personal statement for medical school

What you include in your med school admission essay should be screened thoroughly. Select topics that can highlight your qualifications and not put you in a bad light, which will only comprise your application in the end. Though a medical career can bring prestige and fortune, this should not be your sole reasons for getting into med school. It’s better if you stay away from these topics if you don’t want to appear too materialistic or be misunderstood by your readers. Here’s why you should avoid such topics.

How you can earn more money as med school essay topic

It would be a bad idea to discuss money matters in your med school application essay. You surely don’t want the admissions panel to think that you’re only doing it for the money. To be a good doctor, you need more than just good training but the desire to help others as well. Instead of discussing the monetary benefits of becoming a doctor, focus on you specific interests in the field. Perhaps you want to be a neurologist or a pediatrician. Focus on how you can help more people and do not dwell on the personal gains of having an in-demand specialization in the field.

How you can get famous as a doctor as medical school essay topic

Becoming a doctor should not be about the prestige it will bring you. Without compassion and natural instinct to care for others, you may not be the best medical specialist that you can be. Even in medical research and hospital management, the desire to help others can be your motivation to find a cure or implement a better healthcare system. Don’t you think it would be too selfish to simply think of fame as one of the reasons to be a doctor? Perhaps a more acceptable angle is stating your desire to continue family traditions and legacy (if you came a from a clan of medical specialists) or being just as good as the famous doctor you admire.

For med school admission essays, what would be more impressive are topics that talk about compassion, caring for others, and possible contributions to the medical field.

Related questions:

1. What are good topics for med application essay?
2. Can being famous be a topic for the med application essay?
3. How do you choose topics for med school application?

There are many factors you have to consider when coming up with an excellent admission essay for med school, but among the major ones are the enthusiasm factor and the relevance of the contents. This is why you should pay attention to such factors and aspects of your personal statement. Read on for tips when writing an essay that has relevant content and shows a lot of enthusiasm and creativity.

Edit for relevant content in your med school admission essay

In the first draft, it is so easy to get carried away. A point mentioned can be over-discussed. Trivia that do not hold much significance may litter the pages. It is not exactly bad to commit these mistakes. After all, you probably are not a professional writer. What is unforgivable is if you fail to correct these mistakes before handing over the essays to the school’s concerned office. Check the relevance of each assertion you have placed in there. Ask yourself if all statements in your essay contribute to the main thesis of your application essay.

Show enthusiasm and creativity when writing about a chosen admision essay topic

To come up with a winning essay, you should both be enthusiastic and creative. These traits will help you if you want to make a very good impression on the admissions officers. Enthusiasm and passion are two things that can make you stand out from the rest of the applicants. Put some zest and spice into your presentation, and by being creative, you are trying to get your essay out from the ranks of the mediocre.

It is not just the relevance of contents you should be aware of. It’s also how you have presented them. Once you’ve mastered all of these and have given the essay to the Committee, prepare for a most rewarding outcome, which is getting in into your dream school.

Related questions:

1. Why is enthusiasm a must in the admission essay?
2. Why is creativity advised in your admission essay?
3. How much trivia should the admission essay contain?

The purpose of your admission essay is to help you land a spot in your dream school. One way for you to come up with an effective essay is to make it stand out and avoid cliches. Using cliches will create a bad impression on your essay readers. They might think that you are too lazy or that you lack the creativity to come up with something original and unique. After all, admission essay readers will have to go through hundreds of essays during the application period; they want something that will grab their attention and make them more curious about a certain applicant. For tips on what cliche statements to avoid when writing your personal statement for medical school, read on.

Cliches commonly used in med school admission essays: I can make a difference

This is surely a laudable statement, but the admissions officers have probably read millions of essays that contain this statement. You do want to make a difference by becoming a doctor, but make sure that you state it in another way. Be original and creative. What the readers want are details and your meaningful experiences, and not hackneyed phrases.

Cliches commonly used in med school admissions essays: I know what it is to triumph over adversity

As another example of a cliche, this statement should definitely be avoided when writing your personal statement for medical school. Instead of saying this, why don’t you just narrate a life experience that basically implies that you know what it is to triumph over adversity? An example is getting fired from a job and bouncing back from depression. By including personal experiences, you are giving your readers a glimpse of your personality.

One way to avoid cliches is to come up with a creative way of telling your story. You can also try to find a different angle to your story to make sure it stands out from the rest. To help you out, you can read free sample personal statements online and see what other cliches you need to avoid.

Related questions:

1. Why is a cliche bad on the admission essay?
2. What is one example of a cliche found on medical application essays?
3. How can we avoid using the cliches?

Admission to medical school is a tough process. It will test your readiness and commitment to your personal goals and the cause of medicine. Apart from these, you will have to compete against thousands of other hopefuls, who are as competent and dedicated as you. How do you stand out? A sure way for your application to get noticed is to submit an application essay with a catchy introduction. Here’s how you can do it:

The importance of a good application essay intro

On the average, a member of the admissions board reads at least 3,000 application essays each year. This means that in order to rise above the competition, your essay needs to catch the board’s attention right away. Not only that. your essay introduction must be able to hold that attention up to the last word. Some writers tend to hold off discussing substantial information until the latter part of the essay’s body. Unless your intro is able to grab and hold on to the reader’s attention, your reader, the admissions board, may miss the whole point of your admissions essay.

