Personal Statment help?

[jlinblr]

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Hi,

I'm a little confused on how I should approach my personal statement. I want to be a pediatrician and have a ton of background working in pediatrics. So for my personal statement, is it okay if I write why I want to be a pediatrician? Or is it better and go the general route as to why I want to be a doctor/go to medical school? I can see how both is appropriate but am also wary that I'd be giving off a narrow-minded vibe if I talk about why I only want to be a pediatrician.

Thanks

 

[emraldragon]

The prevailing wisdom seems to be that even if you are 100 percent certain you are going to be X before you enter medical school, many people gain more exposure and change their minds. When you think about it, there are a lot of "if"s to overcome at this stage of the game. Example--You are going to become a pediatrician: if you get into medical school; if you do well on step 1; if you find the right mentors and get good letters of rec, if you match into your preferred speciality.

Also, if for some reason pediatrics was no longer a speciality (IDK, movie plot to Children of Men comes true or something), I would want to know that your dream is still to become a doctor regardless and that you still want to be there to help people.

You may be able to mention your passion in some secondary essays, and you will often be asked about it on interview day where you will be able to expound on your love of pediatrics (but do still remember that you might change your mind and that some interviewers will want to hear that because they want to hear that you are going to be able to take the punches med school is going to throw and you and not be so rigid in anything that it might break you).

tl;dr go the general route

 

[jlinblr]

Ah, great thanks a lot! This is very helpful and confirmed my suspicions about solely focusing on pediatrics. Thanks!