The Six Personal Statement Types in Psychiatry *rehashing classic post*

[splik]

The Six Personal Statements in Psychiatry
Previously posted in 2015, this seemed to have disappeared but reposting here due to popular demand. It was not well received at the time by neurotic med students however. These examples are much better written than the actual detritus we read.

1. My Mentally Ill Relative
"Schizophrenia is one the most frightening and devastating diseases known to man. For most medical students, the experience of this fear and devastation is confined to the psychiatric unit. For me, this devastation is more personal. My mom had schizophrenia. One of my earliest memories was seeing my mother taken away by police screaming, leaving me with strangers in a shopping mall. The pain of mental illness not only destroys individuals but shatters families. As a child I always tried to be good in the hope it would keep my mom well. Try as I might, it was never enough. By the time I was 11 my mom, having been hospitalized at least 5 times in my lifetime, lost her battle with this disease leaving me alone. The pain of losing a parent to suicide is indescribable and entirely preventable. I want to make sure another child never has to experience this kind of senseless loss again."

Expert commentary: Unoriginal but perhaps 2nd most common type of personal statement. Applicant appears to have unrealistic and idealistic expectations for what psychiatry can and cannot do and is likely to become disillusioned very quickly. In her countertransference, is likely to identify with the children of schizophrenic parents. Appears to be seeking her own salvation in psychiatry with psychiatry residency being a legitimate cover for her own psychotherapy.



2. My Personal Struggle with Mental Illness or Other Tale of Woe
"Weak. Lazy. Pathetic. These are some of the words that my colleagues have used to describe people suffering from depression. They may well have been describing me because I have suffered from depression since adolescence when I struggled to come to terms with my sexual orientation. There were times when my thoughts even turned to suicide. Through my own therapy, I have been able to come to accept myself and come out to my family as a gay man. Although my family have not yet been able to accept this, I am happier for being true to myself. LGBT people experience alienation, bullying, and discrimination which contribute to the high prevalence of mental health and substance abuse problems among them. My own experiences have spurred me on to become an adolescent psychiatrist specializing in LGBT mental health."

Expert commentary: Boo hoo. you might as well have included the small violins playing in the background. The family estrangement raises questions about ongoing emotional struggles and not far from the back of the admissions committee's collective mind is whether the applicant will have difficulties throughout training.


3. Memorable patient/moment of enlightenment
"I always wanted to be primary care doc just like my dad. I started my third year on internal medicine wards hellbent on pursuing IM-primary care residencies. Then I met Bob. Bob was a 50 year old caucasian male of pinkish complexion and of imposing build with thick grey tufts of hair pointing in every direction, small grey eyes that were sunken in, and a toothless smile that melted the heart of even the most austere attending. Bob also happened to suffer from schizophrenia. Homeless, disorganized enough to neglect his wellbeing, but not disorganized enough to be psychiatrically hospitalized, he would often end up on the medicine service. This time it was from an infected gangrenous toe. Although initially refusing surgery, and deemed to have decisional capacity by psychiatry, through building rapport and connecting over our mutual love of cats, I was eventually able to persuade him to undergo amputation. The ability to make deeper connections with patients in order to help him convinced me that psychiatry was what I really wanted to do. Though I certainly helped Bob, he has helped me in more enduring ways that will stay with me forever."
Expert commentary: Probably the most common type of personal statement. Not. Original. At All. Mawkish. Saccharine.


4. My favorite cliche and other tales from the hackneyed repository
"Time Spent with Cats is Never Wasted".

So said Sigmund Freud, father of psychiatry, discoverer of the unconscious and lover of cats. Like Freud, I love cats and believe the dreams are "the royal road to the unconscious". It is my dream to become a psychiatrist specializing in psychoanalysis. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world". Through my own personal analysis, I have come to the conclusion that this form of quiet, intensive, therapeutic work is what is needed to exact lasting change, not only for individuals but for society as a whole. As John Lennon said, "reality leaves a lot to the imagination", and imagination, play, dreams, and day dreams are how we grow, and all of these important tasks of being human are facilitated by psychoanalysis. As the Beatles said, "Love, Love, Love". That is what psychiatry and psychoanalysis are about. That is how healing takes places. This is what I want to do with my life. Because all we need is love. Possibly with an SSRI and some Xanax.


