Running head: MEDICAL RESIDENCE PERSONAL STATEMENT 1

How to Write a Medical Residency Personal Statement

Student’s Name:

Institution:

Date:
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How to Write a Medical Residency Personal Statement.

Although writing a personal statement can be a challenging task, it is an important tool to

make known of your background, goals, and character (The Association of American Medical

Colleges [AAMC], 2010). A personal statement offers medical residency applicants with an

opportunity to convey information not included in their curriculum vitae or the recommendation

letters (Gonzalez, 2006). The University of Michigan (2015) supports the idea of starting to write

one’s personal statement early as it saves one from developing anxiety and being stuck while

making changes at the last minute of submission.

Gonzalez (2015), on offering suggestions on how to get started, he advises that the

applicants should find out if their school has a writing office. The office can assist them in all

aspects to include in the personal statement. Seeking assistance from a professional editor in a

residency personal statement service helps the candidate get useful and clear guidelines. These

guidelines include the structure and the content that are important in making a personal statement

persuasive (Peterson, 2015). Brown (2004) states that writing centers coordinators receive only

15% of the graduate for consultations of which 1,500 out of 10,000 are for the personal

statements.

The University of California (2012) asserts that a great residency medical personal

statement should be organized in a thematic manner of each paragraph bearing a single theme

rather than in a chronological approach. According to (Desai, 2003) the themes should focus in

explaining why you are interested in the chosen field, expectations in a residency program, and

your professional goals in the chosen specialty. In addition to these themes, the University of

Washington (2015) also suggests including how an adversity has molded you, a patient’s

encounter that drove you to your specialty, and made you learn something new about yourself.
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Ethan et al. (2005) conducted a research on elements of personal statements submitted to

radiology residency. The research showed a candidate explaining why he chose his or her

specialty as the most important aspect of the personal statement, with a frequency of 96.67%.

Personal attributes, evidence, and expectations of the program followed with a frequency of

76.67%, 60%, and 43.33% respectively. Long-term goals, connection to the program and

explanation of deficiency came in the last three in a research that analyzed eleven components of

a personal statement. The research was involved the applicants and the members of the selection

committee.

Therefore, it emerges that the most important aspects to address in a residency personal

statement should be the reasons one is interested in his or her specialty, expectations and

professional goals in the chosen field. Although these should be given priority, Desai (2003)

states that explaining why one should be considered and intended contributions to one’s specialty

and residency school should be addressed. These should form paragraphs that are coherent,

concise, original, and eloquent. The applicant should start and finish each paragraph in an

engaging manner.

The first paragraph should be captivating to the reader as put by Schierhorn (2014). Lack

of a captivating first paragraph makes the reader unwilling to read further. In support of this,

Farmer (2007) maintains that the first sentence is the most crucial part of the writing and in

addition to announcing the theme, it should engage the reader as well. Spelling and grammatical

errors should be avoided as they portray lack of attention to detail, which is a crucial skill in the

residence program. To avoid these errors, an applicant can let a career advisor read his or her

personal statement before submission (Desai, 2003).

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References

Association of American Medical Colleges. (2010). Writing a Personal Statement. Pdf.

Desai, P.S. (2003). Creating a Personal Statement. Offices of Medical Education. The University

of North Carolina-School of Medicine. Retrieved from

https://www.med.unc.edu/ome/studentaffairs/residency-and-the-match/residency-

application-process/cv-personal-statements

Ethan, A.S., Weyhing, B., Mody, Y., Smith, W.L. (2005). A Critical Analysis of Personal

Statements Submitted by Radiology Residency Applicants. Pdf.

Farmer, J. (2007). Before You Write Your Personal Statement, Read This. Retrieved from

http://www.studentdoctor.net/2007/06/before-you-write-your-personal-statement-read-

this/

Finkel, M. A. (2013). Tales from an Insider: Personal Statement Failures. Retrieved from

http://www.studentdoctor.net/2013/03/tales-from-an-insider-personal-statement-fails/

Gonzalez, J. W. (2015). Writing Your Personal Statement. American Medical Association.

Retrieved from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/member-

groups-sections/minority-affairs-section/transitioning-residency/writing-your-personal-

statement.page?

Gonzalez, J. W. (2006). Step 4: Writing a Personal Statement. Pdf.

Peterson, N. (2015). Writing a Great Residency Personal Statement. Retrieved from

https://www.essayedge.com/medical/residency-personal-statement
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Schierhorn, C. (2014). Personal Statement Advice: Tell a Story, Experts say. Retrieved from

http://thedo.osteopathic.org/2014/11/personal-statement-advice-tell-story-experts-say/

Stallworth, J and Christy, C. (2010). American Academy of Pediatrics. Becoming a Pediatrician.

Your Guide to Exploring Pediatrics, Matching for Residency, and Starting Intern Year.

Pdf.

The University of California. (2012). Dentistry Residency Personal Statements Tips. Office of

Career & Professional Development. San Francisco. Pdf.

The University of Washington. (2015). Personal Statements. UW Medicine. Retrieved from

http://www.uwmedicine.org/education/md-program/current-students/student-

affairs/career-advising/year-4-get-residency/personal-statement

The University of Michigan. (2015). Student-to-Student Residency Application Guide. Pdf.