Honestly most medical schools hardly look at the personal statements anymore, so unless you’re applying somewhere fancy like Oxbridge, don’t sweat it too much.
Personal statements aren’t an exact science, it’s truly all about you, your motivations, your experiences, your setbacks etc. Just show them who you are and why you’ve got the skills to be a great doctor. Use this as a moment to prattle on about any research you’ve done, work experience you’ve been on or volunteer hours you’ve clocked up. Just don’t be cliched, they don’t care that you’ve wanted to be a doctor ‘from a very young age’ or if you were anointed a neurosurgeon before the umbilical cord was even cut. They care about how you visited your grandad in hospital as a child and were inspired by the amazing work of the doctors or how you watched 24 hours in A&E and saw how the doctor was able to make that one person’s day a little better.
The final thing I’ll say is that as for work experience, don’t talk about what you saw. Talk about what you learnt.
Eg:
‘Over the summer I volunteered at x hospital and witnessed an open heart surgery. It was inspiring’
Vs:
‘I spent my summer as a volunteer in x hospital. An experience that stands out to me was when I was shadowing a cardiac surgeon, about to perform open heart surgery. Prior to the operation the patient was very nervous and concerned about the risks and side effects, the surgeon’s patience and professionalism in fully explaining their treatment plan and it’s associated risks highlighted to me the importance of communication in healthcare as it is the bedrock of the doctor/patient relationship’
See, same experience but two very different angles.
Good luck with your statement!
Personal statements aren’t an exact science, it’s truly all about you, your motivations, your experiences, your setbacks etc. Just show them who you are and why you’ve got the skills to be a great doctor. Use this as a moment to prattle on about any research you’ve done, work experience you’ve been on or volunteer hours you’ve clocked up. Just don’t be cliched, they don’t care that you’ve wanted to be a doctor ‘from a very young age’ or if you were anointed a neurosurgeon before the umbilical cord was even cut. They care about how you visited your grandad in hospital as a child and were inspired by the amazing work of the doctors or how you watched 24 hours in A&E and saw how the doctor was able to make that one person’s day a little better.
The final thing I’ll say is that as for work experience, don’t talk about what you saw. Talk about what you learnt.
Eg:
‘Over the summer I volunteered at x hospital and witnessed an open heart surgery. It was inspiring’
Vs:
‘I spent my summer as a volunteer in x hospital. An experience that stands out to me was when I was shadowing a cardiac surgeon, about to perform open heart surgery. Prior to the operation the patient was very nervous and concerned about the risks and side effects, the surgeon’s patience and professionalism in fully explaining their treatment plan and it’s associated risks highlighted to me the importance of communication in healthcare as it is the bedrock of the doctor/patient relationship’
See, same experience but two very different angles.
Good luck with your statement!
Original post by Paddy2005
Honestly most medical schools hardly look at the personal statements anymore, so unless you’re applying somewhere fancy like Oxbridge, don’t sweat it too much.
Personal statements aren’t an exact science, it’s truly all about you, your motivations, your experiences, your setbacks etc. Just show them who you are and why you’ve got the skills to be a great doctor. Use this as a moment to prattle on about any research you’ve done, work experience you’ve been on or volunteer hours you’ve clocked up. Just don’t be cliched, they don’t care that you’ve wanted to be a doctor ‘from a very young age’ or if you were anointed a neurosurgeon before the umbilical cord was even cut. They care about how you visited your grandad in hospital as a child and were inspired by the amazing work of the doctors or how you watched 24 hours in A&E and saw how the doctor was able to make that one person’s day a little better.
The final thing I’ll say is that as for work experience, don’t talk about what you saw. Talk about what you learnt.
Eg:
‘Over the summer I volunteered at x hospital and witnessed an open heart surgery. It was inspiring’
Vs:
‘I spent my summer as a volunteer in x hospital. An experience that stands out to me was when I was shadowing a cardiac surgeon, about to perform open heart surgery. Prior to the operation the patient was very nervous and concerned about the risks and side effects, the surgeon’s patience and professionalism in fully explaining their treatment plan and it’s associated risks highlighted to me the importance of communication in healthcare as it is the bedrock of the doctor/patient relationship’
See, same experience but two very different angles.
Good luck with your statement!
Personal statements aren’t an exact science, it’s truly all about you, your motivations, your experiences, your setbacks etc. Just show them who you are and why you’ve got the skills to be a great doctor. Use this as a moment to prattle on about any research you’ve done, work experience you’ve been on or volunteer hours you’ve clocked up. Just don’t be cliched, they don’t care that you’ve wanted to be a doctor ‘from a very young age’ or if you were anointed a neurosurgeon before the umbilical cord was even cut. They care about how you visited your grandad in hospital as a child and were inspired by the amazing work of the doctors or how you watched 24 hours in A&E and saw how the doctor was able to make that one person’s day a little better.
