What 'extra' belongs in a personal statement

[toastedbutter]

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I'm working on my personal statement and I'm having trouble deciding where to use the limited real estate. From what I understand, the PS is meant for us to discuss and highlight our reason for pursuing medicine and what experiences we've had that have led us to be confident in our decision. I have a few good stories, and I want to talk about them thoroughly but this is not leaving much room for discussion on anything else.

Beyond this, is there an expectation for the PS to address anything additional? In my case, I am pretty set on what specialty interests me. I was wondering if it would be important to discuss my leaning towards that specialty, but also mention that I'm open to change and not stubbornly set. Next, I am interested in academic medicine. Should that be mentioned? Finally, I am hoping to apply to as many MD JD programs as there are. Should my interests in health law etc be mentioned too? Basically, are any of the above necessary to include in the PS or can I keep it tight and focused on my why medicine and hope there are enough opportunities to discuss the rest in secondaries/interviews? Thank you

 

[a_distant_dream]

Keep in mind that your personal statement (5300 characters) will be submitted alongside your descriptions for work/activities (14475 characters), so you don't need to cover every single thing you did in the personal statement. A useful exercise might be to work on your activities first (briefly outline hours / description / which ones are most meaningful) and then ask how your PS can synthesize the 'evidence' of your activities to answer why you want to go into medicine. Basically, you do NOT want your PS to be a resume list (summarizing / repeating the 'evidence' without meaningful reflection / analysis towards the question), totally out of left field (doesn't use the 'evidence' strongly), or incoherent (completely unreasonable analysis of the 'evidence'). I didn't mention a specific specialty and think it's good to keep your future plans somewhat flexible for a general audience. As you learn more through the process, your answer might also change so no need to railroad how your interviews will go.

 

[LizzyM]

I do like the 5 paragraph essay. Establish your theme in paragraph 1, use 2, 3 and 4 to give 3 anecdotes connected to the theme (demonstrating 3 things you did to test your interest in medicine, they could be service, research and clinical, for example), and then wrap up and look ahead in paragraph 5.

If you've had an experience in health policy or health law, you could include that interest in paragraph one, give at least one example somewhere in the middle, and close with a statement about an interest in MD as well as JD and the hope of pursuing a career in academic medicine so as to someday train the next generation.

 

[LindaAccepted]

I'm working on my personal statement and I'm having trouble deciding where to use the limited real estate. From what I understand, the PS is meant for us to discuss and highlight our reason for pursuing medicine and what experiences we've had that have led us to be confident in our decision. I have a few good stories, and I want to talk about them thoroughly but this is not leaving much room for discussion on anything else.

Beyond this, is there an expectation for the PS to address anything additional? In my case, I am pretty set on what specialty interests me. I was wondering if it would be important to discuss my leaning towards that specialty, but also mention that I'm open to change and not stubbornly set. Next, I am interested in academic medicine. Should that be mentioned? Finally, I am hoping to apply to as many MD JD programs as there are. Should my interests in health law etc be mentioned too? Basically, are any of the above necessary to include in the PS or can I keep it tight and focused on my why medicine and hope there are enough opportunities to discuss the rest in secondaries/interviews? Thank you

Veer,

Look at your application as a whole and realize that every element -- the PS, the MMEs, and the activity descriptions -- should add to the reader's knowledge of you. And they should in total present an impressive picture of you. Don't look at the PS in a vacuum; it won't be read in a vacuum.

You don't need to include your current specialization interest in your PS. It might fit better in an MME and it doesn't have to be in your application at all. Your interest in healthcare policy and law could add to your app, but it might fit very well in an MME. Your interest in academic medicine may belong in your PS depending on your reasons for both wanting the academic path and wanting to become a physician. It's really a balancing act.

I'd second the warning about writing a resume in prose and you are clearly aware that you can't fit it all into your PS. My suggestion is to take either a piece of paper or a spreadsheet and in the left column write down all the experiences and topics you want to cover and prioritize them as must-haves and nice-to-include. Then make a list of all the opportunities you have in the primary app to cover them. Match the two columns.

Kudos on starting early.

 

[deleted1129372]

When you apply to a special or dual-degree program, there is usually an essay you have to write. You'll have that space to explain your interest in law. You can also check school threads to see if there is a secondary question about future goals and the like to gauge how you'll be able to share that part of your narrative/motivation.

 

[toastedbutter]

Veer,

Look at your application as a whole and realize that every element -- the PS, the MMEs, and the activity descriptions -- should add to the reader's knowledge of you. And they should in total present an impressive picture of you. Don't look at the PS in a vacuum; it won't be read in a vacuum.

You don't need to include your current specialization interest in your PS. It might fit better in an MME and it doesn't have to be in your application at all. Your interest in healthcare policy and law could add to your app, but it might fit very well in an MME. Your interest in academic medicine may belong in your PS depending on your reasons for both wanting the academic path and wanting to become a physician. It's really a balancing act.

I'd second the warning about writing a resume in prose and you are clearly aware that you can't fit it all into your PS. My suggestion is to take either a piece of paper or a spreadsheet and in the left column write down all the experiences and topics you want to cover and prioritize them as must-haves and nice-to-include. Then make a list of all the opportunities you have in the primary app to cover them. Match the two columns.

Kudos on starting early.

Thank you everyone for your answers. This all helps a lot!

Quick question, what is an MME?

 

[LindaAccepted]

Sorry. Most meaningful experience. 🙂

 

[toastedbutter]

Sorry. Most meaningful experience. 🙂

That makes sense!

Thanks all again!