PS Advice

[NontradICUdoc]

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I have been reading many of your PS and I have seen some common mistakes that you guys should avoid:

1) Do not use precious space to tell the adcoms what they already know. They know that medicine is about lifelong learning and that the life of a doctor is hard.

2) This is not a biography. There seems to be a wanting to tell the adcoms everything about you in the span of a small essay and you never get around to telling them what made you want to go into medicine. This stuff can be said in the interview if it comes up or even in small talk when you get it.

3) Answer the question. Why do you want to go into Osteopathic Medicine? What this essay is supposed to do is tell the reader that you want to be a doctor because there was a time that you delivered conjoined twins in the back of a harley with a bow knife, a pen, and a bottle of Southern Comfort. Think about the exact AHA moment, when it came to you that YES!!! you want to be a doctor!!!! For example, to me it came when I was treating a patient in insulin shock and then the Paramedic administered the Glucose, within 5 minutes he came around and I knew then that the human body was so amazing that I wanted to help it...

4) Never use negatives. If you can't find a positive spin to it, leave it out.

5) SPELLING, SPELLING, SPELLING

6) GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR

7) Focus. See #2

8) Write it, do not look at it for 24 hours, read it, and give it to someone who will not care if your feelings are hurt when it gets ripped apart. Thank them. Better them than the Adcom with a rejection letter.

9) DO NOT LIE, you WILL get caught.

 

[RySerr21]

I have been reading many of your PS and I have seen some common mistakes that you guys should avoid:

1) Do not use precious space to tell the adcoms what they already know. They know that medicine is about lifelong learning and that the life of a doctor is hard.

2) This is not a biography. There seems to be a wanting to tell the adcoms everything about you in the span of a small essay and you never get around to telling them what made you want to go into medicine. This stuff can be said in the interview if it comes up or even in small talk when you get it.

3) Answer the question. Why do you want to go into Osteopathic Medicine? What this essay is supposed to do is tell the reader that you want to be a doctor because there was a time that you delivered conjoined twins in the back of a harley with a bow knife, a pen, and a bottle of Southern Comfort. Think about the exact AHA moment, when it came to you that YES!!! you want to be a doctor!!!! For example, to me it came when I was treating a patient in insulin shock and then the Paramedic administered the Glucose, within 5 minutes he came around and I knew then that the human body was so amazing that I wanted to help it...

4) Never use negatives. If you can't find a positive spin to it, leave it out.

5) SPELLING, SPELLING, SPELLING

6) GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR

7) Focus. See #2

8) Write it, do not look at it for 24 hours, read it, and give it to someone who will not care if your feelings are hurt when it gets ripped apart. Thank them. Better them than the Adcom with a rejection letter.

9) DO NOT LIE, you WILL get caught.

very nice post. the only thing is that there is no question it simply says "personal statement" and has a box where you can insert your text. whether or not to include why you want to go into osteopathic medicine has been heavily debated. i still am not sure whether to include or not. i am learning towards keeping it for the secondaries/interviews.

 

[stebby]

very nice post. the only thing is that there is no question it simply says "personal statement" and has a box where you can insert your text. whether or not to include why you want to go into osteopathic medicine has been heavily debated. i still am not sure whether to include or not. i am learning towards keeping it for the secondaries/interviews.

Directly from last years AACOMAS instructions:

Personal Comments/Personal Statement
This section should be used to complete any questions that
require additional space. If you answer "yes" to questions 16-18,
"F" to question 19, or 31-33 to question 22, explain fully in this
section. You may also provide a brief explanation of your goals.
We encourage you to provide your motivation for applying to the
field of osteopathic medicine in this section. Your personal
comments are limited to the space provided.

Interpret as you like and their attitude may have changed since last year.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

The biggest mistake I'm seeing is people not talking about themselves enough. This is your first opportunity to pimp yourself out. Use it wisely.

 

[a817]

The biggest mistake I'm seeing is people not talking about themselves enough. This is your first opportunity to pimp yourself out. Use it wisely.

agreed, the main point is to sell your self and why you would want to be a doctor. Not what doctors do, or your hardships in life 😛

 

[RySerr21]

Directly from last years AACOMAS instructions:

Personal Comments/Personal Statement
This section should be used to complete any questions that
require additional space. If you answer "yes" to questions 16-18,
"F" to question 19, or 31-33 to question 22, explain fully in this
section. You may also provide a brief explanation of your goals.
We encourage you to provide your motivation for applying to the
field of osteopathic medicine in this section. Your personal
comments are limited to the space provided.

