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Medical Residency – Personal Statement – Writing Resource Links


As one of the top online writing help experts, I have frequently been asked over the years, to write or edit medical residency personal statements for MDs transitioning from medical school to residency positions in teaching hospitals. Sometimes I have written them from scratch, while in other cases I have edited the statement as already drafted by my client.

I estimate that I have worked on hundreds of these by now, covering numerous medical specialties, and targeting scores of institutions worldwide. So, after years of writing and/or revising these medical residency personal statements for people from all over the world, I think it’s fair to say that I can be considered somewhat of an expert on the subject.

Of course, being a writing help how-to expert, I do more than just write and edit these medical residency personal letters for people; I also write about “how-to” write them.

Accordingly, below are links to a few articles I have written on the subject of how-to write an effective medical residency personal statement.

Your Medical Specialty Is NOT the Key to your Residency Personal Statement
http://www.writingprompts.com/medical-residency-key.html

How To Custom-Target Your Medical Residency Personal Statement
http://www.writingprompts.com/medical-residency-target.html

10 Tips To Write An Effective Medical Residency Personal Statement
http://www.writingprompts.com/medical-residency-tips.html

In addition to the above, I recently decided to write down everything I know about writing medical residency personal statements in one place. To check out my comprehensive ebook on this subject — including downloadable real-life personal statement templates — click on the following link:
http://www.medical-residency-statement.com

Filed Under: Education, Education Applications

Medical Residency – Personal Statement – Your Specialty is NOT the Key


As stated elsewhere on this site, I have written and/or edited scores of medical residency personal statements over the years. As a result, I can tell you unequivocally that your chosen medical specialty is NOT the most important factor in writing your personal statement when applying for a residency appointment.

You would be amazed at how many personal statements for medical residencies that I have received in draft form for editing, in which the focus of the draft is almost entirely on the applicant’s knowledge and expertise, with very little about them as a person or a professional. This is a big mistake!

To illustrate this point, below is a set of actual questions posed to medical residency applicants by a major teaching hospital:

“Xxxxxxxx University Requirement:

A personal letter incorporating the following is required:

  1. Interest in Neurosurgery;

  2. Interest in Hxxxxxx University;

  3. Career goals and aspirations;

  4. Interests and extracurricular activities.”

To what extent are the above questions focused on the candidate’s specific medical knowledge as it relates to the specialty? Not very much, right? Overall, they are much more oriented towards the applicant as a person and a professional.

It makes sense when you really think about it. After all, the institution already knows, by definition, that the candidate is a recent graduate of a medical school. So, they assume that the basic medical knowledge is there. What they really want to know at this point is whether you are the type of person and professional that they believe is best suited for specialty training at their institution.

So, no matter what your chosen medical specialty may be, the approach that you take to the writing of your statement in terms of strategy, style, and phrasing should be exactly the same. That’s right — whether you are applying for a residency as a family physician, a general surgeon, an internist, or a neurologist, or whatever specialty; the way you approach and write your statement should be virtually identical.

Once you have decided on an overall approach, in terms of what you want to cover in your statement – and how you want to structure and organize it – you simply insert the technical terminology that is specific to your specialty, wherever appropriate. Really.

Accordingly, before trying to impress reviewers with your knowledge of your preferred specialty, your first priority should be to make sure you tell them enough about you, both as a person and a medical professional. What is different or unique about you that will make you stand out from the crowd of other well-qualified medical school graduates? Make it clear as to why they should they pick you — as both a person and a professional — over many other similarly qualified candidates.

Bottom Line:
In the final analysis, the personal statement is more about selling yourself as a person and a professional than it is about your knowledge level in your chosen medical specialty (although that of course, is important too). However, more often than not, it is how you approach and structure your medical residency personal statement that will make the difference – not your knowledge of the specialty that you have chosen.

