residency essay questions

[slowlybutshelly]

I have a generic essay written. I have been told to 'tweak it' to each residency applied to. Is this necessary? Is it ok to just write one sentence and chaneg it up? like, 'I am interested in x,y,z..because of ...' and leave it at that?

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[Ismet]

If you're applying to more than 1 specialty, e.g. surgery and family medicine, then yes you should have a separate PS for each specialty. I don't think it's necessary to have a different PS for each program. I certainly did not and I never heard anyone recommending doing that.

Edit: just saw your other thread. Why are you writing a PS for residency when you haven't done clinical rotations yet?

 

[username456789]

I have a generic essay written. I have been told to 'tweak it' to each residency applied to. Is this necessary? Is it ok to just write one sentence and chaneg it up? like, 'I am interested in x,y,z..because of ...' and leave it at that?

Why are you torturing yourself like this?

 

[username456789]

If you're applying to more than 1 specialty, e.g. surgery and family medicine, then yes you should have a separate PS for each specialty. I don't think it's necessary to have a different PS for each program. I certainly did not and I never heard anyone recommending doing that.

Edit: just saw your other thread. Why are you writing a PS for residency when you haven't done clinical rotations yet?

Her story is a bit more than just "haven't done clinical rotations yet."

 

[Redpancreas]

I have a generic essay written. I have been told to 'tweak it' to each residency applied to. Is this necessary? Is it ok to just write one sentence and chaneg it up? like, 'I am interested in x,y,z..because of ...' and leave it at that?

I saw this thread and for a second thought residencies had secondary essays. I was about to go nuts.

 

[gyngyn]

If you're applying to more than 1 specialty, e.g. surgery and family medicine, then yes you should have a separate PS for each specialty. I don't think it's necessary to have a different PS for each program. I certainly did not and I never heard anyone recommending doing that.

Edit: just saw your other thread. Why are you writing a PS for residency when you haven't done clinical rotations yet?

I saw this thread and for a second thought residencies has secondary essays. I was about to go nuts.

ENT required personalized essays for each program last year.
That's a lot of essays when you are applying to 60 programs.

 

[Ismet]

ENT required personalized essays for each program last year.
That's a lot of essays when you are applying to 60 programs.

Well that sucks

 

[Stagg737]

ENT required personalized essays for each program last year.
That's a lot of essays when you are applying to 60 programs.

That's insane. Wouldn't that also significantly cut into the point of a lot of interviews as well?

Well that sucks

Yea, that policy alone would prevent me from applying to ENT residencies if I was even the slightest bit on the fence about the field...

 

[DokterMom]

That's insane. Wouldn't that also significantly cut into the point of a lot of interviews as well?



Yea, that policy alone would prevent me from applying to ENT residencies if I was even the slightest bit on the fence about the field...

Apparently, it did. Can't say I'm surprised. Next year will be interesting for ENT...

 

[wholeheartedly]

That's insane. Wouldn't that also significantly cut into the point of a lot of interviews as well?



Yea, that policy alone would prevent me from applying to ENT residencies if I was even the slightest bit on the fence about the field...

I think the point was to cut down on people applying to a boatload of places and get people to pare things down a bit.

 

[slowlybutshelly]

I have done clinical rotations. A lot of them. I was 7 weeks from graduation, but 'got stopped' by Katrina and life. At one point in 2007 I was in the scramble. I have one generic PS written. But I have not decided on what programs to apply to.

 

[slowlybutshelly]

How does one know which programs require personalized essays? Do programs 'put out' requirements for essays?

ENT required personalized essays for each program last year.
That's a lot of essays when you are applying to 60 programs.

 

[slowlybutshelly]

I want to match.
You seem to want to torture me with your response.

Why are you torturing yourself like this?

 

[username456789]

I want to match.
You seem to want to torture me with your response.

I want to play quarterback for a Super Bowl winning team, but that ain't happening either.

No one here is torturing you but yourself. As I said I am sorry to hear you are in the position you're in, but you're beyond delusional here.

Unfortunately your educational record is terrible. Failure to complete 3 different medical schools. Failure to pass Step 2CK, and a hell of a difficult time passing the other Step exams.

Worse yet, you come across as someone who takes very little (if any) responsibility for any of your actions. You may have had some unfortunate twists and turns, but you've made bad decision after bad decision and want to blame everyone but yourself.

You have spent over two decades "trying to match." What on God's green earth has led you to believe that your chances have been going up this whole time?