Tips in writing a catchy admission essay intro

Composing an essay with a catchy intro is tricky. There is always that risk of coming up with a totally inappropriate albeit memorable beginning. Unless you are applying for admission to a literary program, find a balance between creativity and relevance. To get a good grasp of what you can work with, read admissions essay sample intros. The Internet is a rich source of information on the subject, and there are plenty of reference materials online for preparing a creative but safe intro. One example of a good intro is to tell a story about the first time you realized that you wanted to become a doctor.

The biggest challenge that applicants to med school face is standing out amidst thousands of other candidates. Use your essay to get the kind of attention you deserve. Read essay samples to find a creative yet appropriate start to your essay. Always remember, never compromise substance.

Related questions:

1. Why do you need a catchy introduction for your medical school application essay?

2. What is the risk involved in attempting to write a catchy intro?

3. What are some of the ways you can find a balance between creativity and relevance?

One need not be a literary genius to come up with a well-written medical school application essay. In fact, many of the essays written by successful candidates are those that are not excessively creative in their approach. The prevalent characteristics of admission essays that work may be summarized into 3Cs (coherent, concise, and clarity of purpose). Here are some tips to help you write a 3C essay of your own:

Why an outline is important when writing an admission essay

Achieving a 3C quality to any written material starts with a good outline. As what your grade-school teacher may have told you, the outline provides a solid backbone to your composition. There are four main reasons explaining the importance of a good outline:

- It helps shape your composition and set limits to its coverage.

- It provides order and logic to your write-up.

- It guides you in preparing smooth transitions for your essay.

- It can be used to review shortcomings in logic.

Admission essay tips when creating your outline

Given the value of a good outline, it is important to allot an adequate amount of time at the pre-writing stage. It is also equally important not to get into outlining right away. Brainstorm and answer self-assessment questions that need to be addressed before writing an application essay. Simply write down your thoughts as they come, and resist the urge to edit. Later on, you can weed out irrelevant or less important items by using an essay checklist.

Using your outline, you can start writing a rough copy of your essay and revise it as you deem fit. Review your draft for lapses in grammar and structure, and tweak your content around to strengthen its logic. Lastly, have someone, whose opinion you trust, read and comment on your essay. It should show how articulate and logical you are. Most importantly, your essay should be able to demonstrate your motivation and consistency to purpose. Writing a great essay will help make you feel good about yourself and more confident about your application.

Related questions:

1. What are the three most common characteristics of effective admission essays?

2. What are the four reasons which explain why an essay should start with a good outline?

3. How do you prepare yourself to make a good outline? What tools should you use?

Completing a degree in medicine is not a walk in the park, so the members of the admission board will want to know why you want to put yourself through all the trouble. Medical schools are particularly interested in knowing what drives you and what influenced your decision to pursue medicine. Here is why and how discussing your motivation in your essay should help in your application:

Why motivations are good topics for medical school admission essays

Application essays are generally brief. It is important to give priority to information about yourself, which are not evident in your transcript of records. Using your motivation as the central theme of your essay enables you to accomplish two important things: (1) show how medicine fits into your personal and professional goals and (2) build a strong framework to hold your essay together. There are different styles of discussing your motivations, so there is no need to worry about your essay becoming generic. Write about people and personal experiences that inspired and influenced your decision. Your motivation is something that shows how you are an authentic and unique candidate, so use it to your advantage.

Tips when coming up with medical admission essay topics

A career in medicine requires compassion and genuine dedication for the development of the field. Before writing your essay, examine yourself and check your motives. Make sure that there is no mismatch between your goals and the program objectives. Search the Internet for application prompts and use these to brainstorm for your essay topic. Ensure that your essay always provides truthful answers to the why questions. Study med school essay writing resources online and essay samples before you start writing.

The most important element of an admission essay is your statement of purpose. How you explain your reasons for pursuing medicine and show your fitness for the program is essential. The submission of an admission essay is your opportunity to show the admissions board how dedicated you are and just how much pressure you can take.

Related questions:

1. What kind of information does the admission board need to know about you?

2. What are the two advantages of using your motivations as the main topic of your medical school admission essay?

3. Why is the statement of purpose very important and how can you use it to your benefit?

The message that Medical School Loans
wants to communicate is clear: it is a blog about medical school student loans. One glance at the home page is enough to give you an idea that the blog is all about medical loans and other medical school financial issues. This site is clearly intended for med school students. The blog aims to provide useful information about loan options to help med students overcome school financing problems.

What are the good points?

