Learn all about how to start your medical school personal statement with the do’s and don’ts, intro, body, and conclusion paragraph tips, and common writing mistakes.
The personal statement is a short narrative that aims to highlight your journey to medicine and your motivation to become a physician.
5300 characters (AAMC / AACOMAS)
5000 characters (TMDSAS)
Why is the medical school personal statement important?
The personal statement is an important tool to allow the admissions committee to learn more about an applicant’s journey possibly not otherwise shared in the application
By showcasing the narratives that carved your path to medicine, a student can highlight their unique extracurricular and personal experiences that provide them with an interesting perspective and drive to become a physician
A student who understands their motivations behind medicine and conveys it in a way that demonstrates a genuine intention to become a physician is one the admissions committee sees as a student who will persevere during times of doubt
The personal statement, if presented in an engaging and logical manner, can make a student’s application more compelling and entices the admissions committee to learn more about the applicant
The personal statement is also a space where a student can portray pivotal qualities like emotional intelligence and empathy
Finally, the composition of your personal statement shows your strength in written communication which is a pivotal skill for a physician to possess
Personal Statement Do’s and Don’ts
Do use narrative and storytelling to share your experiences
This type of writing will use showing language vs. telling language
Do incorporate both passive and active experiences (see body paragraphs section for more regarding this)
Do share stories about your relationships or connections with people and patients as well as what they mean for your future in medicine
Do show parallels in each of your stories and show a connection or theme among your experiences
Do focus on organization and structure
Don’t include extra curricular experiences from before college
Don’t talk about more than one experience per paragraph
Don’t talk negatively about the field of medicine or health professionals of whom you have encountered in your past experiences
Don’ttalk about your fluctuations or challenges in the academic setting (GPA or MCAT)
Intro Paragraph
Start with an engaging hook that is endearing and leaves the reader with enough questions for them to continue reading
Use a narrative lead to capture your first powerful experience with medicine or the moments of which reaffirmed your interest in medicine
End with a thesis statement that explains your focus for the statement and guides the reader on what you will be talking about in the next three paragraphs
Body Paragraphs
Use a narrative approach
Choose a story where you are either watching an interaction or interacting yourself
Describe the following:
Context
Environment – what do you see, hear, smell – use your five senses
Who is involved in the situation?
Describe the person’s facial expression, demeanor, body language etc. that indicates to you how this person is feeling
Describe the way in which you or another person acts to change how they are feeling
Don’t: Dr. Smith comforted the patient because she could sense he was anxious
Do: Dr. Smith gently grasped the patient’s hand and rested her other hand on the patient’s shoulder allowing the patient to cry without disruption
Describe a change in the person’s facial expression, demeanor, body language etc.
This showsrather than tells the reader that you or the person you are watching had a tangible impact on the other person
It is very important to use narrative in sharing your experiences because this allows the reader to visualize and experience the narratives you are sharing along with you
Powerful sensory tool that strengthens memory and allows for an emotional connection to the writing
Much more engaging due to the fact that the reader is visualizing you display certain qualities as opposed to solely telling them
Your last body paragraph should be an active experience
Passive experience – watching someone else
May be considered weaker because because observing someone does not necessarily mean you now have the skills to do it as well
Follow a passive experience with an active experience to show that you have gained these skills as a result
Active experience – doing it yourself
For instance, actively articulating an experience where you are comforting a patient confirms to the reader that you successfully mastered this skill
If possible, try to include more active rather than passive experiences in your personal statement because it shows that you are proactive in gaining experiences where you’re demonstrating your strengths
Admissions committee knows that there are likely much more experiences that motivated you to pursue medicine
So, why choose to include these experiences specifically?
How are these stories connected to each other?
What central theme do these stories develop and embody?
What is the overarching theme that you want your reader to take away from the personal statement?
Specifically allude to each of the previously written experiences in the body paragraphs to summarize for the reader and reiterate your stories
Be sure to link back to the narrative lead from the introduction paragraph as well as link back to the thesis statement. This will allow for a cohesive and simplistic read.
End the statement by sharing where you see yourself in the future in medicine
Not specialty, but rather what role do you see yourself playing in medicine as a medical student and future physician
For instance: advocate for vulnerable communities, leader in global health, active in health policy changes that influence clinical practice, etc.
This is important because it demonstrates to the reader that you not only want to be a doctor but that you know what your future in medicine might look like
This should ideally relate to the central theme
Common Personal Statement Writing Mistakes
“I had the opportunity to engage in service by translating for spanish-speaking patients” -> “I served the spanish-speaking community by translating”
“X is a nonprofit organization whose mission is Y. I was a volunteer for X where I had the opportunity to do Z.” -> “As a volunteer for X I implemented their mission of Y by Z.”
“I helped my team in delivering our mission of offering more food to low-income communities” -> “I supported the mission by creating a survey of needed food items and delegated each team member to recruiting sponsorships and organizing donations.”
It is important to share what you specifically did to contribute to the team rather than sharing the fact that you contributed to the team
“At the conference, I learned new perspectives about the use of sustainable plant biofuels to combat decreasing energy reserves.” -> “At the conference, I learned about the high growth capacity of the duckweed plant, Wolffia Arrhiza, and its applicability to sustainable biofuel development to combat decreasing energy reserves.”
You do not want to share the fact that you learned something but rather what exactly you learned. This is important because the reader does not know what you learned and they will likely skim over a sentence as such because it provides no added information for them. Adding details such as this will improve memory retention of your experiences.
This is important in other spaces as well:
Max looked really upset.
What did you notice that informed your conclusion?
Body language, facial expression, demeanor, five senses (what did you see, hear etc)
I worked with a team of students to implement a project on environmental justice.
What did you specifically contribute?
How did you build camaraderie as a team?
How did you build efficiency as a team?
How did your team specifically contribute to environmental justice?
I am passionate about contributing to the existing preventative healthcare efforts at your school.
What are the existing preventative health care efforts?
What communities are they serving with these efforts?
How are they serving these communities?
What are the gaps/limitations do you see in these efforts?
How will you specifically contribute to changing or adding to these preventative efforts by referencing your own past experiences?