Expert commentary: Beyond the overuse of irrelevant and bizarre quotations is a level of disorganization bordering on formal thought disorder. Makes the common error of stating Freud was the father of psychiatry when he in fact wasn't a psychiatrist at all and never practiced psychiatry. Perseverating on love like a stammering Tourette's patient with erotolalia and conflating psychiatry and psychoanalysis show a disturbing lack of insight into the field.


5. Why I am so amazing
" 'You're too good for psychiatry- You're wasting your talent!' These are the words my professors have told me throughout medical school. As a former Rhodes Scholar and with my 271 step 1 score, mutliple honors on clinical clerkships, multiple publications including first-author publications in Science, Nature, and Cell, leading humanitarian efforts in Sri Lanka and Japan, and co-editing the Oxford Textbook of Technology and Medicine, they told me I could have gone into any specialty I wanted. Psychiatry is by the far the most fascinating specialty to me and my mentors have told me my proven track record as a highly cited research, innovator, clinician, educator, and humanitarian would be highly beneficial to the field. Far from wasting my talents, I believe I can best use them to advance psychiatry. I am now seeking the best psychiatry residency program that will allow me to become a leader in the field.

Expert commentary: This proves the point that personal statements don't matter that much. Unfortunately, the odious creature with his (and it's almost certainly a he) mutliple [sic] honors etc will likely be able to get into whatever residency program he likes despite the flagrant narcissism evident here.


6. How Psychiatry Should Be
"I want to share with you my vision for psychiatry. During the past 30 years psychiatry has become increasingly biologically oriented with psychiatrists often making checklist diagnoses, seeing patients less frequently and for shorter, and exclusively prescribing medications. This model, while bringing psychiatry closer to the rest of medicine, has eroded what was special about psychiatry. As an idealistic medical student I was shocked and horrified to see what day-to-day psychiatric practice in the 21st century was actually like. It was a far cry from the specialty that privileged relationships, healing, and meanings that I had imagined. It felt like we were papering over the cracks rather than getting to the route of the problem. I was almost deterred from pursuing psychiatry when I realized that my disillusionment provided the catalyst for to champion a new vision for psychiatry that integrates the medical and scientific advances of the past 30 years with the focus on narratives, relationships and healing of the past. I am looking for a residency program that provides rigorous training in both psychotherapy and biological psychiatry in order to provide full spectrum care for my patients."

Expert commentary: Yes. Because experienced psychiatrists want to hear from a med student how psychiatry should be or what they think good psychiatric care likes. And describing psychiatry as not getting to the route [sic] of the problem shows a fairly simplistic understanding of mental health care. The arrogance of these personal statements is simply breathtaking. In someways they are even worse than the "why I am so amazing" ones.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[wolfvgang22]

How about some examples of if personal statements that would be better received? What would you like to see in a statement?

I was fortunate in that I had a lot of social work career experience going into med school and was able to draw on that I my statement (and no, I didn't imply I was amazing or that a patient changed my life). Interviewers said it was good, but I imagine sometimes they were just being polite. There is only so much you can say in one page.

Let's face the fact that many students don't have a lot of background in mental health care other than their rotation in med school or personal experiences. I look for red flags, for sure, but mainly I just want to see a good effort and some enthusiasm to learn.

 

[deleted736562]

They should just scrap personal statements and replace them with cover letters that almost every kind of job demands. Let's face it they are a joke, nevermind a bit of a throw back to high school. At the end of the day, the only real way you're going to be able to tell who's a good applicant and who's not is how they actually perform in day to day practice.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

How about some examples of if personal statements that would be better received? What would you like to see in a statement?

I'm sure splik would agree; he criticizes these 6 types or categories, but there truly isn't much else out there to say. If you see your essay in these 6, you are in very good company.

