Integrated Vascular Surgery Residency (0+5) Personal statements

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Hi, I know it has been discussed previously, but my question is basically about the personal statement for such a program; I am really interested in this program but I need like tips on how to write personal statement for the integrated program in vsc surgery. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Personal statements are just that - personal. Its difficult for others to tell you what you should write because its usually the hardest part of the application process. In general write about the experiences in life that made you the person you are today, what you took from those experiences, and how they've made you a) a good person and b) a strong resident, and your outlook on the future.

For you, maybe you can write about your journey from being an optometry student to applying for integrated vascular surgery programs.

Chakrabs; thanks for the reply. I got your point. The thing is that as you said, it is the ''hardest part of the application''. And for me, I am not used to talk about things, I rather do it, and then use my actions to translate my passion towards the specialty I am interested in. That's why I find it difficult to narrate that in words.

FYI, I am not an optometry student, I am a medical student, I know that is not what my profile says, but for some reason couldn't fix it. Anyways, thank you for the comment.

Originally Posted by Chakrabs

Personal statements are just that - personal. Its difficult for others to tell you what you should write because its usually the hardest part of the application process. In general write about the experiences in life that made you the person you are today, what you took from those experiences, and how they've made you a) a good person and b) a strong resident, and your outlook on the future.

While this is all good advice, for the integrated programs (including vascular), you need to address why you've decided on an integrated route. You need to outline experiences that demonstrate how and why you know you want to do vascular (instead of switching midway through your residency), and why you believe the integrated route is the best route for you. I used the line "it's not about shortening my training, so much as focusing my training on skills I will need for my future career" during interviews, but the challenge is trying to convey that idea in the personal statement.

Originally Posted by inc

While this is all good advice, for the integrated programs (including vascular), you need to address why you've decided on an integrated route. You need to outline experiences that demonstrate how and why you know you want to do vascular (instead of switching midway through your residency), and why you believe the integrated route is the best route for you. I used the line "it's not about shortening my training, so much as focusing my training on skills I will need for my future career" during interviews, but the challenge is trying to convey that idea in the personal statement.

Thanks for the advice. I think it is a matter of how to flavor your ambition and translate it to words.

The advice I got for preparing a personal statement was to make it solid, short, and to the point. The truth is that people with exceptional experiences that translate into exceptional personal statements are quite rare amongst the ranks of already overachieving medical students. Unless you're 100% sure you fall into the latter category I would shoot towards making your PS concise and sincere rather than trying to be particularly memorable.

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but here's the outline I put together when writing my personal statement for vascular. I actually used the exact same letter for GS, except I find/replaced "general surgery" for "integrated vascular surgery" (say it ain't so!). My final draft was slightly longer than one page.

By paragraph:

1. intro/anecdote about growing up enjoying technical things
2. anecdote about discovering vascular surgery during medical school
3. specific reasons why general/vascular appeals specifically to me
4. what I'm looking for in a residency program
5. why I think I'm a good fit for such a program
6. fluffy conclusion


Hope that helps. It seemed to work okay for me.

neb

Originally Posted by neb85

I actually used the exact same letter for GS, except I find/replaced "general surgery" for "integrated vascular surgery" (say it ain't so!). My final draft was slightly longer than one page.

totally did the same. Wrote out the vascular one, find/replace "vascular" with "general."

I wouldn’t stress out too much over this. Your personal statement doesn’t have to be amazing or memorable. In fact, I would make sure it’s not memorable – no tear jerking anecdotes, no risky stories, no glaring typographical errors or grammatical issues. Just state that you want to be a vascular surgeon, and give some good (if oft repeated) reasons.

Your grades, test scores, and letters will be more heavily weighted.

Originally Posted by neb85

The advice I got for preparing a personal statement was to make it solid, short, and to the point. The truth is that people with exceptional experiences that translate into exceptional personal statements are quite rare amongst the ranks of already overachieving medical students. Unless you're 100% sure you fall into the latter category I would shoot towards making your PS concise and sincere rather than trying to be particularly memorable.

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but here's the outline I put together when writing my personal statement for vascular. I actually used the exact same letter for GS, except I find/replaced "general surgery" for "integrated vascular surgery" (say it ain't so!). My final draft was slightly longer than one page.

By paragraph:

1. intro/anecdote about growing up enjoying technical things
2. anecdote about discovering vascular surgery during medical school
3. specific reasons why general/vascular appeals specifically to me
4. what I'm looking for in a residency program
5. why I think I'm a good fit for such a program
6. fluffy conclusion


Hope that helps. It seemed to work okay for me.

neb

That was to the point. Thank you for the advice.