They worked cooperatively with other health-care professionals to improve patient care. Importantly, these physicians have also been friendly and approachable towards both learners and patients. The family physicians I have worked with also strive toward a healthy work-life balance; all of them seemed to have many interests and hobbies outside of their professions.
Being sure of the specialty I want to pursue is the first step in my career. There are many learning opportunities ahead. I believe the solid foundation of family medicine experience, as well as the exposure to other specialties, alongside the opportunities to build the skills necessary for life-long learning through the academic experiences and research, make this an ideal program for me. On a personal note, I grew up in [hometown] and did my undergraduate studies at [name of university]; I would be thrilled to return to my hometown and a university already familiar to me.
My career goals after finishing my residency include having a community-based, urban family practice and being actively involved in teaching residents and medical students.
I am also open to being involved in research and administration. Career goals, however, may change as I progress through my training.
I am excited to begin the next stage of medical training and begin my residency in family medicine! This example does a great job of explaining why the applicant wants to enter that specialty.
Their interest is clearly stated and the decision to enter the field is well explained. The author does an excellent job of talking up the specialty and stating what they like about the field. Take note of how the author gave specific examples of their experience and exposure to the field. You want to highlight any time you have interacted in that specialty. This shows interest and a commitment to the specialty.
Clearly stating your intentions and using the program's name makes your statement personal and stand out. It shows that you pay attention to details and your passion for that program. Use strong, precise language when you are writing. You only have about words, so state your intentions and keep your story clear. Growing up the first-born daughter of a hard-working Saskatchewan cattle farmer and hairdresser, medicine was never a consideration.
In a small town, I could easily see how too much free time got many of my peers in trouble. From grade I devoted myself to sports, playing high school, club and provincial beach volleyball, weeknights and weekends year round.
Despite my small stature and lack of innate abilities, with determination and persistence, I overcame these obstacles. At the end of my grade 11 year, I received an athletic scholarship and chose to pursue business administration and athletics.
This university was much more challenging as I was now balancing my educational and financial responsibilities by working evenings and weekends managing a number of part-time jobs. With little direction as to what degree I wanted to pursue, I happened to enroll in anatomy and physiology. This was the first time I became really excited about my future prospects and began actively considering a career in medicine.
The first time I applied to medicine, I was rejected. Despite my initial devastation, in hindsight, it was a great opportunity for myself to reflect on my own motivations for medicine and work as a laboratory technician at a potash mine in my hometown. My first exposure to anesthesia was in my first year of medical school with [Dr. I was again, intrigued by the anatomy and physiology with the interlacing of pharmacology.
I remained open to all specialties, however, after summer early exposures, research, and clerkship it became clear to me that anesthesia is where I felt the most fulfilled and motivated. In a way, anesthesia was reminiscent of the competitive volleyball I had played years prior. I was again a part of a team in the operating room with a common goal. Similarly, our countless years of education and practice had brought us together to achieve it.
In volleyball, my role was the setter, which to many is considered a lackluster position as we rarely attack the ball and score points with power. In volleyball, I never shied away from tense games or difficult situations, instead I trusted in my own abilities and training despite uncharted territory. Lastly, I didn't need to actually score the point in order to understand my role and contributions to my team.
As an athlete, I understand the importance of practice and repetition which allow us to fail, but most importantly, to learn. I believe that the curriculum at this program will provide me with a well-respected education, which strongly reflects my learning style.
I also admire the mandatory communication block in the curriculum because I believe an emphasis on clear and concise communication, is essential as an anesthetist. Throughout the course of the next years, I anticipate that both my husband and I will complete the next chapter in our educational pursuits.
We both agree that [program name here] has the potential to nurture the next chapter in both our private and professional lives if given the opportunity.
The author of this passage carries the theme of athletics throughout the statement. Having a theme can unify your personal statement and give it direction. This is a good example of a way to use a theme to tie together different ideas. Also, take note of how the author explained the transition to different schools without speaking negatively of the institutions.
In your own personal statement, feel free to use the names of the universities you attended. They have been redacted here for anonymity.
This statement has parts where you could customize it. Use the name of the program when possible or the name of the town.
Taking time to add this into your statement shows the program that you pay attention to detail while personalizing it to each program. What lay hidden and confined in the door panel was this complex system that produced a simple action. I credit this experience as the onset of my scientific curiosity and eventually my passion for complex systems found in medicine.
Intensivists vigilantly maintain homeostasis within the human body, a complex system in and of itself, a concept I recognize as personally fascinating and enticing. I find myself especially drawn to the field of critical care and intensive care medicine.
