Okay, future doctors, keep that image in mind as you sit down to write your own personal statement, staring at the blank Word document on your computer screen. You are just one of many hopeful applicants with a hefty research background, great clinical skills, and a solid foundation of medical knowledge. You need something that separates you from all the other over-achievers (probably lovely people, but competition nonetheless) vying for your slot. Do not fear. You have something they do not, something that separates you from the rest: Your story. The time your little brother, Joey, fell of his bike and you nursed him back to health, the time you brought a stethoscope to Mrs. Anderson’s class for show and tell, the time ___________ (fill in the blank).

Personal anecdotes like this are diamonds to the tired residency program director. They shine in the heap of other personal statements, many dull and lifeless. Sure, it’s crucial to include the generic yet important information: Research experience and interests, brief overview of schooling, why you’re drawn to this particular specialty/program, future goals, etc. But there are plenty of empty crannies throughout your personal statement just waiting to be filled with personality. For example, when talking about research experience, can you recall a particular study that stood out from the others? Did it leave an impression on you? Affect the type of doctor you want to become? Why? Elaborate.

A great way for a medical student or foreign medical graduate to add a dash of personality into his or her personal statement is to choose an overall focus directly related to a personal anecdote. Like a ribbon gliding down the page, this overall focus should smoothly connect the different sections of the personal statement. For example, let’s use the show and tell stethoscope. This statement could start in the classroom with a vivid description of the pride you felt in showing the stethoscope to your classmates. Translated, this show and tell item represents your interest in medicine and your desire to share that interest with others. Throughout your personal statement, describe how your interest and desire to practice medicine continuously grew throughout your life. This affords you a structure to discuss medical school, medically related volunteer programs, research experience/interests, grand round experiences, precept activities, and future goals.

While this idea may seem obvious, many medical students and foreign medical graduates chose formality over personality, not understanding the potential that results in your personal statement from connecting the two. Such residency applicants fear that a personal story might appear unprofessional, thus decreasing the likelihood of admittance into their desired residency program. In actuality, quite the opposite is true. The busy (potentially exhausted) residence/fellowship program director wants to be engaged by a well-written, personal personal statement. Wouldn’t you?

“Why I want to be a doctor” by John Q. Medical Student

I love helping people…
I want to save lives…
I want to make a difference in the world…
My parents were doctors…
I was a good science student…
I have always been fascinated by the inner workings of the human body…

Bored yet? You can guarantee that residency directors are. I have probably only read a small number of statements compared to a seasoned residency director, and yet my eyes glaze over when I read sentences like the above in medical students’ personal statements.

When coming up with topics for your personal statement, whether for a residency or fellowship program, use a little imagination. Perhaps you could answer this question: Describe one truly unique thing about you, or something that others would find surprising about you. Another trigger question could be: What accomplishment outside of academics are you most proud of?

In addition to general personal statement clichés, medical students and FMGs can also fall into the specialty cliché trap. For example, when it comes to Internal Medicine, “diversity of cases” and “being able to form a relationship with your patients,” fall at the top of the “most mentioned” list. For Emergency Medicine, it’s almost always “love of a fast-paced environment.”

Does that mean you can’t mention these things? No. It’s virtually impossible to be completely original when talking about why you like a certain specialty. But you can be unique in the way you talk about it.

Instead of saying “I love working in fast-paced environments and I thrive under pressure,” give a concrete example of a time you excelled in such a situation. Describing how you jumped into a pool to rescue your neighbor’s baby while everyone else stood frozen on the sidelines is much more compelling.

You might have the same reasons for pursuing a medical career as every other medical student out there, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to write a cliche personal statement. No one else has lived your life, so you are bound to have some interesting stories to tell that will help you stand out from the pack.

One of the biggest problems I see with personal statements is that they are rather impersonal. All too often they read like a prose version of a resume instead of giving insight into the medical student or FMG behind the application.

