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Breakdown of The Residency Personal Statement
Summarize an event that occurred and doctors had to intervene to save your life or that of somebody you know and you decided to dedicate your life to helping people. Maybe it was a sick child or a premature birth, and the child spent time in the hospital and you were drawn to pediatrics.
Or maybe your experiences during your psychiatry posting for example when you found out that a lot of cases of “mad people” you see roaming the streets in a developing country could actually benefit from clinical intervention.
Maybe there is a doctor that lived close to you when you were growing up and you were amazed by the skills he or she has, the way he interacts with people and the respect he gets in return and you decided that, that was what you wanted to do with your life.
Find a compelling angle because this is what will differentiate you from candidates with similar academic credentials and background.
The fact is that personal statements are read by program directors and others who are human too, they equally did have something that prompted them to a life of helping other people and your story will resonate with them.
What do you bring to the program?
Here you have to think deep and come up with any skills you have acquired over the years, and blend or spin it into your answer. A good way to start is to think of all the jobs you have held in the past, maybe as a clerk in an office, an associate at MacDonald’s, a lawyer or a nurse. Instead of saying you took peoples orders and gave them what they wanted in a fast food restaurant, you can say that you dealt with people from all works of life on constant bases. And you learnt how to listen to people, and deliver your best in a busy and some times stressful environment.
This translates that you can relate with patients from all works of life and you can handle the stress of any residency program.
Other things you can consider includes:-
- You are detail oriented – Here you can bring in any research experience you have, where you had to analyze tons of data quickly and make sense out of it.
- Skills from a previous job – Any computer skills you have is a plus, especially if you are an img. Computer are ubiquitous in hospitals today and I have seen that question asked several times, “how many of you can type without looking at the keyboard.” Its not a requirement, but it is a skill you can say you have.
- Good communication skills – As a resident you will participate in grand rounds and be expected to tell your attending and colleagues about your patients. Any skill you have where you previously spoke often or communicated ideas to people is something you should high light.
- People skills –similar to being a good communicator. Being able to help people relax and warm up to you. It does help when you are taking a history or advising the patient on a medication to take. It helps with compliance to medication. Any skills you have, such as in sales will be very helpful.
- Leadership position – It is not easy to be a leader and especially give instructions to intimidating people. Any instance where you had a leadership position should be outlined, class president, discussion group organizer etc it definitely separates you from the rest.
- Handling stress- Any skills you have working with difficult people should be outlined. Even as a sales person.
- Team player- outline the fact that you have worked as a team, taking instruction from people and also giving instructions.
Why do you want to join this program?
Most people just want to get into residency. They want a job and this question stops them in their track. A good way to approach this is to go to the programs website and take a look at their goals and objectives, or mission and work it into your answer in a way that it makes sense.
Other point you can add include:-
- The program has a great reputation- It was highly recommended by a physician that trained at the program or is still there. They might ask you who, in a physical interview, so you have to be ready. You could say that a third party that knows Dr. G.I Joe told you about the program.
- The program is a center of excellence for the specialty you are pursuing- Basically you want to learn from the best.
- You believe you bring some value to the program – this will be good if you had trained previously in another country.
- The program has a good reputation of teaching its resident’s well- this you can use for any program you are applying to.
Keep your statement within one page or about 600 words, broken down in about 4 paragraphs or more. Have your paper proof read by 2 or more people and if possible by a native speaker.
Remember to go through your personal statement and resume before any interview so that your answers will flow with what you wrote a few months ago.
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Breakdown of the personal statement
There are certain points program directors look out for in a personal statement and you must have to write on them. They include:-
- What got you interested in this particular specialty?
- What would you bring to the program?
- Why do you want to join this program?
What got you interested in this particular specialty?
This is a question where you have to describe what made you interested in the specialty. Every candidate has a unique story why they decided to go into say pediatrics or surgery. The ultimate reason might be to make enough money to live well, but you do not say that.
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