 

[AD04]

I don't think my personal statement matched any of the categories.

I wrote about how every other medical specialty besides psychiatry sucked. Then I included some philosophy and wrote about Viktor Frankl's Men's Search for Meaning and somehow tied that to psychiatry.

For one of my personal statements for medical school, if I remember correctly, the first paragraph was, "Money." I wasn't invited to interview at that school.

 

[Amygdarya]

I don't think my personal statement matched any of the categories.

I wrote about how every other medical specialty besides psychiatry sucked. Then I included some philosophy and wrote about Viktor Frankl's Men's Search for Meaning and somehow tied that to psychiatry.

Right. Because dumping on other specialties is a great way to stand out.
Seriously, you want to show why you *want* to do psychiatry, not why it's the only acceptable specialty for someone who likely didn't have realistic expectations about medicine before entering medical school (and, for that matter, doesn't have realistic expectations about psychiatry).

Victor Frankl's philosophy - a mix of a yawn and an eyeroll - the man himself deserves a lot of respect, but his philosophy has become such a cliche that your PS easily qualifies as number 4.

I know you won't accept this because of my criticism above, but for anyone else reading: don't try to sound smarter/deeper/more sophisticated than you actually are, it pretty much never works and can backfire spectacularly. Being yourself in the residency application process was the best advice I received, landing me in a very good residency that's a great fit for me.

 

[aim-agm]

Right. Because dumping on other specialties is a great way to stand out.
Seriously, you want to show why you *want* to do psychiatry, not why it's the only acceptable specialty for someone who likely didn't have realistic expectations about medicine before entering medical school (and, for that matter, doesn't have realistic expectations about psychiatry).

Victor Frankl's philosophy - a mix of a yawn and an eyeroll - the man himself deserves a lot of respect, but his philosophy has become such a cliche that your PS easily qualifies as number 4.

I know you won't accept this because of my criticism above, but for anyone else reading: don't try to sound smarter/deeper/more sophisticated, it pretty much never works. Being yourself in the residency application process was the best advice I received, landing me in a very good residency that's a great fit for me.

I'm pretty sure that post was a joke.

 

[Amygdarya]

I'm pretty sure that post was a joke.

If so, my apologies and I should get more sleep tonight.
(You never know though... kids these days... grumble grumble)

 

[SquibDell]

I'm sure splik would agree; he criticizes these 6 types or categories, but there truly isn't much else out there to say. If you see your essay in these 6, you are in very good company.

Is it worth trying to avoid these 6 types i.e. by trying to write something unique to stand out? Or better to go with something forgettable but safer?

Also, how is humour usually received? I can imagine it going both ways depending on the PD...

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Have people read it. Say something about yourself. Stop freaking out because you already got into medical school and presumable did OK. PSs are not the biggest factor unless you blow it. Grades, scores, and schools are more objective. PSs are useful if you have a true special path to getting where you are. Otherwise, you are in the herd. Being in the herd is not a bad thing by the way. Of course that depends on Grades, schools and scores. Not much else comes through the process unless we know your work first hand. Most of you can only do that to a couple of places so don't panic. We are both trying to get the best we can. I have said this multiple times and it will always be true. Best of luck and release the hounds one more time, this never gets old. High stakes for all.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Is it worth trying to avoid these 6 types i.e. by trying to write something unique to stand out? Or better to go with something forgettable but safer?
Also, how is humour usually received? I can imagine it going both ways depending on the PD...

Humor is dangerous in written media unless it is really good in which case it can be awesome if you don't care if that impresses only someone from Barrow Alaska ( My apologies to any PD from Alaska, but I don't think they even have a medical school). It is very hard to do sarcasm or irony successfully in writing. I have proven this consistently and yet I continue... I do like trying however. You may want to not do this in a job interview letter. Just my small opinion. On the other hand, if you craft good jokes consistently, you could be in the top 5% who don't just check the PS box as turned in successfully.

 

[WingedOx]

They should just scrap personal statements and replace them with cover letters that almost every kind of job demands. Let's face it they are a joke, nevermind a bit of a throw back to high school. At the end of the day, the only real way you're going to be able to tell who's a good applicant and who's not is how they actually perform in day to day practice.