Please find peace in some other endeavor.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

I want to play quarterback for a Super Bowl winning team, but that ain't happening either.

No one here is torturing you but yourself. As I said I am sorry to hear you are in the position you're in, but you're beyond delusional here.

Unfortunately your educational record is terrible. Failure to complete 3 different medical schools. Failure to pass Step 2CK, and a hell of a difficult time passing the other Step exams.

Worse yet, you come across as someone who takes very little (if any) responsibility for any of your actions. You may have had some unfortunate twists and turns, but you've made bad decision after bad decision and want to blame everyone but yourself.

You have spent over two decades "trying to match." What on God's green earth has led you to believe that your chances have been going up this whole time?

Please find peace in some other endeavor.

Agree with this and further more - OP:

Med school coursework isn't like money in a bank account. You can't just go back and access your past credits.

You talk like you're just a few electives away from graduating...when in reality you haven't attended Ross since 2005.

Unless the folks at Ross have told you they will take you back, no other medical school is going to give you a degree.

asking about residency LORs and calling yourself an "M4" is delusional right now.

 

[Mad Jack]

I want to play quarterback for a Super Bowl winning team, but that ain't happening either.

No one here is torturing you but yourself. As I said I am sorry to hear you are in the position you're in, but you're beyond delusional here.

Unfortunately your educational record is terrible. Failure to complete 3 different medical schools. Failure to pass Step 2CK, and a hell of a difficult time passing the other Step exams.

Worse yet, you come across as someone who takes very little (if any) responsibility for any of your actions. You may have had some unfortunate twists and turns, but you've made bad decision after bad decision and want to blame everyone but yourself.

You have spent over two decades "trying to match." What on God's green earth has led you to believe that your chances have been going up this whole time?

Please find peace in some other endeavor.

Wow. I hate to say it, but this is flat out delusional thinking. And OP hasn't even graduated in all that time?

I can't think of one residency, even in the darkest backwoods of the most rural state, that would take such a candidate. OP, I think you should reevaluate why you are so committed to a failed endeavor. It's as if you've devoted your entire adult life to the sunk cost fallacy.

 

[gyngyn]

How does one know which programs require personalized essays? Do programs 'put out' requirements for essays?

The whole specialty decided to go with this.
This is in contrast to EM whose required pre-interview video was foisted upon them.

 

[iBS1972]

If the previous posts are true and that you really haven't attended med school in years, I feel like your amount of clinically relevant medical knowledge is almost zero at this point.
I'd like to think that OP is creating these threads for the benefit of others seeking the same answer, though that might be wishful-thinking/delusional thinking on my own part.

 

[Stagg737]

I think the point was to cut down on people applying to a boatload of places and get people to pare things down a bit.

I can understand that, but given the nature of medical students I don't think that's what would happen. Med students tend to have a pretty submissive yet masochistic attitude when it comes to policies. When administrations/the system says "jump", we say "how high?". Adding another step to the match process isn't going to significantly decrease the number of places people apply to. It's just going to add another level of stress, imo unnecessary stress, to the process. Would people apply to less programs? Probably, but my guess is that it wouldn't be enough of a smaller amount to really make much of a difference in the process and matching more people to places they want to be at/belong at.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

I can understand that, but given the nature of medical students I don't think that's what would happen. Med students tend to have a pretty submissive yet masochistic attitude when it comes to policies. When administrations/the system says "jump", we say "how high?". Adding another step to the match process isn't going to significantly decrease the number of places people apply to. It's just going to add another level of stress, imo unnecessary stress, to the process. Would people apply to less programs? Probably, but my guess is that it wouldn't be enough of a smaller amount to really make much of a difference in the process and matching more people to places they want to be at/belong at.

Data showed that the number of programs people applied to DIDNT change at all. It was like a mean of 62 per applicant before they instituted the new rule and 63 after or something like that.

So just an annoying hoop. The OG crowd of course lauded it saying it made the applicants "research" their programs and show some "real interest". So much BS.

What DID happen is ENT had an unprecedented drop in # of applicants overall and had some unfilled spots which basically never happens. Whether that's causally related is unlikely but certainly possible.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Ignoring the OP's history and focusing on the question, other than ENT, very few, if any, programs expect a personalized PS. I would only personalize the PS if you have a driving reason / need / interest in a program. So, for example, a research candidate who is looking for a specific lab. Or your spouse is already there, so you want to be in the same place. Other than issues like that, use a generic statement.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

ENT required personalized essays for each program last year.
That's a lot of essays when you are applying to 60 programs.

