If you have made it to this post, you have likely decided on a specialty and you are gearing up to apply to residency! The residency personal statement can certainly cause a lot of stress for applicants, but in this post we will help you get started and break down what you need to include in this essay, how to structure the essay, and also go over a few frequently asked questions.
Your ERAS application is going to be full of all of your accomplishments, objective measures such as your USMLE scores and medical school transcript, and more, but the personal statement is your opportunity to tell application reviewers about what makes you unique, qualified, and someone they will want to work closely with over the next 3-7 years.
The major things you need to include is something about your path to choosing your specialty or why you were drawn to your chosen specialty, attributes that make you stand out from other applicants, and a bit about what you are looking for and your future plans. Ultimately, this is your opportunity to tell programs what makes you special and what is important to you as a person and as a future physician. Next, we will break down how to approach the personal statement on a more granular level.
The hardest thing to do when writing your personal statement can be just knowing where to get started. One of the easiest ways to start thinking about how to draft a personal statement is to reflect on your journey up until this point. Think about any meaningful experiences or encounters that have shaped you as a person and as a student doctor that you could potentially include or that will help you shape an overall narrative. Jot down all of these experiences to help you brainstorm.
You can also think about specific qualities or attributes about yourself that you would want programs to know, and then think about either scenarios or details about those qualities that you would want to share with programs so they are able to get to know you better. As an example, I personally feel that one of my strengths is my work ethic. When I reflected upon why I have a strong work ethic, I realized that growing up with parents that immigrated to the U.S. is a major reason that I personally developed this trait, as I watched my parents work very hard growing up. This was also something that I wanted to share about myself with programs, so I was able to reflect upon my strengths and add in some more personal details to include in my essay. Remember that at this point, try to just write down anything that comes to mind so you have things to work with. Later on you will work on fleshing out these examples and putting them together to tell your story.
After you have come up with your list of attributes or anecdotes, choose the ones that you want to include. Try not to over do it, and just pick a few really impactful things that you can really delve into rather than listing story after story in your personal statement. If you are having trouble deciding what to include, start writing out your stories and anecdotes how you would in your statement and then choose the strongest ones or ones you can tie it into your chosen speciality such as why you would be a great fit or why you are drawn toward the specialty. If you are struggling with this, try to get together with some classmates and friends and talk about each other’s strengths, and then think about how you want to include those strengths in your personal statement so residency programs can learn more about you. You can talk about an anecdote that highlights that strength, tie it into why you are drawn to your specialty, or mention experiences that have shaped you related to that particular characteristic. For example, someone might have great attention to detail, and if they want to eventually go into a field like Mohs surgery where the surgeries are very precise, they can tie those things together to talk about one part of the speciality that they are drawn to.
If you are really struggling with how to start your personal statement, consider taking a look at your personal statement from when you were applying to medical school. Of course, we have all grown so much since those days, but it can be helpful to consider what drew you to medicine in the first place when thinking about your journey and how since then you have decided on a specialty.
Further, there are certain characteristics that are essential to being a great resident, such as being a good team-player, dedicated, etc. You can think about these and think about anecdotes you can include to show programs how you embody these important characteristics, would be a great fit for their program, and someone they want to work with in the future.
One way to have a really strong residency application is to make sure that your entire application, including your personal statement, tells a story about who you are and how you have gotten to where you are. Creating a narrative will really help programs understand who you are and where you hope to be. The personal statement is a key component to this, so as you are coming up with different pieces of your journey to include, think about putting everything together in a way that tells a story of your unique journey in medicine. This could start with why you were initially drawn to medicine, any setbacks, and where you hope to be in the future. This should all ideally complement other parts of your application. For example, if you have a lot of experiences related to research, mentorship, and teaching on your application and want to go into academic medicine, that would form a very cohesive story about what you have done up to that point and how it is setting you up for your future career.
Given that the personal statement is one of the only areas of the application you have full control of, this can also be a place where people want to address any sort of weakness in their application and provide an explanation to programs. While this is not the place to make excuses, programs know that life does not stop just because we are in medical school so the personal statement can certainly be a place to provide any necessary context to things that are already on your application. Just like everything else that you include on ERAS, make sure that anything you include you is something that you will be ok with discussing during your interviews. As a rule, everything that you include is fair game to bring up during interviews.
