It’s time to get moving on your medical school or residency personal statement. (It’s actually late to start on your medical school essay; if you don’t already have a good draft, I’d recommend starting immediately.)
The goal of the personal statement is to distinguish yourself from everyone else and demonstrate your worthiness as a candidate. Here’s a piece I wrote for Student Doctor Network (I did not choose the title ;)) that will guide you.
Now that we’re seeing the end of March, it’s time to get started on your medical school and residency personal statements. Do not be one of those applicants who is panicking because s/he did not plan enough time to craft an outstanding essay.
Every September a swarm of panicked residency applicants contacts me asking for urgent editing help. Don’t be one of those candidates approaching your future career goals in a frenzy.
Get started now on your ERAS® personal statement and experiences section. MyERAS® opened on July 1 for candidates to start working on their applications, and residency tokens are already available for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) through the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates® (ECFMG).
Even if you have a super-fast editor like me on your side, you should expect that you will revise your materials multiple times and that each of your drafts will take you many days or weeks to craft.
For those of you who don’t think the quality of your personal statement matters, take a look at the (bizarrely) high percentage of residency directors who site the personal statement as a factor in selecting whom to interview in the most recent NRMP Program Director Survey.
Here is a list of the residency application services I provide and here is my comprehensive package.
Finally, for fun, take a look at my under-one-minute Guru on the Go® stop-motion, animation video “Honors Won’t Make It Write” about the import of the residency personal statement.
Please take a look at part 2 in my series of expert guest blog entries on the Varsity Tutors blog. This piece (and the one prior) are a good reminder of what to target and what to avoid when writing your personal statement for medical school, residency, fellowship, and post-baccalaureate programs. Also, for “edutainment” take a look at my Guru on the Go® videos here (mid-page) on the same topic, called “Personal Statement Russian Roulette #1 and #2.”
In writing their personal statements, some candidates end their essays with a plea like “I hope your residency program will see me as a valuable candidate who is eager to learn and work.”
Imagine that you are a lawyer in front of a judge. How can you best argue the case that you will be an excellent resident? With examples! Keeping that idea in mind will help you show – not tell.
Remember that if you are writing an effective, persuasive document with explicit examples of what makes you a distinctive applicant, you won’t need to make a second person appeal because your accomplishments will make your case for you.
Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more
