Personal statement advice

[rd31]

So what makes a good personal statement for GI fellowship applications? (For someone interested in academic programs.)

My personal statement for residency was more like an essay where I connected my love of a particular piece of classical music and related it to what I loved about medicine. I got overwhelmingly positive feedback on it and it was a topic of conversation at most interviews.

But for fellowship, my understanding is that the PS should be more straightforward and deliberate and less artsy fartsy. Thoughts?

Also, I'm interested in IBD primarily because I'm an IBD patient myself and I've grown up with the disease. Is this worth focusing on? I've received mixed advice from mentors, some say absolutely I should include that while others say absolutely not since I wouldn't want programs to think I'll be getting sick frequently during fellowship (even though my disease is very well controlled).

Thanks in advance!

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[Gastrapathy]

I would recommend against telling programs you have IBD for the reason you stated.

Personal statements aren't that important. I guess a really well written one about music would be fun to read but I wouldn't sweat it too much.

 

[JLC]

I would recommend against telling programs you have IBD for the reason you stated.

Personal statements aren't that important. I guess a really well written one about music would be fun to read but I wouldn't sweat it too much.

Agree with Gastrapathy, at the end of the day, the PS is not likely to really help, but a poorly written one could be harmful. At the same time, it is the only personal information programs have of you, so I think in all fairness if you think having IBD is the primary source of your inspiration to care for IBD patients, if a program is going to hold that against you would you really care if that program didn't offer you an interview.

 

[IM2GI]

My personal bias is that personal statements, generally speaking, can only hurt you and not really help you.

Talk a little about yourself, "why GI", sneak in your interests and tie it into your research.

While your well-controlled UC on 5-ASA is great, I agree it is probably too risky. In the real world it will help your rapport with your IBD patient's, but programs might shy away.

 

[gutonc]

Copy your IM PS and take out all the hippy-dippy crap about treating the whole patient and put in a bunch of stuff about scoping and you're done.

 

[nmfms]

The main purpose of your PS should be to describe your career goals and why program X is the place to get you there. If you can weave in personal anecdotes/interests (IBD, music, etc) in that overall theme without getting "cute", I think it leads to interesting conversations, especially among faculty who share similar interests/experiences.

Also, contrary to what others here are saying.... I know in general PS are thought to "can't help, can only hurt...", but its a mistake to think they don't get read. If a certain faculty member gets 15 apps to read and can only recommend 2 or 3 for interviews, maybe a non-generic PS is the thing that gets you an IV? Send it to all your letter writers for feedback, but be yourself.

 

[Hepatastic]

I agree with gutonc and would use your PS from IM app and somehow include your particular interest in IBD (so that you can talk about it during interviews) without mentioning your personal IBD experience.

 

[CMBSimmer]

Future GI fellow here, starting in July. I was in a similar quandary as you regarding my own history of IBD and how to involve it in my essay. Ultimately my experience with IBD is what led me into medicine and GI in the first place and I said as much in my essay. On the interview trail, I received great feedback regarding my essay, how my experiences shaped my career, and how I will be motivated to do research in the future. The other thing was that it made the topic available for us to discuss freely and openly during the interview. (Just something to consider).
-CMB