Medical schools focus on the skills and attributes which make the candidates an ideal medical student. As evidence, a medical school asks for a personal statement.
It is an experience of one that changed their perspective about medical science. A personal statement is important in an interview. The medical school personal statement is also part of the UCAS application. The personal statements should be based on self and real experience that inspired the candidate to opt for medical school.
There are steps for creating a personal statement. Read this article to know the step-by-step process and also some examples that will clear all the doubts.
Personal statement challenges and opportunities
As the student begins to write, he/she should be concerned about:
- Selecting the right topic of the statement.
- Make sure that the statement is unique and not clichéd.
- The statement should identify why you want to apply for medical school.
- The statement should be under 5,300 characters.
The personal statement should show the committees the following two things:
- Who you are and why you are a unique and ideal candidate than others;
- The reasons for applying and choosing the medical field.
Format of the medical school personal statement
- Anatomy of the Personal statement
- Introduction: [State the purpose of writing the statement]
- Body: [2 or 3 paragraphs]
- Conclusion
Tips before you start writing
- Don’t resort to clichés.
- Be interesting, don’t bore the reader.
- Use the personal details, show, and don’t tell
- Don’t be too wordy, be concise
- Address the weaknesses of yours, don’t dwell on them.
Step-by-step for writing the medical school personal statement
Before beginning the statement
- Understand the qualities of a good and strong essay: Know the correct format and how to write a strong essay.
- Brainstorming Ideas for the personal statement: Think of unique ideas to present in the statement and use advanced English to influence the committees.
- Considering the Audience: Write the statement in a way that the audience reading it gets considered the objective behind writing the statement.
- Answering the Prompt, without any prompt.
- Theme: The theme should be attractive enough and the objective behind writing it should be visible.
As you prepare to start writing
- Personal statement structure
- Introduction
- Body
- Conclusion
- How to avoid common mistakes
- Show, don’t tell
- Write for non-specialists
- Display professionalism
- Writing the first draft
After writing the statement, ask yourself the following questions
- Did you distinguish yourself from the other candidates?
- Is your statement comprehensive?
- Did you check your grammar?
- Did you take feedback from other people?
- A summary at the end of the statement and a final note!
An example of a Medical School Personal Statement
Every year, the medical school associates read a lot of recommendation letters and personal statements and often might have read this statement “I want to be a doctor so that I can help people.”
It can undoubtedly be true but in my case, I want to be a doctor because I have experienced a tragedy in real life that has just changed my conception of medicine. It has inspired me so much to apply for the medicals.
My father has a problem with the pancreas and always gets admitted to the hospital for its treatment. He has been through 2 operations of the pancreas. I was in class 7th and as usual, his condition was not good and he was hospitalized.
He was in extreme pain due to a stomach ache. I still remember when the ambulance arrived the siren of the ambulance at that time was scary.
My father got admitted to the hospital and all of us were too much worried. Always he had been through these pains and got hospitalized but this time he was in extreme pain. Also, when he vomited a lot of blood came out of his mouth.
After looking at that all of us were scared. He was brought to the ICU and then the doctors recommended we shift him to another hospital or take him out of Patna for treatment.
My mother and uncle took him to Hyderabad via air ambulance. The doctors there also told them that he has just a 10% chance to survive. Everyone loosed their hope but finally after two operations my father survived. Doctors at that time were like a god for us.
Right then I decided to be a doctor and treat other people. I know the pain of losing the closed ones. This is the reason why I opted for medicine and applied to medical school. I want to be a specialist physician.
personal statement