Would it be a bad idea to use this true story for essays/interviews?

[Zephiro]

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I'm a pre-med and have been lurking here for awhile but never posted before. I've been trying to get an idea of how writing essays/personal statements and answering interview questions could be best handled by reading posts on here. I've noticed that a lot of my truthful answers to things like "why do you want to become a doctor" "what's the biggest challenge you overcame" "explain your lowest grades" etc. are pretty much related to the same topic, and I'm unsure if that would be seen as bad for relying too heavily on one experience (albeit an extremely long drawn out one). It's the truth though so I don't know what else to use if it is seen badly.

My ideal goal is to become a psychiatrist to help people with depression, issues related to childhood abuse and trauma, and to provide mental health services for members of the LGBT community in need. I did not start college thinking that but after experiencing all those things myself and also realizing I really like and am good at science changed from the pre-law to pre-med track.

My concern is that, well, the story makes me look crazy and unstable. Plus potential discrimination over the gay stuff.

It's a dramatic story but basically:

- Came from a very bad childhood, got to college and met roommate, he is pre-med too, he was my only friend and we connected very deeply.
- Developed feelings for him, realized I'm gay for the first time, he realized too, he moved out, I lost my only friend.
- Fell into extremely deep depression for a year having no friends, no family, no one to talk to and hating myself for being gay.
- Became suicidal, sent him a suicide note explaining and apologizing for everything.
- He saved my life. I wouldn't be here if he didn't. We gradually became good friends again and he helped me through a lot. I feel so much better now and have other friends too. Became involved with the LGBT club and the depression lifted along the way.

I never want anyone else to feel the way I did, and if I can help even one person overcome those issues and have a second chance at a happy life like me, it would be worth it. I mean that sincerely.

 

[gyngyn]

A Personal Statement doesn't need to be this personal.

 

[LizzyM]

Based on your story, I don't see how a doctor helped you. How would you help people in your circumstance as a doctor? Do LGBT people need good doctors? Yes, they do. I hope that we are training every doctor to be a good doctor to LGBT individuals.

I would suggest going back to the drawing board to determine why you want to take care of the physical (and perhaps psychiatric) ills of people who are not your friends or family members and experiences you have had with clinical exposures, scientific research endeavors, and/or care of the needy that have confirmed for you that this is the appropriate career path for you.

 

[IMGASMD]

Why not clinical psychologist? I am playing devils advocate, but also genuinely asking.

 

[Zephiro]

Why not clinical psychologist? I am playing devils advocate, but also genuinely asking.

Personally I don't think clinical psychologists have an effective enough set of tools to use for the majority of patients they see. I've had 3 psychology professors who were all clinical psychologists, and each of them agreed with that as well, pretty much saying that unless the issue could be resolved just by talking in counseling there wasn't really much else they could do to help a lot of their patients and would eventually have to refer them a psychiatrist anyway.

Psychologists are inherently at a disadvantage professionally too, considering that a psychiatrist can learn to do everything a psychologist does if they really wanted to with the added ability to prescribe medication on top of it, while a psychologist can't prescribe medication by law in most places.

 

[Zephiro]

Based on your story, I don't see how a doctor helped you. How would you help people in your circumstance as a doctor? Do LGBT people need good doctors? Yes, they do. I hope that we are training every doctor to be a good doctor to LGBT individuals.

I would suggest going back to the drawing board to determine why you want to take care of the physical (and perhaps psychiatric) ills of people who are not your friends or family members and experiences you have had with clinical exposures, scientific research endeavors, and/or care of the needy that have confirmed for you that this is the appropriate career path for you.

I somehow forgot to mention that I saw a psychiatrist during this as well and anti-depressants/counseling techniques helped me overcome deep-rooted childhood issues, to the point where pills are no longer necessary for me to have a normal level of happiness. I saw a different psychiatrist as a child also, but honestly that one was so bad I didn't trust anyone in the mental health field for 10 years afterwards, so I've directly experienced the difference a caring vs. uncaring physician can make in a patient's life too. I've taken the bad experience as a lesson in what not to do if I work in the medical profession one day, although I wouldn't mention that officially of course. My mother is a physician too so I do know exactly what working in medicine is like and could see myself having a career in it.

As for training every doctor to be good for LGBT community members...eh...not really the case unfortunately. I post on an LGBT forum also and at least weekly for years someone posts a thread about not trusting their physician due to past insensitive/rude/prejudiced things that happened and asking how they can find a physician who is actually LGBT themselves. There was one today where a female physician told a Lesbian patient that she would be able to "find a husband and not have to settle for other women anymore" once a health issue was resolved, which of course made the patient very uncomfortable.

A Personal Statement doesn't need to be this personal.

I would agree with the idea that it doesnt need to be this personal. However the concept itself is sound and can be written appropriately. This will take time to craft

Thank you for the feedback, I'll make sure to write it appropriately and make it less personal if I use it when the time comes.

 

[gyngyn]

Thank you for the feedback, I'll make sure to write it appropriately and make it less personal if I use it when the time comes.

Remember that anything that you offer as content in your application is fair game in the interview.
Unexpected emotions crop up at the most inopportune times.

 

[shapley]

I would take what LizzyM said seriously. You have a great personal story, although you probably don't need a lot of those details, there is a problem where anyone could say that you can help people by going into law for example, where you can help LGBT+ people by changing laws and fighting for their rights. Or being a teacher/education and focusing on queer issues in schools.

If you can tie it with medicine and also show that you have activities that add to this narrative I think it will work out for you.

 

[Cheenghee Koh]

As a clinical social worker who have provided counseling and conducted research on mental health among LGBTQ for an extensive period of time, I am somewhat concerned about how you portray mental healthcare providers beyond psychiatrists. Yes, you can have your opinions, but be careful about how you talk about them in your application. Talking down other professions won't make your application look better. In current healthcare settings, teamwork - in particular interdisciplinary teamwork - is valued. Different professions bring their unique perspectives and strengths to the table to complement each other, so that we as a group can better serve the patients. Moreover, medical schools also hire psychologists and doctoral-leveled social workers as their faculty members who may sit in ADCOM and do interviews with you.

In fact, from your original post, it read more like your depression had a lot to do with your internalized homonegativity and a lack of social support (and of course, your adverse childhood experiences). You mentioned you want to help other people not to feel the same way you did. However, to some of us, you do not need to go to medical school to learn all the biological foundations of health if what you want to do is to help other people to address their negative attitudes toward self and increase their healthy social support. Actually, it would be a mismatch between what you are going to get in med school and what you want to do. A degree in psychology or social work may fit the bill.

Since you are a pre-med, you still have a lot of time to go around and ask around. Don't rush. Take some time to understand what different people are doing, and what options you could have.

 

[trobinsonmd]

Good story, but I don't think the personal statement is the place to use it... adcoms are generally composed of relatively open-minded people, but sometimes you have some people who look at your personal statement who may have biases that are not aligned with your views and this could end up hurting you... not good to talk about controversial topics in your personal statement from my experience