Personal Statement (1)

Mindset

• You are applying for a job

• It is substitute for Cover Letter

• It is about knowing you in terms of:
• Passion, Purpose, Person (3Ps)

• One page that defines you as person

• It is subjective; NOT objective

• It is soft skills; NOT hard skills

What NOT to do

• Length Max one page - Times new roman - Size 12 Font

• Regurgitate your CV [it is after someone has reviewed your CV]

• Why Medicine [ No Need, this if for Medical School Applicants]
• Write about speciality - In internal medicine (sub-speciality)

• Making grammatical errors, spelling mistakes

Structure

• Section 1 [Person] (Optional)
• What drives you as a person (first paragraph)
• Compassion, Trust, evidence-based, Human connection/interaction

• Section 2 [Why Subspecialty]
• Final Frontier, Cutting edge in research, Complete spectrum of practice, Ability to practice in value based and resource limited settings
• Avoid cliches' - Localization in Neurology, Tumor diagnosis in Radiology

• Section 3 [What - Who]
• Subspecialty requirements for e.g. Detail oriented, research, innovation
• Tie with your own personality traits that makes you a good Fit
• Detail oriented, Hardworking, Compassionate, Team Player with example

• Section 4 [Job]
• I am looking for a program "THAT" because it meet my goals of "THIS"

• Section 5 [Thanks]
• I am grateful for your time to review my application and you will find me engaged learner if I match in your program and you will be proud to call me a student

Process

• Read, read & read - A lot of examples

• Write > Re-write > Re-write > Re-write

• Get reviewed for content - Only with Good friends and Mentors
• Everyone has advise and critique (Stay true to yourself)

• Get reviewed for writing - flow, sentence structure, grammar

Personal Statement Tips and Tricks

1. The goal of the personal statement is to showcase your unique life story and journey, avoid dwelling to much on information that is already stated in the ERAS CV section.

2. Start with a captivating paragraph that compels the reader to get hooked and the remainder of your personal statement should add onto that sense of intrigue.

3. Try to limit a patient encounter story to maximum one, and don’t spend too much of your word count telling why you want a particular specialty.

4. Your goal should be to write it as a story of your life journey focusing on your unique strengths and characteristics

5. Try to address any red flags in your personal statement with openness. Admit to your failures and inform the readers how you are working to overcome and improve on them. Being defensive or failing to address these red flags is perceived negatively.

6. Ultimately the personal statement should be a narrative summary of your life journey, ambition, strengths and also address your weaknesses/failures and how you are overcoming to address them.