Personal statement: Should I mention my intended specialty?

[MassFX]

The current draft of my PS says that I want to be a psychiatrist. It says this exactly once in the opening paragraph, and never again.

This was a tactical decision because I volunteered at a suicide crisis hotline, my PS contains anecdotes which are most closely aligned with psychiatry, and I want to give readers an obvious headline. A way to remember me.

I honestly do think I am most interested in psychiatry - at the moment and with very limited exposure to other fields of medicine.

But I tend to think each specialty is the coolest thing on Earth when I am studying it, so maybe I should say that. I shadowed doctors from multiple specialties and each time thought, "I would love to do this" or even "this seems like the best specialty for me."

Then again, I am most prepared to answer questions about psychiatry in an interview. I love endocrinology, but I would be easily stumped by an endocrinology question in an interview.

It doesn't flow as well, but I could say "psychiatry or some other specialty". But I don't want to rule out primary care, necessarily. Does that sound like I dislike primary care?

SDN, what do you recommend?

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[Espressso]

I think it's okay. Just remember, it's best to go into med school with an open mind regarding specialties and sub-specialties. Most everyone I know ends up falling in love with something they didn't like as a pre-med.

 

[LizzyM]

What attracts you to psychiatry? What do you think psychiatrists do? Why do you want to do that type of work? Are there other fields within medicine that are similar? Would you consider them if given some exposure to see what is the best fit?

Frankly, that's the way I would think about choosing a specialty. If you have had experiences providing care to the mentally ill and working with that population specifically is what draws you to medicine, then I think it is fine to mention it. Ditto for pediatrics, geriatrics and ob-gyn. Of course, some people do change their minds but often there is a very logical reason for wanting to work with a specific population.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

There's really no need to mention any particular specialty. No adcom is going to expect an applicant to have already made up their minds and declaring your intention to pursue a particular specialty isn't going to be the thing that makes you stand out. Your volunteer experience is much more compelling!

Ultimately, I don't think it's going to hurt you to say that you want to be a Psychiatrist (no one is going to hold you to it, after all) but it's also not going to add anything either. And just in terms of writing quality, if it's literally just one sentence that isn't mentioned again, you don't need it. You could just as easily say that volunteering at a suicide crisis hotline sparked your interest in mental health with a description of why, what you learned, any challenges you faced and overcame, etc. It's totally normal to be unsure of a specialty at this point so don't stress about it. Focus on "why medicine?" and what you've learned from your experiences.

 

[cardzkp]

Hmmm... I'm not sure. I think it'd be fine. Obviously there are people here with more experience with these things (see posts above), but I tailored my application TO primary care.. even after shadowing multiple specialties. However, now that I'm accepted, I find that I don't want to limit myself, thus I'm keeping an open mind. The last thing in the world you would want to do is bomb all your rotations that aren't psych because you didn't care about them.

To answer your question in short, you'll be fine doing it. If it helps to create a well-rounded picture of you in your AMCAS, then I say go for it (that's what I did with primary care, and it worked out). Is someone going to look at your derm residency application in 3.5 years and say 'but your personal statement said PSYCHIATRY'? No.

Just don't go crazy about it in your app, because you have to ask yourself after all, would you still go to medical school if you couldn't be a psychiatrist?

 

[heybubbaa]

"Then again, I am most prepared to answer questions about psychiatry in an interview. I love endocrinology, but I would be easily stumped by an endocrinology question in an interview."

I'd probably save it for the interview, as you may ver well be asked which field you are interested in.

With that in mind, I have heard that rigidity on the, "which field do you want to pursue?" question may be a little off-putting to some interviewers. I think you are correct in saying that, "one field that interests me is X because of XYZ, but there are many other fields that I am interested in gaining some exposure to before making that decision."

 

[MassFX]

Thanks for the help thus far.

My PS has three pieces plus an intro and a conclusion. Due to my work at a suicide crisis line, two of the three pieces are about psychiatry. I put "blah blah blah driving me toward a career in psychiatry" exactly once in the intro paragraph so that they know what to expect in the remainder of the essay.

The honest answer is not good writing. The honest answer is:

"Currently, I am definitely most interested in psychiatry. However, every time I shadow a doctor, I think that specialty is the coolest thing ever. So I might change my mind, but psychiatry does seem most interesting and this interest has spanned several years of my life. Here are two passages about psychiatry and one about family medicine."

That doesn't make a good intro paragraph.

On the other hand, I could say "driving me toward psychiatry or some other medical field".

Thoughts?

 

[CowboyNiceguy]

If it fits into the rest of your PS then I think it can be a good addition. If you only have one related experience, then probably not.

I talked about my specialty of interest (oncology) in my PS. But I also talked about my experiences with the oncologist I shadowed and I have research experience in the field and lost a close family member to cancer. Kinda cliche but I felt like it was worth mentioning in my case. I also mentioned that I was keeping an open mind and would surely get more valuable experience in medical school to guide my decision.

 

[mcatjelly]

I applied last cycle with a resume that screamed "mental health 4 lyfe," but I made a point not to specifically mention my desire to go into psychiatry; my resume spoke for itself.

Rather, I thought about why psych as a career would be so meaningful to me and applied those aspects of the speciality to medicine as a whole. For example, I worked at a psych hospital on a unit where most of my patients were there for spans of months to years, and I loved being involved in longitudinal care. But many specialties have longitudinal care. And so on.

Was I still asked at interviews if I was thinking of going into psych? Absolutely, but I was able to intelligently discuss why and then also have the PS wording to back up my saying my mind is not set on any one specialty either.