Should I include names in my PS?

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Hi everyone,

I was wondering if it would be alright to include the first names of patients who had an impact on my decision to become a doc, and the names of hospitals I worked at?

Thanks!

 

[mimelim]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if it would be alright to include the first names of patients who had an impact on my decision to become a doc, and the names of hospitals I worked at?

Thanks!

No, it is not okay. Unnamed or pseudonym. Have you never heard of HIPAA?

 

[jqueb29]

I would not use their real name, and do not include any details that you don't need to . Give them a different name and write the name in quotation marks the first time you use it. Just something like: "Steve" (not his real name) influenced me yadda yadda yadda. Prevents any HIPAA risk on your part and shows the school that you understand and take HIPAA seriously.

 

[El-Rami]

I would structure my sentences in a way that I could exclude names. For example, state that you met a patient with x condition and describe how the experience impacted you. Including the name of the hospital should be fine.

 

[LizzyM]

You can use names and putting a short name in quotes saves valuable characters and shows that you have the character to respect others' privacy, particularly in dealing with patients. It is often easier to say "Dee" and her sister, "Ava" ... and then refer to Dee and Ava than to continually say "the patient" "her sister" and have confusion when you use "she" or " her".
There are plenty of 2-4 letter names that can work.


If you aren't being critical of a health care provider, it is perfectly acceptable to use their name or to say "Dr. B" . In many cases, you'll have their names on your list of physicians shadowed or on a LOR, anyway. If you are being critical of a health care provider, stop and think about it. You might not want to go there.

 

[neekzg]

The assumption is that if you've included a name of a patient or someone you've worked with, it has been changed to protect their privacy. I don't think it is necessary to include a disclaimer that this was done.

 

[LizzyM]

The assumption is that if you've included a name of a patient or someone you've worked with, it has been changed to protect their privacy. I don't think it is necessary to include a disclaimer that this was done.

You'd be surprised. I had a colleague who saw her own son's first name in an essay about a child who had inspired the applicant. Given the applicant's service activities at a specific institution, it was clearly her child... who had died suddenly just a couple weeks earlier. 🙁

 

[Hospitalized]

You'd be surprised. I had a colleague who saw her own son's first name in an essay about a child who had inspired the applicant. Given the applicant's service activities at a specific institution, it was clearly her child... who had died suddenly just a couple weeks earlier. 🙁

It's still okay to include a name of your own family member in an essay though, right?

 

[LizzyM]

It's still okay to include a name of your own family member in an essay though, right?

They also have a right to privacy, wouldn't you say? Be careful about airing dirty laundry. If, on the other hand, Grandpa Jack inspired you in his courageous battle with lymphoma, then go for it.

 

[Ad2b]

TBH, I've told every letter writer to avoid using the proper names due to HIPAA and change the wording in the sentences or paragraphs to tell the same story. I cringe at seeing "Sue" or "Frank" and then a list of their disease states.

Obviously, I am a wee premed and not an adcom. I say err on the side of conservatism.

 

[Danbo1957]

No names. Period.

 

[Domepiece]

Logistically, shortening names as much as possible is the move in consideration of the character limit. I 2nd @LizzyM in saying 'Dr. B' or something similar when it comes to patients and others you are discussing in your PS.

 

[ChrisMack390]

I ended up scrapping the entire paragraph, but for a while I told a story and referred to a patient by just their initials. I thought this was confidential and the clearest way to tell the story. Saying "the patient" over and over gave it a very detached vibe, which is the opposite of what you want in a personal statement.

I do state the names of a hospital and an organization I work for. I assume this is fine - they are on the app anyway.

 

[El-Rami]

I ended up scrapping the entire paragraph, but for a while I told a story and referred to a patient by just their initials. I thought this was confidential and the clearest way to tell the story. Saying "the patient" over and over gave it a very detached vibe, which is the opposite of what you want in a personal statement.

I do state the names of a hospital and an organization I work for. I assume this is fine - they are on the app anyway.

You don't have to say 'the patient' over and over. If it sounds detached, then it's just how you wrote it. You can still write a paragraph in which you discuss the experience, how you felt, how it impacted you in your career, etc. and still make it sound personal. There's no real need to describe an illness that the patient had in great detail, nor how they were treated. Just say enough that the reader can understand, and move on.

Your idea to write initials isn't bad, so I'm not knocking it or anything.

 

[LizzyM]

You don't have to say 'the patient' over and over. If it sounds detached, then it's just how you wrote it. You can still write a paragraph in which you discuss the experience, how you felt, how it impacted you in your career, etc. and still make it sound personal. There's no real need to describe an illness that the patient had in great detail, nor how they were treated. Just say enough that the reader can understand, and move on.

Your idea to write initials isn't bad, so I'm not knocking it or anything.

qft... don't expect the adcom to be impressed that you can go into exquisite detail about the presentation and treatment of 'Tim" the boy with glucose-6-phosphatase deficiency. Most will not be the least bit impressed but more exhausted by it. What you should do it talk about how seeing the physicians taking care of Tim and interacting with his parents made you feel, how much you started to connect the dots between what you've learned in biochemistry and what you saw in practice and how that piqued your interest in working with children and families who are struggling with complex medical conditions. See how it is not really about the intricacies of the symptoms, evaluation, diagnosis and treatment but about how you processed what you experienced and how it changed you.

 

[21Rush12]

FWIW, in my primary I wrote about a patient and a particular moment of inspiration, and introduced her as a generic name for the ease of writing. I've had two interviews and nobody mentioned it, granted they were MMI. I just kept PHI to an absolute minimum and gave no identifying details whatsoever. I feel like if you are respectful of their privacy and it is really important to your essay that it is probably okay to use a name, provided it is relevant and makes the writing less clunky.

Edit: OP, whatever @LizzyM says is the right answer to your question.

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