Applying To Medical School - Writing The Personal Statement

 When writing your personal statement as part of your medical school admissions packet, you are communicating your unique attributes and abilities. To give your statement greater clarity and substance, here are 6 important considerations.

1. USE ACTIVE VOICE. Active verbs convey power and authority. Your ultimate goal is to stand out enough to get accepted, so incorporating action verbs puts the emphasis directly on you. An added bonus of using active voice versus passive voice is that passive voice sentences take up more line space, an important consideration since the number of characters count. (Example of active voice: I shadowed several doctors..., rather than passive voice: I have shadowed several doctors..., note use of the helping verb making it passive).

2. BE POSITIVE. Your statement should not sound staged or stilted, but enthusiastic and motivated. Consider topics which would be easiest for you to put descriptive words to. Your personal statement is a testament of your passions and your earnestness, the image you want the reviewing committee to see of you. That image should never be negative, bland, or boring; you want the committee to say, on reading your statement, we'd like to meet this person. Avoid using "waffle" words (words which qualify your experiences and commitment) such as "rather", "quite", "somewhat", or "probably". Waffle words tend to give the impression the writer is unsure of him or herself; with the personal statement, all writing should be positive and express confidence and directness.

3. USE ONE THEME TO UNIFY THE STATEMENT. Your statement should not be a laundry list of accomplishments (the rest of your packet provides that information). By picking one theme that illustrates who you are (and the background for that laundry list of accomplishments), you give your statement direction and more importantly, you are able to personalize your experiences. A single theme provides the foundation on which you can demonstrate qualities that make you a good "fit" for the schools you are applying to. When considering a theme, let the following topics be your guide:

Hobbies you love and actively pursue

Unique accomplishments - academic, athletic, or otherwise

Work habits or attitudes that stand out as predictors of future success

Family background, parents or other mentors who have encouraged and supported you

Personal hurdles you have overcome

A major life event which produced positive results

Keep in mind the most effective showcase for your desire and drive to succeed in medical school and beyond is a past experience you can illustrate using concrete examples and descriptive language.

4. HAVE AN ENGAGING OPENING. Given the limited time committee members have to initially review each packet and read each personal statement, an interest-catching opening is essential, playing off the unified theme you have decided on https://davaomedicalcollege.org/. Choose a quote which sums up a hurdle overcome or an attitude which has brought you success in the past. Begin with an anecdote, a brief personal story which serves as a lead to your ambition and drive to follow in a mentor's or family member's footsteps. Ask a question, one which frames a hobby or a major life event that has set you on the path to medical school. Whichever opening you choose, it should be professional rather than chatty, and more importantly, get immediately to the heart of whatever it is about yourself you are highlighting. You have a limited number of characters at your disposal (5300), so setting the scene with your introduction should use up very little space. We all tend to be taken by personal stories, but the point is how your story leads directly to those characteristics that medical schools will feel best fit their program and faculty.

5. WRITE A STRONG CONCLUSION. Your conclusion is the last best opportunity to showcase your commitment to the profession of medicine and the long road of study ahead. It is important that your personal statement sound strong to the very last period on the page. The conclusion should "frame" your introduction, in that it refers back to the beginning of your statement, reminding the reader of who you are, where you are coming from, and re-emphasizing the significance of your over-all theme. An emphatic conclusion demonstrates consistency and brings everything full circle. Do not digress to a subordinate topic or introduce, however inadvertently, another theme altogether (which is why framing is a good way to end the statement - it allows you to check if you are still saying the same thing you started out with). The point is to end on the high note you began with.

6. REVISE, REVISE, REVISE. Have another person (several persons) critique your work. Use fellow students, trusted professors, your parents or significant other - anyone who will read your statement closely and give you constructive advice. You, yourself, should read your statement out loud; the ear will hear errors (sentence fragments, grammatical missteps) the eye misses. Be aware of unconscious mistakes, like starting every sentence with the work "I", using cliches (example: saying you want to be a doctor to "help people"), or over-stating or exaggerating accomplishments or emotions. Once satisfied, put the statement down, do not over-write it and drain it of all intensity and enthusiasm.

Lastly, think on this. Your personal statement is your opportunity to tell your "story" and a window into your humanity - ultimately, that is what makes it engaging and memorable to the schools you are applying to.