The good thing about the blog is that its entries are not only limited to loans. It also includes news and updates on education. There is an entry, for instance, about the visit made by the US Secretary of Education to Alaska for NCLB updates. Another thing I like about it is the variety of the entries. It is not like those other blogs that seem to repeat the same information. In Medical School Loans, no two entries seem to be alike.

What needs to be improved?

One of the things I don’t really like about the blog is the design. I understand that a site about loans needs to be simple as to appear professional-looking, but I find this one very lacking when it comes to design. Another weak point is the very small font size. This factor could mean a great deal. There are readers who easily lose interest reading the rest of the entries when they see that the text is quite hard to read. Because of these factors, the blog gives an impression of monotony. An emphasis should also be given to the reasons why one should visit Medical School Loans. I think this part should be made more attention-grabbing, design-wise.

Overall, the entries are good. The focus of improvement should be directed toward the design of the blog.

Medical + Bliss is about everything under the umbrella term of medicine. The site covers medical equipment, medical insurance, medical jobs, pharmacy, and other such topics. Although the home page does not have a paragraph dedicated to explaining what the blog is all about, the theme of the blog says it all. The site aims to be a source of useful info for medical students and medical professionals alike.

Strong points

The choice of theme for this blog is excellent. The image of pills and tablets clearly states that the site is dedicated to medical concerns. This is a good point, since some readers would not really take the time to read an entry or two just to know what the site is all about. I really like the design of the blog. It is simple, but at the same time attractive. It is also very professional-looking. The category option is also a plus point, although I think that the categories are very specific. Content-wise, the entries are a good read. They’re also very informative.

Weak points

As I mentioned, the category is a plus point, but I guess it should not be very specific. It’s good to have various categories but the categories should be distinct from each other. In this site, however, there are some categories that could still be grouped into one. Instead of grouping the entries in pharmacy technicians and pharmacy jobs separately, why not put them under the category of “pharmacy jobs” or “pharmacy career”? After all, the entries are closely related. There are also problems with the design. In the medical machine donation entry, for example, the post title overwrites a text. This is a minor problem to some, but it could affect the credibility of the blog. A site for medicine-related concerns should have no room for errors.

Information blast — this was the very phrase that came into my mind the moment I opened the SF Medical School Life Examiner main page. It seemed like some sort of a web portal leading to many different kinds of information and web content such as videos, news articles and commentaries, personality tests and assessments, book reviews, medical students, information on infectious diseases, entries on the health care system, and many others. I would dare say it is intended for and highly helpful not only to medical students, but also to other medical practitioners, researchers, interested readers, and other members of the medical education community.

What’s to like about Examiner

What?s special about this blog is that it includes many different types of content and information with different angles under an umbrella topic: Medicine. The author includes her political views, as well as her opinion on current issues in relation to health and medicine. I particularly liked her entry on the raids to pharmacies regarding the issue of Michael Jackson?s death, where she said that the raids are “justified” but “worrisome.” Besides the articles on current issues, there are also information and content helpful to medical students and other interested audience such as personality assessment tests and results. At the top of each article, there are buttons for fast and easy printing, comments, sending through electronic mail, and subscription. Beside the array of entries is a side bar containing links to contents arranged according to categories. At the top are tabs for easy navigation.

Areas for improvement

With the layout of the main page, however, the blog has the tendency to look cluttered. I must admit getting a little disoriented for a couple of seconds before being able to find the articles that I wanted to review and look at. For a while, I didn?t know how and where to start. The lead in paragraphs for the array of entries are a little too short and the division of the page into three columns didn?t work quite well, with the “main content” on the left column.

In the Study: Life in Medical School is a comprehensive personal blog of a University of Tennessee College of Medicine student?and a U.S. Navy scholar at that. It seems that the blog is basically for his friends and for other people who might be interested in how a medical student?s life works: the day-to-day tasks, occasional dilemmas, bizarre and interesting experiences, and many others.

Etmeek’s good points

The main page of the blog shows an array of paragraphs and links to his latest blog entries. On the side are links to other pages and other navigation options. Overall, the blog is user-friendly and easy to navigate.

The content of the blog is basically personal, but not really private. The author?s use of first person perspective, simple and conversational language, and light writing style give the articles an interesting twist that would encourage one to read, and to keep on reading. It?s like reading one?s journal and sharing in a medical student?s thoughts. I particularly became interested in an entry about his Ob/Gyn
exercises, where he shared how he never actually thought he could do Ob/Gyn until that day he tried.

Among the links you’ll find on the blog?s main page, you can find links to other pages containing other information you might be interested in, such as some trivia about the author. You can also check out the archive for his past entries, which date back to 2005. He?s got entries on various topics besides school experiences such as adventure, life, science, humor, sermon notes (being a proud follower of Christ, as he stated on his About Me page), quotes, and useless facts, among others. He also provided links to his friends, the church he?s involved in, his school, and other things that matter to him. Some entries include photos to make them more interesting.

Etmeek’s weak points

Making use of more videos, photos, and media files would spice up the blog more. It would also do with more interesting trivia and stories that could inspire other medical students or aspiring medical students.