Personal statement, should I mention...

[Espertinho]

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Hi all, and thanks in advance.

Four years ago during what was supposed to be my gap year, I was working in an outpatient surgery company that was, to put it mildly, shady. Patients died, the state medical board took disciplinary actions, and last time I checked multiple lawsuits are still pending. I quit that job after a few months, and had changed my mind about wanting to pursue medicine.

Obviously I've changed my mind again so now the question is, should I mention it? If I'm not mistaken, there's a general consensus that bad-mouthing doctors in personal statements is a bad idea, but this debacle pretty severely impacted my life choices so I figured I'd ask anyway.

I apologize if I've just wasted your time asking a question that I may already know the answer to.

 

[Ismet]

No, IMO. Talk about what has changed your mind a second time.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Never bad-mouth period. Even if its something agreeable and may be interesting to read - no one wants to work with someone who comes across as negative or points blame (even if it is their fault or what have you).

If it's something you REALLY want to talk about, talk about the situation and leave individuals out of it.

 

[Espertinho]

@Ismet and @MusicDOc124 Fair points, I was going to mention the bad experience to introduce what changed my mind. (I've been tutoring pre-meds for the MCAT, and a lot of them have their hearts in the right place. Restored my faith, so to speak.)