writing about reseach in personal statement for a non trad ph.d. applicant

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naixin

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Hi
I want to get some opinions from you guys.
I am a ph.d. in biochem. In my original personal statement draft,I did not mention that and I touched on my research very very briefly (only two sentences) as I thought that I described my research experience in the work and activities section of the application and the Adcoms will see my research background in other parts of my application. Instead, I mainly talked about how I was inspired by some doctors I met and some ancedotes from my volunteer experiences. However someone pointed out to me that I need to stress my reseach experience in my personal statement and that I want to become a physician scientist as the may be (or the only) selling point for people like me.
Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot!

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This is just my opinion:

It's okay for someone to choose medicine after pursuing a PhD. You need to decide if you want to become a physician scientist or just a physician. If you really only want to pursue medicine without the large research focus, I think you're fine just briefly mentioning research in the PS. If, however, you wish to become a physician scientist, I feel like you should make it clear why you want this in your personal statement.

I'm not sure which schools you're applying to, but each school provides different applicant materials to interviewers. Some schools only provide the essays, some only the PS, some nothing (blind interviews), so don't necessarily assume everyone can see everything.

Sorry for the length and good luck!
 
Hi
I want to get some opinions from you guys.
I am a ph.d. in biochem. In my original personal statement draft,I did not mention that and I touched on my research very very briefly (only two sentences) as I thought that I described my research experience in the work and activities section of the application and the Adcoms will see my research background in other parts of my application. Instead, I mainly talked about how I was inspired by some doctors I met and some ancedotes from my volunteer experiences. However someone pointed out to me that I need to stress my reseach experience in my personal statement and that I want to become a physician scientist as the may be (or the only) selling point for people like me.
Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot!

I personally think you had the right attitude to start. My mentor told me that my personal statement should be "all about research" too, but I disagreed because there were many more important experiences that I wanted to mention that I thought were more pertinent and evocative. If anything, you can make your research lab one of your "most meaningful" in your other section and explain more about it there.

Personal statements are geared towards showing the adcom committee how your activities fit together into a cohesive story with a "theme" behind it (theme explains why you want to go into medicine and why you believe you are uniquely qualified). But, they aren't supposed to be a re-iteration of your resume/activities section.

I'd be heavy on the anecdotes and light on the facts. If there is a special situation or story from your research that highlights your character, then maybe it would be a good thing to include. You did come from a PhD background, so it might be surprising to have none of that impacted your interest in medicine (love of science, etc). Could be a good intro to begin the story of your transition towards medicine, but I agree with your first instinct-to mention it when it fits (2-3 sentences, like you said) and to move on after instead of focusing on it as your whole body.

You know you better than anyone else-and only you can tell your own story the way it should be told. Good luck!
 
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This is just my opinion:

It's okay for someone to choose medicine after pursuing a PhD. You need to decide if you want to become a physician scientist or just a physician. If you really only want to pursue medicine without the large research focus, I think you're fine just briefly mentioning research in the PS. If, however, you wish to become a physician scientist, I feel like you should make it clear why you want this in your personal statement.

I'm not sure which schools you're applying to, but each school provides different applicant materials to interviewers. Some schools only provide the essays, some only the PS, some nothing (blind interviews), so don't necessarily assume everyone can see everything.

Sorry for the length and good luck!

I'm not sure that I agree. The OP is a PhD - thus a strong research background is what he brings to the table. He really needs to sell this point or the PhD is not going to mean much to Adcoms. He can decide whether he wants to be a physician scientist later.
 
I have a question, at the end of it all, are the credentials of someone who did a MD/PHD (2 years MD + 6 PHD + 2 MD) any different from those that did a PHD + MD?
 
I have a question, at the end of it all, are the credentials of someone who did a MD/PHD (2 years MD + 6 PHD + 2 MD) any different from those that did a PHD + MD?

Your credentials are based on the quality of your published work. Beyond that nobody knows or cares how you obtained your research background. Most of the best scientists I know personally are MD only.
 
I have a question, at the end of it all, are the credentials of someone who did a MD/PHD (2 years MD + 6 PHD + 2 MD) any different from those that did a PHD + MD?

Eh, there's a marginal advantage for MD/PhD in getting funding, especially for bench/"translational" research. But I agree with the Ruhroh-it's mostly based on the quality of your past work and strength of your ideas. MD's tend to win out in funding battles between them and PhDs.
 
I believe that your personal statement should be sincere. Not only will it be easier to write, but the reader should find it more convincing. Do you want to be a physician scientist, or do you think that is just what adcoms want to hear? If you want to be a physician scientist I would address the research and clinical/volunteering anecdotes equally.

If you no longer want to pursue research, I would not make it a focus of your PS. Does the activities section still include three activities you can expand upon? You can write about your research in greater detail there. If you don't want to pursue research, you can still reflect upon how the experience has endowed you with qualities that will make you a successful physician.
 
Thanks for your suggestions. I am not quite sure yet. (maybe it's bad that I'm not sure what I am going to do considering that I am a "mature" old applicant.) But definitely I still have interest in research. Even if the interest is not so strong, it guess I will miss it if I do not do any research.
I believe that your personal statement should be sincere. Not only will it be easier to write, but the reader should find it more convincing. Do you want to be a physician scientist, or do you think that is just what adcoms want to hear? If you want to be a physician scientist I would address the research and clinical/volunteering anecdotes equally.

If you no longer want to pursue research, I would not make it a focus of your PS. Does the activities section still include three activities you can expand upon? You can write about your research in greater detail there. If you don't want to pursue research, you can still reflect upon how the experience has endowed you with qualities that will make you a successful physician.
 
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I'm not sure that I agree. The OP is a PhD - thus a strong research background is what he brings to the table. He really needs to sell this point or the PhD is not going to mean much to Adcoms. He can decide whether he wants to be a physician scientist later.

Well said.
 
I'm not sure that I agree. The OP is a PhD - thus a strong research background is what he brings to the table. He really needs to sell this point or the PhD is not going to mean much to Adcoms. He can decide whether he wants to be a physician scientist later.

Yeah, I agree that it should be emphasized and noted somewhat in retrospect. Not acknowledging this tremendous accomplishment does it a disservice. As an adcom member once told me, if you don't spin everything really positively and explicitly, it can be effectively "erased" from your application. One of the reasons why one should never talk smack or avoid mentioning a research lab stint even if it was a bad experience.

Goes back to what I said about having a cohesive, flowing story. Try to think of a way to include all of the pertinent episodes in your life in a way that fits together with a theme ("all" not meant to be taken literally, you know what I mean)
 
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