When writing a personal statement for a residency program or a fellowship, take advantage of the fact that this is the one area where you can exercise a little creativity. You don’t need to give an account of your life’s history, but you do need to give the program director a sense of what makes you tick as a doctor and what makes you different from all of the other residency or fellowship applicants out there.

If you are worried about weaknesses in your residency application, then you may need to use the personal statement to really elaborate on your strengths, skills and experience. But if you feel you already have a strong residency application, then you should focus on conveying some of your personality and background through your personal statement.

One way to do this is through your writing style. While you don’t want to be too informal in your writing, it is OK to use a little bit of humor or to write in a way that reflects your personality. Can you imagine how bored residency directors would be if everything they read sounded like it was written by the same physician?

Another tip is to tell a story with your personal statement. A well-told account of an event that was meaningful to you can be a powerful tool and can also give the program director a sense of who you are. For example, one medical student client recently used her personal statement to talk about her experience as a child prodigy piano player. Hearing about the ups and downs of her experience not only gave me the sense that I knew her a little better, but it conveyed a lot of her strengths (perseverance, discipline, etc.) without her having to spell them out.

Residency program directors and fellowship program directors are looking for smart and skillful medical student and FMG candidates, but they are also looking for likeable individuals. Use your personal statement to say what your grades and test scores can’t.

There is no simple “yes” or “no” answer to this question. Whether or not to bring up your poor USMLE test scores or bad grades in your application for medical school, a residency program, or a fellowship depends on 1) the strength of the rest of your application, and 2) the reasons behind those poor scores/grades.

You’ve probably heard the expression: “Excuses are like buttholes…most of them stink.” This sentiment applies to excuses for a poor academic performance. Think about it – what are the most common reasons people perform poorly on tests? 1) They didn’t study enough, 2) they’re notoriously poor test-takers, or 3) they’re just not that smart. Do you think that mentioning any of these excuses is going to win over the heart of a residency director? The first indicates that you’re lazy and can’t prioritize, the second means you freeze under pressure, and the third….well, that doesn’t need to be spelled out.

Here are some other poor excuses I’ve heard:

“I had a girlfriend during my first two years of medical school and my grades suffered because we spent too much time together.”

“I hated a lot of the subject matter during medical school, so I had a hard time motivating myself to study.”

“I drank too much the night before the USMLE.”

In these situations, honesty is NOT the best policy. You are better off leaving things unsaid until your interview, at which point you should skirt the topic as much as possible.

Now, there are some truly reasonable excuses for a less than stellar academic performance. If you have one of these, it is probably in your best interest to explain it – briefly and honestly. I highlight the word “honestly” because I am in no way advocating that you come up with a creative excuse to cover poor grades or test scores. However, if you had an uncharacteristically bad semester or bad test-taking experience, it is probably in your best interest to explain why. Otherwise, you run the risk that the person reading your application will jump to conclusions and think you just slacked off, while in reality you were taking care of your two-year-old nephew while your aunt received cancer treatments.

If you do decide to explain a poor performance, follow these two rules: 1) keep it brief, and 2) mention it toward the end of your statement. You want to have a chance to impress the person reading your statement before you point out any shortcomings.

First, the bad ones. They just don’t care anymore. They’ve lost the desire to help their residents or fellows and just see them as cheap labor to be exploited and used until they graduate and leave. They barely remember the names of their residents and fellows. They don’t care if the residents find jobs after graduation, and they don’t care about anything other than their little world. If you find yourself with this type of program director, prepare yourself for a miserable experience.

Then, there are the good ones. They care. They take the time to educate residents and fellows on business (starting up your own practice), careers (how to find a job and write a resume) and other elements that might never come up in training. They know the name of every resident and fellow in the program, and they want to make sure that their physicians are rewarded for their hard work. This doesn’t mean that the program is easy, though. Residents work long, hard hours and are still tired and stressed, but the environment is friendlier, which makes a big difference. If you are in one of these programs, you are very lucky.

What are some of your program director stories? Good? Bad? Neutral?