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Does anyone have a good resource to help with writing a personal statement for residency programs? I'm looking to work on mine this summer and would like some direction, thanks!
Residency Personal Statement
- Thread starter Slevin
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http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/abo...esidency/writing-your-personal-statement.page
This is pretty basic, but may serve as a good starting point.
This is pretty basic, but may serve as a good starting point.
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I looked at that a little while ago, and I thought it was funny that the author says not to use cliches or make grammatical errors, then uses a cliche (keeping an open mind third year) and a grammatical error (the the). I mean seriously, if you are going to harp on the importance of proofreading, PROOFREAD!
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Very basic advice: keep it simple and boring. You can try to be cute or creative, but 999 times out of a thousand, you'll come off looking like a fool. If you have a hole in your application that requires explanation, then go for it. Otherwise, dry and bland is the way to go.
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After talking to a bunch of residents and people at my school I completely agree. For the most part, most people didn't go to Africa and deliver twins then fight with the rebels against a horrible dictator. Keeping it simple and free of errors is the way to go.
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So there are two ways of thinking:
1. You want to end up in a place you belong. This is what I did, and I am VERY happy. Write a personal statement. Not just a bunch of words on a page, but a real personal statement. Say what your perception of a doctor is. Say what your idea of work is. Say what is important to your soul. The programs you get interviews from will share similar views (or will be beneath you, are trying to get you for your scores). When you know your why, your core, what drives you, you can let everyone else see if you are the type of person they want. When you mix, sparks fly, and all of a sudden you are where you are supposed to be. You (believe it or not, they have a name for this)... Match. You don't "get accepted" nor are you "offered a position," you match. It may not be where you thought you'd end up, it may not be in the location you thought you wanted to be, but residency is TOO LONG and TOO HARD to be in a program you don't click with and with people you don't like.
2. You want to end up at a place or in a field that everyone wants. This is NOT what I did, but what I recommend for people trying to get into a residency that is competitive, or wants to be in a geographic location. Lie your pants off. This is the fundamental of human manipulation. You read the websites for the programs you want to go to (and you want to go to them because its in the residency or location of your choice, not actually because you want to go there). You find out their why, find out what drives them. Then, you tailor your dreams, ambitions, and perspective in life to match theirs.
You'll probably end up in a place full of liars and cheats, but at least you'll be where you thought you wanted to go!
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I agree, but with some caution. Dry and bland doesn't mean "without purpose" and "without soul." Be plain, but be purposeful. Don't write a metaphor about you at a circus, but also don't do the typical "i did this and then i did that and then i did this and then she did that and then this and then that." You can really say, in the simplest way possible, what you think of yourself, of your career, and what you are looking for in a program. Be sincere, be meaningful, be easy to understand.
Let them see if what you say matches with what they do or want.
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I picked up "First Aid for the Match" at the bookstore- it is full of examples, and even includes full personal statements from a bunch of different specialties. I'd recommend it if you're stuck and/or writing's not your thing (like me).
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eff that!
10 pages
at least!!1
How much of this dry and boring nonsense do you think anyone else wants to read - you don't even want to write it, right?
I had an "interesting" application for reasons known to a few folks around here, so I used my personal statement to talk about it. For fellowship, everyone told me to go traditional boring and forget about the past "stuff", so I sent the dry one out to some places and then I wrote one where I said what I really thought about everything, my experiences, and partly why I hated writing personal statements (and was glad it was my last), and EVERYONE loved it. All the interviews at places with the boring personal statement: meh, not even mentioned. All the interview at places with the lively personal statement, it was largely the topic of interview discussion.
Though, I ended up at a place where I sent a boring personal statement. They didn't seem to hold it against me
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lol
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When do usually start working on these? I heard we can start using ERAS around July? Not sure...how long do those who've already been through the process recommend starting in advance, especially if one is considering taking step 2 early
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Last edited:
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Start writing your personal statement as soon as you can. It is a pain and takes a fair amount of time to write. Don't wait until July.
I don't entirely agree with the simple, short, and boring approach. If PDs are going to be reading hundreds of these, why wouldn't you want to stand out a little bit? I'm not saying you should be cutesy and include 5 "inspirational" quotes or anything like that, but I would definitely recommend trying to separate yours from everyone else's.
I started mine with an anecdote from a clinical experience involving the specialty that I am applying for. There were several interviewers that asked me to expand on that experience because they thought it was interesting. Towards the middle I actually used an analogy comparing my chosen specialty with my favorite hobby. Numerous interviewers agreed with that particular analogy and it sparked a fun and interesting conversation.
I know this is a PS thread, but I would also recommend putting some interesting hobbies/interests at the end of your application. I was seriously asked about at least one these on about 75% of my interviews. If you put something down, though, make sure it's legit and you are prepared to talk about it. It should go without saying that any single thing you put on your application you should be prepared to talk about it. Because chances are very very high you will be asked about nearly everything at least once.
I started mine with an anecdote from a clinical experience involving the specialty that I am applying for. There were several interviewers that asked me to expand on that experience because they thought it was interesting. Towards the middle I actually used an analogy comparing my chosen specialty with my favorite hobby. Numerous interviewers agreed with that particular analogy and it sparked a fun and interesting conversation.
I know this is a PS thread, but I would also recommend putting some interesting hobbies/interests at the end of your application. I was seriously asked about at least one these on about 75% of my interviews. If you put something down, though, make sure it's legit and you are prepared to talk about it. It should go without saying that any single thing you put on your application you should be prepared to talk about it. Because chances are very very high you will be asked about nearly everything at least once.
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I'm guessing that since all 5 of your posts have that link in them that either a) you're a bot, b) you have some kind of vested interest in that service, or c) you are a disinterested third party who just happened to have an amazing experience with that company.
I'm going with B
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Dat 2 year necrobump
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Hahaha.... the post I quoted was deleted.
That guy was going around resurrecting old threads... all of them had "personal statement" in the title, then writing a quick blurb about how they used this website and had great results.
I guess some moderator went and cleaned out their posts or something because it's gone from the thread now.
