Mentioning beliefs in my PS

[osumc2014]

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I know this will trigger lots of opinions but I am looking for an honest answer. I want to mention my religious beliefs in my personal statement because it's such a large part of my life this past year. I know that it might not be wise to do so, but to leave it out would almost seem insincere and lying about who I am. I was wondering if anyone had/or is planning to do this in their PS and what do you think about it?

 

[AdemTD]

I know this will trigger lots of opinions but I am looking for an honest answer. I want to mention my religious beliefs in my personal statement because it's such a large part of my life this past year. I know that it might not be wise to do so, but to leave it out would almost seem insincere and lying about who I am. I was wondering if anyone had/or is planning to do this in their PS and what do you think about it?

I left all personal beliefs out of my PS. You never know who is going to read it and it would be a shame to get a rejection based on your beliefs, but it happens.

 

[BlueElmo]

I heard it's best to refrain from mentioning your political or religious beliefs in your application. See what others say.

 

[Dr Lyss]

If it's a big part of who you are and you can connect it to your desire to be a physician, I don't see anything wrong with it. I didn't do it, but I know many people who did and they didn't have any problems with it.


There is a tasteful way of mentioning your religious beliefs, especially if it is an important part of what makes you you and what inspires you. Good luck

 

[tiedyeddog]

I wouldn't.... You never know who will read it and this is by far not a fair process....

 

[KeyzerSoze]

The PS prompt specifically asks about your motivation to attend medical school and practice medicine. You don't need to mention everything which is important in your life. If your religious beliefs are an important part of your motivation, maybe you could mention it if you are careful about how you say it.

 

[Mattabet]

I'm not sure that you can write a PS without mentioning beliefs. If you're not talking about things you believe in, then what are you going to write about?

With religious beliefs, you can absolutely mention them and how they affect your life, but do so carefully. Avoid things that might put off those who don't think the same way you do, and avoid anything that approaches zealotry for any cause, religious or not.

The personal statement is about who you are. If your religious beliefs influence that, by all means mention them. Basing the whole essay around them would be riskier, but you can absolutely talk about how your beliefs influence you.

 

[sleepy425]

I know this will trigger lots of opinions but I am looking for an honest answer. I want to mention my religious beliefs in my personal statement because it's such a large part of my life this past year. I know that it might not be wise to do so, but to leave it out would almost seem insincere and lying about who I am. I was wondering if anyone had/or is planning to do this in their PS and what do you think about it?

Remember, the personal statement is supposed to the answer to the prompt, which is, why do you want to go to medical school. It's not, tell us about yourself, or about who you are. Your goal in an application essay is to answer the question you've been asked. After someone reads the essay, they should be able to say, "Oh, why does osumc want to go into medicine? Because of A, B, and C." If your personal statement accomplishes that, good. They are asking you why you have chosen this career. Obviously, if, through your church/mosque/synagogue/etc. you did something (like volunteering at a church-sponsored clinic or something) that influenced your decision to pursue a career in medicine, then great, put it down and it wouldn't hurt you to say, "when I did blah blah blah through my church...." But I can't imagine a situation where your religious beliefs would be of significant relevance to someone reviewing your application.

Keep it simple! Answer the question in a straightforward way and you'll be fine.

 

[Depakote]

I'd look at it this way.

If it's honestly part of the answer to "why medicine?" and you wouldn't feel comfortable attending a school that would reject you for putting it in there, then go ahead and put it in.

If it's extraneous information that you're including that isn't relevant to your pursuit of medicine, but more a reflection your personality, leave it out.


If you do decide to include it, I would be sure to have your PS proofread by several to make sure that you're conveying your point in a means that accurately represents how you feel. Being too over-the-top with these things can be a bit off-putting on first impression.

 

[sleepy425]

The personal statement is about who you are.

NO, it's NOT. It's about why you are pursuing a career in medicine. It's as simple as that.

 

[majahops]

Here's my advice, and the approach I took when I wrote my personal statement...

As you right your PS, do so with the following scenario in your mind:

A small admissions committee at your #1-choice school is sitting at a round table, passing around your personal statement for each to read. Among the members of this small group are the following 5 people:

1) A very religious Christian physician.
2) An inorganic chemistry professor who is still bitter that he/she didn't get into medical school 35 years ago. He/she is looking to advocate for those applicants who show the most interest in learning and mastering the hard sciences in medicine and doesn't care much for the "touchy-feelie" altruistic premed.
3) An African-American studies professor.
4) An extremely liberal physician who spends a great deal of his/her time promoting womens' reproductive rights.
5) The dean of admissions who just lost his/her child to leukemia and had to deal with an uncompassionate oncologist and has recently become much more interested in ensuring that more compassionate, sociable and humanistic physicians are produced.

