PS-Is there such thing as too personal ?

[x_prometheus_x]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi,

I'm no where near ready to write my personal statement but I was wondering if anyone else wrote about family illness in their PS. My dad has been sick with MS for 17 years and he is my inspiration for this journey.
There's nothing more rewarding for me than taking the stairs rather than using an elevator or other things so simple that my father can't do anymore. Knowing he is in constant pain and there are so many more people in pain wrenches my heart daily. I feel corny telling people how I feel, but people always ask me why I smile, and it's because I know I'm healthy and appreciative of every moment of my life.

Anyone have any touching stories that inspire them?

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

It's certainly not too personal to write about in your personal statement, but one of the pieces of advice that was given to me by the Health Professions' Office at my school was, "DON'T make the PS all about your initial inspiration." If it were me, I wouldn't make the whole thing about your father's sickness and how that makes you want to help people, but I would definitely mention it because it seems to be a very significant factor in your decision to pursue a career in medicine.

I also have a very sick father. I spent 1/6 (or maybe 1/7, I forget) paragraphs talking about his condition and how it related to my decision to change my career to a career in medicine. For my TMDSAS application, I left it out of my PS, and wrote about it in the shorter "special experiences" optional essay.

Best of Luck,

Jota

 

[RxnMan]

Hi,

I'm no where near ready to write my personal statement but I was wondering if anyone else wrote about family illness in their PS. My dad has been sick with MS for 17 years and he is my inspiration for this journey.
There's nothing more rewarding for me than taking the stairs rather than using an elevator or other things so simple that my father can't do anymore. Knowing he is in constant pain and there are so many more people in pain wrenches my heart daily. I feel corny telling people how I feel, but people always ask me why I smile, and it's because I know I'm healthy and appreciative of every moment of my life.

Anyone have any touching stories that inspire them?

I didn't have a 'touching' story. Mine was of depression and suffering and death. But from that, came my motivation for medicine. To tell the story of "how I got here" (yes, I was asked that question in interviews,) I had to talk about all of the personal, bad stuff.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

FWIW, "How I got here," was also the theme of my PS. Seems like an appropriate theme for a non-trad. PS.

 

[chrisjohn]

It's all about integrating your experiences in some coherent fashion that would lead a disinterested reader into thinking you might really have something special to offer.

In my opinion, personal statements aren't really a deciding factor in admissions, other than an opportunity to hurt oneself by letting some hubris show.

Nontrads often have interesting stories to tell. Many of us have experienced tragedies, and are a part of our motivation.

Tell, don't dwell.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Nontrads often have interesting stories to tell. Many of us have experienced tragedies, and are a part of our motivation.
Tell, don't dwell.

Fantastic advice. I had considered going to medical school for nearly ten years, but it was my father's death that brought me to a crossroads where I realized that I could either go for it in medicine or stay in my healthcare finance career until retirement.

I spent one paragraph on my father's last hospital stay and subsequent death at home with hospice. Then I spent a paragraph or two on me, my career, and my motivation for medicine. I then used my father's death to lead into a discussion of the primary care shortage and the need for palliative care. In my final paragraph, I mentioned that I would graduate from medical school at age 48 while my dad had graduated from law school as a second career at age 48 - and talked about the importance of life-long learning, and how I wanted to share my father's legacy with patients - that change is possible at any age - I tried to tie together the whole essay.

One person who read my essay asked me if I were "exploiting" my dad's death. If that person could only have known my father - dad would have told me (with a big grin) to do whatever it took to get in. Heck, I could hear him applauding when I opened my acceptance letter. Good luck.

 

[Tribeca]

I have a personal story as well, and I'm writing it into my PS. I've always wanted to be a pediatrician, ever since I was a kid. I took the educational route and enjoyed teaching preschool children and decided that I didn't need to be in medicine to have a fulfilling career with children. This all changed when three years ago, my husband and I lost our 20-week old (gestational age) baby. She looked just like a tiny preemie baby. Being confined to the hospital for several days, I knew then that I wanted to work in a medical setting - it rekindled my interest in medicine. I began working with infants with disabilities and began my journey as a non-trad pre-med.

Recently I asked my same OB-GYN (who happens to be a previous adcom member at the Univ of TX - I forget which UT) about writing about this in my PS. I asked the same question you did - if it was too personal to put in my PS. He said that if that's what inspired me to go into medicine, then I should.

I've already written my PS (I've got it tucked away until application time for further revisions), and I've mentioned the loss of our child, but I didn't make my whole PS about it. I didn't want it to be a sob story. I talked about my experiences prior to that then used the incident as a springboard to talk about everything I've done since losing our child, and how it has driven and inspired me to work with young children and their families in a medical setting.

 

[mamadoc]

FWIW, "How I got here," was also the theme of my PS. Seems like an appropriate theme for a non-trad. PS.

An AdCom committee member gave me exactly that advice, "Tell the story of how you come to be here today." Since I was applying at age 43, it was a bit of a story, and it was definitely personal. It seemed to work OK. 😛