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Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Be genuine. If your dad's heart attack is what sparked your interest in medicine, then write about it. Don't worry about the subject of your PS being similar to others. A good writer can make coffee and toast interesting.
 
I agree with the post above. There is nothing new under the sun. Ad coms read thousands of essays and have seen permutations of almost every theme. Write from the heart, use specific examples, and answer the question, “why medicine?”
 
curbsideconsult said:
Be genuine. If your dad's heart attack is what sparked your interest in medicine, then write about it. Don't worry about the subject of your PS being similar to others. A good writer can make coffee and toast interesting.
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blueberry4104 said:
So do you think having some storytelling about that day in the hospital/ how I got a new perspective on the role of the physician etc would be helpful? I am trying my best to stay away from telling and do more by showing. I also have a story about my camp job, so just want to make sure its okay to have a large chunk of my PS be in storytelling/dialogue mode, as long as I reflect on my stories correct?
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Absolutely, but don't go overboard and make sure it flows. You can have more than one story in your PS, but they have to be connected in a way that makes sense.
 
Your experiences that you write about in your PS should tie together (e.g., “My experiences with xxx lead me to volunteer with xxx where I was able to see xxx...”) your goal is to answer the “why medicine” question. You want to make sure to convey your understanding of what you’re getting into. Be careful not to write too much about camp (counselor?) if it has nothing to do with medicine. If you do write about that, make sure it ties back to medicine. Remember, you can write about camp in the experiences section and on your secondaries. There are lots of “helping professions” so you need to stick to the path of why you want to be a doctor and not counselor or a nurse, etc.

Also, it’s fine to use a small amount of dialogue, but don’t overdo it or you end up in the weeds. The PS is not a literary work. It’s a narrative of your journey to medicine. You can show and not tell by giving specific examples. It’s fine to write about what you learned or saw while volunteering and shadowing. Just make sure it ties back into why you want to be a doctor. Make sure to avoid cliche phrases (e.g., “Every cloud has a silver lining.”) and overused phrases like “I was fascinated by...” and “I longed to...” It apparently makes essay readers want to bang their heads against the wall.
 
blueberry4104 said:
do you think having some storytelling about that day in the hospital/ how I got a new perspective on the role of the physician etc would be helpful?
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If it helps, literally my entire PS takes place over the course of about 2 weeks with interactions with 1 patient and I have had nothing but rave reviews *on my final draft, the earlier ones were trash*

It doesn’t necessarily seem to be the content of a PS that matters, but the way in which you portray it and the passion behind the words.
 
ak-aka-dak said:
Your experiences that you write about in your PS should tie together (e.g., “My experiences with xxx lead me to volunteer with xxx where I was able to see xxx...”) your goal is to answer the “why medicine” question. You want to make sure to convey your understanding of what you’re getting into. Be careful not to write too much about camp (counselor?) if it has nothing to do with medicine. If you do write about that, make sure it ties back to medicine. Remember, you can write about camp in the experiences section and on your secondaries. There are lots of “helping professions” so you need to stick to the path of why you want to be a doctor and not counselor or a nurse, etc.

Also, it’s fine to use a small amount of dialogue, but don’t overdo it or you end up in the weeds. The PS is not a literary work. It’s a narrative of your journey to medicine. You can show and not tell by giving specific examples. It’s fine to write about what you learned or saw while volunteering and shadowing. Just make sure it ties back into why you want to be a doctor. Make sure to avoid cliche phrases (e.g., “Every cloud has a silver lining.”) and overused phrases like “I was fascinated by...” and “I longed to...” It apparently makes essay readers want to bang their heads against the wall.
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It’s hard to say without seeing your essay and other experiences. What you don’t want to do in your PS is write too much about your “passion” for teaching. Why not become a teacher then? You will have plenty of opportunities to write about the camp stuff in the experiences section where you will describe what you did and then tie it back to how that will make you a good doctor or a better classmate. There will also be opportunities for you to talk about camp in your secondaries. The main focus of your PS needs to answer the question “why medicine.”
 
What’s important is how well you can write the experience not necessarily how unique it might be. Make it genuine. Don’t worry about being similar. Trying to force something will make a lesser quality PS.
 
The key to crafting your personal statement narrative is to create a purpose statement -- a one sentence summary of what you want to say. That'll be the core of your PS that you can reference to make sure all your stories are on point. If you'd like, you can PM me and we'll talk through your personal statement writing process. I am an M2 and I work with the admissions committee at my school. I really like helping applicants with their personal statements.
 
RufDoc said:
The key to crafting your personal statement narrative is to create a purpose statement -- a one sentence summary of what you want to say. That'll be the core of your PS that you can reference to make sure all your stories are on point. If you'd like, you can PM me and we'll talk through your personal statement writing process. I am an M2 and I work with the admissions committee at my school. I really like helping applicants with their personal statements.
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@RufDoc I would love to, that would be such a great help honestly. Thank you so much! I just sent you a PM
 
ak-aka-dak said:
It’s hard to say without seeing your essay and other experiences. What you don’t want to do in your PS is write too much about your “passion” for teaching. Why not become a teacher then? You will have plenty of opportunities to write about the camp stuff in the experiences section where you will describe what you did and then tie it back to how that will make you a good doctor or a better classmate. There will also be opportunities for you to talk about camp in your secondaries. The main focus of your PS needs to answer the question “why medicine.”
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Great point. Thanks for your advice, I definitely have a better idea of what direction to go in now
 
Always be true to your own experience. Admissions commitee like to see how you got to where you are today.
 
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