Now. Write your essay with the goal of positively impressing all 5 of these people, while avoiding offending or turning off any of them. Of course, you won't be able to do both perfectly, but I think it's a healthy goal that will leave you with a well balanced, overall favorable PS.

... but that's just my two cents. Hope it helps guide you in the right direction! Best of luck!

 

[Stixman28]

NO, it's NOT. It's about why you are pursuing a career in medicine. It's as simple as that.

Well, I don't think it's as simple as anything. Obviously, you are trying to give the ad coms a taste of who you are while answering the question. There is no uniform way of doing that.

I read many PS's where folks talked about church sponsored medical and non medical mission trips. You can do it very tastefully, and without offending anyone. I am not easily offended, but I am easily bored by religion, and I never read a PS that really threw me off bc of the way they spoke of their religiously affiliated experiences.

 

[iheartsnow]

I say write about whatever led you to medicine. If that includes religion, then so be it. I had a similar problem when I wrote my statement and people told me to keep all politically charged material out. The problem was, much of my motivation to enter medicine was/is related to womens reproductive rights. So, if I kept that out of the PS, it wouldn't really represent me and I think the statement would be lacking because my motivations would be unclear. In the end, I included it, but did so in a very tactful/non-preachy way. A few of my interviewers commented that it was "risky" but effective. In the end, I got plenty of interviews.

 

[sleepy425]

Well, I don't think it's as simple as anything. Obviously, you are trying to give the ad coms a taste of who you are while answering the question. There is no uniform way of doing that.

I read many PS's where folks talked about church sponsored medical and non medical mission trips. You can do it very tastefully, and without offending anyone. I am not easily offended, but I am easily bored by religion, and I never read a PS that really threw me off bc of the way they spoke of their religiously affiliated experiences.

Yeah, I mentioned in my other post that if it's a church affiliated experience, it's fine as long as it's relevant to answering the question.

 

[Dr Lyss]

NO, it's NOT. It's about why you are pursuing a career in medicine. It's as simple as that.

that's the FOCUS of the PS, but in order to properly explain that you need to discuss your motivation.


If you simply answer the question and show NO personality or flavor of who you are, then a) you have a boring PS and b) no adcom is going to want to get to know more about you and invite you for an interview

Yes, the PS is about answering the question why medicine? But they want to know who you are and what makes you tick and what drives you towards a career in medicine. If your religious or political beliefs are an essential part of that answer, then you would be silly not to include it (as long as it is tastefully done).

 

[Mattabet]

that's the FOCUS of the PS, but in order to properly explain that you need to discuss your motivation.


If you simply answer the question and show NO personality or flavor of who you are, then a) you have a boring PS and b) no adcom is going to want to get to know more about you and invite you for an interview

Yes, the PS is about answering the question why medicine? But they want to know who you are and what makes you tick and what drives you towards a career in medicine. If your religious or political beliefs are an essential part of that answer, then you would be silly not to include it (as long as it is tastefully done).

👍 Agree. The prompt is to explain why you are pursuing medicine, and to explain it effectively you need to talk about you. If they wanted a bulleted list of fact statements about motivations; they'd ask for it. But it's your personal statement. 'Person' is built right in, the good ones express some individuality.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I know this will trigger lots of opinions but I am looking for an honest answer. I want to mention my religious beliefs in my personal statement because it's such a large part of my life this past year. I know that it might not be wise to do so, but to leave it out would almost seem insincere and lying about who I am. I was wondering if anyone had/or is planning to do this in their PS and what do you think about it?

There is nothing wrong with mentioning your spiritual beliefs. If you have a strong belief in a Higher Power and that has influenced your decision to go into medicine, I think that's honest and perfectly appropriate to discuss. No one will be offended, especially if it's obvious that you're speaking in your most authentic voice.

What will get you into trouble are statements that involve sectarian religious beliefs. If you're going to talk about how Jesus saved you when you were baptised in the river at age 10 - well, you're perfectly within your rights, but you're going to turn a lot of people off - not because they're bigots, but because they're just not interested in Christian themes.

There is a lot of religious diversity in this country, but you will find a good deal more diversity in medicine. Remember that at least 25% of all practicing physicians in this country are foreign-born. Some of the most loving and spiritual physicians that I know are Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. These physicians will respect and honor your spirituality as you apply it to patient care... they will find dogmatic religiosity tiresome...