Personal statement controversial topic (transgender stuff)?

[daylightfire]

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Hi psychiatrists. I'm a 3rd year MD student and recently came to the decision to go into psych. Since before starting med school, I always thought I would go into psych (majored in psychology in college). After scoring well on step 1, I started flirting with some more competitive specialties, but returned to psych with a vengeance after a major life event...

Toward the end of 2018, my fiance came out to me as transgender. I'll spare you most of the gory personal details, but we are staying together. This event has had a HUGE impact on who I am as a person and what my goals are in life/my career.

My question: is this topic appropriate to discuss in my personal statement? I understand that it is (unfortunately) sometimes considered a controversial topic. I'm also not sure if this kind of stuff, controversial or not, is TOO personal for a personal statement. Should I just stick to the standard shtick about my early interest in psych?

As an aside, for the weeks following my partner coming out, I was really suffering emotionally. Ironically, I was on my psych rotation at the time, and I decided to withdraw from the rotation because I was worried about my performance (I'm doing a lot better now, emotionally and performance-wise!). I will need to do the rotation at the beginning of my 4th year, which is obviously really late for applying into the field. Is this going to be a big issue when I apply?

I appreciate any advice you have! Thank you!

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

My guess is that there is progress towards acceptance of these things, but you will face a full range of responses. Some will see your experience as an asset and some may not. Generic advice would be to keep it simple and boring, on the other hand, you wouldn't want to train at a place that would not see this as an asset. I would also want to know what your withdraw will look like on your Dean's letter. If asked about why you withdrew, you will need an explanation and being vague isn't the best plan. If it isn't obvious in your Dean's letter, then you still have a decision to make. Although this is your relationship and support system, they are not hiring your fiancé. It could be argued that this isn't anyone's business. You will have to decide if "hiding" or "not hiding" this is a tenable long range plan for you. I guess what I'm saying poorly is that this decision is very dependent on you and your values in the context of your relationship that has evolved quickly recently. It is hard for anyone to answer this for you. Best of luck and good for you for going psych.

 

[daylightfire]

My guess is that there is progress towards acceptance of these things, but you will face a full range of responses. Some will see your experience as an asset and some may not. Generic advice would be to keep it simple and boring, on the other hand, you wouldn't want to train at a place that would not see this as an asset. I would also want to know what your withdraw will look like on your Dean's letter. If asked about why you withdrew, you will need an explanation and being vague isn't the best plan. If it isn't obvious in your Dean's letter, then you still have a decision to make. Although this is your relationship and support system, they are not hiring your fiancé. It could be argued that this isn't anyone's business. You will have to decide if "hiding" or "not hiding" this is a tenable long range plan for you. I guess what I'm saying poorly is that this decision is very dependent on you and your values in the context of your relationship that has evolved quickly recently. It is hard for anyone to answer this for you. Best of luck and good for you for going psych.

Thanks for your reply! I appreciate your thoughtful response.

My school actually does not have the details about the reason for my leave of absence. I just told them it was for a "family emergency"- would this be too vague to say in an interview?

You have a good point, I don't think I would want to be at a program where my partner or relationship are disrespected. But I also don't want to shoot myself in the foot for getting interviews at all. Do you know what is the general attitude towards the trans community in psychiatry? I'm guessing that psychiatry is generally on the progressive side, but I know program directors may be of an older generation.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

I think you are right, psychiatry tends to be progressive, but we have a very long way to go as well.
I think "family emergency" is vague, but at least it displaces it from you and will probably keep at least well behaved directors from pushing it any further. It may leave an unspoken "gee, I wish she would at least tell me who was sick or something." I think you can leave it alone and get a sense of the program and then make up your mind how to handle this once you get a healthy amount of invitations.

 

[whopper]

A personal statement doesn't need to be your lightening rod coming out as whatever. When it comes to mental health and psychology sometimes people go overboard with self-disclosure.

