personal statement examples osteopathy

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AACOMAS Personal Statement Examples

The AACOMAS personal statement is required as part of your DO school application . Your personal statement gives admissions committees information about why you chose osteopathic medicine and why you want to be a doctor . Before you sit down to write your own statement, learn how to craft a perfect AACOMAS personal statement in our blog and take time read some outstanding AACOMAS personal statement examples to get inspiration for your own!

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Article Contents 12 min read

A personal statement is a required component of a primary medical school application , regardless of whether the application is submitted through TMDSAS , AMCAS or AACOMAS . The AACOMAS personal statement is unique to those applying to DO programs and gives admissions committees information about an applicant's motivation and passion for pursuing osteopathic medicine. While it may take days or weeks to craft an AACOMAS personal statement, it can take admissions committees less than five minutes to review, assess, and decide if they're interested in learning more about an applicant. For this reason, it's essential to make sure your AACOMAS personal statement attracts attention from the start and is captivating enough to maintain interest throughout. This blog will go over what you need to know about the AACOMAS personal statement, what to include, tips to write an effective statement aa well as AACOMAS personal statement examples that will illustrate key characteristics of successful AACOMAS essays.

AACOMAS stands for the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service. It is an online system used by applicants applying to osteopathic programs in the US. Applicants submit one application that includes all necessary documents to AACOMAS, the documents are verified and are then transmitted to all selected programs. The AACOMAS application cycle normally opens in May and closes in April of the following year.

AACOMAS General Timeline

This section will go over a basic timeline for AACOMAS , for a more in-depth look into the DO school application process, check out our blog for more details. In addition, if you're wondering “ when do medical school applications open ” review our medical school application timelines blog.

While the AACOMAS personal statement is similar to the TMDSAS personal statement and the  AMCAS personal statement , it's important to note that they are not the same. The first difference is the length, the AACOMAS personal statement is limited to 5300 characters including spaces, which is roughly 700 words. Both the TMDSAS and AMCAS personal statements are similar, at 5000 and 5300 characters, including spaces, respectively. Other than length, the next major difference to consider is the content. Check out our blog for TMDSAS personal statement examples . While there are similarities between allopathic and osteopathic medicine, there are also differences that you should understand. Our blog, DO vs MD , outlines some of these key differences and similarities to help you tailor your personal statement appropriately.

How to write an AACOMAS personal statement

An AACOMAS personal statement is a way of introducing the admissions committee to who you are as a person and as a candidate. The main purpose of the essay is to answer the question “why do you want to be a doctor?” and specifically, why do you want to be an osteopathic doctor? Be sure you understand what DO stands for and what it means to be a DO. Before you sit down to write your essay, check out quality medical school personal statement examples and residency personal statement examples to get some inspiration. It is of utmost importance that your personal statement demonstrates, through examples, your understanding and commitment to the principles of osteopathic medicine . Remember, do not simply list these principles and state that they are important to you, you need to ensure your statement shows instead of tells by supporting your discussion through experience-based evidence. Crafting an effective personal statement takes time and a lot of self-reflection. You'll need to ask yourself specific questions to help you gain insight into why you've chosen osteopathic medicine as your career path. When did you develop an interest in osteopathic medicine? What experiences led to your interest evolving into dedication and passion? What values and experiences allow you to put others first and dedicate yourself to helping others? What is your inspiration for working towards your short term and long term goals? What makes you unique as an applicant and how can your individual skills and experiences help you succeed as an osteopathic doctor?

An effective personal statement should always begin with something that is both unique and interesting. Not only will this help set you apart from other applicants, it's also a way to pique the interest of the admissions committee and give them a reason to continue reading your personal statement. Remember, the admissions committee will be reviewing hundreds if not thousands of applications, you need a personalized hook to draw them in and keep them. There is an endless possibility of unique opening paragraphs, if you're struggling to find yours, think about a significant accomplishment, an important hobby or even a challenging or moving experience that you may want to discuss.

The most successful medical school personal statements take the reader on a journey through their life. The admissions committee will be interested in where your interest in osteopathic medicine begin, how it developed over time and what experiences led you to choose this particular career path. Lastly, it's important to show how your experiences will prove useful in helping you reach your short term and long term goals and how your experiences and unique skill set will prepare you for a career as an osteopathic doctor.

There are three main elements to a free-skating routine: the jumps, the spins, and the footwork. Each has its own set of rules requiring precision in body placement and timing. I grew to appreciate the attention to detail in each element to avoid finding myself on the floor yet again, which allowed me to represent the southern region at the national championships for 8 years. In that perspective, it seems only natural I would bring that appreciation into my academic life and gravitate towards medicine, a highly methodical career path.

At university, I sought opportunities in biology, business, and dance. Rather than shying away from difficult, non required courses, I took classes such as “Determinative Bacteriology” and “Histology” that exposed me to detailed biochemical processes. My business courses taught me the success of a marketing campaign hinges on the compatibility of a service with its target audience, a lesson that could be applied when designing treatment plans to encourage patient compliance. Alternatively, ballet and dance emphasized total body control from fingertip to toe point in the execution of each movement, similar to the precision surgery demands. In each discipline, the classes I found most interesting were those that focused on breaking down large concepts into their constitutive parts. While each of these components cultivated my curiosity for medicine, it was my internship that confirmed my passion for medicine.

