AMCAS Personal Statement

[musik2468]

I will be applying only MD/PhD, and I'm wondering: should my personal statement on the AMCAS primary be geared toward my goal of becoming a physician scientist? I wrote a draft, and I am worried that medical school admissions committee members might read it and think that I am more interested in science than medicine, but the fact is that I'm interested in medical applications in science (hence the MD/PhD). Any advice?

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[tortuga87]

by "amcas personal statement," I am assuming you mean the reasons you want to go to med school essay. You should talk about why you want to be a doctor as if you were applying MD only.

Write about why you want to be an MD/PhD in the MD/PhD essay

Write about your research experiences in your research essay.

 

[24thGrade]

It's an awkward situation. Keep in mind when applying to MD PhD programs you're asking them to commit a ton of resources to your education. If you were to not mention anything about your desire for research in your main personal statement I think that would be a mistake. Adcoms will know you are doing it for the sake of being able to apply to both MD-only and MD-PhD programs. For some (not all), that will be a red flag that you may not truly be truly commited to the full PhD.

Certainly focus on your interest in clinical work in this essay, but I think it is a really good idea to tie in why your clinical interests make you want to do research. The truth is that when you are even applying for MD-only programs, an interest in pursuing research is practically a universally desired quality so I really don't think you can go wrong by doing this.

 

[random cell]

Here's how I approached it:

PS: wrote about motivations to become a physician-scientist. Basically what led me to medicine and what led me to research. Research part was more of a narrative and more about the process rather than the science. This essay had whatever an MD-only PS would have PLUS mention of research and that my ultimate goal is to become a physician-scientist. Hardest essay for me to write.

MD/PhD: Waxing philosophical about why MD/PhD and any future career goals I had in mind.

Research: Easiest one of all, and self explanatory. Just write about your research in detail and demonstrate you went through the scientific process.

 

[Plasmodel]

Ok...but this seems a little repetitive! Because in the main PS, you mention both research+clinical experience and say y MD/PHD! then there is another essay to write about just MD/PhD!.....This is so redundant!!!!!

Oh! For the research experience, for people with experience in more than 1 lab, do you write in detail about just one (the most productive one) or small bits about each of the labs?

 

[BarmyArmy]

Personally, my PS was all about why medicine. Maybe I had like one sentence in there about research. So it was not very repetitive for me. For research experience, I wrote quite a bit about the labs that I had significant experiences in (2/3). I think they just want to get a sense of what your research experience really entailed.

Good luck

 

[SBR249]

I'll also add that IMHO, research isn't a required topic for the PS.

For some people, the draw to medicine could be more emotional as opposed to the attraction of science which many times come from actually doing research. In that case, if your PS focuses a lot on the emotional aspects of why medicine, then it could be jarring to forcibly incorporate research into it.

But if the motivations for science and medicine are similar or build on each other, then by all means, explain both.

 

[Maebea]

In my experience, MD-PhD admissions committees find it a bit odd if there is no mention of research in the PS. While the PS can be about anything (I've even seen poems composed specifically for it), MD-PhD adcoms expect to see something about research there. The statement is supposed to convey a sense of who you are to the adcom. It seems that whether you write about past experiences or future dreams, if you want to be a physician-scientist then research should be mentioned in the PS. If research is not mentioned, adcoms might wonder about your commitment to research.

Yes, we have offered admission to individuals who did not mention research in the PS, but that does not mean that when we initially read their application we did not wonder if they were really commited to the MD-PhD. This question did crop up, but the rest of the application & letters of recommendation were compelling enough to tip the balance for an interview. So you can get by without mentioning research, but the prudent approach would be to include it.

Research should not dominate the PS. You only need to mention it in the context of what you have done/or hope to do, and how that fits into who you are as a person. A short paragraph, say three or four lines, is sufficient.