Length of psychiatry personal statement

[axm028400]

Hi,
I'm in the process of creating a personal statement for my residency application, and have read in several books that generally psychiatry personal statements are longer than those applying for other fields. Is this true? About how long should my personal statement be? Thanks in advance!

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[OldPsychDoc]

Hi,
I'm in the process of creating a personal statement for my residency application, and have read in several books that generally psychiatry personal statements are longer than those applying for other fields. Is this true? About how long should my personal statement be? Thanks in advance!

Not true. 3-4 paragraphs is plenty.

 

[Manicsleep]

Having the ability to communicate in a manner that both effectively gives all the information and does so in a concise manner is a commendable thing. I can write from personal experience, more than a page starts to become annoying after a while.

 

[masterofmonkeys]

I felt like I had a lot to say...and also felt that I was able to do it within a page.

I think psych personal statements can often be short (and should be), particularly as it seems more than most in our field decided they were interested only during their clerkship...

 

[heyjack70]

Try to limit it to one page. I think this is plenty of room for a well thought out, descriptive, pithy picture of who you are, why you like psych, and where you see yourself going post residency. I do not think a fantastic personal statement will land you a residency spot or interview (correct me if I'm wrong), but a bad statement really could. I think most importantly you need good grammar and appropriate spelling. Reading through statements with poor punctuation and sentence fragments is like pulling teeth.

 

[notdeadyet]

I think psych personal statements can often be short (and should be), particularly as it seems more than most in our field decided they were interested only during their clerkship...

Even if you knew you were Psych-bound since you were weaned, you should be able to write a concise personal statement. The limiting factor is the format, not the sentiment attached. No one anywhere wants to read a 2 page cover letter for any job you apply for, regardless of your background.

 

[masterofmonkeys]

Even if you knew you were Psych-bound since you were weaned, you should be able to write a concise personal statement. The limiting factor is the format, not the sentiment attached. No one anywhere wants to read a 2 page cover letter for any job you apply for, regardless of your background.

Yeah, like I said, I had a lot to say and still did it in under a page. I knew I was headed for psych before I was old enough to drive, trained in a different discipline before I headed to med school, and was looking at primarily research track programs.

Your PS is a lot like a first date. You aren't trying to tell them your life story. In fact, doing so would just bore them. You're just trying to get them interested...and maybe a little horny. Wait. Maybe the analogy isn't so good. Also, I suck at dating, so on second thought don't listen to me.