Personal statement for IM?

[friedcfood]

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Is there any advantage to write a personal statement that gears towards being a general hospitalist or subspecialist? Do DP's want a certain number of residents to do general medicine rather then subspecializing?


Thanks peeps!🙂

 

[werewethere]

I think it depends on the program you are applying to. In general, PDs like people who has a good sense of where they want to be after their training. It makes it less likely that they will "discover" that IM, or whichever other field you matched, is not what you wanted during residency. It also gives you something to talk about during interviews. However, keep in mind that different programs are looking for different people based on what their goals are. If you apply to a great, research driven program and tell them you want to be hospitalist, they will likely say "Great, but that's not who we train here." On the other hand, a fine community program might view your goal of being a generalist or hospitalist with much more interest. So, tailor your message for the programs that are most interesting to you, and make sure to apply to those that fit your needs best, not just based on perceived reputation, rank, or even location. Good luck!

 

[NotAProgDirector]

"No" is the easy answer.

As a PD, it really doesn't matter to me how many residents go into fellowships, hospitalist, or GIM. The top programs want people to go into all of these. Those programs that are more research intensive will encourage you to do research in those fields, all of which is available.

I disagree with werewethere -- I'd rather have residents who have no idea what they want to do. The most unhappy residents I have are those that are "sure" they know what they want to do, spin their entire residency towards that goal, and then figure out it's not what they wanted (usually after matching into a fellowship). I'd rather have someone come with an open mind, and figure it out along the way.

 

[werewethere]

Surely you don't mean to tell me that you want applicants who have no idea about what IM is about and just applied because they don't like kids, pregnant women, or surgeons. Of course, those that disregard the breadth of IM are bound to be unhappy, since they will be doing things that most of the time won't involve their "ideal" specialty. People who have considered what they want to do and have a process in mind, while maintaining an open mind , in case they are inspired by something they encounter in residency, would seem ideal.
I ask this because my limited, personal experience, has led to a large amount of positive feedback related to being able to provide a guideline of what types of patients, illnessess, and circumstances I'd like to practice in without necessarily getting bogged down in the names of specialties or fancy titles. I'd think that if you have a vision of what you'd like to do and be, you would want to share it.