The one question you are guaranteed to be asked during your medical school interviews.
This is also one of the main questions your personal statement should answer. Take a step back and think of several moments throughout your journey that solidified your decision to pursue medicine. These experiences should demonstrate your commitment to the field, so doing this without meaningful clinical experience may be difficult. While personal or family experiences can spark your initial interest in medicine, you should be able to support your motivation with active clinical experiences, not just shadowing.
One of the reasons I pursued medicine that I included in my personal statement was a car accident I experienced when I was 16. While this experience was meaningful, it was not clinical, so I made sure to connect it with my experience working as a caregiver in an assisted living facility.
Regardless of the experiences you decide to write about, make sure your personal statement reads like a story, not a résumé. I highly recommend having current medical students read your personal statement drafts. Additionally, print out your personal statement and read it aloud yourself, or have a friend or family member read it back to you. Hearing it out loud can help you catch awkward wording and improve the overall flow.
On the topic of things to avoid, I suggest avoiding the following:
- Vague sentences that do not support the purpose of your personal statement. These take up valuable character space without strengthening your narrative.
- Speaking negatively about yourself, coworkers, teammates, or other people in your life. Even if the situation was difficult, focus on what you learned rather than criticizing others.
- Overly graphic descriptions of traumatic or grotesque scenes. Strong details and a compelling hook are important, but excessively graphic descriptions may make readers uncomfortable and distract from your message.
If you have any questions or would like me to review your personal statement, please fill out the form here.
Talk to y’all soon!