I'm hoping by personalized they mean that it's addressed to the specific program in mind. If it has to be a fresh new essay for each program, it's a bone-brained policy. Even prolific writers would have a tough time churning out that many unique essays unless they started fabricating new facts about their life, essentially making one "new person" per applied program.

Either that, or they really meant it tongue-in-cheek and just wanted to thin out the herd.

 

[gyngyn]

I'm hoping by personalized they mean that it's addressed for the specific program in mind. If it has to be a fresh new essay for each program, it's a bone-brained policy. Even prolific writers would have a tough time churning out that many unique essays unless they started fabricating new facts about their life, essentially making one "new person" per applied program.

Either that, or they really meant it tongue-in-cheek and just wanted to thin out the herd.

They asked for a love letter to each specific program.
I have to believe that a significant degree of redundancy was necessary to plow through it, though.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

They asked for a love letter to each specific program.
I have to believe that a significant degree of redundancy was necessary to plow through it, though.

It was a paragraph at the end.

It's not hard to imagine a "generic/specific" template: "I would be thrilled to train at program XXX. The combination of clinical and research opportunities made this program stand out among the many excellent places I've looked at. Given my personal interests in <head and neck oncology/reconstruction/pediatrics>, the strong reputation of your program is a great fit. I would be particularly thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Dr. YYY, whose research in <ZZZ> meshes well with my previous experience in this area"

In fact posters in the ENT forum said they got a fair number of PS's addressed to the wrong program. Not hard to imagine when applicants have to individually assign 60+ different PS's into ERAS. Sounds like a total nightmare.

 

[gyngyn]

In fact posters in the ENT forum said they got a fair number of PS's addressed to the wrong program. Not hard to imagine when applicants have to individually assign 60+ different PS's into ERAS. Sounds like a total nightmare.

It was.
I was surprised how little my students whined about it, though.
They just got the job done, in addition to all their other responsibilities.

 

[Lexicon0]

Data showed that the number of programs people applied to DIDNT change at all. It was like a mean of 62 per applicant before they instituted the new rule and 63 after or something like that.

So just an annoying hoop. The OG crowd of course lauded it saying it made the applicants "research" their programs and show some "real interest". So much BS.

What DID happen is ENT had an unprecedented drop in # of applicants overall and had some unfilled spots which basically never happens. Whether that's causally related is unlikely but certainly possible.

Not only was there a significant increase in number of unfilled spots (relative to cycles in the recent past) but there were also a few programs that went COMPLETELY unfilled through the match (0/3). This either means: 1. These programs did not rank all/enough applicants post-interview or 2. They went unmatched even after ranking all of their interviewees. #1 would suggest hubris on part of the program (and personally would garner no sympathy from me) and #2 (which I think is more likely) would suggest that the applicants being interviewed matched at programs they had ranked more highly. The very purpose of the individualized personal statement was to screen out applicants not interested/optimize the process and scenario #2 would suggest that this was not the case last cycle.

 

[phonyreal98]

In fact posters in the ENT forum said they got a fair number of PS's addressed to the wrong program. Not hard to imagine when applicants have to individually assign 60+ different PS's into ERAS. Sounds like a total nightmare.

Well that's one way (other than Step I) to pare down applications

 

[slowlybutshelly]

I want to play quarterback for a Super Bowl winning team, but that ain't happening either.

No one here is torturing you but yourself. As I said I am sorry to hear you are in the position you're in, but you're beyond delusional here.

Unfortunately your educational record is terrible. Failure to complete 3 different medical schools. Failure to pass Step 2CK, and a hell of a difficult time passing the other Step exams.

Worse yet, you come across as someone who takes very little (if any) responsibility for any of your actions. You may have had some unfortunate twists and turns, but you've made bad decision after bad decision and want to blame everyone but yourself.

You have spent over two decades "trying to match." What on God's green earth has led you to believe that your chances have been going up this whole time?

Please find peace in some other endeavor.

I have only been in 2 medical schools.
Re: responsibility for actions. I grew up with not 1 but 2 Narc parents; I assumed responsibility for way too much stuff. I am constantly evaluating what I should be taking responsibility for and not.


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[slowlybutshelly]

I have never tried to enter the match. Ever.


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[slowlybutshelly]

If the previous posts are true and that you really haven't attended med school in years, I feel like your amount of clinically relevant medical knowledge is almost zero at this point.
I'd like to think that OP is creating these threads for the benefit of others seeking the same answer, though that might be wishful-thinking/delusional thinking on my own part.

