Personal Statement Theme

[trdoffroad]

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I was diagnosed with ADD and anxiety at age 5 and my family struggled for 4 years to find the proper medication regimen that worked. I am from Arkansas and at the time SPECT scanning wasn’t available, so we flew to CA to have one done to see what areas of my brain needed treatment. The SPECT scan showed exactly what needed treatment and I’ve been on the same regimen since then. The SPECT scan greatly improved my quality of life, but most families in Arkansas don’t have the luxury of being able to fly to CA for a scan, not to mention how expensive a scan is. With ADD and anxiety medications being over/underprescribed nowadays, I really want to make SPECT available to lower-income families whose children may need it. Had I not had the scan and determined the treatment I needed for my ADD, I probably wouldn’t have made it through college. There are kids who aren’t able to reach their full academic potential because their ADD/ADHD isn’t being treated correctly, and I want these kids to have access to something that would allow them to harness their intellectual abilities and succeed. Should I reflect on this in my personal statement and explain how it has motivated me to pursue a career in pediatric psychiatry/brain imaging, or is this going to turn into a cliché? Mental health is such a hot-button topic but this is truly what I want to do.

 

[mvenus929]

I think it's an interesting premise, but you should be careful about saying what your actual goals are, as SPECT isn't standard of care at this time (I see it's been around for a long time, but I have never heard of it being used in my training as a pediatrician).

Basically, if you say 'I want to have everyone have this imaging', you come off as pushing an investigational modality because it's not standard of care. Should it be? I dunno, I haven't looked at the literature. But if you say something more like 'I was exposed to this imaging modality with my own health and it greatly improved my symptoms and sparked my interest in neuroscience', it could come off as more of a research/clinical interest. In essence, focus more on the interest in helping kids with psych/neuropsych problems than the actual modality that you want to do that with.

 

[trdoffroad]

I think it's an interesting premise, but you should be careful about saying what your actual goals are, as SPECT isn't standard of care at this time (I see it's been around for a long time, but I have never heard of it being used in my training as a pediatrician).

Basically, if you say 'I want to have everyone have this imaging', you come off as pushing an investigational modality because it's not standard of care. Should it be? I dunno, I haven't looked at the literature. But if you say something more like 'I was exposed to this imaging modality with my own health and it greatly improved my symptoms and sparked my interest in neuroscience', it could come off as more of a research/clinical interest. In essence, focus more on the interest in helping kids with psych/neuropsych problems than the actual modality that you want to do that with.

Thanks so much!