The personal statement is your chance
- to share who you are (beyond your metrics),
- to highlight meaningful qualities and experiences, and
- to share why you want to pursue a career in that health profession field.
Brainstorming
Utilize the Writing Center’s Brainstorming Guide or review their Personal Statement Guide.
- Read through the AAMC Core Competencies, and write down which of the competencies are your top strengths.
- You can certainly consider other soft skills beyond the competencies, too.
- For your top three strengths, think of an experience/anecdote that illustrates a time when you used that competency.
- Flesh that experience out into a story.
- Why did you pursue that experience?
- How did you feel during the experience?
- What did you learn from the experience?
- How did that experience influence where you are today?
- Why did it make you realize you want to attend health profession school?
Refining and Editing
It’s not uncommon to write multiple drafts and edit your statement many times. Get your thoughts on paper and then give yourself time away from your statement. Come back with fresh eyes to edit.
Plan to have at least three people review your Personal Statement.
- Someone who can read it critically and objectively for grammar and syntax. The Writing Center is good for this.
- Someone who knows you well and can confirm whether your voice is coming through. This might be a family member or friend.
- Someone who knows healthcare and can comment on your motivations and fit for the profession. This might be a doctor you’ve worked with, a mentor, or the pre-health advisor.
You can certainly ask more people to review it, but at some point you might get too many opinions.
Get Help
Set up an appointment with the Writing Center.
Personal Statement Tips
- Make your statement clear and concise.
- Make it easy for the reader to understand what you’re trying to say.
- This isn’t a creative writing piece.
- Your statement should answer the question “why this health profession (why medicine? why dentistry? etc.).”
- The majority of your statement should be about you and your experiences.
- It’s likely people in your life have influenced you, whether that’s a doctor you shadowed or a grandparent who was ill. However, they aren’t applying and you are. It’s ok to mention them, but keep the focus on you.
- Focus on the experiences that have been meaningful to your path towards a career in healthcare – not the most meaningful experiences in your life.