Interpret as you like and their attitude may have changed since last year.

i think the key to your post is the first 6 words, most importantly the 3rd and the 4th.

my dilemma is that I have a fine PS as it is...what do i do if I discuss why i want to go into osteopathic medicine and then I get the exact same quetstion on the secondaries? copy and paste? thats lame. i want everything they see to be for the first time. i want to give them as much information about me as possible. I think i have a unique enough PS that i do not need to try and cram in why i want to be a DO. i am very enthusiastic about osteopathic medicine, and i will let them know that loud and clear. i just dont see the need to do it more than once. I feel the likelihood i will be asked of it in the secondaries/interview is very high considering its not touched on in the primaries at all.

this year's AACOMAS instructions state: The colleges will see your personal statement exactly as you enter it in the box below. You are advised to check your spelling, syntax, and grammar before submitting your personal statement.

You may type directly in the box or cut and paste from a word or text processor

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I also have yet to read a single personal statement with even a mention of larping.

 

[RySerr21]

I also have yet to read a single personal statement with even a mention of larping.

thats a crying shame. there must be some good medical stories with people being struck repeatedly by lightning bolts and all.

 

[a817]

thats a crying shame. there must be some good medical stories with people being struck repeatedly by lightning bolts and all.

few of the secondaries are why would you want to go to _____COM. pcom, and ccom come to mind. They also ask about why osteopathic medicine, so you can reiterate your reason. nycom doesn't have a secondary essay, neither does dmu. For Tourocom you allowed to use your primary essay. I would worry about secondaries yet. Those are just off the top of my head

 

[spazzz]

I have been reading many of your PS and I have seen some common mistakes that you guys should avoid:

1) Do not use precious space to tell the adcoms what they already know. They know that medicine is about lifelong learning and that the life of a doctor is hard.

2) This is not a biography. There seems to be a wanting to tell the adcoms everything about you in the span of a small essay and you never get around to telling them what made you want to go into medicine. This stuff can be said in the interview if it comes up or even in small talk when you get it.

3) Answer the question. Why do you want to go into Osteopathic Medicine? What this essay is supposed to do is tell the reader that you want to be a doctor because there was a time that you delivered conjoined twins in the back of a harley with a bow knife, a pen, and a bottle of Southern Comfort. Think about the exact AHA moment, when it came to you that YES!!! you want to be a doctor!!!! For example, to me it came when I was treating a patient in insulin shock and then the Paramedic administered the Glucose, within 5 minutes he came around and I knew then that the human body was so amazing that I wanted to help it...

4) Never use negatives. If you can't find a positive spin to it, leave it out.

5) SPELLING, SPELLING, SPELLING

6) GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR

7) Focus. See #2

8) Write it, do not look at it for 24 hours, read it, and give it to someone who will not care if your feelings are hurt when it gets ripped apart. Thank them. Better them than the Adcom with a rejection letter.

9) DO NOT LIE, you WILL get caught.

The biggest mistake I'm seeing is people not talking about themselves enough. This is your first opportunity to pimp yourself out. Use it wisely.

agree with the texan here. it is a biography.

 

[theserbatron]

the better PS i have read have all the things mentioned above, though i have found that those which address "why medicine?" (as opposed to "why osteopathic medicine?") tend to be more thought provoking and truly reflective of the persons character.

a mere list of activities will do you nothing. discussing your achievements and experiences in the context of how they have prepared you for medical school and how they set you apart as a candidate is the key.

i've said this before... i think your PS must be strong, but if you spill all the beans about why you want to be a DO in the PS, you wont have material to work with when the secondaries come back. ALL THE SECONDARIES address "why osteopathic medicine?", and i think it's critical that all the info from PS is not carried over verbatim to the secondaries. it's like running out of gas on the last lap!

my personal experience was that my PS to both allo and osteo schools were nearly identical, short of a few minor tweaks to make sure i addressed any prompts/questions for each application. this left me with a lot of room to discuss osteopathic medicine in the secondaries.