The Medical & Graduate School Personal Statement

Whether you are applying to medical school, graduate school, a summer research internship, or a job, do not underestimate the importance of your personal statement (some graduate schools call it a statement of purpose or a statement of research interests) to your chances of earning an admission to the program of your choice. Your personal statement will be your first opportunity to introduce yourself to the admissions committee. Your goal in writing the personal statement should be to make a memorable, positive impression. According to Princeton Review, your personal statement can make up to 60% or more of your total medical school admissions score.

Depending on the type of program that you are applying to, your task in writing the personal statement may be different. For example, if you are applying to a research master’s or doctoral program, the statement of purpose will start with an introduction to who you are and then give a description of your research experiences and how they tie into your desire to be in a research program, and then why you are a good candidate for the specific program that you are applying to. Some doctoral programs such as those in the social sciences and education may require you to answer specific questions or turn in a writing sample as part of the statement of purpose.

The medical school personal statement, on the other hand, usually allows for a bit more leeway than the type of statement that you would send for a research master’s or PhD program. For starters, the personal statement will be submitted with your primary applications (i.e., AACOMAS, TMDSAS, or AMCAS). Next, you’ll be asked to introduce yourself and why you want to be a physician. The range of topics or themes that you can use to develop your personal statement is usually broader than for the statement of purpose:

You may write about a challenging experience(s) that led to your desire to practice medicine

You might write about a person who has impacted your desire to be a physician

You might use a challenging personal experience to show how you grew from it and how the experience influenced your desire to practice medicine

You might combine several of these themes to describe your desire to practice medicine

One point of contention that I have seen is whether or not individuals should discuss application red flags in their personal statement or statement of purpose. I’ve seen some people say discuss these things in a limited fashion and do it in such a way that displays growth and others who say that you shouldn’t discuss these things at all. I tend to lean towards the crowd that says not to use this precious real estate to discuss red flags. For the medical school primary applications, you only have 5300 characters to tell a medical school who you are and why you are the greatest thing since sliced bread. For master’s and doctoral programs, you may have anywhere from 500 words to 15 pages, depending on the program. My advice is to use the available space to highlight your positive traits. I would personally only discuss red flag issues if you can do so in a way that 1) Shows that you have grown and 2) Can be linked to your desire to practice medicine or attend a particular graduate program. You have to remember that your primary medical school application and many of your secondary applications, will have questions that ask you to explain any red flags and what you have learned from them. You’ll also have opportunities to answer these questions during your interviews.

Once you start writing, you want to make sure that your writing is clear and concise. Stay away from cliches and repetitive word choice. Stay away from slang or informal language UNLESS these things are part of a story that you are trying to tell. Maintain a positive, confident tone but display humility; don’t throw yourself upon the sacrificial alter but don’t write as if you are the best candidate in the world. Finally, you should have NO spelling or grammatical errors in your statement.

Other tips to writing a solid personal statement or statement of purpose include:

Give yourself time to write. I started writing my personal statement three months before the AACOMAS primary application opened. When I applied to my PhD program, I started writing four months before my applications were due. It’s not uncommon for someone to allow six months to write a personal statement. You will go through MANY drafts before you have a solid, finished product.

Stay focused. Your personal statement should not meander. Choose a theme and stick to it.

Keep a journal and keep your resume and CV or resume updated. Write down interesting things about how certain experiences make you feel or contribute to your desire to practice medicine. Keep an accurate record of jobs and other experiences. These things will be helpful to you when you write a personal statement or statement of purpose because you won’t have to try so hard to remember past events.

Find out what is unique about you. We are all interesting people so put your spin on the things that have influenced you and your desires to practice medicine and/or go on to graduate school.

Start your personal statement with something interesting. Eboni, my wife, reads HUNDREDS (maybe thousands) of personal statements in a given medical school application season. I can always tell when she is going to have great things to say about a candidate in the pre-interview notes; when they have put together a personal statement that grabs her attention from the outset, she just lights up. You want to catch the reader’s attention and leave an indelible positive impression.

Give examples where appropriate. Don’t just say it in the statement. Back it up with examples.

Simple, direct language is best.

Display humility and don’t lie about or fabricate events in.

Don’t beg for an interview in the personal statement. Don’t blame red flags, such as a poor MCAT score on ‘life’. Take responsibility and show how you have grown and matured.

Follow the directions. Some statements may ask you to write about very specific things or answer specific questions.

Before you submit your personal statement or statement of purpose, seek several opinions, but not too many opinions on your work. Make sure that the opinions that you seek are those who have expertise in judging the quality of writing or at least, are good writers themselves.

Don’t include anything in the personal statement that you do not want to talk about in the interview. If it’s in the personal statement, its fair game for the interviewer to ask about.

Finally, use a tool such as Grammerly and/or TurnItIn to check your grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.

Remember, the personal statement or statement of purpose is to report on events that have helped to shape your desires to attend medical or graduate school. This will be your first opportunity to wow an admissions committee or completely turn them off to your candidacy. Thus, you have to put a great deal of effort into this piece of work. If you give yourself time and treat the personal statement with the sort of attention to detail that it deserves, then you will turn in a wonderful piece of work that will make a great impression on an admissions committee.