For whatever it's worth (and maybe it took a lot of healing) my studying is going better than ever. I know I have been underfunctioning. My goal is to show what I know I am capable of. My MCAT scores were 99%ile in sciences.


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[iBS1972]

For whatever it's worth (and maybe it took a lot of healing) my studying is going better than ever. I know I have been underfunctioning. My goal is to show what I know I am capable of. My MCAT scores were 99%ile in sciences.


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That's great to hear. What are you studying now btw?

 

[username456789]

My goal is to show what I know I am capable of.


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Oh you have already done that. Over the past 2 decades.

And here you are.

 

[Ismet]

I have done clinical rotations. A lot of them. I was 7 weeks from graduation, but 'got stopped' by Katrina and life. At one point in 2007 I was in the scramble. I have one generic PS written. But I have not decided on what programs to apply to.

I have never tried to enter the match. Ever.


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So you're planning to apply to residency this year without having done clinical rotations since 2007 and needing to retake all the USMLE's?

 

[username456789]

So you're planning to apply to residency this year without having done clinical rotations since 2007 and needing to retake all the USMLE's?

She has to graduate from a medical school, too. And most of her preclinical coursework at Vermont was before a lot of current medical students were born.

 

[slowlybutshelly]

That's great to hear. What are you studying now btw?

Thank you for your support. I have been studying on Skype with people. This is new to me. I studied with other people and classmates very well until (pitted into my situation); by the way I think my situation was contrived to weed out the AOA gunners from the rest of the class. And I just got caught in the chaos. It was so traumatizing that 25 yrs later and I am still trying to make sense of it and recover from blame and shame. That school wasn't even a catholic school

Today I went to a nursing home, visited elderly patients with Dementia; met a couple (he 90 she 84- with dementia) and thought about the human brain. Why did this female get dementia at age 75 and the male is still fine?

I also was amazed at my girlfriend who is an ordained minister giving communion. She (no holds barred) feels 'deserved' of what path she chooses.

Something way back in my past makes me feel undeserved of a path I choose. And trust me I am trying to figure out Gods will for me versus my will.


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[slowlybutshelly]

I have been studying RBc for two weeks now. Hematology. WBC next.

Dad has a friend paralyzed from waist down undergoing a stem cell transplant.

Where would I post such a topic? I have heard of stem cell transplants for multiple myeloma say, but never for neuromuscular paralysis. So if I wanted to start a new thread about this topic where would I go?

Probably ditto for my topic about God posted above.


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[gyngyn]

I have been studying RBc for two weeks now. Hematology. WBC next.

Dad has a friend paralyzed from waist down undergoing a stem cell transplant.

Where would I post such a topic? I have heard of stem cell transplants for multiple myeloma say, but never for neuromuscular paralysis. So if I wanted to start a new thread about this topic where would I go?

Probably ditto for my topic about God posted above.


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SDN is not for homework help.
This is probably not the right place for religious conversations (unless it directly affects applications or practice).

 

[Lawpy]

So you're planning to apply to residency this year without having done clinical rotations since 2007 and needing to retake all the USMLE's?

She has to graduate from a medical school, too. And most of her preclinical coursework at Vermont was before a lot of current medical students were born.

Honestly I read all the posts regarding the matter here and in the other threads, and I still have no idea what OP is trying to do and what her next step is. All I can say is good luck.

 

[slowlybutshelly]

Honestly I read all the posts regarding the matter here and in the other threads, and I still have no idea what OP is trying to do and what her next step is. All I can say is good luck.

My next step is trying to reaffiliate with a school to sponsor me for Step1, Step2ck.
I am studying now. And writing essays for ERAS.


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[bigindian4891]

My next step is trying to reaffiliate with a school to sponsor me for Step1, Step2ck.
I am studying now. And writing essays for ERAS.


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Not to beat a dead horse, but I really think you should think things over. This is like having your first day of work tomorrow morning, but you dont have a car yet.

 

[slowlybutshelly]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I really think you should think things over. This is like having your first day of work tomorrow morning, but you dont have a car yet.

Well I come from a family who was never able to get me a car. I don't have car in my name and I am 50. So be it. Life has been hard. I thought part of medical education was 'a great education that should be mandatory for everyone for the benefit of society'. Some people have been living in 'the bubble' for generations and will never understand.

People went to the carribean 'to be given a chance' I went because it was pergutory. Sent there by a place that thought it was God. It was not all my own choice.