Filed Under: Education, Education Applications

Application Letter – Residency


(print Application Cover Letter on personal letterhead)
255 Edgehill Drive, No. 705
Stanford, CA 94302

June 12, 20xx

Sharon Somerville
Residency Coordinator
Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80520


Dear Sharon Somerville:

The following is a brief outline of my academic background, interests, and career objectives as they relate to my interest in entering a Postgraduate Residency Program in Medical and Public Health Laboratory Microbiology at Colororado State University.

My passion for microbiology began during my fourth year as a veterinary student when I was involved in a project that focused on nutrition and disease management in poultry at the College of Veterinary Science, in Bangalore, India. While working on that project I realized that the knowledge I had gained through course work and clinical experience was not sufficient to understand the complexity of the disease process. This led to my interest in performing basic research in the field of microbiology and motivated me to explore possible research opportunities in the field.

My excellent academic record (top 1%), in addition to above-average GRE (1835/2400) and TOEFL scores (259/300), helped me secure admission into the animal sciences graduate program at Stanford University. During my MS program there, I was involved in an ongoing project aimed at understanding the effects of probiotics on animal health and microbiology and performance in both swine and poultry. As a part of my MS thesis project I studied the effects of the dietary nutrient composition on animal growth, performance, nutrient utilization, and E. coli shedding. As I progressed through my MS studies, I became more focused on the field of microbiology, and my quest for a greater understanding of the disease process motivated me to pursue a doctoral degree in the biomedical sciences. Since completing my MS program I have worked as a veterinarian and researcher during which time I have become increasingly fascinated with the novel strategies employed by various disease-causing agents in humans and animals, and the ways to diagnose those infections.

As a scientist I am fully aware of how long it can take to translate research into something available in a clinical setting and the fact that it sometimes never happens. I would like to pursue a career in which I can combine my entire academic and research experience and act as integrating agent to take science from the bench to the bedside in a very real way. I get a lot of personal satisfaction when my research results help someone and play a pivotal role in identifying the pathogen affecting a patient. Therefore, my parallel area of interest has been the development of diagnostic assays that aid in the detection of pathogenic organisms, which are easy to adapt in routine clinical practice. Our laboratory has extensive experience in developing diagnostic assays for the detection of a wide range of infectious agents of humans and animals, including Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and West Nile virus.

My graduate program experiences thus far have definitely confirmed my decision to pursue a career in clinical microbiology. My present career objectives remain consistent with my goals from the beginning of my graduate program at Stanford. In addition to my determination and persistence, the support I have received from my mentors and departmental faculty has been tremendous. Evidence of this is included in my enclosed letters of recommendation.

My long term professional goal is to have a career in clinical microbiology with an emphasis on understanding disease processes and developing effective methods of disease diagnosis and prevention. In this regard, I wish to continue my career at the interface of clinics and research in the field of clinical microbiology, where I can work with clinicians and run a basic research lab while still being able to teach and train graduate students. I am also aware of how important the training in this field is if we are to understand, diagnose, and control diseases of public health importance and also to communicate with clinicians or to discuss laboratory findings in terms that they will understand and use in their routine practice. Accordingly, I realize that professional training in the filed of clinical microbiology is a crucial step for me in the path to become a competent clinical microbiologist. I believe that I am a skilled researcher and clinician with an insatiable scientific curiosity and excellent problem solving skills, combined with the proven ability to make decisions and to work co-operatively with others. I also have above-average leadership abilities and my capacity to operate under pressure will make me an ideal participant in your program. I think that I am in a unique position to utilize my training to-date in contributing to the field of ‘molecular diagnostics’ by developing new and improved ways of diagnosing infections.

The foregoing are my primary reasons for seeking admission into your residency program. I believe that I have clearly demonstrated my desire to advance in the field of clinical microbiology. If admitted to your program I will bring my unique talent and expertise in molecular biology and microbiology to your ongoing program.

Yours sincerely,


Rajiv Purim

Filed Under: Education, Education Applications, Letter Writing, Templates

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