Personal statement: how explicit to be about medicine

[mrmatt]

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I've heard two contrasting opinions about whether to be always explicit about why everything in your personal statement makes you want to be/a good doctor...what do you guys think?

My pre-med advisor told me to always tie each of my experiences I discuss directly and explicitly to medicine. As in, "because of this experience, I learned X and developed skill Z that I want to use in medicine, and I learned Y from doing W which will help me in med school," etc.

However, a physician on the U of Chicago admissions board said that to be implicit is better: to not state what seems to be obvious. The argument was essentially that intelligent people will be reading your personal statement and will understand that these things influenced you to become a physician since they're in your Med School personal statement. You don't have to say so in every paragraph. Not to say you don't mention medicine, but more like you integrate everything you've discussed and converge it onto medicine toward the end.

 

[CodeBlu]

Do a combo of both.

If your writing skills are impeccable, then writing with an implicit attitude or theme is easy. If not, you have to spell things out to convey your message.

Good luck!

 

[RogueUnicorn]

I've heard two contrasting opinions about whether to be always explicit about why everything in your personal statement makes you want to be/a good doctor...what do you guys think?

My pre-med advisor told me to always tie each of my experiences I discuss directly and explicitly to medicine. As in, "because of this experience, I learned X and developed skill Z that I want to use in medicine, and I learned Y from doing W which will help me in med school," etc.

However, a physician on the U of Chicago admissions board said that to be implicit is better: to not state what seems to be obvious. The argument was essentially that intelligent people will be reading your personal statement and will understand that these things influenced you to become a physician since they're in your Med School personal statement. You don't have to say so in every paragraph. Not to say you don't mention medicine, but more like you integrate everything you've discussed and converge it onto medicine toward the end.

that kind of writing reads very poorly. to bang the reader over the head with "the point" in every paragraph assumes the reader is a *****

 

[mrmatt]

that kind of writing reads very poorly. to bang the reader over the head with "the point" in every paragraph assumes the reader is a *****

Yeah, I agree. I exaggereated it a little there, but that's the same concern that made me worry. I'm trying to avoid a focus on obvious conclusions while also being direct in my intentions. I've got a good theme going which is helping me.

 

[mauberley]

that kind of writing reads very poorly. to bang the reader over the head with "the point" in every paragraph assumes the reader is a *****

I would go further: you want to make it so that the reader can only come to one conclusion through persuasive argument and not through coercion (banging the reader on the head).

That having been said, I have told some people to be more explicit, maybe to the point of saying "bang the reader on the head"...but that's only to push the writer enough to be more persuasive.

 

[NickNaylor]

I would go further: you want to make it so that the reader can only come to one conclusion through persuasive argument and not through coercion (banging the reader on the head).

That having been said, I have told some people to be more explicit, maybe to the point of saying "bang the reader on the head"...but that's only to push the writer enough to be more persuasive.

Exactly this.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Not to say you don't mention medicine, but more like you integrate everything you've discussed and converge it onto medicine toward the end.

This.

It's a personal statement. We can read your app and know that you've had X-number of research experiences and Y-number of clinical experiences. I want to know how those experiences made you understand that medicine is right for you. I care less about what you've learned or any skills you have that you want to apply to medicine. Medical school will teach you all of those things. What I care about is your journey to medicine and how you know it's what you want to do.

 

[Kaustikos]

I would go further: you want to make it so that the reader can only come to one conclusion through persuasive argument and not through coercion (banging the reader on the head).

That having been said, I have told some people to be more explicit, maybe to the point of saying "bang the reader on the head"...but that's only to push the writer enough to be more persuasive.

Yeah, it's a fine line you're working with and I've found that telling someone to be more explicit is almost mandatory for people writing PS's. Mostly because the connection/conclusion is either a) way too vague or b) not even there. Ambiguity is a bitch you don't want to deal with. Let's face the fact that we're not professional writers and not try dancing with fire.

 

[FattySlug]

Use a direct, honest and logical approach. Don't over-dramatize things.

 

[music2doc]

Pretty much going to concur with the other opinions expressed here. You need to be direct enough to ensure no one misses what you are saying, but a good writer can lead his audience to the point w/o having to state it. Nevertheless, I would certainly make my intentions explicit in the conclusion. In the body, I would (and did on mine) build a strong case through narrative, while constantly alluding to your chosen profession. Everything in your PS should point to medicine. Your PS should integrate with your ECs in such a way that someone reading through your applications goes "ah ha!" and gets WHY you want to enter medicine. You don't want them guessing about your intentions as they read the PS, although the conclusion should solidify your case.