using names in personal statement

[Oh_Gee]

Couldn't find anything recent about this on SDN.

Would it be OK if I used the names of patients/students that I worked with? or should I say student X or use initials

And for physicians I shadowed, should I write their actual name or say Doctor X (something like that)

And yeah,
I know I'm mad behind on my PS lol

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[Lannister]

I would definitely not use patient's names, that seems like a violation of privacy.
I'm no expert so correct me if I'm wrong but I wouldn't think it's necessary to use names at all, since your PS is about you and not other people.

 

[NeuResurgens]

I think the PS is generally a more anonymous affair, but if your writing style uses them, you could probably do pseudonyms. Patient names are an absolute no-no due to HIPAA. You don't want to start your medical career by breaking a basic healthcare rule.

 

[Oranges2]

If I changed the names, do I need to include a disclaimer that names have been changed? Otherwise will readers assume you're using patient names and breaking HIPAA?

 

[Catalystik]

If I changed the names, do I need to include a disclaimer that names have been changed? Otherwise will readers assume you're using patient names and breaking HIPAA?

You could add parentheses around the name you pick, just use random initials, or say, ". . . whom I'll call . . ." to indicate a pseudonym.

 

[neuroresearchguy23]

I used the physicians last name but changed the name of the patient in my PS. I only used a first name in regards to the patient, but the readers wouldn't know that. I was wondering about too. Would @Goro or @gyngyn want to give their advice please?

 

[Oranges2]

I used the physicians last name but changed the name of the patient in my PS. I only used a first name in regards to the patient, but the readers wouldn't know that. I was wondering about too. Would @Goro or @gyngyn want to give their advice please?

Same, I have the physician's real last name and a patient's made up first name

 

[Goro]

"Sheila" came in scared, not knowing what surgery would be like...


At first, "Joe" was noncommunicative, but then he opened up to me when I ....


That's how it's done.

Couldn't find anything recent about this on SDN.

Would it be OK if I used the names of patients/students that I worked with? or should I say student X or use initials

And for physicians I shadowed, should I write their actual name or say Doctor X (something like that)

And yeah,
I know I'm mad behind on my PS lol

 

[Oranges2]

Thanks @Goro! And to confirm, we can use physician's real last name?

 

[LJN Ltd.]

Thanks @Goro! And to confirm, we can use physician's real last name?

Why is this necessary just make names up

 

[LizzyM]

Here's a time to learn the short names that will save you some characters: Ian, Joe, Tom, Tim, Kim, Sue, Xia, Liz, Amy, Ana, Pat. And put them in quotes as @Goro has shown above.

Don't say anything about a doctor in your PS that would require you to keep his name a secret.

Funny story I never tire of telling: I once got an application essay that identified my brother, a campus PCP, by name described him in very glowing terms. LOL. The applicant could not have known his sister was on the adcom (not at the same school).

 

[LJN Ltd.]

Funny story I never tire of telling: I once got an application essay that identified my brother, a campus PCP, by name described him in very glowing terms. LOL. The applicant could not have known his sister was on the adcom (not at the same school).

Did you interview that applicant?????? Story time please Ms. Lizzy

 

[LizzyM]

Did you interview that applicant?????? Story time please Ms. Lizzy

LOL -- I did not do the interview but I might have recommended that the applicant be interviewed.

 

[Goro]

See LizzyM's post above. This all circles around confidentiality! Go look up HIPAA while you're at it.

Why is this necessary just make names up

 

[LJN Ltd.]

LOL -- I did not do the interview but I might have recommended that the applicant be interviewed.

Roadmap to top 10: Find a family member of adcom and praise in PS.

 

[LizzyM]

Why is this necessary just make names up

Putting the name in quotes signals that it is not a real name. An adcom might judge you negatively if it appears that you were providing confidential information about a patient. Or it could be even more crazy....

Decades ago, before HIPAA (but this story is about a school, not a hospital) another adcom member was asked to review an application. The EC section listed the name of a local facility for disabled kids where the applicant had volunteered and the PS gave the first name of a child who had inspired the applicant to go into medicine and described the child. The adcom member recognized the child's name -- it was the adcom member's kid. And the child had died suddenly just a few weeks earlier. What were the odds?? The adcom member declared a conflict of interest rather than review the application.

 

[LJN Ltd.]

Putting the name in quotes signals that it is not a real name. An adcom might judge you negatively if it appears that you were providing confidential information about a patient. Or it could be even more crazy....

Decades ago, before HIPAA (but this story is about a school, not a hospital) another adcom member was asked to review an application. The EC section listed the name of a local facility for disabled kids where the applicant had volunteered and the PS gave the first name of a child who had inspired the applicant to go into medicine and described the child. The adcom member recognized the child's name -- it was the adcom member's kid. And the child had died suddenly just a few weeks earlier. What were the odds?? The adcom member declared a conflict of interest rather than review the application.

These stories really need to be published in a book someday. Or compiled on a blog

 

[Oh_Gee]

Thanks @LizzyM and @Goro for your insight. I wish AMCAS and AACOMAS would post clear guidelines about names. I think I'm gonna use parentheses for patients and students' names and ask the doc i shadow if he's cool with me using his last name

 

[takeonme]

With personal experiences (not patients/students) but family members and doctors, we can use their names with permission? Oh man, reading your list of short names makes me want to shorten a family member's name to save characters lol! At the same time, if it comes up during interviews, I don't want to have a puzzled look on my face... "who? oh yea, umm, Amy...."

