From 2065438 to 2007, Dr. Stephen Nicholas, former senior vice president of enrollment at Vagelos College of Internal Medicine and Surgeons of Columbia University, told US News: "Reading this document really gave me a deeper understanding of the whole application process. So I think this is very important. "
Dr Barbara Katz Mi Erzha, MD, Ph.D. Director, said: An excellent medical school admission thesis can cover almost any topic that the applicant is interested in, as long as it can convey the applicant's personality. He is a professor of medicine and microbiology at Yale University School of Medicine.
"The author's passion for describing this theme shows us a strong personal image, not just building a theme. This application document is the place where we know the applicants-who they are and what experience they have brought to apply for medical school, "she said in an interview on 20 17.
Rachel Rudeen, former enrollment coordinator of the University of Minnesota Medical School, said that personal statements can help medical schools determine whether applicants have the necessary qualities to become excellent doctors. "Toughness is what we really seek," she said.
Rudin added that it is also good to prove humility and empathy.
● Why do medical school applications value personal statements?
Admissions experts say that the purpose of personal statement is to report the events that inspired premed students to apply for medical school, which can prepare them for entering medical school. These experts explained that this personal paper can help the admissions staff to judge whether a premed student is ready to enter medical school and clarify whether a premed student has a convincing reason to enter medical school.
According to admissions experts, if a medical college's personal statement is well written, it can convey students' commitment to medical study and inject humanized content into the enrollment process, otherwise it may make people feel heartless.
Glen Fogerty, associate dean of admissions at the University of Arizona's Phoenix School of Medicine, wrote in an email: "For me, the personal statements that hit me the most are those that share personal relationships. In the statement, the applicants shared the passionate moments that ignited their becoming doctors, which once again proved why they chose medicine as their career development direction. "
Viveta Lobo, a doctor of emergency medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, often provides guidance for preppie students. He said that the key to a personal statement is the authenticity of its content, so it is necessary to reveal something meaningful. The article is not suitable for dry reading; Lobo, director of academic conference and continuing medical education in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University, said that this should make readers feel the author.
A good personal statement evokes emotions and expresses what you really did, not just what you said, "Rob wrote in an email. Rob suggests that admissions officers "must read hundreds of articles-so before you start, think about how to develop your articles and make them stand out from the crowd. "
How to write a personal statement for medical college
-Rob pointed out that an excellent personal statement usually includes all the following contents:
-Interesting introduction to attract the attention of the admissions staff.
-One or two anecdotes that illustrate the characteristics of the applicant.
-reflect on the significance and influence of various life experiences.
-Why did you choose medical school as the next logical statement?
-A satisfactory and optimistic conclusion.
"Entering medical school should make you feel very excited, and this passion should be expressed in your writing," Lobo explained.
Lobo said in a telephone interview that an excellent personal statement should tell the applicant's past, present and future, explain how past experience led to this, and outline a long-term plan to contribute to the medical industry. Lobo added that medical college admissions officers want to know not only the applicant's past experience, but also his or her future development direction.
Lobo said that when premedical students can explain how they will help others and improve society by practicing medicine, it shows that they are not selfish or interested in this field just because of its prestige. She explained that it is ideal when pre-medical students can eloquently describe a lofty mission.
Elizabeth Fassas, author of Making Pre-med Valuable: Everything I Want to Know Before I Apply to Medical College, said that pre-med students should think about the doctors they admire and reflect on why they admire them. Fassas, a freshman at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, suggested thinking about the following questions:
Why do you want to develop into a doctor? "
"What made you a doctor?"
"What kind of doctor do you imagine yourself to be?"
"What do you want to do for your patient?"
"What are you going to do for your patients that only you can do?"
Fassas pointed out that the topics that students may choose in the application process are topics that other preparatory students can also discuss, such as their love for science and so on. However, she suggests that their personal statements can be unique by clarifying the lessons they have learned from their life experiences.
Fasas pointed out that future medical students need to find out why this direction of medicine is more suitable for them than other nursing majors, health care fields and science majors. She said that they should show their understanding of the inherent challenges of medicine and explain why they still want to be doctors despite these difficulties.
Writing skills of excellent medical college personal statements
Fassas said that the first step in writing an excellent personal statement is to list some important memories from your current life experience. Pre-medical students should look for the most important moments in their lives and then find two or three stories that are absolutely worth sharing.
Dr. Demicha Rankin, the vice president in charge of enrollment at Ohio State University School of Medicine, pointed out that a personal statement should be a deeper analysis of a person, rather than "a simple repetition of his resume".
Jin Lan, an associate professor of anesthesiology, said that the most prominent personal statements are those that show the applicant's multi-faceted views by showing all aspects of his identity.
For example, Rankin said that a pre-medical student who used to be a swimmer might explain how the disciplines that swimmers must follow are similar to the professional ethics that doctors must follow. Similarly, she added, pianists or other types of musicians can also convey how to apply the listening skills and instrument tuning skills developed in music to medical study when applying for medical school.
Rankin noted that it is obvious that pre-medical students have taken meticulous measures to ensure that his or her personal statement is fluent. She said that a good article is like a "carefully woven fabric". Rankin also said that a sign of whether the personal statement has been polished is that the topic discussed at the beginning of the article is also mentioned at the end, and the coordination of the introduction and conclusion of the article makes the article look complete.
Rankin pointed out that the author of a document may not find obvious defects in his writing, so it is very important for prospective graduates to show their personal statements to trusted consultants and get real feedback. Rankin said that this is one reason why it is important to start the writing process as early as possible, so that you have enough time to organize your thoughts and polish your description. It will take at least four weeks.
● Avoid mistakes in personal statements in medical schools.
Experts say that one thing that preparatory students should never do in their application documents for admission is pleading. Rankin said that any form of request-including the request to apply for an interview-is beyond the scope of personal statement. Rankin said that another trap to be avoided is to be outspoken about controversial political issues, such as the death penalty or abortion.
Experts say that if "premedical students" don't proofread their personal statements carefully, they may make careless mistakes such as spelling mistakes and grammatical mistakes when submitting their papers, which could have been easily corrected. Some experts say that writing a personal statement usually needs to be revised many times, so preppie students who ignore this step may end up in a hurry.
However, when adjusting their personal statements, premedical students should not automatically change their articles according to what others say, Fogerty warned.
Fogarty wrote in an e-mail: "A common mistake in preparing a personal statement is that too many people review your statement, they make suggestions, and you accept all these opinions. Finally, the content contained in your personal statement is no longer your real voice. " Fogarty said that it is important that the personal statement sounds like the applicant's speech and represents the applicant himself.
Nicholas jones, a plastic surgeon in Georgia, said that the biggest mistake in a personal statement is that the content is untrue or deceptive.
"Don't lie. Don't fabricate facts, "he warned.
Jones added that events that preppie students don't want to discuss in depth in the later interview of medical college should not be included in the application documents of medical college from the beginning. "If it's too personal, or if it's emotional and you don't want to talk about it, then don't put it in the statement."