The final thing I’ll say is that as for work experience, don’t talk about what you saw. Talk about what you learnt.
Eg:
‘Over the summer I volunteered at x hospital and witnessed an open heart surgery. It was inspiring’
Vs:
‘I spent my summer as a volunteer in x hospital. An experience that stands out to me was when I was shadowing a cardiac surgeon, about to perform open heart surgery. Prior to the operation the patient was very nervous and concerned about the risks and side effects, the surgeon’s patience and professionalism in fully explaining their treatment plan and it’s associated risks highlighted to me the importance of communication in healthcare as it is the bedrock of the doctor/patient relationship’
See, same experience but two very different angles.
Good luck with your statement!
Thank you so much for your reply!
Also I am struggling on how to actually start. I don't want to cliche my introduction but I don't know how exactly to start it off.
Do you have any advice for this section?
Thanks
Original post by VilasL06
Thank you so much for your reply!
Also I am struggling on how to actually start. I don't want to cliche my introduction but I don't know how exactly to start it off.
Do you have any advice for this section?
Thanks
Also I am struggling on how to actually start. I don't want to cliche my introduction but I don't know how exactly to start it off.
Do you have any advice for this section?
Thanks
Yes I actually do. The advice I got when I was writing mine was to leave the introduction to the end. It’s the hardest bit, so get into the way of writing a statement first. As far as the actual style, I’ve always been a fan of a cold open (ie starting in the middle of the story of why you want to be a doctor), they can feel quite exciting and grab interest. It’s all about your personal preference.
Hi - I think we have discussed this briefly on the end forum ? Sorry if I have the wrong person.
But PS are picking up in importance for different med schools. Some as part of the actual normal selection for interview, some as part of a broader holistic route. So I think it depends where you are looking.
I think it was poss a discussion about Cardiff expectations? But some are very clear what they are looking for. Go through the admin policies of the places you are applying for and see what they are looking for.
Some might wish to physically see it in the PS, some may wish to see hooks to their areas of interest for use in the Interview.
So that is useful to remember, so stuff you are happy to expand upon.
Many of the places are looking for broadly similar stuff so not as terrifying as it may sound.
The first sentence and the last are bookends for the meat of the thing, so agree with previous poster can think about them last, or at least refining them last.
Good luck.
But PS are picking up in importance for different med schools. Some as part of the actual normal selection for interview, some as part of a broader holistic route. So I think it depends where you are looking.
I think it was poss a discussion about Cardiff expectations? But some are very clear what they are looking for. Go through the admin policies of the places you are applying for and see what they are looking for.
Some might wish to physically see it in the PS, some may wish to see hooks to their areas of interest for use in the Interview.
So that is useful to remember, so stuff you are happy to expand upon.
Many of the places are looking for broadly similar stuff so not as terrifying as it may sound.
The first sentence and the last are bookends for the meat of the thing, so agree with previous poster can think about them last, or at least refining them last.
Good luck.
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- What university would you suggest for pharmacy as my 5th choice?
- Helpp
- Charityworks 2024
- How to prepare for Medicine interviews?
- medicine interviews
- medical school interview prep
- How should I plan doing both UCAT & BMAT?
- Physician Associate Interview Tips 2024
- Re: Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2025 entry
- UCAT VR
- UCAT DM and QR Help! Can I improve my score?
- personal statement
- ucat vr
- medicine personal statement
- Ucat exam
- Mazars graduate 2024
- ucat 2023
- Applying to medicine in NL—tips?
- UCAT
- UCAS to Applying to Medicine 2025 entry?
Latest
Trending
Last reply 1 week ago
Are awards in Intermediate challenges (achieved in Y11) worth mentioning on PS?Last reply 1 month ago
What do I need to write in my personal statement that Russel groups unis look for?Last reply 2 months ago
What tips would you share to help someone write a personal statement?Last reply 4 months ago
URGENT:Used a plagiarism checker & am freaking out because it might have stored my PSLast reply 5 months ago
Help, my personal statement gets flagged as AI-writtenTrending
Last reply 1 week ago
Are awards in Intermediate challenges (achieved in Y11) worth mentioning on PS?Last reply 1 month ago
What do I need to write in my personal statement that Russel groups unis look for?Last reply 2 months ago
What tips would you share to help someone write a personal statement?Last reply 4 months ago
URGENT:Used a plagiarism checker & am freaking out because it might have stored my PSLast reply 5 months ago
Help, my personal statement gets flagged as AI-written
