Edited.

[pchemhbar]

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[GoSpursGo]

Where's the part about why you need an MD to do that?

Not that the background won't help, but most of the bioinformaticians I've worked with are PhDs. So while this can be a part of your personal statement, somewhere you need to address why you actually want to take care of patients.

 

[deleted1135362]

i talked about my research in my PS and let me tell you, dont do it (atleast not a lot). I did get a lot of interviews but they all turned into WL and my guess is because I talked too much about research and they were questioning why not PhD. I would stick to medicine and put a small paragrpah about research.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Well, as a physician I'd see where I'd like to apply that research based off clinical experience. Elsewhere in my PS, I do discuss my interest in patient care etc., which would be more direct to a standalone MD.
@GoSpursGo

But again--why do you have to be the bioinformatician AND the clinician? Those are both full-time jobs. Increasingly in biomedical research you need a team science approach where someone is in the lab or analyzing data, and someone else is collaborating and applying that research in taking care of patients. If your goal is REALLY to do hardcore bioinformatics research yourself, then you need to spend 80% of your time doing research and only ~20% clinical, and at that point why aren't you doing an MD/PhD?

I'm intentionally being a little overly critical, but I'm highlighting a classic problem that applicants can run into as brought up by @LetMeInPlease!! . Research can be great, but you have to be very explicit and draw a direct line showing how the experience you've obtained will help you do a better job of taking care of patients. If you get too far into the weeds of the research, or don't make the connection to patients clear, it's easy to rip these kinds of personal statements apart.

 

[LindaAccepted]

I discussed my research in my PS and wrote about how I hope to translate the skills I gained from performing computational biology, basic science research into medical informatics research. I'm hoping to apply MD only and was wondering whether it would be worthwhile to put a spotlight onto this aspiration of mine for future research goals.

Thank you!
@LizzyM

Does bio informatics and the research you did have anything to do with why you want to become a clinician who takes care of sick people or helps well people maintain their health?

 

[rmsm123]

What if we want to do clinical research along with seeing patients? Can we include a small paragraph about it in our PS?

 

[theoceanman]

What if we want to do clinical research along with seeing patients? Can we include a small paragraph about it in our PS?

For my own PS, as I did research for 3 years straight, I mentioned it lightly and what meaningful moments, lessons, or experiences I obtained from it, rather than focusing on the analytical and science-like portion of it. Your PS is a story about your journey into "why medicine" and research specifically does not really contribute much to it.

 

[GoSpursGo]

What if we want to do clinical research along with seeing patients? Can we include a small paragraph about it in our PS?

You CAN do whatever you want. But the point that I'm trying to impress upon everyone in this thread is that you need to bring things back to taking care of patients. Research shouldn't be something you're just doing "on the side" or "along with" seeing patients; if it is something you are talking about in your personal statement, it really needs to be something that you think will be an important part of your career that will enhance the care you provide to patients. It shouldn't just be part of your personal statement because you think it's what the research-focused schools want to read from you, because it it comes off as clunky or unrelated to your interest in medicine then you're going to run into trouble.

 

[LizzyM]

If you specifically want a career in academic medicine with a blend of clinical services, research and teaching (not always classes for a grade but often supervision of trainees or several lectures per year on you area of expertise) and you have the grades and scores that make it feasible to attend a school that prides itself in producing academic medicine specialists, then you can certainly address the type of research you wish to do and why that is attractive to you.

Schools that are not research powerhouses won't care very much and your involvement in research can be a turn-off because if is not relevant to their mission.

 

[deleted1135362]

Thanks! In this case, discussing research would be appealing to schools that have missions which directly mention research, while those that do not may just overlook this aspect of my PS? So, I should make my school list accordingly?

yes, but remember. even those schools can be turned off by how much research you talk about. make sure that its a very nice balance.

 

[deleted1135362]

sounds reasonable!