PS audience- what can you expect them to know?

[theKingLT]

---

Members do not see this ad.

One of my basic science professors (no medical background) recommended that I change some things in my PS based on who would be reading it:
1.) I use the abbreviation OR without explicitly saying operating room first. It was understood, but he thought it might sound a little too informal.
2.) He wasn't familiar with the phrase "performing out of scope medically" when talking about mission trips.

Do either of these things need to be changed for the people reading my PS at medical school admissions or is this stuff pretty standard knowledge and appropriate?

 

[Rusrus]

One of my basic science professors (no medical background) recommended that I change some things in my PS based on who would be reading it:
1.) I use the abbreviation OR without explicitly saying operating room first. It was understood, but he thought it might sound a little too informal.
2.) He wasn't familiar with the phrase "performing out of scope medically" when talking about mission trips.

Do either of these things need to be changed for the people reading my PS at medical school admissions or is this stuff pretty standard knowledge and appropriate?

1) I would spell out "operating room" as a formality.
2) I am not familiar with that phrase and I imagine if your professor, a PhD (I'm assuming) didn't, then it is a possible risk factor.

Just my two cents.

 

[theKingLT]

1) I would spell out "operating room" as a formality.
2) I am not familiar with that phrase and I imagine if your professor, a PhD (I'm assuming) didn't, then it is a possible risk factor.

Just my two cents.

Ok thanks! I definitely may be overestimating how often people say something is "out of scope" outside of EMS

 

[aldol16]

In many if not most cases, the people reading your PS won't be physicians. Many schools have admissions officers whose sole job come application season is to go through and read/screen applications. So better define acronyms before using them. Also, you probably shouldn't be talking about anything you did out of the scope of your current level - domestic or international.

 

[freedoctor17]

In many if not most cases, the people reading your PS won't be physicians. Many schools have admissions officers whose sole job come application season is to go through and read/screen applications. So better define acronyms before using them. Also, you probably shouldn't be talking about anything you did out of the scope of your current level - domestic or international.

Every adcom I've met so far has been a physician but I've also only met 2 of them haha so not much to go off of.

 

[theKingLT]

In many if not most cases, the people reading your PS won't be physicians. Many schools have admissions officers whose sole job come application season is to go through and read/screen applications. So better define acronyms before using them. Also, you probably shouldn't be talking about anything you did out of the scope of your current level - domestic or international.

The sentence was talking about specifically not doing anything out of scope of my training.
Sidenote/challenge of the day: get into med school while writing about something you did outside your scope of practice while specifying that you knew it was outside your scope but did it anyway

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using SDN mobile

 

[KU Brendan]

The sentence was talking about specifically not doing anything out of scope of my training.
Sidenote/challenge of the day: get into med school while writing about something you did outside your scope of practice while specifying that you knew it was outside your scope but did it anyway

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using SDN mobile

Extra points if you manage to say that you were so good at the surgeries you did on people in another country, that you don't really know why you need to go to med school just to get a piece of paper that says you're a doctor. 🙂

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I wrote out "operating room" the first time, then abbreviated it OR every time after that. That's pretty standard in academic writing.

Edit: As for "out of scope," someone in the medical field will know what that means. If you get a PhD that has no clinical experience, he may not. If you phrase it like "out of my scope of practice," it's not likely to be misunderstood.

 

[aldol16]

Every adcom I've met so far has been a physician but I've also only met 2 of them haha so not much to go off of.

The people you meet on interview day are not necessarily the people who screen your applications. Doctors have a lot better things to do than dig through 5,000+ applications. That's why the admissions office has people who screen/read the applications first before they get passed to the people who ultimately become your interviewers.