Re:About Personal Statement
bingousmle - 07-11-10 13:21

there are a number of services which can help you.. residencystatement.com..
here are a few tips from AMA

Some helpful suggestions in getting started:

1.Go back to your medical school application essay. Some students find it useful to look at that as a basis for their residency statement. Specifically the introductory and final paragraphs.

2. Find out if your school has a writing office, which can help you with your statement.

3. Use a theme to structure your essay. This helps unite all aspects of your statement.

4. Provide concrete examples that pertain to your life, goals and experiences.

5. Be concise. Refrain from using a lot of unnecessary words.

6. Begin your essay with an attention grabber: a quote, a story, an anecdote, or a riddle.

7. Finish your essay with a conclusion that refers back to the beginning of your statement and restates the theme.

8. Have your departmental program director evaluate/critique your statement. Remember they have probably seen thousands of essays and is most likely the best authority at your institution to evaluate your work.

9. Don't be afraid to start from scratch if your essay is not working.

10. Do write about what interests you, excites you. Your reader wants to hear a positive essay not a negative one about the profession.

Mistakes to avoid in a personal statement:

1. Underestimating the importance of the personal statement.

2. Underestimating the time and difficulty involved in developing the personal statement.

3. Lack of flow�. You read the essay and have no idea what the applicant is trying to say. They jump from one tangent to another. When reading a statement like this I would rather not read the essay at all. To prevent this error you need not one, not two, but at least three people to read your essay and give you feedback. You need to revise your essay several times. Therefore, you cannot start working on the essay one week before it is due. I recommend starting to work on your personal statement in July. Remember that most attendings will ask for a copy of your personal statement in order to write a letter of recommendation. You therefore need to start early.

4. Spelling and Grammar mistakes. These can kill you. It says a lot about an applicant if they have not taken the time to carefully proof read their essay. Is this someone who pays attention to detail and will spend time taking care of patients in my hospital? No!

5. Avoid cliches.

6. Making the writing process a group effort. This does not work.

7. Being too cute. This is not an essay for college admissions where originality/strangeness is applauded. Keep it simple to the point and address the issues I have brought up before.

8. Procrastinating until the very end to begin your statement. You need to start months in advance.

9. Failing to let yourself come through. This goes back to trying to make your statement too cute. You do not want to show up to an interview and have the interviewer thinking: Am I speaking to the same person that wrote this statement?

10. Including topics in the statement that if asked to discuss you would not be able to answer, such as particular research points, volunteer activities, etc.

Re: About Personal Statement
adonis123 - 07-12-10 01:01




Here is an Important Note About Personal Statement Plagiarism
Copying language from any source, including the Internet, for use in your Personal Statement is considered plagiarism. Samples of published Personal Statements are found on the Internet. Although these samples may be used to assist you in writing your own Personal Statement, copying any portion of the published language and representing it as your own is plagiarism. Any reported allegations of plagiarism will prompt an investigation by AAMC and may result in your becoming ineligible to participate in training. ERAS participants should read and become familiar with the AAMC's ERAS Integrity Promotion Education Program.
Here is the link:
http://ecfmg22.securesites.net/eras/#support

Good Luck!

Re: About Personal Statement
bingousmle - 07-28-10 23:44

this is another interesting link to know a few things before you seek to compose your own PS.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/725706

http://www.stfm.org/fmhub/fm2007/June/Ariel436.pdf