Struggling to put PS statement together, aka "overthinking"

[Lost In Transcription]

Hello,

I have written a couple of PS, and thrown them all away. This has mostly been because I don't feel a strong enough theme to unify my explanation as to why I am applying M.D.

The biggest thing holding me back from creating a cohesive theme is how my activities tie DIRECTLY to medicine. Answer: most of them don't. I have shadowing, yes, but a lot of my activities were focused on building community at my school and doing K-12 education in educationally underserved regions. I think I can comment on what personality qualities I have developed from these or led me to them, but I struggle to directly apply this to medicine without sounding cliched or making "leaps" to what I "think a doctor is".

I feel like I can describe my theme in words, or in an unprofessional writing style, but not in a formal, organized way.

Any advice from people that have also struggled with similar issues would be great. Yes, I have read the LONG PS threads, been to PS workshops, and brainstormed/mindmapped. No, this is not an indication that I simply "do not know if I want to be in medicine".

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[brightshadows]

Do you have any clinical volunteering? Talk about that as well as your other work with the underserved and how that may have lead to your desire to work in an underserved area as a future physician (if that is what you want to do). I dont know I am pretty bad at this but I think that can work.

 

[cactusinmyhead]

Your activities probably don't tie directly to medicine and that's fine! As far as looking for a theme...is there a similar reason why you do your activities as to why you want to pursue a degree in medicine? Such as the classic "I find helping others to be rewarding" theme. I struggled with my PS too because I also don't like to sound cliche, but you have to realize that everyone is applying for literally the same thing and a lot of us have similar reasons to want to go into medicine. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Even if your reasons or "theme" isn't unique, it's fine. Just write something compelling, grammatically correct, and most importantly honest.

 

[Lost In Transcription]

Do you have any clinical volunteering? Talk about that as well as your other work with the underserved and how that may have lead to your desire to work in an underserved area as a future physician (if that is what you want to do). I dont know I am pretty bad at this but I think that can work.

I do, but I feel like that is somehow overreaching. The personality quality that leads me to work with the kids is the same quality that I want to highlight in my PS, but have not had the chance to personally make it medically relevant. Haha.

 

[brightshadows]

I do, but I feel like that is somehow overreaching. The personality quality that leads me to work with the kids is the same quality that I want to highlight in my PS, but have not had the chance to personally make it medically relevant. Haha.

What is the quality? If you can highlight important qualities that are desirable in a physician I think that would be looked upon favorably!

 

[Lost In Transcription]

Your activities probably don't tie directly to medicine and that's fine! As far as looking for a theme...is there a similar reason why you do your activities as to why you want to pursue a degree in medicine? Such as the classic "I find helping others to be rewarding" theme. I struggled with my PS too because I also don't like to sound cliche, but you have to realize that everyone is applying for literally the same thing and a lot of us have similar reasons to want to go into medicine. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Even if your reasons or "theme" isn't unique, it's fine. Just write something compelling, grammatically correct, and most importantly honest.

True. Hence the "overthinking" in the title! That is a good point, and I think I will stick with it.

The other issue is that I have had a lot of significant life experiences that have made me very mature in many ways (significant loss, childhood issues, and other things), and I would like to highlight that. I don't know how to tie in my past experiences that I have overcome and my current experiences to pursue medicine, which are non-unique premed activities. Pre-med activities have always felt awkward to me because you don't actually get to (usually) be emotionally involved directly with what is going on, or have responsibility, but you have to pretend they somehow prepare you to be a physician. The emotional depth of my personal experiences make the pre-med experiences pale in comparison, which is what I think I am having trouble combining to make a unified theme.

 

[Lost In Transcription]

What is the quality? If you can highlight important qualities that are desirable in a physician I think that would be looked upon favorably!

Ability to recognize underserved communities and have enough emotional maturity to be involved without being socially awkward or dismissive.

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

I have the same problem. I wrote what I thought was a strong essay about dedication to service but it feels like I'm evading the question of why medicine! Don't even get me starts on how I "first got into medicine," that is an exceptionally boring story of having gone to a medically related magnet program in middle school lol

I think the problem is that even though I have a few good ideas of what might be a strong essay, each of them are somewhat risky in a way. I know the best bet would probably be sticking to the "conventional" med essay, but it is hard sometiimes writing in such a rigid manner.

 

[Lost In Transcription]

I have the same problem. I wrote what I thought was a strong essay about dedication to service but it feels like I'm evading the question of why medicine! Don't even get me starts on how I "first got into medicine," that is an exceptionally boring story of having gone to a medically related magnet program in middle school lol

I think the problem is that even though I have a few good ideas of what might be a strong essay, each of them are somewhat risky in a way. I know the best bet would probably be sticking to the "conventional" med essay, but it is hard sometiimes writing in such a rigid manner.

I agree. Haha. Have you finished a full draft that you like yet?

 

[caffeinemia]

Hello,

I have written a couple of PS, and thrown them all away. This has mostly been because I don't feel a strong enough theme to unify my explanation as to why I am applying M.D.