My dreams to become an intensivist would be highly complimented by a residency in surgery. In critical care, each patient in the ICU is usually in a general state of shock. From the initial state of shock, the patient can be further complicated with comorbidities and chronic diseases that may require further intensive medical intervention so that they may recover from a recent surgery or traumatic event.
This dynamic nature of the ICU is not available in every unit of the hospital and the high level of acuity does not suit everyone. I, however, enjoy the high energy of the enthralling, engaging and exciting environment offered by the ICU. I am personally energized and awakened by managing patients with surgically-altered physiology coupled with comorbidities. There is an overwhelming satisfaction when a patient following a bilateral lung transplant gets up from his bed and walks through the unit after days of being bedridden, or the moment we can discontinue the lines we had the patient on and finally talk to them after two weeks of intubation and sedation.
Being in the ICU also encompasses the emotional seesaw of going from a successful patient case to a room in which a family has just decided that comfort care is the best way to proceed, which gives me chills just to type and verbalize. Communication is key in this field, both with the patients and the physicians of the OR. Communication prevents perioperative complications, establishes a willingness to follow directions and relays professionalism.
It is important for an intensivist to have an excellent understanding of surgical procedures, so that they may explain to the patient what to expect as well as ease the nerves of the patient preoperatively. A surgical residency would facilitate this understanding and undoubtedly prove to be useful in my future training.
Studying medicine in Europe has taught me volumes about myself, how driven, motivated and open-minded I can be. This common thought has to lead to an outstanding environment to study medicine and to see end-stage, textbook presentations of various pathologies and their management. Studying medicine in two languages has in itself taught me that medicine is a language and that the way a patient presents, conveys themselves, and the findings of the physical examination, all represent the syntax of the diagnosis.
My clinical experience in [insert country here] will aid me in providing thoughtful care to my future patients. All things considered, I am ready to leave my home of the last four years and come back to the United States, to enter the next stage of my life and career.
I am ready to work harder than ever, to prove myself to my future residency program and most importantly, learn so that I may be a suitable candidate for a future fellowship program in critical care.
These experiences will aid me in working with a diverse patient population and a diverse team of physicians. I hope [the program name here] can give me the variety and the background in surgery that I will need to succeed. This statement has to do double duty for the admissions committee. It has to explain why surgery, what this student can offer, and why this student is passionate about the field while simultaneously explaining why the applicant chose medical school abroad.
If you are applying to a country where you did not attend medical school there, you have to explain why you studied abroad. This often poses a challenge for students.
Be honest and positive about your experience. This student did an excellent job of explaining why it was such a good fit for their personality while highlighting the advantages of this experience. Focus on the characteristics you gained from your experience abroad. Explain how your experience will translate into success in your residency. There are many things to be gained from having spent time outside of your home country.
Talk about the skills you developed from living abroad. Unique details like those will set you apart when you are writing your statement. Check out our video to find out how to write a residency letter of intent to increase your chances of acceptance! One of the most surprising things that I learned through my emergency medicine EM electives is that working in an emergency department is like leading a horse.
I grew up on a farm in the [name of city], and working with animals was very much a part of my childhood. When walking a horse, one must be prepared for anything should the animal become spooked. It can startle at any moment and one must react quickly and calmly to redirect the thousand-pound creature. EM is exciting, with a variety of patient presentations and medical procedures done on a daily basis. I enjoy dealing with the unexpected challenges that arise in caring for patients with backgrounds vastly different from my own.
It would be a privilege to gain the skills as an emergency physician to provide acute life-saving care, to connect patients with resources and other healthcare professionals, and to provide comfort to patients and families in the settings of acute loss or difficult diagnoses. I feel that the [name of program] is the ideal path to reach that goal. First, the [name of program] offers additional support and training to continue to perform research and other scholarly activities.
Through my experience in quality improvement, I have learned of the value of research and how it can be applied to practical problems. For instance, while volunteering in a pool rehabilitation program for individuals with neurological disabilities, a patient who I had worked with for a year tragically suffered a fall and broke his hip leaving him significantly disabled.
This led me to research inpatient falls during medical school and I initiated a quality improvement project and presented at several conferences, quality improvement rounds, and meetings with hospital stakeholders.
After several years of work, I am very proud that this led to the implementation of a province-wide quality improvement initiative funded by [name of organization]. This initiative is physician-led and is aimed at reducing inpatient falls across [name of city]. This project demonstrated how rewarding research is when it can be translated into tangible initiatives and is why I am particularly interested in quality improvement research.
I look forward to more dedicated time in the [name of program] to develop my research skills and to apply quality improvement to EM. In addition to increased training in research, the [name of program] offers the opportunity to subspecialize within EM.
