“Dos and Don’ts” of a Personal Statement
Written by Elizabeth Yim, MD
When facing the daunting task of putting your life story to paper and applying for residency, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed. Just remember, the hardest part is getting started!
What to Write:
What drew you to medicine?
What draws you to the specialty: Maybe you knew from infancy that you wanted to be a pediatric neurosurgeon. Or maybe it was your very last 3rd-year rotation that you had an “aha” moment. Whenever it was, list what qualities this field requires and how you realized you were a good fit for it.
Instead of just listing qualities, elaborate by including a memorable patient experience (without PHI of course!) or exposure you received through shadowing or receiving mentorship in this field. Show that you’ve done the research and made an informed decision to pursue this specialty
Why you will be a strong resident: Residencies look for smart, compassionate, hard-working residents who work well in teams and take initiative. Use this opportunity to highlight your strengths as a person and future physician!
What are your most meaningful extracurricular activities and why?/What is your proudest accomplishment?
What patient populations do you want to work with?
What hospital settings do you want to work in?
Your short and long-term career goals?
What qualities in a residency you’re looking for to help you accomplish your goals
Optional: What geographical region do you want to be located in?/Why is Program A is your dream program?
Dos of Your Personal Statement:
Do be concise. Residency leadership are reading 1000s of personal statements and can be put off by seeing more than 1 page per applicant (~3500 characters including spaces on ERAS)
Do address any “red flags” on your application. Do not assign blame to others and take responsibility for any part you played in what happened. Most of all, emphasize what you learned from the experience and how you grew from it.
Do have people you trust to proofread your personal statement before submitting it. Having grammatical errors can come off as careless and unprofessional
Do have your close friends and family read over your statement and confirm that it sounds like you. Applying to residency is about finding the best fit, so be yourself and make sure that it comes through on paper
Do include a hook to draw in your reader in the first paragraph if applicable and space allows
Do show, not tell. Instead of saying that you are compassionate, describe an experience where the empathy you demonstrated made a difference. It makes for a much better read
Do save your personal statements under different names if you plan to upload multiple to ERAS and be very careful when assigning them to different programs. The worst thing for Program A to read is that your “dream program is Program B” if you choose to write that specifically in your personal statement.
Don’t’s of Your Personal Statement:
Do not reiterate your CV. You’re already submitting that with your application. Use this opportunity to highlight what is not on your CV or to contextualize 1-3 experiences on your CV that are most meaningful to you
Do not try too hard to be funny or to present yourself in a certain way that you are not. It can be a gamble and can come off as fake
Do not write that you want to pursue neurosurgery for prestige or plastic surgery for money. Include compelling reasons for pursuing the specialty beyond what the lifestyle might entail
Getting started:
If this blog just made you feel even more overwhelmed, try different approaches. Word-vomit out an anecdote that made you realize you want to pursue XYZ Specialty. Or jot down an outline about what you absolutely want to say and then flesh it out. No matter which way you start writing, you will go through several drafts and each version will get refined.
Final pieces of advice:
Start early enough to give yourself the luxury of putting down your draft for several days and coming back with a fresh mind
Read your drafts out loud to catch grammatical mistakes and to get a sense of whether it sounds like you
Don’t be afraid to revise and rewrite! Starting anew is okay and does not mean that you wasted your time with previous drafts
That’s it for now! Best of luck on your residency applications and we at Inside The Match are always here to support you. Reach out with any questions!