The biggest thing holding me back from creating a cohesive theme is how my activities tie DIRECTLY to medicine. Answer: most of them don't. I have shadowing, yes, but a lot of my activities were focused on building community at my school and doing K-12 education in educationally underserved regions. I think I can comment on what personality qualities I have developed from these or led me to them, but I struggle to directly apply this to medicine without sounding cliched or making "leaps" to what I "think a doctor is".

I feel like I can describe my theme in words, or in an unprofessional writing style, but not in a formal, organized way.

Any advice from people that have also struggled with similar issues would be great. Yes, I have read the LONG PS threads, been to PS workshops, and brainstormed/mindmapped. No, this is not an indication that I simply "do not know if I want to be in medicine".

I'm actually working with a number of applicants currently on their essays - yeah, lots of people have trouble tying their essays into a neat package. Have you actually let a strong writer look at your essay and give you advice? concrete suggestions specific to your situation might be more useful than just looking for formulaic methods here.

As an exercise: pick out your two to three favorite activities in premed years and write down exactly why you liked them so much. Then identify what it tells you about being a doctor. It might help you link them together more easily, instead of just cataloguing random experiences.

here's an example from one I wrote many many many years ago:

I did three years of research as an undergrad and wrote a thesis and presented multiple times.
It was challenging and demanding problem solving. I got to use my strong analytical skills and exercise my tenacious curiosity, but it was one dimensional in many ways.

I also mentored an underprivileged immigrant kid who had behavioral problems in school.
It was also challenging, but in a different way. I tried to apply reason and logic to motivate him, but I sucked at reading his emotional state and troubling family life. It took a while to develop that sense and I am thankful that the experience gave me the chance to improve on it. At the end of the day, I built a stronger relationship with him and it was wonderful to see him thrive.

I was on staff at a local cancer org that helped immigrant patients find out more about cancer resources in different languages. I was really good at explaining academic concepts, but again, I sucked at reading people and discussing sensitive topics. I had to exercise a lot of introspection and humility to truly help others in a nonjudgmental and welcoming way. My definition of doing good became a lot more nuanced and that was the most valuable lesson.

Common thread? Multifaceted problems in medicine ; never what you expect; constantly teaches you to be flexible, humble, and re-evaluate your preconceptions about facts as well as people. Such a dynamic field is exciting. (It's also kind of proven true after meeting some of the wild patients and physicians over the years!)

Anyway, hope that helps.

 

[Lost In Transcription]

I'm actually working with a number of applicants currently on their essays - yeah, lots of people have trouble tying their essays into a neat package. Have you actually let a strong writer look at your essay and give you advice? concrete suggestions specific to your situation might be more useful than just looking for formulaic methods here.

As an exercise: pick out your two to three favorite activities in premed years and write down exactly why you liked them so much. Then identify what it tells you about being a doctor. It might help you link them together more easily, instead of just cataloguing random experiences.

here's an example from one I wrote many many many years ago:

I did three years of research as an undergrad and wrote a thesis and presented multiple times.
It was challenging and demanding problem solving. I got to use my strong analytical skills and exercise my tenacious curiosity, but it was one dimensional in many ways.

I also mentored an underprivileged immigrant kid who had behavioral problems in school.
It was also challenging, but in a different way. I tried to apply reason and logic to motivate him, but I sucked at reading his emotional state and troubling family life. It took a while to develop that sense and I am thankful that the experience gave me the chance to improve on it. At the end of the day, I built a stronger relationship with him and it was wonderful to see him thrive.

I was on staff at a local cancer org that helped immigrant patients find out more about cancer resources in different languages. I was really good at explaining academic concepts, but again, I sucked at reading people and discussing sensitive topics. I had to exercise a lot of introspection and humility to truly help others in a nonjudgmental and welcoming way. My definition of doing good became a lot more nuanced and that was the most valuable lesson.

Common thread? Multifaceted problems in medicine ; never what you expect; constantly teaches you to be flexible, humble, and re-evaluate your preconceptions about facts as well as people. Such a dynamic field is exciting. (It's also kind of proven true after meeting some of the wild patients and physicians over the years!)

Anyway, hope that helps.

Ah! This actually helps a lot. That is exactly the thought process I was trying to develop. I will try that method. Thank you so much.

 

[Dandine]

All of these suggestions are great--definitely would have benefitted from this thread as an undergraduate working on my PS!

You mentioned past experiences and comparison to your pre-med activities; I think thought that even if it's so, what you learned from the past may have an impact on how you approach future obstacles, so you could perhaps bridge those experiences that way. Mainly speaking from my own PS, so you may choose a different strategy, but I experimented putting too much weight on first my pre-college experiences and then my college experiences (as in how those experiences shaped my decision to choose medicine) before I found a cohesive balance.

It's not easy to do, but it seems like you're headed in a good direction. Ultimately, it helps to focus on what attracts you to medicine and why you'd find it worthwhile as a career, and the experiences should back that up. Even if they don't have a single "theme," they should point towards those aspects.