While in medical school, I helped my single mother raise my much younger siblings and this has inspired my interest in pediatric EM. I maximized my studying through the effective use of weekly group study sessions and podcasts to allow for free weekends to return home to spend with my brother and sister. Through my experiences teaching and playing with my siblings, I have learned to deal with children in a calm and friendly manner.
I used these skills to maintain positive therapeutic relationships with children during my pediatric EM rotation at [name of hospital]. For instance, I was able to cast the forearm of a frightened child by first demonstrating the procedure on her toy rabbit, and then calmly fitting a cast on her arm. I enjoy the emphasis on patient and family education as well as the focus on making the patient feel safe and cared for.
I would love to explore this field further as my niche within the [name of program] in emergency medicine. Alongside research and pediatric EM, I am also interested in teaching. Some of my fondest memories involve the evening teaching sessions during primary and secondary school spent with my grandpa, a retired teacher. My grandpa modeled effective teaching techniques, first assessing my knowledge and then expanding on it by asking questions and providing guidance when needed.
Similarly, some of my best memories in medical school include the five-minute bedside teaching sessions after interesting cases that were taught in that way. Inspired by many residents and staff I have worked with, I look forward to expanding my teaching role in residency.
Like my grandpa and my clinical mentors, I hope to help future students maximize their learning potential through the delivery of lectures and bedside teaching. Training within the [name of program] would allow additional time to develop the skills necessary for this, through increased exposure to mentorship, teaching role models, and opportunities to be involved in curricular development.
I would feel privileged to join the resident team in the [name of program]. I was fortunate that most of my core clerkship training including EM, as well as my fourth year EM elective, was at the [name of hospital]. What stands out the most to me most about working in the [name of hospital] is the tight-knit community feel in the setting of a high volume, high acuity ED.
I value that the small program leads to a cohesive resident group and staff who are invested in their learners. Furthermore, from my rotations there, I know the ample procedural and hands-on exposure residents get from the beginning of their training.
With my interest in pediatric EM, I value the longitudinal exposure to pediatrics at [name of program], with opportunities to do dedicated pediatric rotations both at [name of hospital], as well as [name of hospital]l. Finally, the [name of city] is my home; my family and friends are here, and I love the hiking, fishing, kayaking, and snowboarding that are all less than an hour away.
I would be incredibly honored to have the privilege of pursuing EM in the [name of program], and look forward to serving my community. The thought of caring for severely ill children seemed disheartening and overwhelming when I first began shadowing [name of doctor] at [name of hospital] five years ago. I was very nervous. While some of the cases were indeed difficult, my experience was starkly different. In one of our first cases, I quickly jumped in to comfort a scared child suffering from kidney disease.
The mother of our patient confided in me about her son's struggles with bullying due to the disfiguring edema. Throughout my clinical experiences, I saw that caring for a pediatric patient often involves delicately navigating complex social situations and family dynamics. From that point on, I knew I had both the passion and compassion to succeed as a future pediatrician.
I am particularly keen to complete my residency at the [name of school], because I had such an immersive learning experience completing 5 years of research with [name of doctor] at [name of hospital] and at [name of hospital], not to mention [name of school]'s stellar international reputation. The incredibly high standard of excellence at [name of school], as well as [name of city] being my hometown, make the [name of school] my top choice to complete my residency.
The residents were having a hard time understanding this disease, but [name of doctor] explained the exact pathophysiology and downstream effects of it.
Were you an immigrant? Did you have limited financial resources and work through college? Many applicants tend to shy away from the very things that make them impressive because they are afraid of appearing to be looking for sympathy.
As long as you explain how you have overcome adversity in a positive or creative way, your experience will be viewed as the tremendous accomplishment that it is. The personal statement should explain any unusual or distinctive aspects of your background. Do not tell your entire life story or write a statement focused on your childhood or undergraduate career. Do not write about why you wanted to be a doctor. This is old news. From the reviewers perspective, you already are a doctor!
Do not write a personal statement focused on one hobby or begin with your birth. Some background information might be useful if it offers context to your choices and path, but your residency personal statement should be focused on the present and what you have done to pursue your interest in the specialty to which you are applying.
Do not preach. The reader understands what it means to practice his specialty and does not need you to tell him. The reader wants to know about you! Do not put down other specialties. Doing so just makes you look bad. If you switched residencies or interests, you can explain what else you were seeking and what you found in the specialty of your choice that interests you. Do not embellish. Program directors are pretty good at sniffing out inconsistencies and dishonesty.
Always tell the truth and be honest and authentic. Do not plagiarize. While this seems obvious to most people, every year people copy personal statements they find online or hire companies that use stock phrases and statement to compose statements for applicants.
