Crafting Compelling Personal Statements

• Published in: Academic psychiatry Vol. 44; no. 6; pp. 785 - 788
• Main Authors: Chandran, Latha, Chandran, Arathy S., Fischel, Janet E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: 'Down to Earth' Academic Skills Column; Altruism; Anesthesiology; Careers; Coding; Committees; Disclosure; Doctoral Programs; Education; Essays; Faculty Promotion; Graduate Medical Education; Internal Medicine; Literary Genres; Medical Education; Medical schools; Medical students; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental disorders; Mental health; Psychiatry; Resistance (Psychology); Response rates; Response Rates (Questionnaires); Writing; United States > US
• ISSN: 1042-9670; 1545-7230
• DOI: 10.1007/s40596-020-01344-4

What differentiates a memorable personal statement from the rest is that the writer is genuine, the information is clear and interesting, the writing is disciplined, and the writer is able to thread the theme of an opening vignette or experience further than simply reporting on it. [...]the rest of the statement and a review of the accompanying CV each show some accomplishments or next choices in education or activities supporting the claim that the experience described was seminal in pursuing this next step in the writer’s career. [...]there is limited literature with supporting research on best practices surrounding the writing of personal statements in academic medicine. With 97 respondents from the 367 polled (26% response rate), factors viewed positively included discussion of one’s strengths and eagerness to learn more in the field as well as better alignment between one’s interest and the program goals, while factors such as unprofessional tone, exaggerated altruism, poor writing, and lack of awareness of the program’s goals were deemed damaging [8]. A study of medical students from the University of New Mexico (51% response rate for 349 students) indicated that the majority of students who had a mental health diagnosis would not disclose it for a board license application or for a residency application through ERAS [11].