Here's an example. My wife is a professor of counseling. Quite a few times she had a paper assignment, e.g. "Explain similarities between Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Psychodynamic Therapy." The person will write something to the effect of..."Well I don't know but I do know this. I have a lot of symptoms of PTSD and I'm going to talk about them in my paper" and then the rest of the 10 page paper does nothing the assignment requested.

Her grade? Zero. The student didn't follow the directions and decided on her own to make the paper a therapy session. Quite inappropriately cause trust me my wife tells her students over and over she's not their therapist.

For whatever reason whenever mental health is discussed some people go overboard and see it as their opportunity to reveal their innermost demons.

Can bringing your issue up be an effective personal statement? Yes of course it can but do it if it does that. Don't do it otherwise.

 

[deleted480308]

It seems like it could become more of a self therapy declaration than an actual application.

 

[wolfvgang22]

There is no way I'd put this in a personal statement. It can only hurt you, not help you. Keep your personal statement about your career and academic interests.
Also, avoid disclosing it in interviews. If a program is in a conservative area or feels particularly conservative after speaking with them, do not rank it.

 

[Wilf]

There is no way I'd put this in a personal statement. It can only hurt you, not help you. Keep your personal statement about your career and academic interests.
Also, avoid disclosing it in interviews. If a program is in a conservative area or feels particularly conservative after speaking with them, do not rank it.

Agree with everyone that putting this in her personal statement is not a good idea. But it is not only conservatives who would be leery of taking such an applicant!

 

[Amygdarya]

Agree with everyone that putting this in her personal statement is not a good idea. But it is not only conservatives who would be leery of taking such an applicant!

Seriously, "leery"?
You are a conservative and speak for your ilk. There are psychiatry programs that are very supportive of LGBT community and residents.

To the OP: I think you already have your answer based on a couple of insensitive posts in this thread (the particularly insensitive and unnecessary one is from a medical student but reflects the range of human ignorance in general). It's a risky topic, and it's also too personal. I'll second the essence of MacDonaldTriad's advice: keep your personal statement boring and evaluate programs for progressiveness/LGBT friendliness as you interview. As usual, the safest bets are programs in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle (well, there's only UW there). Some programs have affiliations with clinics serving LGBT population and therefore provide a better training opportunity in this population for those interested. Mount Sinai in New York recently opened a first transgender psychiatry fellowship (just an FYI regarding psychiatry moving forward in general, with some places being closer to the front that others).

 

[splik]

judging by the responses, this is apparently more controversial than I would have imagined. In that case, I think it might depend how competitive an applicant you are. If you are a strong applicant then this is not going to harm you and will help you find the programs that will value your interests. My program for example would be very enthusiastic about an applicant who was interested in serving the trans community, and I have favorably interviewed cisgender applicants who have discussed having close transgender family members and how that has influenced them. Where I trained and where I'm on faculty we've also had TGNC residents before as well. It was not clear from your post if your personal experience has influenced your career trajectory specifically (for instance, do you have any specific interest in transgender mental health?) If that is the case, I would certainly mention it (assuming you aren't a marginal applicant). However if this is more "how my personal crises led me into therapy and the value of psychiatry" without being tied in to more specific career goals, that is going to be cliché and i would avoid it.

tl;dr personal statements have only a slight impact on the process. if you are a marginal applicant, something "different" might give another excuse to be rejected. if you are a strong applicant, it will help you choose programs that you will best fit in at, and may be received favorably.

 

[daylightfire]

Seriously, "leery"?
You are a conservative and speak for your ilk. There are psychiatry programs that are very supportive of LGBT community and residents.

To the OP: I think you already have your answer based on a couple of insensitive posts in this thread (the particularly insensitive and unnecessary one is from a medical student but reflects the range of human ignorance in general). It's a risky topic, and it's also too personal. I'll second the essence of MacDonaldTriad's advice: keep your personal statement boring and evaluate programs for progressiveness/LGBT friendliness as you interview. As usual, the safest bets are programs in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle (well, there's only UW there). Some programs have affiliations with clinics serving LGBT population and therefore provide a better training opportunity in this population for those interested. Mount Sinai in New York recently opened a first transgender psychiatry fellowship (just an FYI regarding psychiatry moving forward in general, with some places being closer to the front that others).