Do not write about sensitive topics. Even if you were in a relationship that ended and resulted in a poor USMLE score , this is not a topic for a personal statement. In general, it is best to avoid discussing relationships, politics, ethical issues and religion.
Do not boast. Any hint of arrogance or self-righteousness may result in getting rejected. There is a fine line between confidence and self promotion.
Some people make the mistake of over-selling themselves or writing about all of their fantastic qualities and characteristics. Rarely do readers view such personal statements favorably. Do not write an overly creative piece.
A residency personal statement should be professional. This work is equivalent to a job application. An increasing number of applicants are applying to more than one specialty in medicine especially if the first choice specialty is very competitive. If you are applying to more than one specialty, even if there is disciplinary overlap between the two for example family medicine and pediatrics , we advise you write a distinct specialty for each.
Remember that a physician who practices the specialty you hope to join will most likely be reviewing your statement. He or she will definitely be able to determine if the personal statement illustrates a true understanding of the specialty. The personal statement is also the place to explain any red flags in your application, such as gaps in time or a leave of absence.
When addressing any red flags, explain what happened succinctly. Whenever possible, write about how you have matured or grown from the adversity or what you may have learned and how this benefits you. If you have left a program or had a break in your medical education, you will also have the chance to explain this in your ERAS application.
You should also write about this topic in your personal statement only if you have more to explain, however. However, you should be prepared to discuss any failure during an interview. By the same token, it is best not to address one low grade or poor attending evaluation in your statement. Have you taken a circuitous path to medicine?
If so you might address why you made these choices and what you found so interesting about medicine that was lacking in your former career. Below are two great examples of residency personal statements that earned the applicants who wrote them numerous interviews and first choice matches.
The most common approach to the personal statement is what I will call the traditional approach, in which the applicant conveys her interest in the specialty, when that interest began and what she has done to pursue the particular specialty.
Below is an example of the traditional approach:. I looked into her eyes and saw terror. She knew the life of her unborn baby was in jeopardy. As tears streamed down her face, she looked to the attending physician. She went into labor at home and because of a horrible snowstorm was not able to reach the hospital for several hours. When she arrived in labor and delivery, she was crowning. But, the baby was having late decelerations.
Yet we all tried to remain calm and to keep the patient and her husband calm as well. I entered medical school with an open mind as everyone suggested. Even as a first year medical student, however, I was fascinated with embryology.
I entered my third year still unsure of what I would pursue. I knew I wanted a career that would be challenging and interesting. Because of my background in drawing and painting, I always loved working with my hands. Yet I also enjoyed working with people. I quickly sought out opportunities for research and became involved in a clinical study investigating the impact of a vegan diet on birth outcomes. I have always had an interest in wellness and nutrition, and this seemed like a perfect fit for me.
My research is still in process, but through this experience I have learned how to analyze data, stay objective and critically evaluate the literature. So far, our findings suggest better than normal outcomes for babies born to vegan mothers. This reinforces my goal to educate my patients about the important of diet and nutrition, which I hope to make a part of my future practice. There I cared for a diverse group of patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
I appreciate the importance of understanding the female anatomy so I can operate with precision. Whether caring for a woman about to give birth, helping a woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer navigate her treatment options, or caring for a perimenopausal woman who is coping with symptoms of hormone fluctuations, I enjoy caring for patients with knowledge and compassion. I look forward to building relationships with my patients, helping them to lead the healthiest lives possible.
I have also realized how much I want to care for those who lack access to care. The work I have done at Medical School Free Clinic has helped me realize the gaps that exist in access to care and education. On that snowy night, when we realized the baby was having difficulty being born because of shoulder dystocia, a simple maneuver eased the situation. I hope to join a program where I will have the clinical exposure that will give me the skills and experience to care for a wide range of patients.
I do not yet know if I will subspecialize, and I will seek out mentors and experiences as a resident to make an informed decision. I would be honored to interview at your program and thank you for your consideration. An added bonus is that the applicant writes well and uses descriptive language making her statement interesting and fun to read.
Even good content written poorly can come out flat. Start by reading your writing out loud. Do you have to catch your breath in the middle of a sentence? This usually results from too many short sentences stacked on top of each other.
The simpler, the better. Hand your essay to a friend or family member to proof. Maybe it is the perfect word for the sentence, but anything that distracts the reader from the content is a problem. Hopefully this article has pointed you in the right direction by giving you the tools you need to structure your essay and make good writing choices.
Introduction: Draw the reader in with a story or anecdote, and introduce a theme. Body paragraphs : Explore and expand on the theme. Dynamic Writing Dynamic writing is all about feel and rhythm. Language and Vocabulary The simpler, the better. Contractions are part of informal language.
They work fine for a blog like this, but not in any application writing. It sounds more sincere.
0コメント