Anyone willing to read a residency personal statement and/or give some pointers?

[dorothyntoto]

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Hi everyone!
ERAS opens in May, and life favors the prepared. I suck at writing, so I know I need to start early on my personal statement to make sure it's good. I see a lot of conflicting statements about what should/should not be in a residency personal statement, and I don't feel like my school is very helpful in this area.

Thanks!!

Any help is appreciated!

 

[prone2xl]

What field are U applying to?

 

[dorothyntoto]

Family Med...

 

[gutonc]

You should probably ask there.

 

[Chicago2012]

I would also schedule some time with you advisor and a FM mentor to get their input.

 

[dorothyntoto]

I would also schedule some time with you advisor and a FM mentor to get their input.

The school isn't really very helpful. Hence why I asked here.

@gutonc the reason I posted here is to get more feedback on thoughts of a good PS. If no one in the general forum can help, then could you move the thread into FM please?

 

[gutonc]

You need to make the school be more helpful.

You're dropping what, like $60K a year for the privilege of studying there, the least they can do is give you somebody to review your PS for you. Multiply that by the number of kids in your class (let's say 50...I have no idea and honestly don't care what the actual # is) and factor in the fact that, aside from malpractice coverage, the only thing most schools provide to M3/M4 students is a MSPE and a diploma, you could argue that there's enough in that $6M bucket of cash to provide a very well paid PS concierge who will write it for you based on your answers to a short series of questions which you are then allowed to edit for style and content as needed and then have it reviewed by several specialty specific PDs (also compensated for their time) before being artisanally uploaded to ERAS.

 

[Chicago2012]

Not only that, but a mentor can be anyone, not necessarily someone affiliated with your school. Did you do an FM rotation here with someone you got a letter from and look up to? Ask them if they can mentor you and look over your PS. My letter writers insisted on looking at mine anyway.

 

[dorothyntoto]

I have people who will look it over, but I'm in the early stages... just not sure what should/shouldn't be in it...
I've seen some stuff that says have an intro paragraph about yourself, somethings say not to... another one is do you discuss that you considered other options and felt the specialty you're choosing was the best fit, or do you cut the 'discussion' out as being wordy??

 

[gutonc]

Will it increase or decrease your stress level if I tell you that 90% of personal statements are crap and 100% of them will, at best, get a cursory review?

Write it in English, spellcheck it and don't lie. Anything above that is gravy.

 

[Chicago2012]

So you're saying that if I try to go into an FM fellowship I shouldn't write my PS in Esperanto?

 

[Frederica]

I'll take a look at it for you. Please note, anything I suggest is just that a suggestion. I cannot and will not guarantee anything I say or write will have any affect on your ability to secure interviews or match results. I feel like I have to note that - I watch too much Law and Order. 😉

 

[dorothyntoto]

Will it increase or decrease your stress level if I tell you that 90% of personal statements are crap and 100% of them will, at best, get a cursory review?
Write it in English, spellcheck it and don't lie. Anything above that is gravy.

LMAO, that's what I have back for that... It will decrease my stress level, especially because I totally did NOT see that coming... Especially with all the weight put on them for medical school... 😉

So you're saying that if I try to go into an FM fellowship I shouldn't write my PS in Esperanto?

Who knew??!?!?!

I'll take a look at it for you. Please note, anything I suggest is just that a suggestion. I cannot and will not guarantee anything I say or write will have any affect on your ability to secure interviews or match results. I feel like I have to note that - I watch too much Law and Order. 😉

Where's @Law2Doc when you need him?? I would never assume someone else would get me an interview... you are under no obligations 🙂

 

[galactus]

Use your med school essay, word replace "medicine" with "family medicine". Add a paragraph about what you did in med school. Should work (for FM).
Hint. It's what I did. Matched to my #1 lol.
Sort of did the same thing for fellowship, and changed "family" to "sports". Obviously removed some sentences, but Discussed what I did during residency.

Overall I agree with the people above. As long as it's grammatically correct, don't embellish/lie, and in English, you should be fine!

 

[rd31]

Will it increase or decrease your stress level if I tell you that 90% of personal statements are crap and 100% of them will, at best, get a cursory review?

