Applying for residency is really complicated regardless of where you're applying or what
specialty. In addition to all the things that you have to compile, your CV, transcripts, letters of
recommendation, all of those things you also have to write a compelling personal statement. And a
lot of people find this very very challenging, one of the most challenging components of the
overall application. So there is a lot of weight on the personal statement it can make or break
your application. This is where you get to give the evaluators a sort of inside look as to who you
are as a person not just who you are on paper in terms of the numerical things that are evaluated.
So today i'm going to go over just a few things that should be covered in your personal statement
for residency. I'm going to read a sample personal statement for residency that you might find
useful in terms of building your own and then I'll talk about how to address maybe negative
circumstances or sort of things that didn't go as planned and why taking control of that narrative
is usually advisable. So first just some a little bit of background and specifics uh whether
you're applying in the U.S. through ERAS or through CARMS in Canada many programs are going to require
you to do this personal statement. Some will send you specific instructions or prompt for what they
want you to talk about in the statement, others won't give you a statement or a prompt at all
and you'll just have to sort of decide what you want to talk about. The statement itself needs to
be within a one-page limit so around 750 to 800 words which really isn't a lot of room to say
all the things that you probably want to say so concision and precision are very important here.
The one thing that you must indicate is why you're applying to a particular program and
how you came to that decision. What are the specific reasons for choosing the
specialty that you're trying to get into? What experiences have you had in that specialization
and what sorts of experiences have you had not just in that particular field or specialization
but in the city where you're applying, that's not necessarily something that would make or
break your application but knowing that you have roots or at least foundations or ties within that
location indicates that you have a a net of social support on which you can draw during something
that's going to be a very long and hard part of your overall education and professionalization.
You can also include what your own goals are in terms of learning and your future career plans.
You can talk about personal strengths, things that you think that you uniquely can bring to the
program, any significant research contributions, publications, presentations that you've done
and you can also take the opportunity to address any gaps that might exist in
your education or evaluations that were less than ideal. So before I talk about those more
negative aspects let me go through a personal statement for you and I'm just going to read this
so you can take notes as you go along and really pay attention not just to what is
being addressed but how these things are being addressed. First a sip of my tea though.
Alright, so this is a sample of a personal statement from family medicine. So - or for family
medicine. So, "during the pre-clerkship years of study in medical school I enjoyed learning
about the many specialties within medicine and actively considered pursuing several of
them. I was drawn to the complex pharmacology of the drugs used by anesthesiologists, the acuity
of care faced by emergency medicine physicians, and the complicated medical issues of patients
cared for by internal medicine specialists. I also found myself interested in psychiatrists
thorough history taking and the technical skills in performing procedures exhibited by surgeons.
It started becoming clear to me that I was interested in many different areas of medicine.
I began realizing that I wanted a career that combined the many things I enjoyed
in different specialties. A family physician has the flexibility to practice all of these
facets of medicine. As clerkship drew nearer, I knew I wanted to gain more clinical experience
in family medicine to see if it would be a good fit for me." So let me pause there, that
was the introductory paragraph to this personal statement. So again thinking about how things were
done as much as what was actually done so this individual displayed a wide range of curiosity
and isolated particular traits or qualities that they identified within different programs:
complexity, acuity of care, the ability to solve multiple problems all at once or take on
multiple perspectives, the history taking of a psychiatrist where you're getting really
deeply acquainted with the patient, and then the technical skills mentioned in terms of surgeons. So
this demonstrates a person who has reflected on what kinds of things are necessary and
prioritized within different fields in the in the subset of medicine itself and who displays
passion and curiosity not just in an abstract way but in a concrete way by identifying those
particular qualities that they want to pursue further. So moving on to the second paragraph:
"My clinical experiences in family medicine were fantastic. I worked with family physicians and
family medicine residents not only during my core family medicine rotation and family
medicine electives but also during my psychiatry, surgery, anesthesiology, and paediatrics rotations.
These clinical experiences confirmed my belief that family medicine is a diverse and exciting
specialty. Family physicians, while maintaining a broad base of medical knowledge, can tailor
their practices to the needs of their communities and to their own interests and areas of expertise.
During my family medicine rotation and electives I also found myself greatly enjoying my encounters
with patients. I enjoyed hearing patients stories and sorting through their many medical
and psychosocial issues. I'm also a naturally fastidious person. Being a thorough history taker
and a meticulous recorder of details helps me in formulating a complete story about a patient. My
joy in interacting with patients and my attention to detail allow me to appreciate patients as
people not just as disorders or diseases. I am both interested in learning about and have a certain
affinity for family medicine clinical experiences. Pursuing a career in the specialty is an obvious
choice for me." Again, so we'll pause. So that's second paragraph so the first paragraph talked
about the - knock my computer off the table - I talked about the wide scope of possible paths
that this person might pursue based on their interests. Now the second paragraph gets more
specific focuses specifically on what they're applying to right now which is family medicine.
Again they're addressing this not just in the abstract but concretely, talking about specific
experiences that they've had and what they've taken away from those experiences. They're
connecting the duties that need to be done with their joy and enthusiasm about the position. They
make mention of day-to-day things like record keeping, paying attention
to details, exercising one's broad medical knowledge, and things like that. But they also
emphasize that patient-position relationship that is crucially important in today's medical schools.
Future doctors who understand just how critical that relationship is are greatly
valued. So look into that if you haven't already and definitely speak to it if it's something that
you particularly value and want to cultivate as a medical professional. Moving on paragraph three: "The
versatility and diversity of family practice initially drew my interest but the wonderful
encounters I had with family physicians solidified my desire to pursue a career in this specialty.