Agreed. I had to even write a PS for my unpaid faculty appointment. Part of me was tempted to write it as a satire to see how many cliches I could come up with to see if anyone would actually read it.

 

[WingedOx]

Is it worth trying to avoid these 6 types i.e. by trying to write something unique to stand out? Or better to go with something forgettable but safer?

Also, how is humour usually received? I can imagine it going both ways depending on the PD...

I've read thru more than enough applications, and only one time has a personal statement, dean's letter, or rec letter that was memorable ever not been a negative thing for the applicant.

 

[ziggyhope]

I don't even want to dig out my PS for residency, I am sure it is cringe worthy.

 

[Evidence Based]

Some of the best advice I ever got about writing my PS was to make it:
1) Sound like myself
2) Something you'll be interested in talking about during interviews, as this and your CV are the easiest conversation topics for interviewers
3) Good enough
In all likelihood your PS will be solid as long as you sound like a real person and not like a serial killer. Try to avoid really saccharine tropes and cliches and don't be a jerk. You probably won't be exceptional, but that's fine.

 

[FlowRate]

The seventh category is the "here are various reasons why this makes sense" personal statements. Nothing original, just anecdotes of personal qualities and experiences that make you think this is a job you'll like and be good at. There's nothing wrong with such a PS.

 

[Crayola227]

I didn't apply for psych, so this is something of a tangent...

I wouldn't write why all the specialties suck, but I was told that the best PS will make a decent case for the following, that you are not glamorizing the field, have realistic expectations all around, have some idea of what its greatest challenges for most people practicing it, and why you're a good fit all around for that.

If your chosen specialty is quite similar to some other field, you don't have to go out of your way to trash it, there's a subtle way to handle it. Not in your PS, but in your mind, delineate what essential qualities distinguish them. Then subtly find a way in your PS to emphasize how you and that quality/lack of that quality in that field jive with each other. This sort of answers any subconscious/conscious question the reader might have about "why this not that?" Because you've given a reason already.

Psych is so different from other fields that I'm not sure exactly how you can do the above relative to other fields.

I don't know if that would be a good approach for psych, or how you might write that. It was easier for my own life and specialty choice to write mine as I did. I will go so far as to say my PS stood out quite a bit and was pretty highly praised. N = 24 interviews.

I think this is a practical and possibly successful approach, because I think anyone espousing to want to go into a field, anyone looking to bring you in, is wondering "do they have any idea what they're getting into, and are they suited? (will they cope with the suck being a big one there.)" as they read. The end.

This is my only thought for how to write an effective PS for residency, period. Otherwise I have no idea how not to fall into one of the above categories, and in my mind, if my PS isn't barf-worthy when others read it, and my mentors reading it find that I've got a realistic view and case for that field, then I'm ahead of the game.

I've heard it said that ideally your PS is ready for your LOR writers to view (should this be happening closer to ERAS time, I had docs that wanted to write me LORs that told me to call them when it was time). However, I don't know that you want an un-reviewed one going past them. I would say that it would be ideal to get some mentors that won't be writing you letters, in the field read it and see what they think re: 1) barfy cheese factor 2) do they agree you covered what the field is like, how it sucks, and made them believe you are suited, will excel, and will love it anyway, without being too negative.

(obviously don't focus on the negative, just saying it's worth acknowledging realistic positive things about the field AND show that you've at least considered the downsides even if you don't go on for pages about it).

The struggle is how to not be in one of the 6 categories as you do this. I've seen different ideas for how to craft a PS elsewhere. Consider those and pick a structure.

This is where sounding like yourself, covering my suggestions, drafts, and having multiple reviewers, is going to be your best bet at a somewhat encouraging PS for someone to read, imo.

TLDR:
thoughts on strategies for PS for any specialty

 

[Candidate2017]

In all likelihood your PS will be solid as long as you sound like a real person and not like a serial killer.

Serial killers can probably write a killer PS. Figuratively.

