Weight Loss --> Personal Statement / Interview?

[Diocletian]

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I'm applying to med school this cycle, and I've been wondering whether a weight loss story would help better reflect my personal commitment to health and human well-being.

My weight peaked to a 37 BMI by the end of my high school senior year, and I've forced a lot of fat off my body through sweat, blood and tears. I've dieted and exercised for two years now and have dropped about 60 pounds. Not ashamed to say that I'm pretty proud about this.

A lot of my motivation came from my desire to learn more about how I could manipulate metabolism, fat reserves in the body, the general understanding of energy usage, etc. My relationship with my pediatrician also drove me to become more fit (the same guy whom I've shadowed for 60 hours now). I think this is all very related to medicine and what I want to do in the future: primary care. Having been obese, I feel I have a better personal grasp on the obesity crisis than a lot of applicants - and considering that this crisis will become even worse in the future, perhaps med schools want someone who's been through it and came out for the better.

So my question is, do you feel this is an appropriate topic to talk about in my personal statement? I'd like to discuss it for future interviews so the PS seems like a good place to mention it, maybe the adcoms will be moved and/or interested in my story. How should I go about writing it? I don't want to sound braggy but at the same time I want to be confident.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Cinclus]

I think it would be OK to bring up, since it is an important part of your journey towards medicine, from what I can tell. However, I would not make it the main thrust of the personal statement. I don't think that's what you were planning, though.

 

[235788]

Try to keep it relevant to medicine... Everyone has a cool story, some are just less relevant than others.

 

[yossarian444]

I say go for it! It can be a good intro/transition/support/etc. to the main theme of the essay and could add a personal touch a reader can identify with so you seem more human and less like another boring application. You'll still need to come up with an idea for the meat and potatoes (or in your case, the broccoli and salmon..lol...sorry) of the statement.

 

[thlaxer]

It seems like your being overweight and subsequent weightloss helps you answer 'why medicine.' There are other places you can write about this experience though if you want to pursue another theme for your PS. e.g. you can include it in the EC section (mention it in the description of your 'exercise' (or 'cooking'?) EC), in your 'challenge' essay, (maybe even in your diversity essay?), etc.

I used to be overweight as well and, like you, lost most of the excess weight in college. When I was applying, a mentor/adcom member who read over my application explicitly told me to remove any mention of my weight-loss as apparently that may be seen by some as a sign of childhood maladjustment (especially if there are other signs in your application pointing to it; in my case, it was shyness and a few other factors). I ended up removing this story from my primary application and avoided talking about it in most of my secondaries.

I did mention it in a couple of secondaries though just to see what would happen. At these schools, I'm happy to say that I didn't notice any negative effects with regards to interviews or acceptances.* But still, I'd suggest being cautious about how you talk about your experience. You never know if someone's perception of you might be negatively influenced by your former obesity.. Just my thoughts. Good luck!

*I didn't notice anything positive either though as it was never brought up in the interview.

 

[vayntraubinator]

If it does not tie into your theme, but only serves as an example of your character, then I would use it for one sentence.

 

[redpanda]

I'm applying to med school this cycle, and I've been wondering whether a weight loss story would help better reflect my personal commitment to health and human well-being.

My weight peaked to a 37 BMI by the end of my high school senior year, and I've forced a lot of fat off my body through sweat, blood and tears. I've dieted and exercised for two years now and have dropped about 60 pounds. Not ashamed to say that I'm pretty proud about this.

A lot of my motivation came from my desire to learn more about how I could manipulate metabolism, fat reserves in the body, the general understanding of energy usage, etc. My relationship with my pediatrician also drove me to become more fit (the same guy whom I've shadowed for 60 hours now). I think this is all very related to medicine and what I want to do in the future: primary care. Having been obese, I feel I have a better personal grasp on the obesity crisis than a lot of applicants - and considering that this crisis will become even worse in the future, perhaps med schools want someone who's been through it and came out for the better.

So my question is, do you feel this is an appropriate topic to talk about in my personal statement? I'd like to discuss it for future interviews so the PS seems like a good place to mention it, maybe the adcoms will be moved and/or interested in my story. How should I go about writing it? I don't want to sound braggy but at the same time I want to be confident.

Thanks for your help.

This could be a useful essay if you can spin it around to how you learned about how you lived the experience of how to make a serious behavioral change. Nearly all doctors tell their patients to lose weight and take their meds, but many don't have an appreciation for the personal (i.e. non-biological) challenges to making a big life change. Congrats on your weight loss and I hope you have continued success!

 

[NickNaylor]

I think this experience should definitely be mentioned SOMEWHERE, but I'm not sure that the PS is the place to do it. My fear would be that you spend way too much time discussing it, wasting characters and straying from the purpose of the PS. Like Cinclus said, if you're going to include it, make sure it's not the "main thrust" of your PS.

 

[tenndoc]

spin it as an example of your dedication, drive, determination, etc