Yeah.. yikes 🙁 It looks like I’ll probably need to play it safe, based on the tone of the responses here. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[Wilf]

You are a conservative and speak for your ilk. There are psychiatry programs that are very supportive of LGBT community and residents.

Please do not assume my position on an issue based on the fact that overall I am a conservative. You are making yourself appear foolish.

The reason behind the advice proffered in this thread is not about being LGBT friendly or not. That should be obvious. It is about not appearing to be the type of person who is going to cause issues for a program. As has been stated correctly on these forums before, if a program can take a "safer" qualified applicant, they are likely going to do so.

 

[daylightfire]

judging by the responses, this is apparently more controversial than I would have imagined. In that case, I think it might depend how competitive an applicant you are. If you are a strong applicant then this is not going to harm you and will help you find the programs that will value your interests. My program for example would be very enthusiastic about an applicant who was interested in serving the trans community, and I have favorably interviewed cisgender applicants who have discussed having close transgender family members and how that has influenced them. Where I trained and where I'm on faculty we've also had TGNC residents before as well. It was not clear from your post if your personal experience has influenced your career trajectory specifically (for instance, do you have any specific interest in transgender mental health?) If that is the case, I would certainly mention it (assuming you aren't a marginal applicant). However if this is more "how my personal crises led me into therapy and the value of psychiatry" without being tied in to more specific career goals, that is going to be cliché and i would avoid it.

tl;dr personal statements have only a slight impact on the process. if you are a marginal applicant, something "different" might give another excuse to be rejected. if you are a strong applicant, it will help you choose programs that you will best fit in at, and may be received favorably.

Thanks! I am disappointed but not surprised that this is controversial.

To clarify: I am indeed interested in serving the trans/LGBT community, especially youth. It is not my intention to write yet another “tale of woe”/personal crisis essay. While it WAS a personal crisis, what I’m interested in writing about is how it refocused my career interests, drawing me back to a specialty that I was already interested in.

I’m not sure how strong of an applicant I am, since I’ve heard psych is so competitive these days. I got a 240 on step 1 and so far all High Pass on my clerkships. Research in a surgical specialty but no publications. Does that put me in a safe enough position to have a controversial essay?

 

[Old&InTheWay]

On paper you are a very strong applicant. Why not try writing your statement the way you envisioned it? Then show it to many people and ask for their honest feedback. If you are a good writer and can compose a compelling and authentic statement, you may be able to pull it off. Theres no risk in giving it a shot.

That said, if you are a good writer you'll be able to write a compelling statement without mentioning your partner. You can still talk about it at interview day even if you choose not put it in your personal statement. I would personally probably play it safe to get my foot in the door, then feel out the situation/people on interview day.

 

[finalpsychyear]

People should realize that everything you write in your application or divulge is basically being used to perform a type of risk analysis on you. Most programs would not want someone with mental health issues themselves, morally controversial behavior, or any situation that might make them unstable.

 

[deleted736562]

From what you're writing this sounds too fresh and people may have, perhaps unjustly, concerns that your decision to go to psychiatry is too rash and emotional. Frankly I'd keep anything deeply personal outside the PS; do you really want strangers you've never met in your business? (this thread is evidence of the kind of response you might get...) But that's just my take on those things.

 

[Merely]

Seriously, "leery"?
You are a conservative and speak for your ilk. There are psychiatry programs that are very supportive of LGBT community and residents.

To the OP: I think you already have your answer based on a couple of insensitive posts in this thread (the particularly insensitive and unnecessary one is from a medical student but reflects the range of human ignorance in general). It's a risky topic, and it's also too personal. I'll second the essence of MacDonaldTriad's advice: keep your personal statement boring and evaluate programs for progressiveness/LGBT friendliness as you interview. As usual, the safest bets are programs in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle (well, there's only UW there). Some programs have affiliations with clinics serving LGBT population and therefore provide a better training opportunity in this population for those interested. Mount Sinai in New York recently opened a first transgender psychiatry fellowship (just an FYI regarding psychiatry moving forward in general, with some places being closer to the front that others).

lol med student almost intern at top 20 place in 2 months...if you think that's so insensitive get off the internet...

