Five Top Tips on Writing your Medical School Personal Statement
With a sneak peak into my Cambridge Medical School Personal Statement
Year-on-year I get asked by aspiring med students on how to write a personal statement. It’s always been a difficult answer difficult. You must give a funny balance between academics, vocation, demonstrate commitment, desire to help (without actually saying it in those cliché words), the “soft skills” like teamwork, organisation and communication. Moreover, you need to write about your work experience and somehow fit into a limited number of characters.
.At first, I used to give tips on how to structure it, what to include and how to include those and no matter how much I tried it never fully explained what I really meant. Turns out the easiest advice I could give to aspiring med school applicants on personal statement writing was to send them my own. Candidates can get a feel of the balance of things to include and how to do so and extrapolate it to the extra-curriculars and interests they have been involved with.
I applied with this Personal Statement to Cambridge, Imperial, Birmingham, and Keele and got interviews for all of them.
So here goes – my unfiltered med school personal statement written at the age of 16/17 with 5 top tips at the end of it!
I was deeply moved to see Maha* combating her congenital heart disorder at the tender age of 3. A team of doctors were collecting blood samples from her heart to diagnose the severity of her condition in a caring manner. The satisfying prospect of being part of such a team, applying the latest medical knowledge to solve various problems in order to alleviate distress, is my primary reason to pursue medicine as a career.
I gained an insight into the importance of teamwork through attending a multidisciplinary team meeting at Wexhampark hospital, where consultants from a range of specialties communicated their expertise to formulate appropriate treatment plans for complex diseases. I realised that effective interaction was also essential at the work placement I organised at a GP. To enhance patient experience, I witnessed doctors adapt their practise to suit individual patients and work with nurses to manage appointments and avoid delays. I have developed these skills of time management and adaptability through my job as a part-time tutor where I simultaneously tutor 6 children aged 5 to 14 with varying abilities. Additionally, liaising with parents and centre directors to devise personalised coaching programmes for students has strengthened my teamwork skills.
Spending two weeks at a Cardiac Hospital in Pakistan taught me that emotions experienced by doctors oscillate between stress and joy. Whilst it was relieving to learn that nitrate infusions can help reduce chest pain, witnessing patients unable to be resuscitated caused grief. Regularly volunteering at a nursing home for the past year has helped me cope with such emotional pressure. I understand that whilst medical knowledge cannot always stop the natural deterioration of health, an empathetic approach can still preserve dignity and morale. Currently working towards my grade 8 piano, I feel gratified that by playing for the residents, I was able to contribute towards lifting their spirits. Along with being a welcome relief from academic and emotional pressures, piano developed my manual dexterity which I realised was important during my week at a cosmetic surgery. I observed that the precision of stitches made by the surgeon in a Blepharoplasty dictated the patient’s satisfaction with this corrective eyelid surgery.
I am involved in various activities that enable me to develop key skills needed by a doctor. Establishing MedTalk, a medical debating society in school, exercised my leadership and organisational skills. On visiting the Royal Society’s Science exhibition, I was introduced to concepts in the field of genetics extending beyond my AS Biology studies. To further my knowledge, I read “The Epigenetics Revolution” by Nessa Carey which discussed how modifications made to the DNA can affect diseases such as cancer. As a senior member of the Hutchins Academic Society, I presented a research project I undertook on “The role of Epigenetics in revolutionising healthcare” to my school and have cultured confidence and coherency in the process. As a Patient Assembly member of my local hospital, surveying information leaflets provided across NHS sites in my borough made me appreciate the importance of detail in documentation. To complement my academic commitments, a sustained 4 year dedication to Performing Arts led me to compete in the “Step into Dance” challenge at Sadler’s Wells in 2011. I observed the self-discipline and cooperation which I had to practise for its success are also vital within a medical setting.
The science of analysing blood samples enabled doctors to plan a suitable corrective surgery for Maha. Whilst I appreciate the demanding nature of the profession, its rewarding attributes far surpass the potential challenges it presents. Being perceptive, tenacious and driven by the desire to belong to a profession which continually strives to build a happier and healthier community, I am eager to commit to the lifelong study of medicine.
*name changed
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1. Don’t make your personal statement listy “I did 3 days in Hospital X, 2 weeks in Hospital Y, 1 year in a care home” – The interviewers are interested in knowing what you understood about what life as a doctor’s entails from these experiences. And listing your experience doesn’t help demonstrate that. You need to say something like “When attending a MDT meeting for lung cancer, I realised medical patients can be very complex requiring multiple specialist input and I want to be part of this team which helps deliver best patient care”
2. Medicine is a lifelong commitment so mention a regular long term-commitment you have undertaken. In my case it was volunteering in a nursing home for a period of a year but it does not need to health related – you could have been part of a sports team, worked in a charity shop or waitressing as a job for multiple months.
3. Demonstrate that you know the key skills involved in being a doctor and if you have any of those transferrable skills through extra-curricular, after school jobs that you have done – these include, commitment, communication, teamwork, manual dexterity, leadership and time management.
4. I was applying to Cambridge so my personal state was disproportionately academic. It included the book “The Epigenetics Revolution” by Nessa Carey I read as well as the Independent Research project I worked on. You don’t necessarily need to include these, but for Oxbridge they are good source of a talking topic for the interview. And you would know these books, so it an easy interview topic compared to something random and unseen.
5. You can get feedback from your schoolteachers about how to write, but personally I got a very random mixed bag of feedback from mine. The most helpful feedback I received was from my friend also applying to medical school the same year as me and an engineering friend who was studying in Cambridge at the time. I wasn’t a fan of the feedback I received from my teachers. So my very personal advise is that think about each feedback you receive long and hard, but only action changes you think are right. At the end of the day, the personal statement should be a reflection of you as a person, a student and an aspiring doctor – don’t lose that essence.