Med students, go ahead and mourn those lazy summer days because you probably won’t see them again for several years. Sure, during your undergraduate studies you could take time off to relax before fall—but medical school is just a tad different. The summer between your first and second year at medical school is the last summer where you could, in theory, sleep in until noon, read the latest best-seller, or perfect your Nintendo Wii skills. The job of this article, however, is to convince you to do otherwise.

The break directly before your second year of medical school is an ideal time to further investigate which specialty you’d like to pursue professionally. It’s the question Grandma Fran asked you over Christmas, the question you ponder before falling asleep, and the question you’ve tried to answer by visiting various grand rounds. Well, consider researching various specialties your unofficial assignment during the summer in between MS-I and MS-II.

Of course, many might argue that MS-II and MS-III are designed to give you a taste of potential specialties. Well, that’s a valid point. But wouldn’t it be nice to have more than a taste of a particular specialty before uploading your residency applications? I would prefer a whole bite, or a whole piece of the cake for that matter. The summer prior to MS-II is the perfect time to get some hands-on training in different specialties. The information/experience you gather while shadowing a physician in your field of interest, will set the tone for the rest of your medical school experience. Not only will it sparkle on your resume, it will provide you with confidence and direction as you enter rotations.

There are several options when gaining real-world summer medical training. You can participate in a clinical externship, become involved in a community preceptorship, or simply volunteer at a local health clinic—to name a few. There are also national programs such as the National Health Service corps, which offers a month-long rotation practicing primary care in underserved areas. Whichever path you choose, make sure it is in the most appealing specialty to you. While training, talk to various doctors, ask them about their typical work load, scheduling flexibility—whatever questions are most likely unanswered in a text book about that specialty.

But what about your golden, summer tan? Well, there’s always spray tans. Or, you could schedule a week-long vacation at the end of the summer to celebrate all your hard work. You’ll come back refreshed, rested, and better equipped to pick the right specialty.

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?