 

[clausewitz2]

lol med student almost intern at top 20 place in 2 months...if you think that's so insensitive get off the internet...

What do you feel you are contributing right now with this post?

 

[Merely]

What do you feel you are contributing right now with this post?

I'm making a very important point by clarifying that I will become a psychiatrist out of a top program in the US. I made the comment which he found extremely offensive (lol). This means that there are going to be people like me at all programs from bottom to top if I was able to make a top program. This helps the OP understand that people with very differing (and potentially offensive) viewpoints are going to be looking at her application so she should be as conservative as possible if she's trying to target a broad range of programs.

 

[SmallBird]

Hi psychiatrists. I'm a 3rd year MD student and recently came to the decision to go into psych. Since before starting med school, I always thought I would go into psych (majored in psychology in college). After scoring well on step 1, I started flirting with some more competitive specialties, but returned to psych with a vengeance after a major life event...

Toward the end of 2018, my fiance came out to me as transgender. I'll spare you most of the gory personal details, but we are staying together. This event has had a HUGE impact on who I am as a person and what my goals are in life/my career.

My question: is this topic appropriate to discuss in my personal statement? I understand that it is (unfortunately) sometimes considered a controversial topic. I'm also not sure if this kind of stuff, controversial or not, is TOO personal for a personal statement. Should I just stick to the standard shtick about my early interest in psych?

As an aside, for the weeks following my partner coming out, I was really suffering emotionally. Ironically, I was on my psych rotation at the time, and I decided to withdraw from the rotation because I was worried about my performance (I'm doing a lot better now, emotionally and performance-wise!). I will need to do the rotation at the beginning of my 4th year, which is obviously really late for applying into the field. Is this going to be a big issue when I apply?

I appreciate any advice you have! Thank you!

If you apply at Brown, we would be honored to hear about your experience, and even more excited that it has moved you to want to support this group of minoritized patients. If you decide to not include it in your personal statement, I hope you will find another way to share it.

 

[clausewitz2]

I'm making a very important point by clarifying that I will become a psychiatrist out of a top program in the US. I made the comment which he found extremely offensive (lol). This means that there are going to be people like me at all programs from bottom to top if I was able to make a top program. This helps the OP understand that people with very differing (and potentially offensive) viewpoints are going to be looking at her application so she should be as conservative as possible if she's trying to target a broad range of programs.

See that post just now is something that can be reasonably described as a constructive comment. Nobody at top places is thinking in terms of "top 20 program", that is not a very useful or consistent category. It is a little like medical students who boast about going to a "top 50" medical school - it doesn't really mean anything. Your program is probably fine but it is not an especially impressive brag.

 

[clausewitz2]

Hi psychiatrists. I'm a 3rd year MD student and recently came to the decision to go into psych. Since before starting med school, I always thought I would go into psych (majored in psychology in college). After scoring well on step 1, I started flirting with some more competitive specialties, but returned to psych with a vengeance after a major life event...

Toward the end of 2018, my fiance came out to me as transgender. I'll spare you most of the gory personal details, but we are staying together. This event has had a HUGE impact on who I am as a person and what my goals are in life/my career.

My question: is this topic appropriate to discuss in my personal statement? I understand that it is (unfortunately) sometimes considered a controversial topic. I'm also not sure if this kind of stuff, controversial or not, is TOO personal for a personal statement. Should I just stick to the standard shtick about my early interest in psych?

As an aside, for the weeks following my partner coming out, I was really suffering emotionally. Ironically, I was on my psych rotation at the time, and I decided to withdraw from the rotation because I was worried about my performance (I'm doing a lot better now, emotionally and performance-wise!). I will need to do the rotation at the beginning of my 4th year, which is obviously really late for applying into the field. Is this going to be a big issue when I apply?

I appreciate any advice you have! Thank you!

