NRMP RESIDENCY PERSONAL STATEMENT TIPS, RULES, and IDEAS
The Medfools Personal Statement “Medfools Rules” in writing an effective personal statement:
These “Rules” were developed after reading the same things in personal statements, over and over again! The humor or jabs noted below are for fun only, and not meant to attack anyone!
Rule #1: Don’t say “My Father was a doctor and now I want to be one too”
This is a common mistake in personal statement writing for residency, (and for pre-meds too.) At this point in the game you had better know why you want to be a doctor, or it’s too late for you. Residency program directors have heard this story about a million and two times, so even IF your dad did inspire you to go into medicine, don’t say it! Everyone is tired of hearing how you followed your dad (or mom) on hospital rounds, and you liked the attention and how this put a smile on people’s faces. BORing!
Rule #2: Don’t tell us how hard it was for you to go into medical school
Unless you had to work 4 jobs while supporting your widowed mother and grow your own vegetables to eat while going to college, we don’t want to hear it! Gaining entrance to medical school is tough. Tough everywhere. Residency directors frankly don’t really care if you took the All-Country Medical School Entrance Exam and scored #1 out of 8 million applicants. Who cares? That was med school, and this is residency. While your pre-med exams and hardships may impress your friends, it doesn’t (except in extraordinary cases) help your residency application.
Rule #3: Don’t tell us what a fabulous medical school you went to
Most medical schools are decent (right?) Many applicants want to say that they went to the best med school in their state/country. If your residency director hasn’t heard of your school and doesn’t know already how incredibly great that school is, then telling them in your essay won’t convince them. Sounds like bragging, and nobody likes that!
Rule #4: Keep research details to a minimum.
You’re applying for residency, not a PhD in applied molecular chemical dermatopathologic enzyme research. If you want to mention briefly your research, then by all means do it. Briefly! State what you learned and gained from it, not that you published 6 papers and chapter in a book that no one will ever read. Keep the reader interested!
Rule #5: Don’t say “I had a hard time choosing my specialty” or ” I tried to keep my mind open when choosing my specialty”
The time has come for you to make a decision! No one likes someone who is indecisive. If you love internal medicine, then say I WANT TO PURSUE AN INTERNAL MEDICINE RESIDENCY. Don’t waste your space saying that for 3 years you really tried to enjoy every specialty. What is important now is why you love your current specialty! Also, it doesn’t matter if you kept an open mind or not! Just matters what residency you are applying to now. Just jump right in!
Rule #6 Don’t advertise that you never made it to med school on your first try or that you bombed your USMLE
Don’t highlight the negatives! If you didn’t get to med school the first time, that’s okay. Just build on the positive aspects now. Don’t say that your life was over and you tried to jump off a bridge when you bombed the MCATs! Also, if you have great reasons why you didn’t do so well on your USMLE, then you can mention them in brief detail. More importantly, explain what you learned from that experience and how you have grown.
Rule #7 Do not state that you passed your USMLE or obtained other basic requirements or exams
These are considered basic requirements to begin residency in the US, and stating that you have earned these is like saying you can tie your shoes. Everyone has these, so they don’t make your application any stronger. While you may have studied like hell to pass these, so has everyone else.
Rule #8 Just because uncle Bob had leukemia is a bad reason to say you want to be an oncologist
Residency directors have read millions of personal statements for residency. Don’t bore them with the same old story about your relative that had this disease and now you want to help save the world by trying to fight that disease. If you are going to mention Aunt May and her fight with Alzheimer’s make it interesting at least!
Rule #9 Keep it to a page!
Residency program directors spend less than 2 minutes with their inital read of your personal statements. Your forty hours of work will be evaluated and decided on in less than 120 seconds! Keep their attention and for NO reason extend beyond 1 1/4 pages. One page is even better!
Rule #10 Don’t tell me why you want to be a doctor
At this point in the game, if you have to explain why you want to be a doctor, it’s too late for you! You need to save your space and tell people why you want to enter your residency specialty. EVERYONE who is applying for residency is a doctor (or will be one soon), so this is really secondary to why you are applying to family practice, or internal medicine, or whatever specialty you choose.
Rule #11 We don’t care what you did in High School!
Ok, unless you were President of a small island Nation or developed the cure for male pattern baldness as head of your Science and Chess club, people don’t really care what you did in high school. Yes, that goes for the prize chicken you raised in 4H!! While you can mention that your high school athletics career has later motivated you to keep up with team sports, you don’t have to say that you were the best goalie in Charlie Brown High history.
Rule #12 Don’t mention Pop culture or TV shows!
It doesn’t matter just how cool you think CSI, MacGyver, or Six Feet Under are, don’t say you are inspired by them or think your future career in X specialty will be just like that show! It is a mistake. It’s immature, and frankly a lame thing to talk about! Also, don’t compare your “detective work” to Sherlock Holmes!
Good luck! -Fool
