PS for Research Heavy Schools

[Gibbward]

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I'm writing my personal statement right now and I was wondering what people's thoughts are about EXCLUDING research in the PS when a good number of schools I'm applying to are pretty research heavy. I just feel like I have other stories that are more interesting to share and are a better at describing why I want to be a doctor. I do have a lot of research experience that I could talk about, and I'm definitely open to doing research in the future, but I would still rather focus on the more clinical aspects of medicine. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[pineapplecake]

Did research honestly contribute to your reason for wanting to become a doctor? I like to think of a personal statement as a story of your journey and reasoning for why medicine is the right field for you. I don't think it is absolutely necessary to include research in your PS unless you foresee yourself doing a lot of research in the future with your clinical practice. Since you have better clinical experiences to write about, I would say go for that instead if you feel it will do a better job at depicting your reasonings for medicine. Keep in mind you will have room in the extracurricular portion of your application to discuss more about your research.

I'm an MD/PhD applicant and I did not include research in my MD personal statement (granted MD/PhD applicants also have 2 additional research essays). I applied to a combination of MD and MD/PhD programs and I still got interviews at research-intensive MD schools.

Hope that helps~

 

[WedgeDawg]

FWIW, I applied to an incredibly research heavy list as a very research heavy applicant and didn't mention research in my PS at all. I got several top 20 interviews and attend a very research heavy school, so I don't think it will really hurt you if you choose to exclude it. At the same time, I'm sure there are plenty of successful top 20 applicants that did include research in their PS. I wouldn't stress too much over it, personally.

 

[abcdeffedcba]

There will be room in the secondary applications to talk about your research. Also, your research should really speak for itself so no need to go out of your way to include it in your PS if it wasn't a major contributor to your decision to become a doctor.

My PS did not have any reference to my research. I got interviews at several top 20 schools and will be attending a research heavy school next year.

 

[MaxPlancker]

I briefly mentioned research because it intertwined with one of my other passions that led to medicine. PS is about your journey to the realization that medicine is for you, not about research. Got love from basically all the top schools

 

[Swish16]

Your personal statement can have whatever you want it to as long as it displays your interest in medicine. I'd save the research specific discussions for secondaries.

 

[Gibbward]

Thanks to everyone that responded! It definitely puts me at ease to see others have had success in the situation that I'm in right now. Cheers!