On ERAS, you can upload lots of iterations of your personal statement and assign them to programs specifically. This brings up the idea of whether or not you should take the extra time to “personalize” your personal statement for specific programs to show more interest. First, you need to make sure you have very strong organizational skills. If you personalize your personal statement for one program and ultimately assign it to another, you will likely not get an interview, so if you go down this path this is the time to be very detail oriented and intentional with naming your various documents.
In general, you should only do this if there is a program that is one of your top choices for a very specific reason or if you have some sort of tie that you would like to specifically mention within your personal statement that is not mentioned elsewhere. Also, this comes in handy for those of us applying to advanced fields, such as radiology or dermatology, where you can have a specific personal statement for your prelim programs explaining what you are looking for in your PGY-1 training, and this usually only consists of changing the last bit at the end.
In closing, take the personal statement as an opportunity to shine and show programs why they should take you! Start drafting your personal statement early, because you will want to have people who are close to you read it and see if it is a good reflection of who you are and what you bring to the table. This should include your mentors and letter writers as well as friends and family who have supported you through this journey. At the end of the day, this is your statement so make sure it is in your voice and a genuine reflection of you.
Our team of physicians are here to help!
“Get back on D!” My coach yelled as our opponents stole the ball. I quickly pivoted and began sprinting, feeling the beads of sweat fly off my cheeks. My teammate was beside me pointing to an opponent. She was communicating who she was guarding, so I did the same. Our team began to defend as one cohesive unit, patiently awaiting our next opportunity to score. Through my years of competitive basketball in high school and college, I developed qualities of discipline, adaptability, communication, time management, and teamwork. These are skills that I cultivated each day on the court. With 25 hours of college basketball every week, I learned how to prioritize and balance my education, my training, and my personal life. These qualities have prepared me for a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
With my background as an athlete, I knew I wanted to join a field that had variable moments of high stress and excitement. I further discovered my love for this environment during my 4-years as an emergency room scribe. My experiences in the emergency department led me to desire a field that allowed me to use my hands and perform procedures. My interest in women’s health began during my second year of medical school when I taught a course about women’s health at a home for women recovering from drug addiction. During my OB/GYN rotation, I discovered that I am especially drawn to opportunities for continuity of care, discussions about menopause, counseling about birth control, and creating a safe space to discuss sensitive topics. I found it empowering to engage in open conversations about women’s health, and I strive to similarly empower my patients by building the trusting, open, and comfortable space that is unique and essential to this specialty.
Later in my training, during my MFM rotation, I was reviewing the glucose log of one of my pregnant patients with type 1 diabetes, which showed poorly controlled sugars. This had been noted as a trend for this patient in the past. I interviewed the patient about her log, diet, and insulin usage, and initially, she was guarded and closed off. As I probed more and we began to explain the danger of poor glucose management for her baby, the patient became tearful. She quietly revealed that she had not been eating full meals because she had run out of food stamps and admitted to having trouble feeding herself and her two children. Thus, it was a challenge for her to take her insulin as prescribed. We discussed that she did not need to feel ashamed of her food insecurity. I inquired about her access to local food pantries, community gardens, and found her resources to apply for WIC. I felt confident in my ability to discuss these challenges and help find resources in Cincinnati to address her needs because outside of the clinical setting I co-founded the University of Cincinnati Food Insecurity Collaborative. With this student group, I work with local organizations to distribute fresh produce to food insecure neighborhoods and help arrange opportunities for medical students to get involved in education and efforts that target food insecurity. My service has made me aware of how our role as physicians is not only to prescribe and educate our patients on insulin, but to address social determinants of health as well. Experiences like these have driven me to continue combating food and housing insecurity through a service and advocacy elective during my fourth year of medical school.
My experiences on the basketball court, serving my community, and working clinically have prepared me for a residency in OB/GYN. I am equipped with the fortitude to persevere in the face of challenges, adapt to quickly evolving circumstances, and provide the best possible care to my patients. During residency, I look forward to applying skills of resiliency and teamwork as I learn alongside my future colleagues and hope to continue understanding how to treat my patients from all angles. My goal is to become a resident who is coachable, empathic, and an exceptional team member.