 

[BadgerBadger]

Can't go wrong with a "Jane Doe" or "John Doe". While it might sound artificial in your PS, it's a sure way to make sure the adcoms know that you're not using patients' real names.

 

[Tackycardigan]

I used the names of characters from the Lion King in the first draft of my PS. Should I keep them in the final version? Wouldn't it elicit a more poignant response from the adcoms to read about how the guidance of Rafiki and the death of Mufasa inspired me to become a physician?

 

[Mad Jack]

Don't use names if at all possible. Names are usually not critical to the story being told, and a good writer can easily work around using them. You will get zero benefit for naming names, but possibly some detriment (sounding artificial with fake names, breaking HIPPA with real ones, possible conflicts of interest, etc).

 

[MrLogan13]

I used the names of characters from the Lion King in the first draft of my PS. Should I keep them in the final version? Wouldn't it elicit a more poignant response from the adcoms to read about how the guidance of Rafiki and the death of Mufasa inspired me to become a physician?

How did the antagonism of Scar and the companionship of Pumbaa and Timon contribute to your path to medicine?

 

[LizzyM]

With personal experiences (not patients/students) but family members and doctors, we can use their names with permission? Oh man, reading your list of short names makes me want to shorten a family member's name to save characters lol! At the same time, if it comes up during interviews, I don't want to have a puzzled look on my face... "who? oh yea, umm, Amy...."

Even with permission, it is best to leave out names or relationships of family members. I was rather horrified that an applicant mentioned his dad's incontinence as a side effect of surgery; I thought that was not in good taste. Other adcom members weren't offended, as always, YMMV.

 

[takeonme]

Even with permission, it is best to leave out names or relationships of family members. I was rather horrified that an applicant mentioned his dad's incontinence as a side effect of surgery; I thought that was not in good taste. Other adcom members weren't offended, as always, YMMV.

Hmm, a big part of my career change towards medicine has to do with a family member (I'm hoping it's not as cliche as it sounds!), so should I just refer to them as my brother/sister/cousin etc. every time I reference them? I figured using their name gave my PS a more personal touch and homage to the person.

 

[deleted642188]

Even with permission, it is best to leave out names or relationships of family members. I was rather horrified that an applicant mentioned his dad's incontinence as a side effect of surgery; I thought that was not in good taste. Other adcom members weren't offended, as always, YMMV.

So would it be okay on the statement to say the doctor's last name?

 

[LizzyM]

Hmm, a big part of my career change towards medicine has to do with a family member (I'm hoping it's not as cliche as it sounds!), so should I just refer to them as my brother/sister/cousin etc. every time I reference them? I figured using their name gave my PS a more personal touch and homage to the person.

Your sibling or cousin is not otherwise identified by name so perhaps that is somewhat acceptable as long as you aren't writing about a stigmatizing condition. One's father is in a unique position (at least in most cases one has only one father) and the full name is usually on the application.

I think it is ok to use a sib's name and saves space compared with using "my brother" every time.

 

[LizzyM]

So would it be okay on the statement to say the doctor's last name?

As I said above, if you are going to say something negative about the physician, it is best not to say it at all. If you are going to say something complimentary, why not use the doctor's name?

 

[Tackycardigan]

How did the antagonism of Scar and the companionship of Pumbaa and Timon contribute to your path to medicine?

Scar, the Pride Lands narcotic seeking, noncompliant patient showed me the difficulties faced by physicians in the ED. I did not use Pumbaa and Timon, because I thought it'd be problematic to have an aspiring surgeon associated with the Hakuna Matata ethos.

 

[AwayFromReality]

.

 

[Goro]

Take a very deep breath and CHILL!

@LizzyM @Goro I added a fake name for a patient but didn't put it in Quotes, I was worried the app system might not recognize the quotes and cause a weird error or something. I'm kinda freaking out now, worried adcoms might think I'm violating HIPPA

 

[Dormouse]

Just want to chime in to add that I have used patient's real first name in my PS without any quotation mark and had never been asked about this by anyone, including all my interviewers and my premed adviser who is a physician. (To qualify though, I interacted with the patient in such a way that I never signed a HIPAA agreement.) You should steer away from using identifiable information for obvious reasons, but no need to panic if you just happened to include a common first name. Unless it's so obvious who the person that you're referring to is, people will not even know if the name you use is the real name or not, and you can easily very tastefully avoiding answering it if asked.

 

[On Eagle's Wings]

I used a doctor's real name in my PS, but I referred to patients as patients, a woman, a man, etc.

 

[Spector1]

I usually just say "Dr. M, Mr. C, Ms. S, Prof. X" if I dont want to identify them

 

[Banco]

You could always do Dr. A, Dr. B etc.

For doctors that you shadowed, you have to give their names in the activities section anyway, so...

 

[On Eagle's Wings]

For doctors that you shadowed, you have to give their names in the activities section anyway, so...

Exactly this. May as well link the experience in your personal statement with the activity essay.