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[username456789]

Well I come from a family who was never able to get me a car. I don't have car in my name and I am 50. So be it. Life has been hard. I thought part of medical education was 'a great education that should be mandatory for everyone for the benefit of society'. Some people have been living in 'the bubble' for generations and will never understand.

People went to the carribean 'to be given a chance' I went because it was pergutory. Sent there by a place that thought it was God. It was not all my own choice.


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There you go again completely missing the point.

I actually wish you were a troll at this point. It would be a lot less sad.

 

[DrfluffyMD]

Well I come from a family who was never able to get me a car. I don't have car in my name and I am 50. So be it. Life has been hard. I thought part of medical education was 'a great education that should be mandatory for everyone for the benefit of society'. Some people have been living in 'the bubble' for generations and will never understand.

People went to the carribean 'to be given a chance' I went because it was pergutory. Sent there by a place that thought it was God. It was not all my own choice.


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You should go talk to your mental health physician/provider instead of coming up with a hundred differnt idea in a very short time span.

I am not sure what you are hoping to achieve with writing a residency application essay. You are not elligible for the match since you have not graduated from a med school.

Please make sure you are well first.

 

[slowlybutshelly]

There you go again completely missing the point.

I actually wish you were a troll at this point. It would be a lot less sad.

So the point is (to address your analogy) is that I did have a car for rotations. I did well in clinical rotations at many different medical institutions. Not just one in my hometown backyard. But up and down the East coast. I had a car. I don't right now. I let my ClusterA and B family members live off my student loans and drive my old cars. Do you see where I come from yet and how much I have achieved to just be waking around trying to study and find a path right now? Give me some credit please. Or have you never poked your nose outside a bubble?


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[Foot Fetish]

Another gem of a thread, Shelly!

 

[slowlybutshelly]

You should go talk to your mental health physician/provider instead of coming up with a hundred differnt idea in a very short time span.

I am not sure what you are hoping to achieve with writing a residency application essay. You are not elligible for the match since you have not graduated from a med school.

Please make sure you are well first.

To graduate from medical school I need to pass Step1 and step2ck first. All else is done. Wanting me to 'get well first' implies that I am somehow organically unwell. Sigh. Narcs live to make others appear unwell so they can appear well. It takes a lot of recovery to recognize this on the internet too


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[username456789]

So the point is (to address your analogy) is that I did have a car for rotations. I did well in clinical rotations at many different medical institutions. Not just one in my hometown backyard. But up and down the East coast. I had a car. I don't right now. I let my ClusterA and B family members live off my student loans and drive my old cars. Do you see where I come from yet and how much I have achieved to just be waking around trying to study and find a path right now? Give me some credit please. Or have you never poked your nose outside a bubble?


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No, that is not the point at all. The car was a metaphor. This has nothing to do with actual cars.

The point is that you are not even close to the point where it would be reasonable to think you would be a successful candidate for the match, and yet you're busy writing a ERAS personal statement and studying for Step I as a 50 year old.

Yikes.

 

[username456789]

To graduate from medical school I need to pass Step1 and step2ck first. All else is done.

To graduate medical school you need to first re-enroll in medical school. How has that process gone during the past 10-20 years?

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

To graduate from medical school I need to pass Step1 and step2ck first. All else is done. Wanting me to 'get well first' implies that I am somehow organically unwell. Sigh. Narcs live to make others appear unwell so they can appear well. It takes a lot of recovery to recognize this on the internet too


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Like I said in the other thread...medical school coursework is not saved somewhere like in a bank account. You can't just go withdraw your 12 year old course credits and cash them in for a degree now.

No medical school is going to just take you on and slap a degree on you.

What has the Ross administration told you? This is the most recent school you were enrolled in, correct? If anyone can help you, it's them.

 

[DrfluffyMD]

To graduate from medical school I need to pass Step1 and step2ck first. All else is done. Wanting me to 'get well first' implies that I am somehow organically unwell. Sigh. Narcs live to make others appear unwell so they can appear well. It takes a lot of recovery to recognize this on the internet too


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Please don't put word I didn't say in my mouth.

To say "get well first" implies you are unwell. I make no such implication.

I wanted you to check with yourself and professionals first to see if you are well.

That is the first step for everything.

All people who are well know that they are well. People who are unwell may or may not have the insight.

Again, I am NOT in a position to determine whether you are well or unwell, just go take care of yourself before you can take care of others.