We don't have any out trans people in our resident classes at the moment but from an LBGTQ perspective we have many faculty who openly identify this way and are actively involved in the issue of meeting the health needs of LBGTQ communities.

I think it is true that you need to make sure the statement does not make it sound like you were totally going to be a surgeon until this happened because it might seem like you are pursuing this as a way of sorting yourself out rather than out of genuine interest. Avoid that, however, and I imagine it would go down well at our shop. Splik is right about this being a good maneuver if you are a strong applicant and a definite gamble if you are not.

One way to mitigate is making it clear why this will never lead to you needing to take leave again. You want to assuage any fears that you will be someone who doesn't show up.

 

[esob]

A friendly reminder to keep things on track and not disparage other members for their views, particularly when they were solicited by the OP.

 

[birchswing]

When I go to a doctor, I sometimes remind myself that a guy I went to high school with who tried to run people off the road for fun and would laugh maniacally about it is now a well respected anesthesiologist. He was really smart and I'm sure he has a lot of accolades and I know he went to a good school, but there was no test that screened for humanity.

 

[bashir]

I'm not going to offer an opinion on whether you should discuss it in your personal statement. I just want to say that I'm glad you're choosing psychiatry and I'm confident your experiences will help you to connect with transgender patients and their families. That connection can make all the difference in the world in terms of one's ability to provide high quality psychiatric care to this underserved population.

 

[daylightfire]

If you apply at Brown, we would be honored to hear about your experience, and even more excited that it has moved you to want to support this group of minoritized patients. If you decide to not include it in your personal statement, I hope you will find another way to share it.

Wow. Thank you so much. Your comment touched me so much I didn’t know how to reply. I was starting to feel really disheartened, like I might have to hide this part of my life to seem “professional” enough to secure a residency position. I’m still not sure, but you’ve given me a real glimmer of optimism. Thank you.

I know you can only really speak for your program, but do you think others might feel the same way?

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

The good news is that I'm sure others feel the same way. The bad news is that they are probably still in the minority.

 

[Wilf]

The good news is that I'm sure others feel the same way. The bad news is that they are probably still in the minority.

We get it; you and smallbird and amygdarya are so accepting and tolerant and really just amazing people.
But you all miss the whole point.
Someone's gender identity or their sexual preference should be personal and not a subject to be discussed in the professional setting.
How would a PD react to a man writing a personal statement talking about how much they identify as a man? How would they react if a woman wrote a personal statement about how they prefer men as sexual partners?
LGBT issues stopped being a republican vs. democrat issue years ago. It was a conservative Supreme Court that made gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Seriously, time to move on.

 

[siliso]

I don’t know that outing your partner in your personal statement would necessarily be viewed positively even by people who are fully transgender affirming. Unless it’s somehow really key to why you think you’re a good candidate for psychiatry and you don’t have a whole lot else to discuss (which would probably be a bad thing, unless it’s central to your clinical/research/advocacy interests, in which case you could discuss those without outing your partner) I’d avoid the topic.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

We get it; you and smallbird and amygdarya are so accepting and tolerant and really just amazing people.
But you all miss the whole point.
Someone's gender identity or their sexual preference should be personal and not a subject to be discussed in the professional setting.
How would a PD react to a man writing a personal statement talking about how much they identify as a man? How would they react if a woman wrote a personal statement about how they prefer men as sexual partners?
LGBT issues stopped being a republican vs. democrat issue years ago. It was a conservative Supreme Court that made gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Seriously, time to move on.

You conflated my point. The bad news is that most programs are not as active in promoting mental health care for this minority as much as Brown. I didn't say anything about anyone discuss their sexual preference in a professional setting. You may think it is time to move on, but this minority probably has the strongest argument for the civil rights movement to continue.

 

[Evidence Based]

Wow. Thank you so much. Your comment touched me so much I didn’t know how to reply. I was starting to feel really disheartened, like I might have to hide this part of my life to seem “professional” enough to secure a residency position. I’m still not sure, but you’ve given me a real glimmer of optimism. Thank you.

