Is it ok to be specialty specific in personal statement?

[reaction mechanisms]

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I know there’s a common theme on SDN to berate premeds for prematurely claiming a specialty but...

Women’s health is what drew me into medicine. I spent time working in an OB/GYN Clinic and have observed delicate moments between patients and their doctors during times of miscarriages, etc. These stories are what inspires me. Furthermore, a huge part of my volunteer service at the hospital is helping to discharge new mothers and their infants. Helping women to bring life into this world is what drives me. I want to empower and educate women to take control of their health and live their best lives.

I have experience in other specialties such as neurology and pediatrics as well which I plan to mention.

So..

1. Is it appropriate to have my personal statement more geared toward my passion for women’s health?

2. I’m also a mother and feel that my journey through motherhood has further pushed me toward women’s health. Should I include this or should I steer away from mentioning that I’m a mother in case (for whatever asinine reason) adcoms would view this negatively?

Thanks.




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[sss1219]

Usually it's discouraged because applicants often have little exposure to a field and yet magically know it's their calling

If you want to include it I would state your interest but transition it with something along the lines of "while I plan to keep an open mind throughout my education, I feel empowered by my experiences working in x y and z positions and therefore could see myself...."

Remember that having compelling reasons for pursuing medicine =/= having reasons for being committed to a single specialty, and it is more important that you transmit your thoughts on the prior throughout your PS 🙂

EDIT: Did not read the last line. It would be appropriate to talk about your passion for womens' health, but I would link it more to how it has lead to you wanting to pursue medicine as a whole rather than wanting to pursue this and only this specialty

 

[reaction mechanisms]

Usually it's discouraged because applicants often have little exposure to a field and yet magically know it's their calling

If you want to include it I would state your interest but transition it with something along the lines of "while I plan to keep an open mind throughout my education, I feel empowered by my experiences working in x y and z positions and therefore could see myself...."

Remember that having compelling reasons for pursuing medicine =/= having reasons for being committed to a single specialty, and it is more important that you transmit your thoughts on the prior throughout your PS 🙂

EDIT: Did not read the last line. It would be appropriate to talk about your passion for womens' health, but I would link it more to how it has lead to you wanting to pursue medicine as a whole rather than wanting to pursue this and only this specialty

Great advice. Thank you.

 

[Goro]

I know there’s a common theme on SDN to berate premeds for prematurely claiming a specialty but...

Women’s health is what drew me into medicine. I spent time working in an OB/GYN Clinic and have observed delicate moments between patients and their doctors during times of miscarriages, etc. These stories are what inspires me. Furthermore, a huge part of my volunteer service at the hospital is helping to discharge new mothers and their infants. Helping women to bring life into this world is what drives me. I want to empower and educate women to take control of their health and live their best lives.

I have experience in other specialties such as neurology and pediatrics as well which I plan to mention.

So..

1. Is it appropriate to have my personal statement more geared toward my passion for women’s health?

2. I’m also a mother and feel that my journey through motherhood has further pushed me toward women’s health. Should I include this or should I steer away from mentioning that I’m a mother in case (for whatever asinine reason) adcoms would view this negatively?

Thanks.




Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

This is perfectly fine. What I recommend against is mentioning strong interest in a speciality that one has no exposure to, which suggests a starry-eyed notion. ie, if you've never shadowed a surgeon, and have never seen one live (seeing one of TV doesn't count), then you have no idea what you're getting into.

 

[LizzyM]

Interests in pediatrics, geriatrics and women's reproductive health are pretty common and tend not to cause consternation among adcoms AFAIK. Derm and Orthopaedics, not so much.

Just be prepared for questions about alternative career paths such as nurse-midwife, doula, etc. Also reflect on what you'd be happy doing in medicine if you get through your OB-GYN clerkship and discover you absolutely hate that specialty (I've seen it happen).

 

[reaction mechanisms]

Interests in pediatrics, geriatrics and women's reproductive health are pretty common and tend not to cause consternation among adcoms AFAIK. Derm and Orthopaedics, not so much.

Just be prepared for questions about alternative career paths such as nurse-midwife, doula, etc. Also reflect on what you'd be happy doing in medicine if you get through your OB-GYN clerkship and discover you absolutely hate that specialty (I've seen it happen).

The bolded is reassuring. Thank you.

I actually worked as a volunteer doula and quickly discovered I wasn't fulfilled with it. As for the midwife route, I have considered that and turned it down as well. I don't want to be limited to what a midwife is allowed to do. I like the idea of being able to rotate between clinic, on call at the hospital, and surgical as such an obstetrician/gynecologist does. Lastly, I have reflected on the possibility of not being pleased with Ob/Gyn once I truly experience it, and have considered other routes such as pathology.

 

[Ladybug_95]

...sorry wrong thread!

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

Interests in pediatrics, geriatrics and women's reproductive health are pretty common and tend not to cause consternation among adcoms AFAIK. Derm and Orthopaedics, not so much.

Just be prepared for questions about alternative career paths such as nurse-midwife, doula, etc. Also reflect on what you'd be happy doing in medicine if you get through your OB-GYN clerkship and discover you absolutely hate that specialty (I've seen it happen).

What's wrong with Derm and Ortho? 🙁

 

[freedoctor17]

What's wrong with Derm and Ortho? 🙁

I think she's just saying don't talk about wanting to specialize in these in your personal statement when you have no experience in actually doing it yourself.

 

[longhaul3]

What's wrong with Derm and Ortho? 🙁

They are too hard to get into for one to reasonably base one's whole medical aspirations on. Additionally the fact itself that they are prestigious and lucrative draws attention to them "for the wrong reasons" if you will. No one who wants to go into peds from the start wants to do so for the prestige and riches.

 

[TypeADissection]

There's nothing wrong with wanting to pursue a specific specialty. It is important though to still keep an open mind about everything. I knew surgery was for me before I even started and that never wavered, but I still had enough respect for each specialty to commit myself for 4-8 weeks to learn and appreciate what each one had to offer. Nothing irks me more now than when a student comes through and has an "I don't give a ****" attitude, as if there is nothing they could possibly learn about diagnosing, managing and treating sick patients.

Conversely, we just had a string of students come through, all wanting to do something other than surgery, who were absolute rock stars. They showed up, read for each case/patient and worked hard. In return, I let them do more in the OR, not because they're going to take out appys/gallbladders one day but because being a professional is important. If they're working this hard in something they're never going to do again, I know they'll work just as hard if not harder in their future chosen specialty. Lazy is lazy is lazy, regardless of the field. Cheers.

 

[calivianya]

I was very specialty specific in my personal statement. I got comments from a couple different interviewers about it; they mostly said it worked for me because I have four years of full time work experience in that specialty.

If you have significant experience in that specialty, which you do, it will turn out fine.

 

[ciestar]

I think this is something in a PS you can use. It isnt necessarily specialty specific, but more population specific. You can definitely have a passion for women's health and have ECs to back it up. Im nearly certain one of my classmates did just this.

So, definitely apply to Drexel. Lol

 

[infectiousdisease101]

You can make your personal statement about women's health, but you do not need to mention any specialty. I love kids, but I ended up not needing to talk about pediatrics in my personal statement. There is not even a hint of pediatrics in my personal statement apart from kids.

 

[Goro]

I think she's just saying don't talk about wanting to specialize in these in your personal statement when you have no experience in actually doing it yourself.

Bingo! !!!!!