 

[DisorderedDoc417]

Vanilla PS that is genuine and has no grammatical errors will do. Your PD wants you to be hard working, timely, and a team player. The above examples are hilarious!

 

[AD04]

A silly comment / personal statement is good for revealing the neurotics and killjoys -- people I would rather not interact with. There are definitely a lot of them in medicine. Anyone can put on a mask for a day and say the right things. Lying through behavior is much more difficult.

Anyways, whatever I wrote worked out really well for me and the PDs that I interviewed with were all cool people. Just the other day, I was cracking jokes with my PD. The program I matched with is a good fit for me. And in return, the program got a stellar resident.

But if you cannot afford to screen out programs, I guess you have no option but to play it safe.

 

[Horners]

How can I avoid sounding like I am pitying myself when trying to explain the reason behind a failed USMLE attempt? I’m really trying to make it a story about perseverance vs a story about “woe is me, now the world owes me something!!!”

Please share


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[notdeadyet]

Just be yourself and write why psychiatry and (if you’re a career changer) why now. Give us a page where we get to know you who you are. Extra points for coming across genuine and authentic.

If you do that, you’ll have a strong PS in any reader’s eyes. And that’s enough.

If you’re gunning for an amazing personal statement, you are rolling the dice because what amazes one person irritates another. And you don’t want to irritate your reader.

Example: one person I have been on an admissions committee hates the “no $hit there I was” story used to drive the personal statement. She groans immediately. I’m fine with it if it’s well told but I grind my teeth and have to force myself to keep reading if someone puts quotes in their PS (why oh why do you use precious space to show how clever someone else is?) but it doesn’t phase her at all.

Be yourself, be authentic, and tell us why you want to be a psychiatrist or do a psychiatric residency and how you think you’re prepared to do so successfully. We don’t need to laugh or cry. But we’d really prefer to not groan.

 

[Horners]

Just be yourself and write why psychiatry and (if you’re a career changer) why now. Give us a page where we get to know you who you are. Extra points for coming across genuine and authentic.

If you do that, you’ll have a strong PS in any reader’s eyes. And that’s enough.

If you’re gunning for an amazing personal statement, you are rolling the dice because what amazes one person irritates another. And you don’t want to irritate your reader.

Example: one person I have been on an admissions committee hates the “no $hit there I was” story used to drive the personal statement. She groans immediately. I’m fine with it if it’s well told but I grind my teeth and have to force myself to keep reading if someone puts quotes in their PS (why oh why do you use precious space to show how clever someone else is?) but it doesn’t phase her at all.

Be yourself, be authentic, and tell us why you want to be a psychiatrist or do a psychiatric residency and how you think you’re prepared to do so successfully. We don’t need to laugh or cry. But we’d really prefer to not groan.

That was very helpful. I appreciate your insight. I didn’t describe a romanticized anecdotal clinical experience, I kind of talked about how my highs and lows throughout medical school were very rough but at the same time I was thankful for them and that essentially I want to take a hold of my own life and not let circumstances that are out of my control dictate my path in life.

I talked briefly about psychiatry. I said I enjoy learning about the pathologies and how I enjoy the treatment modalities and talked about being an advocate for my patients as psychiatry is highly stigmatized in society.

I really want to convey a message that I will be the kind of resident who’s a hard worker, the kind that you want on your team on a busy day. But frankly idk how to write that without sounding cocky or fake.

I think my story isn’t really necessarily exciting or pulling on the heart strings. (Which worries me bc it’s not very provocative... but maybe that’s a good thing?) I want to convey the message that I’ve matured over the course of medical school and my life experiences.

I really just want to drive the message home that I want to be the kind of physician that my colleagues respect and admire for their hard work and value added to the team.

I’ll try to throw that in there somehow.

What is too long and what is too short for a PS? I know you guys probably read a ton of these all the time.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[notdeadyet]

I really want to convey a message that I will be the kind of resident who’s a hard worker, the kind that you want on your team on a busy day. But frankly idk how to write that without sounding cocky or fake.

