importance varies from program and specialty. "
-Applied into Internal Medicine
"I used a loose structure provided by my university and did a free write approach. I then cleaned it up and sent to a current doc in my specialty, 2 of my best friends, a school mentor, and met with a writing specialist provided by my school. I then met 1:1 with my mentor for additional feedback. I had about 4-5 drafts."
-Applied into Family Medicine
"Bullet point key points and topics of my life and my career goals/interests. Then rearranged and cut out topics that were not as "high yield." Weaved each bullet point into a story that flowed with amazing transition paragraphs (with the help of a lot of my friends who majored in English in undergrad). Sending in my personal statement to a multitude of applicants."
-Applied into Dermatology
"I wanted to answer specific questions in my personal statement: (1) my reason for choosing my specialty, (2) pertinent skills and experiences, (3) what I was looking for in a program, (4) my future directions. I thought about the main values which had guided my life so far, and I thought about the most salient experiences that I had over medical school that evoked the strongest feelings in me. I wrote several drafts over the course of 3 months and had all my family members read it."
-Applied into Adult Neurology