Personal Statement w/out mentioning clinical experience?

[stn1983]

Hi, I am currently trying to write my personal statement and in need of some advice. My personal statement does not mention anything about my clinical experience (ie; shadowing, volunteering at the local hospital). I figure since I have already listed my shadowing and volunteering experience with a brief description of both in my applications, I would not necessarily have to talk about it in my personal statement. Has anyone here not mentioned anything about their clinical experiences in their personal statement? Should I briefly talk about my clinical experiences in my PS? Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

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[daniellema13]

Your personal statement is just that...personal. It should give the adcoms a feel for who you are and what drives you...why medicine is for you. Many people talk about their clinical experiences because they have had a significant impact on their decision to go into medicine, or it's helped them understand the field, etc. It helps them tell their story. Many others talk about it just to talk about it, i.e. "I did X, Y and Z" and one of those is volunteering or shadowing, whatever. IMO, that doesn't really add dimension to your essay....this is not the place for a dossier of your pre-med hoops game. Talk about whatever it is that you want schools to know about you as a person and what has motivated you to choose this path. This doesn't necessarily include any clinical experience, even for some people who have tons of it. Be genuine.

And hurry the f*** up. haha. no but seriously. if it's for this cycle, your application is pretty late. You could still wind up with multiple acceptances but don't feel bad if you don't get a single interview. Just apply earlier next time.

 

[azuldelcielo]

in my ps, i only talked about doc shadowing for like 2 sentences. like ^ said, it doesn't have to be about clinical experiences.

 

[Textuality]

You don't have to include it BUT one of the primary purposes of the PS is to convey your reasons/qualifications to be a physician, which is why most people do include their clinical experience in order to show how their motivations and understanding of the field have grown and fueled their desire to enter medicine.

 

[RollTideChem]

I don't remember if I mentioned it in mine. But I don't think I did. I didn't make a habit out of shadowing doctors in my spare time and then all of a sudden realize, "WOW! I want to be a doctor too!"

There were lots of other things going on in my life that led to my decision to go out for med school. Once that seed got planted in my head, I went out and did some shadowing just to see if it was really the kind of thing that interested me.

I wrote my PS about all of the other things in life that lead up to my decision to want to be a doctor. Shadowing wasn't a formative experience for me, necessarily, so I didn't really talk about it much. Do whatever works for you.

 

[pianola]

You know, I think in theory it's fine to talk about whatever you want in your personal statement so long as you address the fundamental questions of "why medicine, why me?".

But, if it's not any sort of clinical/volunteering experience...what is the driving factor behind a career in medicine 😕😕?

 

[Kaustikos]

You know, I think in theory it's fine to talk about whatever you want in your personal statement so long as you address the fundamental questions of "why medicine, why me?".

But, if it's not any sort of clinical/volunteering experience...what is the driving factor behind a career in medicine 😕😕?

That's something people need to be aware of. Unless you can sell yourself well without the experience or you feel that you have enough experience/motivational factors to persuade you to go into medicine, your personal statement is going to feel empty.

Also, your personal statement isn't an essay form of your resume/application.

 

[kweekes80]

STN, I did not mention my clinical experience (though i may not be the right person to respond since i do not have much)


I don't think you need to and if you already submitted, it should be fine.

i think if it fits in to your answer of why you want to be a doctor or go to medical school you should include it, but if not don't feel the need to touch on it.

Like if you can say "i did this volunteering and shadwoing and i really liked it, and this showed me medicine is what i want to do' or something, maybe you can go with that. But if it doesnt fit in with your theme I would not worry about it.

 

[stixx]

I was told to include a few clinical experiences because I have a lot of doctors in my family and I needed to reassure adcomms of my motivations. Honestly though the few sentences I devoted to my volunteering/shadowing were a lot less compelling than when I talked about how medicine has affected my life personally. It's definitely not a requirement.