Two specific questions about if it is appropriate in my PS

[I Love Cats]

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1. I have a nice little anecdote that involves a physician, and I name drop. He and I were on a personal level in real life, and be wasn't just some guy I watched and never connected with. When I name drop first, I state the entire thing, for example, Dr. Greg House. Then in a couple more instances where I reference him again, I use Greg as it gets more personal. Is it inappropriate to use just the first name? The anecdote would also sound lame if I kept saying the full thing.

2. Within the same anecdote, I name drop a hospital, however it sounds so extremely unnatural to state, for example, "I was at St. Simon's Hospital and Medical Center." Instead I never say the full thing, and I just say "I was at St. Simon's."

I just want the writing to sound natural. Is it safe to use a first name if it is a personal anecdote and someone I have a relationship with, and is it safe to assume that leaving out "hospital and medical center" will not affect the quality of the anecdote especially if the writing that follows describes events that could only happen in a hospital? Also, the institution is referenced elsewhere in my primary application as well. Please help. Thank you.

 

[I Love Cats]

Bump

 

[AxiomaticTruth]

Honestly is this really name dropping at all? In my personal statement I referred to the hospitals I've volunteered/researched at by full name. How else do you distinguish volunteering at one place and another? Plus when you're applying to schools that don't know "St. Simons" ie outside of the local area it would help to know what exactly St. Simons is (hospital, clinic, private company, etc).

Though in the first question I'd say stick with the formalities. PS should not be an informal, casual thing. Personally I would say "Dr. Greg House" first time mentioning, then refer to him as "Dr. House" from then on.

 

[okokok]

1. Yes, that's fine. If you're still concerned, say Dr. Greg instead of just Greg. I'd personally put Greg, as that's what you called him.

2. I'd personally shorten it to St. Simon's Hospital the first time, but if St. Simon's sounds better in context, then it's fine.

Don't worry. These trivial details won't make a big difference (or any difference, I would bet) at all.

 

[Blackxp]

Funny, I did exactly as the OP was suggesting. In my personal statement I introduce them by full name but later call him by his first name. I am very new to this process, so keep looking over these boards just in case. But I have had numerous people look over my personal statement and in fact I was told to use his first name instead of "He" at one point to make it more personable.

 

[AxiomaticTruth]

Funny, I did exactly as the OP was suggesting. In my personal statement I introduce them by full name but later call him by his first name. I am very new to this process, so keep looking over these boards just in case. But I have had numerous people look over my personal statement and in fact I was told to use his first name instead of "He" at one point to make it more personable.

I guess in the end the personal statement is exactly that, personal. So some informalities can be forgiven compared to writing for newspapers or submitting to research journals 🙂

 

[Blackxp]

I guess in the end the personal statement is exactly that, personal. So some informalities can be forgiven compared to writing for newspapers or submitting to research journals 🙂

Meep, I hope they do not look at it in the context of "forgiving me" haha.

 

[AxiomaticTruth]

Meep, I hope they do not look at it in the context of "forgiving me" haha.

Bad choice of words on my part. Blind premed leading the blind hahaha

 

[Donald Juan]

1. Yes, that's fine. If you're still concerned, say Dr. Greg instead of just Greg. I'd personally put Greg, as that's what you called him.

2. I'd personally shorten it to St. Simon's Hospital the first time, but if St. Simon's sounds better in context, then it's fine.

Don't worry. These trivial details won't make a big difference (or any difference, I would bet) at all.

Dr. Greg? Hell no. Call him Dr. House if you feel uncomfortable using his first name.

 

[LizzyM]

Referring to a physician by his first name might be a bit too much for some adcoms. (And don't make the mistake of thinking that you can call your interviewer by their first name even if they introduce themself as "Sally Stone". If the name on the door says, Sally Stone, MD, Dean of Students, you'd better stick with "Dr. Stone" unless you are specifically told "Call me Sally".)

I would use the full name the first time and then Dr.H- if you are trying to save characters. Also, if this is a well-known physician (Nobel laureate, TV personality, etc) you might want to leave the name off entirely as it can seem like "name dropping" (bragging) whihc can be a turn off.

For the name of the facility, use the full name the first time and shorten it if you use it again in the same essay, but it might be easier to say "the hosptial" or "the OR".