I’m a big proponent of “show don’t tell.” You convey that you’ll be a hard worker by having a history that shows you’re a hard worker. This is what LORs and comments in your Dean’s Letter are for. You can describe experiences that demonstrate you’re a hard worker, but you don’t specify qualities as these should come out in your application.

I think my story isn’t really necessarily exciting or pulling on the heart strings. (Which worries me bc it’s not very provocative... but maybe that’s a good thing?) I want to convey the message that I’ve matured over the course of medical school and my life experiences.

Sure, mention your course of medical school and your life experiences. This is what the application is meant to do. If it happens to excite or pull our heart strings, that’s great, but that’ll be rare for most of us and if you give the impression you’re writing your PS with that intent in mind, it’s pretty much universally a turn off (the PS isn’t meant to be manipulative and most psychiatrists get manipulated quite frequently during their day job and don’t like experiencing it during optional duties like residency selection committees).

Your application will excite or pull our hear strings. In your PS, talk about why psychiatry and let the chips fall where they may. Your story may resonate with your readers for reasons you can’t anticipate. But it’s much, much more likely to do so if it’s authentic and genuine.

I really just want to drive the message home that I want to be the kind of physician that my colleagues respect and admire for their hard work and value added to the team.

Show don’t tell. Describe experiences that demonstrate these qualities. Your letter writers and dean will let us know if you in fact have these qualities.

 

[notdeadyet]

What is too long and what is too short for a PS? I know you guys probably read a ton of these all the time.

I think I would speak for the big majority of readers when I say that we like to see it kept to 1 page.

I’ve heard people say “but... but... but... I have so much to say.” I respect that, but one of the skills you need as a psychiatrist is to take incredibly complex and lengthy narratives and formulations and condense them concisely into a cohesive and compelling discrete form of text. We like to see that in a PS too.

 

[Ahamis]

Personal statement is such a theatrical thing.
It sounds almost stupid in my opinion.
But life is a stage, right?
Let's keep acting

 

[Ahamis]

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts"

 

[Amygdarya]

Personal statement is such a theatrical thing.
It sounds almost stupid in my opinion.
But life is a stage, right?
Let's keep acting

Actually, personal statement is the exact opposite of this; ideally, it should be as authentic as possible. Don't try to figure out what you need to write to be liked by the selection committee, it's pretty much guaranteed to come off as false. Write about the things you care, what makes you tick, and this will catch people's attention.

In general, I believe it’s important to be authentic in your life because that's how you'll end up doing thing you care about with like-minded people instead of being forever stuck in a situation that you hate but got yourself into by pretending to fit in. Residency and further on is your adult life where it's up to you to find a place in the world that's consistent with your values and aspirations. Residency application is very different from medical school one in that you you don't have to pretend to be interested in research and rural health care at the same time to get in somewhere, anywhere, just one medical school. Residency application is about the fit between your and residency program's values and goals, and you will do yourself a disservice if you present yourself as someone you actually aren't.

 

[Horners]

I’m a big proponent of “show don’t tell.” You convey that you’ll be a hard worker by having a history that shows you’re a hard worker. This is what LORs and comments in your Dean’s Letter are for. You can describe experiences that demonstrate you’re a hard worker, but you don’t specify qualities as these should come out in your application.

Sure, mention your course of medical school and your life experiences. This is what the application is meant to do. If it happens to excite or pull our heart strings, that’s great, but that’ll be rare for most of us and if you give the impression you’re writing your PS with that intent in mind, it’s pretty much universally a turn off (the PS isn’t meant to be manipulative and most psychiatrists get manipulated quite frequently during their day job and don’t like experiencing it during optional duties like residency selection committees).

Your application will excite or pull our hear strings. In your PS, talk about why psychiatry and let the chips fall where they may. Your story may resonate with your readers for reasons you can’t anticipate. But it’s much, much more likely to do so if it’s authentic and genuine.

Show don’t tell. Describe experiences that demonstrate these qualities. Your letter writers and dean will let us know if you in fact have these qualities.