These family these family physicians have not only been skilled and knowledgeable clinicians but also
variously dedicated teachers, researchers, and administrators. They were committed to improving
their clinical skills by attending continuing education lectures and courses. They practiced
patient-centered care and were knowledgeable about community resources that may help their patients.
They worked cooperatively with other healthcare professionals to improve patient care. Importantly
these physicians have also been friendly and approachable towards both learners and patients.
The family physicians i have worked with also strive toward a healthy work-life balance, all
of them seem to have many interests and hobbies outside of their professions. These clinicians
demonstrated to me what being a family physician involves, practicing both the science and art of
medicine, advocating for patients, guiding patients through the health care system, being committed
to improving clinical knowledge, and importantly maintaining one's own health and happiness." Pause,
so here they've demonstrated that they have specific concrete knowledge of the profession
itself not just through their rotations and they're working with patients but through
their specific interactions with people in this specialization. Again highlighting qualities that
they value and thus qualities they would want to cultivate within themselves, that
patient-centered care, that continuous education, and the ability to sort of take one's education
and do something with it in terms of teaching or educating others. As well they show that they
understand some of the realities of the position in terms of the load that people must carry.
Maintaining that work-life balance, practicing good self-care, prioritizing one's own health and
happiness are all absolutely fine and necessary so demonstrating that you have already started to
understand what contributes to that balance or what contributes to throwing that balance off
is a good thing to demonstrate. It also shows that you know that you have to take care of yourself
in order to be able to take care of others effectively. So moving on to the final paragraph:
"Being sure of the specialty i want to pursue is the first step in my career. There are many
learning opportunities ahead, this program's family medicine residency program is attractive
in so many ways. The protected academic days, the opportunity to participate in research, and most
importantly the clinical curriculum all appeal to me. I believe the solid foundation of family
medicine experience as well as the exposure to other specialties alongside the opportunities to
build the skills necessary for lifelong learning through the through the academic experiences and
research make this an ideal program for me. On a personal note I grew up in this town and did my
undergraduate studies at a nearby university or at this university and I would be thrilled to return
to my hometown and a university already familiar to me. My career goals after finishing residency
include having a community-based urban family practice and being actively involved in teaching
residents and medical students. I'm also open to being involved in research and administration,
career goals however may change as I progress through my training. I am excited to begin the next
stage of medical training and begin my residency in family medicine." So the final statement here is
again bringing everything to a clean close. Identifying aspects of the particular program
and curriculum that are attractive to the students showing that they've done their sort of homework
in terms of actually looking into the program at the specific university, they are fortunate to
mention that they are from this town and went to this university so they have that connection
to the area, and they also express that openness right when you're starting your specialization
and thinking about your future career goals stating that in a personal statement doesn't
mean that you're signing a contract that that is what you're going to do in terms of your career.
Things will change over time and that's just natural. Maybe you'll end up doing the exact same
thing that you think you want to do now and that's fine. Maybe you'll change your mind that's fine too.
At the stage of education you already know how different things become at each level of education
and how much deeper and more trenchant and more complex our thinking becomes and therefore you
know that is going to reflect on the decisions that we make and where we want to go with that
education. So overall this particular example demonstrates exactly what the applicant wants in
terms of entering a particular specialization. Their intention is very clearly stated,
they talk about the specialty from sort of an insider perspective understanding what's entailed
but also what they like, they gave specific examples they weren't just vague or abstract, and
they connected directly to the program they've looked into the curriculum, the campus, etc. Now
let's say you have something in your academic history that you're
not entirely proud of. You had to take a leave of absence, you got a less than ideal evaluation.
So you know that happens, certainly some people you know, things happen in life and some people
have to take breaks have to step away for a while sometimes you don't perform as well on
an exam as you hoped you would. And that is to an extent understandable. Again you don't have to be
perfect to be a strong candidate but what you do want to do is control the narrative around
that. Those things are going to come up in your application. If it's something on your transcripts,
they're going to see that. If it's something in your record, they're going to see that. If it's
a leave of some kind they're going to see that. There's no way that you can hide these things from
the application evaluators and the admissions committee. So being upfront, being clear and giving
your account of the situation is very very important. Note that your account should be
unemotional or as objective as possible. You should use positive language and whenever you're talking
about something negative or something unfortunate you always want to frame it in a positive way: what
you learned, how you grew, why you're a better person today for having gone through that.
So whether it's a leave of absence, failing an exam, repeating a course something like that
if you are concerned about any aspect of your application throwing up a red flag
then it's probably in your best interest just to address it head on. Whether you do this or not is
certainly up to you but if you think that a weakness is going to hurt your chances of
getting in then usually it's beneficial to take control of the narrative, own the problem,
and again demonstrate why this has made you better today, what you've learned, how you grew,
how you can acknowledge your faults and respond to them positively.
And so this makes you know gives you an opportunity to explain some gaps or
negative things in your history but it also demonstrates your maturity and your ability to
be resilient when you come up against a failure or limitation that you're able to find
the the overall lesson in areas where maybe you didn't do as well as you would have liked.
So make sure that you budget a good amount of time for this personal statement,
you need to go through several drafts remember this is only 750 to 800 words approximately. That
really isn't a lot of room and you have a lot to say. So giving yourself ample time going through
multiple drafts, getting expert feedback, all of these things are going to be very very helpful
in making sure that you are demonstrating your best self in your personal statement.
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