A strong med school personal statement should be focused on responding to the one fundamental
question: “Why do you want to be a doctor?”
And there are a lot of different possible answers to this question and ways to answer
this question.
But there's one really common response that you absolutely must avoid, counterintuitive
as this may seem, and that is, “I want to be a doctor because I want to help people.”
So, that's what I'm going to discuss today.
First, Hi!
My name is Doctor Sarah Kleeb and I'm an admissions expert at BeMo.
So, this response, “I want to be a doctor because I want to help people,” is extremely
common and that sort of points towards one of the reasons that you should really avoid
using this phrase in your med school personal statement.
And it's worth mentioning before I get started that this advice applies to interviews and
other things like that, as well.
Any time you are reflecting on your reasons for pursuing this particular educational and
career path, that phrase “I want to help people” should be ideally eliminated from
your vocabulary.
So here are the reasons why.
First, it's just really generic.
Most people want to help people.
It's extremely common.
And that's not a bad thing at all.
And it's not in any way a negative thing for you to genuinely want to go into the field
of medicine because you do want to help people.
That's absolutely fine as one of your personal motivations.
But, what you don't want to say is something that is so incredibly general that it could
apply to almost anyone.
And that leads me into the second reason that you should avoid this particular phrase or
this particular idea (and this is probably the most important reason), and that is: you
can help people in any number of ways, in any number of careers that aren't becoming
a doctor, that aren't even related to the field of medicine.
Right?
Obviously, lots of people help others in their occupations and there is just nothing specific
to that content, “I want to be a doctor, I want to become a physician because I want
to help people”.
What you want to focus on is what is it specifically about the practice of medicine that allows
you to follow these kinds of goals and aspirations, and those specifics need to be what your answer
should be sort of constructed around.
Again, this isn't to say that you shouldn't want to help people – of course you should,
and, of course, you will!
But, that's just not specific enough to what it is that you're pursuing.
Right?
We help people all the time in any number of different ways.
So one trick that you can sort of use-- it's not really a trick, it's more of a recommendation
– but a thing that you can think through or work with in trying to reformulate your
approach to this kind of idea is to shift your language away from helping people and
into serving people.
Being able to serve others, and wanting to be in the service of others, is a bit more
specific.
It's a little less generic (I'll get into that again in just a minute in a slightly
different way for my sort of Point #3 here), but it also – if you're applying in the
United States, that “service orientation” is one of the AAMC core competencies, which
should absolutely be a sort of constant touchstone for where you go with your personal statement
essay.
And so, y’know, this idea of being of service to others, that's really valuable.
But, also, y’know, think more concretely about the study and practice of medicine and
what that's going to allow you to do, what it's going to allow you to fulfill in terms
of your own goals, values, ideals.
Think about the specific aspects of the work that you're going to enjoy or things about
the environment that are going to allow you to thrive and focus on these.
If, for example, you love the idea of being in a context where you are constantly challenged
intellectually, where problem solving is part of your just everyday mode of being, really,
and you get to do all of this while putting yourself in the service of others and facilitating
– ideally – positive patient outcomes.
Well, that is a much more specific and much more sort of refined way of saying that you
“want to help people”.
So, always go back to those AAMC core competencies if you're in the U.S, if you're in Canada
and you have to write an essay as part of one of your applications, look at that CanMEDS
framework, where you get the same kinds of qualities and roles for physicians in our
medical context, and refer back to these or use them as a foundation on which to build
your own ideas.
You don't want to refer to every single one of those core competencies, or every single
aspect of the CanMEDS framework, because you just don't have the space for that in most
essays.
But, you can isolate a few of these that really speak to you and start making your response
just more specific and more specific to the on-the-ground realities of practicing medicine.
And then reason number three that you should avoid the statement, “I want to help people,”
sort of building off those previous two: It's not just generic, it's cliché.
So many people make this statement in their personal statements and you don't want your
personal statement to look like everyone else's!
You don't want it to read like everyone else's.
You don't want to say what everyone else is saying.
That's not going to make your application stand out.
That's going to – unfortunately – put your reader to sleep, because they're going
to hit that point and feel like they've already read this exact same essay dozens if not hundreds
of times already.
You don't want them to look at your application and go, “ Okay, another one of these…”
You want to draw them in and make them really take a step back and say, “Oh wow!
This is something really different.
This is really unique.
This is well-articulated, well-reasoned, well-thought-out.
This connects to those key qualities and core competencies.
This is the kind of person who seems like they might fit with who we want our practicing
physicians to be.”
And remember the whole point of that initial application and that personal statement is
to leave them wanting more from you, because wanting more from you means getting an interview.
That's where they get to really find out who you are, at your core, what really motivates
you outside of just the small amount of material you're able to put together for your application.
So, you want them to read your essay and say “Okay, I've got to meet this person!”
Because that's what's going to get you that interview.
So, at all costs, avoid that phrase, "I want to help people".
It's a beautiful sentiment.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to help people – absolutely, please, want to help
people!
That's something that we very much need in the medical profession.
But, think through different ways to articulate that impetus, that value, and find more specific
ways to speak to how you are going to thrive in this setting and how this path in particular
is going to allow you to achieve your goals.
So, I hope that you enjoyed this video and that it was helpful.
If so please do go ahead, like it, share it with a friend who might benefit from it.
Be sure to follow us on whichever social media platform you are on right now.
If you'd like us to help you click the link that should appear either above or below this
video so that you can see our programs and schedule a free initial consultation.
We'll set you up with one of our admissions experts that'll answer any questions that
you might have and get you started with your preparations.
We have programs to suit any of your needs and we're always happy to work with you to
determine which plan is going to support you and your goals most effectively.
As ever, thank you so very much for your time, take good care, and I'll see you next time!