I know you can only really speak for your program, but do you think others might feel the same way?

Late to the party here, but I'm also at a program where having a personal stake in mental health for LGBT folks would be looked on very positively and help your application. I see zero problem in disclosing this as long as you fit it into a longer narrative about your interests and academic background, which given your longer standing interest in LGBT health seems extremely easy to do. If you want to be a little vaguer, you could simply say "a member of my family came out as transgender during medical school" or something like that, which would allow you to talk more about it in interviews but would allow you to be vaguer if it seemed like the program you were interviewing at was less affirming.
If this is something that's really important to you, it makes sense to target programs that will be more accepting of this. I don't think the reaction on this thread is representative of the real world.

 

[notdeadyet]

Daylightfire-

Although not phrased this way, I think your question sort of breaks down into two questions in my mind:

- Can I broach topics of LGBTQI in my personal statement?
- How personal should my personal statement be?

For the FIRST point, I think it’s pretty clear in my mind: if LGBTQI health is a personal passion of yours, I say most definitely make it a predominant focus of your personal statement. This is true regardless whether your interests are related to caring for an underserved/maligned patient group, advocacy, or specific clinical issues.

How will it be received by the AdCom’s at a particular program? For most, I think the reaction will be “how will this interest be developed at our program?” For programs with strong LGBTQI populations and services, it will be a natural. For programs without, they’ll likely acknowledge it’s a weakness in their program and (if smart) focus part of the interview to determine if you’re looking for hand-holding-leadership or if you’re willing to develop and create with their support. At a minority of programs, things like LGBTQI may be viewed as controversial. I’d stress that this will be a MINORITY of programs, and they should be avoided (LGBTQI psych isn’t my bag, and I’d avoid programs like those like the plague on general principle).

For the SECOND question (that I realize you didn’t really ask), I bring it up based on the reaction you’re getting. A personal statement at most places, as several folks have alluded to, not viewed as a very important feature. It’s often thought of as helping candidates 5% of the time, hurting them 5% of the time, and having no impact 90% of the time. Given these odds, unless your story is mind-blowingly amazing, may folks will opt for playing it safe.

But do keep in mind that for many folks reading applications, the personal statement is the residency application equivalent of the job interview question, “tell me about your biggest weaknesses.” The answer is less important than the phrasing, and no one is really expecting total honesty (“alcohol,” “authority,” etc.) and can be taken aback when it presents in a personal statement too.

For me, personally, I am looking at how your life led you to this point. Your interests and suitability for psychiatry are likely not the result of a relationship to a loved one over the past year or so. If your PS comes across that way, it may send some antennas wiggling, as a single events aren’t likely to inspire a career’s worth of passion (they can, but residencies play the odds).

So in short: bring it up if you want, but don’t make it the sole focus of your application. If you’re going to be a great psychiatrist, it’s likely due to a lot more factors than your relationship with your romantic partner. Be sure it doens’t overshadow the rest of your life experience (particularly since it’s so relatively fresh).

Also, just for disclosure sake: I focused my PS on what is a more typically conservative interest area (veteran’s health) alongside an application that screams conservative (white presumably straight cis-gender older dude who served in the military himself) with high hopes to match at one of the most competitive and liberal programs in the country. Where I did. And am now on the faculty. And where I give advice to my medical students the same as I’ll give you to you: write with your heart, but be smart about it, and choose readers whose opinions you trust and then listen to them even if the feedback isn’t what you want to hear.

Good luck. Your particular cause doesn’t need more defense, just more defenders.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I don’t know that outing your partner in your personal statement would necessarily be viewed positively even by people who are fully transgender affirming. Unless it’s somehow really key to why you think you’re a good candidate for psychiatry and you don’t have a whole lot else to discuss (which would probably be a bad thing, unless it’s central to your clinical/research/advocacy interests, in which case you could discuss those without outing your partner) I’d avoid the topic.

This was the main issue that concerned me--your personal statement should not be outing someone else!
Agree with writing a draft, getting feedback, and writing again.