That makes a whole lot of sense. Thank you again for you for your insights!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[birchswing]

I only ever wrote a PS for getting into undergrad, but there was a line I wrote in it that I just have to publish somewhere.

I organized a petition to build a sidewalk between a strip mall where kids hung out and the library, in between which there was a dangerous street for walking. We met with the city planner, City Council, wrote newspaper articles, etc.

Anyhow, the line I wanted to use was:

"I stood up so that others could walk."

I loved the banality of it. Made me laugh.

My 12th grade English teacher didn't like it so it got cut.

As did my desired yearbook picture with half my face cut off and the caption, "Oops I cropped myself."

 

[ridethecliche]

I think I would speak for the big majority of readers when I say that we like to see it kept to 1 page.

I’ve heard people say “but... but... but... I have so much to say.” I respect that, but one of the skills you need as a psychiatrist is to take incredibly complex and lengthy narratives and formulations and condense them concisely into a cohesive and compelling discrete form of text. We like to see that in a PS too.

Ive read biopsychosocial formulations that beg to differ...

 

[PS2summerdays]

Is it terrible to write a "I am so amazing" personal statement, when in fact, you are not so amazing and you just want to talk a little bit about yourself and what makes you a decent fit?

 

[splik]

Is it terrible to write a "I am so amazing" personal statement, when in fact, you are not so amazing and you just want to talk a little bit about yourself and what makes you a decent fit?

I would discourage this. What are you going to say, "actually I'm not so amazing and there are much better candidates but I am a decent fit"?
I agree with the above advice. Don't overthink it. I agree strongly with NotDeadYet's point of "show, don't tell". Your LoRs, MSPE, CV etc will tell us about your attributes and why you're a good fit (whatever that means). And your interview day will allow programs to decide if you're a good fit for their particular program. You personal statement is basically a cover letter for a job. If you're not a very good writer, keep it boring. Tell me how you chose psychiatry, what excites you about this field, what you are looking for in a program, and what you long-term career goals are. Also, don't tell me what you did, tell me how you feel. Be sure to convey your energy, enthusiasm, and passion. Basically this is the only thing left you have control over and it might play a part in helping to decide: "is this someone we want to meet?"

I'll give you an example of the kind of thing I almost never see but would be impressed by in a personal statement (don't copy):
Having gone to medical school convinced I want to practice family medicine, I had never given psychiatry a second thought. Then I did my psychiatry clerkship. It was just so different to most of my other clerkships: people were nice to each other!, the attendings seemed invested in my education, the residents seemed happy, I felt I could actually be useful rather than get in the way, and most of all, I felt happy. I felt at home. I looked forward to going in every day and seeing how my patients were doing. I found myself reading all the articles and book chapters related to the patients I was seeing and loving it. I felt in awe of my attendings abilities to skillfully get highly defended, traumatized, and psychotic patients to talk openly and accept treatment. None of it felt like work. If someone was going to actually pay me to do this for the rest of my life, it seemed like a dream come true.

On reflection, it seemed a little odd to me that I would feel so happy and at peace during a rotation when I was seeing patients at their worst. We had patients in suicidal crises, whose marriages were on the line because of indiscretions when manic, who were haunted by horrendous pain and trauma they could neither entirely remember nor forget, who were tormented by demonic voices that I could not hear. Despite how difficult it was at times to sit with these powerful emotions, I also felt immensely privileged. Here were these people - frightened, vulnerable, rejected, shunned - and they were sharing their stories with me, a stranger. Even though so often I felt completely helpless, it seemed like just being there meant so much to my patients. I imagined how much more I would be able to do to help them if I actually had psychiatric training. So it was settled: and here I am applying for psychiatry residency.

 

[needadvicebadly]

I'll add that I remember reading this thread this time last year. I remember thinking my personal statement topic was one of the six listed and thinking how generic it would be. I put a lot of effort into it, and not to toot my own horn, but I had more than one interviewer tell me it was one of the best personal statements they ever read. Point being don't feel like you need to stray too far from the norm, just let your passions be known and show (don't tell) a good story to the reader.