I love and want to pursue research, but do i need to include it in my PS?

[Meredith92]

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My original goal for my personal statement was to talk about my clinical and research experience and tie it together to describe how medicine is the right path for me... but i keep getting the feedback that my research section is too much "tell" and not enough "show." I just wrote a draft that seemed to flow much better, that just discussed two clinical experiences (well, one volunteering and one clinical). It just seemed to work better as a cohesive piece. But, I really want to portray that i love research, because that is a crucial part of why i want to go into medicine. do you think i can put that in my "meaningful activity" section in AMCAS, or should i make sure it goes in the personal statement?

As a side note, i feel like im going a bit crazy with this PS and all the advice im getting... some people want me to include more aspects of why i want to go into medicine/ write in a more strict essay format, and others want me to write a more cohesive story that demonstrates who i am (without explicitly saying i want to go into medicine)

I feel so stuck with this and ive been working on it for weeks🙁

 

[ventulus18]

My original goal for my personal statement was to talk about my clinical and research experience and tie it together to describe how medicine is the right path for me... but i keep getting the feedback that my research section is too much "tell" and not enough "show." I just wrote a draft that seemed to flow much better, that just discussed two clinical experiences (well, one volunteering and one clinical). It just seemed to work better as a cohesive piece. But, I really want to portray that i love research, because that is a crucial part of why i want to go into medicine. do you think i can put that in my "meaningful activity" section in AMCAS, or should i make sure it goes in the personal statement?

As a side note, i feel like im going a bit crazy with this PS and all the advice im getting... some people want me to include more aspects of why i want to go into medicine/ write in a more strict essay format, and others want me to write a more cohesive story that demonstrates who i am (without explicitly saying i want to go into medicine)

I feel so stuck with this and ive been working on it for weeks🙁

It's a great idea to include research in your PS to help bring it all together, especially if something that is driving you to medicine. Keep in mind though, highlighting research aspirations in your PS is a double edged sword. Some schools might not be looking for that in an applicant and you will end up alienating yourself (getting rejected). It depends on the school and on the person reading your essay.

 

[Lya]

PS can be very difficult to execute, so you are not alone!

Whether you include research in PS or not, in my opinion, you should put that as a meaningful activity regardless and describe further about its influence on you.

About your PS, I am not an expert on this but ideally you want to show who you are as well as why it makes sense that you want to go to medicine. So after someone reads your PS, he/she can say, "Aha, I think I got a sense of who you are and if I were you, I would have made the same decision to go into medicine because it makes sense!"

To do so, it might be useful if you go back a step further: Why did you decide to do research at the first place? What events did you have that led to your decision in getting the clinical experiences? Were you interested in something else prior to medicine? Were you a patient in some ways before you decide to do clinical activities? Just something to think about.

 

[Meredith92]

thanks for your help! And as a side note, i would really like to use the PS editors on SDN but i'm kind of nervous about it being anonymous and people copying it.. not sure its worth the risk!

 

[Lya]

thanks for your help! And as a side note, i would really like to use the PS editors on SDN but i'm kind of nervous about it being anonymous and people copying it.. not sure its worth the risk!

Some of them are already accepted to medical school, so I don't think being copied is an issue necessarily. If you want to stay anonymous, maybe you can change some names before you give it to a reader. Almost all readers, actually, are flooded with requests now, so it might be hard to grab a reader, but you can certainly try if interested! My PS has been edited by several readers on that list, and it's been improved noticeably.

 

[magicm]

When I applied (already accepted) I had to find the right balance between research and clinical. Its tricky but i find it odd if I read an application that heavy in research and they make no mention of it in their PS.

in terms of show Don't tell, explain your research in one line, kinda like when chatting over drinks at a conference, and then show me how this relates to your interest in medicine