hello all.
I am having trouble writing a personal statement for anesthesh residency programs. Any suggestions, or example to look at from other sources?
Thanks.
Think about why you want to go into anesthesiology, and then write about it. I know that advice sounds simple and not helpful, but it is neither if you put some thought into it (the advice, and the personal statement).
For instance, a large majority of people are going to write something along the lines of "I like physiology, I like procedures, I like being in the OR, I like wearing scrubs and not rounding." Fine. That's the WHAT, not the WHY. What about physiology do you like? What about the procedures do you like? The sense of accomplishment? The technical challenge? Give examples: You loved building Legos as a kid, whatever. But make sure they actually relate back to anesthesia in some way. You don't want to make some totally inappropriate connection that makes it sound like you don't have any idea what you're talking about.
To summarize:
1) Talk about the why, not the what.
2) Give examples (legit ones) to personalize it.
3) Sound like you know what you're talking about, anesthesia-wise.
And most importantly, 4) don't stress too much about it. If there's one thing I've realized about both medical school and residency applications, it's that it's ridiculous to judge someone's intentions. People choose careers and specialties for vastly different reasons: to help people, to make money, to be respected, personal curiousity, ego, women, whatever. And to be sure, your interviewer isn't going to know what your intentions are, as you likely aren't entirely sure yourself.
Also, if the posters on this board are any indication of your future employers, you should probably 5) talk about your love of guns and distaste for Obamanomics.
