Write Personal Statement for Medical School: 15 Tips

A good personal statement is an opportunity to impress the admission committee of a medical school. Your personal statement and interview performance comprise at least 60% of the overall admissions score.

Keep in mind that medical schools are looking for communicative and empathetic people. Experts from College-Writers decided to help you write a proper personal statement so that you can present yourself in the best light possible.

Topics for a Personal Statement

A personal statement is a part of your primary application. Applicants may submit their primary applications via TMDSAS, AMCAS, or AACOMAS. When applying to a Canadian school, keep in mind that AMCAS doesn’t allow you to submit some components of your application. Therefore, your school should confirm the application process.

Applications imply a range of broad topics for essays so applicants can use various writing approaches. For instance, you may write about:

• an important personal experience;
• an experience that caused a strong impact on your opinion about medicine and career goals;
• challenges, difficult tasks, and problems that had an impact on your educational goals;
• somebody who inspires you or your mentor;
• your sources of motivation.

When submitting secondary applications to specific schools, you’ll also need to write additional essays. These essays will be focused on specific questions. Quite often, admission committees choose topics for these essays after reviewing your application, based on the topic of the first essay.

How to Write a Medical School Personal Statement

1. Re-write and re-work

Make sure you have enough time to revise your statement and to make it ready for submission. Once you’ve finished writing, let your statement rest for a few days, and then review it.

2. Stay focused

Your personal statement should tell an engaging story, however, it shouldn’t describe your whole life. Choose a specific theme and focus on it, providing the necessary examples.

3. Develop your perspective

Nobody can describe yourself better than you can. Keep in mind that everyone has had some achievements and failures. The most important thing is how you react to various events in your life, and how you learn from experiences.

4. Avoid cliches

Obviously, you want to help people, and that’s the main reason why you pursue the medical career. However, that’s what many other applicants will write about. Try to be authentic and original.

5. Be interesting

Make sure to begin your personal statement with something catchy, making your readers interested in the story you’re going to tell.

6. Stick with a 5-point format

There is a common essay format that includes one paragraph of an introduction, 3-4 paragraphs of an essay body, and a concluding paragraph. This structure is a perfect choice. The introduction should catch the attention, the body should explain who you are as a professional, and the conclusion should summarize the information about yourself, outlining future challenges at the same time.

7. Don’t tell, show

Instead of telling what are your strong sides and valuable qualities, provide examples from your life that illustrate these qualities. It will allow you to prove your claims.

8. Mind transitions

Make sure your essay isn’t boring. Make sure your essay has an easy-to-read structure, and all paragraphs are connected logically by transitional sentences.

9. Make it simple

Doctors, as well as medical students, use a straightforward and clear language. Make sure your essay is easy to read and understand.

10. Focus on your topic

When you forget about your topic and start writing about something unrelated to it, your readers get confused. In addition, it makes your essay longer by wasting a character limit.

11. Mind your character limit

Your essay should be 5,300 characters long for AMCAS applications, 4,500 characters long for AACOMAS, and 5,000 characters long for TMDSAS.

12. Look for different opinions

Before you submit your essay, show it to several people and ask for their feedback. Sometimes, other people can spot some mistakes that remained unnoticed by you. You may also want to improve your writing style.

13. Don’t overdo it

Don’t write about things that are not important and don’t be silent about what you really want to say.

14. Ask experts for help

Our writing experts can provide valuable feedback on your application, and your personal statement, in particular. They can also help you write an effective personal statement that will familiarize your audience with your accomplishments and passions.

15. Double-check

Carefully check your essay for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Make sure you reference the right school in your statement.

Want to Stand Out from the Crowd?

Our experts know what you need to get to a medical school. They can provide you with the necessary assistance and develop your own effective personal statement strategy.