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[907914]

Trying to keep the details as simple as possible, a huge reason I want to be a doctor that I conveyed in my PS is because of an experience regarding someone in my family and their experience with malpractice and lack of competency and/or ethics wrt to physicians in poorer countries (severely impacted that family member's quality of life, made me interesed in global health). I was told by a friend that this may come off as being unjustly critical of physicians and it might not sit well with adcoms, though I only barely glossed over this. What do you think?

Have you already submitted? Gonna ditto @IL1B

 

[907914]

Yes I submitted, though it isn't verified yet.

Speaking poorly about those who are in the job to which you are applying for. Weird flex, but OK.

On the true true, I have a feeling your cycle will be a rough one if your stats aren’t high enough to be able to brush aside the topic of your PS...Hoping you get a sympathetic ADCOM, OP. I may be being pessimistic and I would wait for an ADCOM or advisor to respond with a more accurate answer (@Goro @gonnif @Moko)

 

[907914]

At this point I'm tempted to just copy/paste the section straight out from my PS.

PM it to someone who is consenting as opposed to making it public

 

[Moko]

Medical errors are unfortunately incredibly common, and some of these can have devastating effects on patients and their family. Medical errors are becoming more openly discussed among healthcare providers. However, this is usually a discussion among qualified individuals, and the goal is never too assign blame, but rather to develop systems safeguards to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

A premed criticizing a physician would likely be poorly received even if frank malpractice took place. Given that a premed is unlikely to understand the intricacies of medical decision making, their criticism may appear simplistic or ill-informed. Also, the process of assigning blame (which is too commonly what ends up happening) is incompatible with the spirit of these root cause analyses. As a general rule, negativity (especially when discussing other people) rarely has a place in the application process.. it usually just makes the applicant look bad.

Negative experiences like this need to be handled with grace and tact in the application process.

 

[907914]

At this point I'm tempted to just copy/paste the section straight out from my PS. Maybe you are being melodramatic, but in any case I'm sufficiently spooked. Maybe I could get a few people to read over my PS and if it really is a massive no-no then I'll just withdraw, since I haven't submitted any secondaries or have my primary verified yet.

Did you not have anyone look over it before submitting!?!?!!!!? Gah.

 

[907914]

I did, only one person called me out on appearing too critical, and I thought that person was an outlier.

Ok so worst case scenario I withdraw my app. Since I haven't been verified yet no school on my list will have seen my PS by the time I withdraw, correct? And I won't be considered a reapplicant next cycle?

Who did you have review it? Any physicians, MED students, or neurotic T20 applicants?

And I believe so. But confirm with an ADCOM or someone else willing to read it that it is bad enough to warrant.

 

[deleted972488]

physicians in poorer countries

only barely glossed over this

So you weren’t talking about US physicians and it was only a minor part of your PS? You may be fine.

 

[deleted972488]

All the people that looks at my PS are current medical students, some at very good schools.


Yeah, it was quite obvious that the specific medical act I was talking about is one that does not occur in Western Society (though there was no xenophobia since this is my family's culture). But honestly, I am shook now. Lol.

I think you’re fine.

 

[Moko]

At this point I'm tempted to just copy/paste the section straight out from my PS. Maybe you are being melodramatic, but in any case I'm sufficiently spooked. Maybe I could get a few people to read over my PS and if it really is a massive no-no then I'll just withdraw, since I haven't submitted any secondaries or have my primary verified yet.

This seems like a very drastic step to take. If you want, send the section in question to me in a PM and I'll be happy to slim through it. It may not reflect well on you, but I doubt it would be so bad to warrant withdrawing and losing a year.

 

[Goro]

Trying to keep the details as simple as possible, a huge reason I want to be a doctor that I conveyed in my PS is because of an experience regarding someone in my family and their experience with malpractice and lack of competency and/or ethics wrt to physicians in poorer countries (severely impacted that family member's quality of life, made me interesed in global health). I was told by a friend that this may come off as being unjustly critical of physicians and it might not sit well with adcoms, though I only barely glossed over this. What do you think?

it will not sit well

 

[907914]

I think you’re fine.

With the full picture I think you are fine. Def follow up with Moko.

 

[Tenk]

There is a way to do this essay correctly it just does not involve ethics or malpractice. Saying you had a family member receive poor medical care that resulted in a bad outcome and sparked an interest in global health is fine. Talking about doctors in other countries being unethical and without malpractice risk is a waste of your application money and a year of your life.

 

[907914]

Thanks for the honest advice. And yeah, I'm leaning more and more towards withdrawing my app for the year. Surprisingly, my first emotion was relief, not devastation, since I only decided to apply this cycle a month ago. My LORs were rushed, I wasn't familiar with rolling admissions etc. Now I can take the time to galvanize my app, and come back next cycle actually prepared.

Bruh that is a leap of faith. Follow up with Moko first maybe?

 

[907914]

Moko also said that it didn't reflect well on me. The moment my primary is processed it'll be sent to schools on my list, and they'll have a copy of it for as many application cycles that I apply. I'll have a few other people read it, but I'm going to play it safe here.

Sounds like that might be best. Just don’t regret your decision and don’t beat yourself up for it. Feel free to PM me at any time prior to your next cycle to edit PS and W/A and/or prewrites.

 

[907914]

Well seeing as how no request gets processed on a weekend, might as well take the rest of today and tomorrow to really think on this...since it's kind of a big deal, lol. Leaning heavily towards withdrawing as of now, but that isn't a decision I'll make today. Thanks for your proposition, I just might take you up on that.

When did you submit?

 

[907914]

End of June. I should have at least another week before my app is processed. I can't believe I'm actually happy about how slow AMCAS processing is.

As long as your MCAT is recent enough, def think it over and shoot your shot where you need. Good luck to you, dude(tte)