Write it in English, spellcheck it and don't lie. Anything above that is gravy.

I'm going to have to disagree somewhat. This might be true for the majority of PS's, but in my case, every program I interviewed at (n=14) complemented me on how thoughtful and interesting my personal statement was. Many said it gave them a better view of how I'd uniquely contribute to their medical community. My PS used a metaphor related to one of my favorite hobbies and related that to several different clinical encounters that solidified my desire to entire the field I applied to. I've never received so much praise for a one page essay...so it is possible that it can make a small but important difference.

 

[Raryn]

Use your med school essay, word replace "medicine" with "family medicine". Add a paragraph about what you did in med school. Should work (for FM).
Hint. It's what I did. Matched to my #1 lol.
Sort of did the same thing for fellowship, and changed "family" to "sports". Obviously removed some sentences, but Discussed what I did during residency.

Overall I agree with the people above. As long as it's grammatically correct, don't embellish/lie, and in English, you should be fine!

Don't do this. It's incredible obvious and most medical school personal statements are total crap.

 

[operaman]

It's a tough balance to strike with these things. The best feedback I got came from attendings in the field who read a ton of apps each year. Try and find the ones you know will be honest with you if something isn't good. You can get grammar and style and general feedback anywhere, but it sounds like you need something a little more focused.

As a general idea:

1) paragraph about who you are, family, upbringing, interesting back story, etc.
2) Paragraph about why you came to medicine, and why FM is what you want to do
3) What you're looking for in a program.
4) Future career goals
5) What you bring to a program. Can reference some CV high points if they point to how you'll be as a resident. Focus on intangibles like attitude and work ethic and ability to be a team player.

I don't know how my PS was used in deciding on interview invites because I wasn't there for that part, but I know that almost every interviewer skimmed at right before I walked in or during the first 2 minutes of our conversation. The general outline above should give them enough things to latch on to and ask you about to get a good conversation going.

 

[dorothyntoto]

My med school essay was not stellar, and I do not plan on using it.

Thanks for the help, that was the outline format that one of the sites I looked at recommended, so I'll keep working from that perspective.

 

[ThoracicGuy]

I've given the following breakdown before:

~5% have a compelling enough life story or other insight to make their PS stand out
~1-2% are compelling enough writers to make whatever otherwise bland experience they've had stand out (via their writing skill)
~66% (i.e. 2/3) have a pretty generic bland PS
~20% have a "unimpressive" PS - less than just generic. Somehow bad - either poorly written, with typos, or superficial seeming
The remaining 5-10 % have true disasters.

The disasters are the fun ones to read, though.

 

[sameas]

I am willing to volunteer some time to help. I have been a professional writer in health and medicine for 15 years--primarily, by helping doctors and scientists submit grant proposals and manuscripts for publication.

I have helped premeds develop personal statements and am adept at making the writing process less daunting. However, my approach is to teach and mentor. While I am willing to edit your work, ghostwriting isn't my thing.

If interested, PM me.

 

[dorothyntoto]

I am willing to volunteer some time to help. I have been a professional writer in health and medicine for 15 years--primarily, by helping doctors and scientists submit grant proposals and manuscripts for publication.

I have helped premeds develop personal statements and am adept at making the writing process less daunting. However, my approach is to teach and mentor. While I am willing to edit your work, ghostwriting isn't my thing.

If interested, PM me.

No, even if I suck, it's my suckage, not someone else's. I don't have others do my work for me!

Although with all the damn applications for auditions, I wish I COULD pay someone to do them! Only two schools use VSAS... every other one has separate applications!

 

[sameas]

I have a game that may help you write. Have a friend or spouse interview you as if you are a celebrity who just matched at your top choice. Use the "reporter's" notes as fodder for your essays. I interview people for articles and am amazed by the gems of quotable information they offer.

Sometimes people get stiff or freeze when they write. Talking an idea aloud may free up your creativity.

 

[the argus]

The best advice I ever received about writing your PS compared it to ice cream. The PD's advice was that your PS should be really good vanilla ice cream. Nothing fancy, nothing bold, just something very basic but done well.