personal statement question...

[baby methuselah]

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even though people keep telling me i don't have a good idea of what i want to specialize in yet, i can't imagine anything i'd enjoy more than becoming a family practice physician in a country area like the one i grew up in. doctors i shadow keep saying you don't make any money as a fp doc...especially one in a rural area. money is nice but not nice enough to change my priorities. so here's my delimma:
i really want to structure my essay around my desire to be a fp country doc but i don't want adcoms, especially those in big cities, to think i am being too close minded and yada,yada,yada.
i also don't want them thinking that i am saying what i think they want to hear. any advice from someone who knows more about adcoms than i do would be appriciated.

 

[jochi1543]

i also don't want them thinking that i am saying what i think they want to hear.

This will be avoided if you find a way to convincingly address your personal experience in a rural area. It's more of a concern with someone who's never set foot outside of a large city. The impression of someone who's too gung-ho about a specialty can also be avoided by addressing your familiarity with the main issues related to rural primary care practice - and it sounds like you've been around enough to have some experiences to draw on when it comes to a discussion like that.

Also, some schools have specialized rural admissions programs. I forgot which one I looked at the other day, but it required 3 letters from members of your rural community who could attest to your desire to work in a rural area. If you can scrape that, you could get a bit of a break in terms of grades/MCAT, if those are an issue for you.

 

[baby methuselah]

grades aren't an issue, and mcat *shouldn't* be (crossing fingers)... but that's pretty great advice. so i guess i won't scrap my current essay. thanks brother (errr.. sister)🙂

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I would think saying you want to be a primary care doc in a rural area is a good idea and certainly can't hurt you since many schools are trying to recruit people who are interested in such a career.

 

[jochi1543]

You're welcome, though it's really pretty generic advice. It's hard to give detailed suggestions for your PS without seeing it first. If you want, I can read your draft and see if it sounds too cheesy or unconvincing. I'm already done writing my own PS for this cycle, so you don't need to worry about me ripping anything off. One of my friends ripped my own PS to shreds and thanks to her opinions/suggestions, I wrote a really good one after that.

 

[baby methuselah]

you have no idea how much i'd appriciate that. i still have to wrap it up but i'd love to pm you w/ it in the next week or so if you ever get bored

 

[jochi1543]

you have no idea how much i'd appriciate that. i still have to wrap it up but i'd love to pm you w/ it in the next week or so if you ever get bored

No problem. I've never seen what other people write, so it'd be cool to get some perspective, too.

 

[TheRealMD]

I would think saying you want to be a primary care doc in a rural area is a good idea and certainly can't hurt you since many schools are trying to recruit people who are interested in such a career.

Warning: If you are going to say things like that to get into med school, they DO look to see if your past activities match up with what you say in your PS. Best to be careful.

 

[kanelope]

even though people keep telling me i don't have a good idea of what i want to specialize in yet, i can't imagine anything i'd enjoy more than becoming a family practice physician in a country area like the one i grew up in. doctors i shadow keep saying you don't make any money as a fp doc...especially one in a rural area. money is nice but not nice enough to change my priorities. so here's my delimma:
i really want to structure my essay around my desire to be a fp country doc but i don't want adcoms, especially those in big cities, to think i am being too close minded and yada,yada,yada.
i also don't want them thinking that i am saying what i think they want to hear. any advice from someone who knows more about adcoms than i do would be appriciated.

I would suggest not mentioning the money part...not sure if you were planning to or not. As a side note, I know plenty of rural physicians who aren't losing any sleep at night d/t their income level 🙂

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Warning: If you are going to say things like that to get into med school, they DO look to see if your past activities match up with what you say in your PS. Best to be careful.

In my case, it would not work because all my prior research would appear to be leading to a career in either critical care medicine or pathology. Although I could theoretically argue that my upbringing in a rural area makes me want to return there (or somewhere similar) and serve that type of community.