At St Joseph's Hospital, I shadowed an osteopathic physician who demonstrated both technical precision and compassion that drew me to the profession. I witnessed how in spite of the chaotic patient waiting room, Dr Jean maintained a smile greeting each patient. When a young woman came in complaining of migraines, Dr Jean was able to ask specific questions that concluded the patient’s lifestyle attributed to the pain she was enduring. She felt at ease and comfortable to share sensitive information. These qualities spoke volumes about the type of physician Dr Jean was. He was able to provide not only the care but compassion this patient required. Observing the interactions with the medical field ignited a passion I had seen only once before: when I decided I wanted to skate.

Originally I could not verbalize why I wanted to be a doctor. However, I have found a way to say it. When the people I loved were terminally ill, they just wanted time to reach one more milestone. My best friend’s mother wanted to watch her daughter graduate high school. My godfather wanted to reach his 65th birthday. Cancer and Parkinson’s disease will not let you set your own timetable, but sometimes medicine can help you reach just a little bit further. As a doctor, I’d like to be part of a team that gives my patient and their family just a little bit more time. With that time, my patient might walk their daughter down the aisle or celebrate one more birthday. Regardless of the situation, the time is priceless.

My road to medicine was not easy, but each trial has made me more resilient. In the midst of re-writing my medical school application in 2017, my engagement ended weeks before my wedding date. I was not prepared to finish my application, so I dove into a research project and began my graduate studies in medical sciences. I pushed my limits until I crashed, resulting in my worst academic semester. I was devastated, but this challenge enabled me to seek help to understand my experience and overcome it. I developed a healthier routine by reducing my caffeine consumption, exercising regularly, and learning to manage stress. I took a proactive role in academics by collaborating more and studying efficiently, resulting in better grades. Taking a more assertive stance in time-management and self-care has better equipped me for a career in medicine.

Throughout my life, I gravitated towards highly technical activities, from skating to academics. I broadened my education beyond what was integrated into my program and found these experiences strengthened my conviction to be a physician. While shadowing, I found that a set of rules requiring precision in both body placement and timing, governed healthcare too, inspiring my pursuit to delve deeper into medicine. In skating, years of hard work culminating into a single performance led me to stand proudly on the national podium with a bronze medal hanging around my neck. This time, I hope my years of hard work will permit me to stand on stage with a white coat.

It was the summer of 2009 during our annual trip to India to visit my grandma. I had just woken up when I noticed my barely conscious grandma suffering a stroke. As a young 13-year-old, I had many scary questions running through my head. "What happened?", “Was I about to lose her?” Throughout childhood, I looked up to my grandma. Seeing her helpless scared me, and exposed our fragility as humans. From taking vitals to performing surgery, I realized the physicians did everything they could to fight for my grandma’s health. Thankfully, my grandma had surgery and was eventually discharged. Inspired by their dedication, I decided that I too wanted to pursue medicine.

I continued to think of my grandmother's health scare. I kept wondering, could something be done to avoid these types of medical emergencies and alleviate patients’ suffering? One day, my mom persuaded me to attend a yoga retreat, and I quickly fell in love with the philosophy behind the practice of yoga. The idea that yoga can improve fitness and overall well-being intrigued me and made me aware of how closely linked the mind and body are to each other in the first place. My regular practice of yoga led me to attend a yoga certification course and I eventually became a certified yoga instructor with the desire to spread awareness of healthy living.

I ran free yoga workshops for children with autism spectrum disorder at a local sensory gym. I vividly remember working with a young five-year-old named Joe, who struggled to follow directions. Joe would get distracted by the surrounding toys every five minutes due to his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and it would be a challenge to convince him to remain seated each time. I felt disheartened to see his frustration with tasks and his mother Tracy’s agony over whether his situation would ever improve. I felt fortunate to mentor them and make an impact through teaching yoga. At the end of every session, his mom came up to me to thank me for taking the time to help these children and providing their families with hope that their children could lead healthy and meaningful lives. The fact that Joe still remembers what I had taught him even after several years reaffirms my desire to become a primary care physician who seeks to relentlessly advocate for her patients and provide holistic, preventive care alongside medical treatment.

I took this philosophy with me as a college student when I shadowed a primary care physician in my hometown. I remember observing Dr. Lake as she treated a patient suffering from obesity. After reviewing the patient’s chart, Dr. Lake diagnosed the teenager as pre-diabetic. After asking about her symptoms, Dr. Lake also asked her about her family situation, lifestyle, and mental health. As an osteopathic physician herself, Dr. Lake wanted to prevent the worsening of symptoms by identifying the major stressors contributing to the disease and directing the patient to the most effective interventions. I watched as Dr. Lake addressed the patient’s concerns and held her hand while explaining the treatment plan. I soon discovered that the role of a primary care physician extends beyond using scientific knowledge to treat symptoms; it also involves a commitment to understanding the people behind the symptoms.

While working as a tutor on campus, I encountered a senior who suffered from a brain injury and struggled with physics. I realized that I had to be mindful of her condition and tailor my tutoring strategies to fit her needs. I simplified the concepts and I encouraged her. Fortunately, the student gained confidence and felt comfortable returning to me for guidance. In every session, my role as a tutor encompassed providing both academic and emotional support customized to each student. Similarly, medicine also involves a tailored approach to each patient.

Watching my grandma suffer a stroke created a desire to become a physician who relentlessly advocates for her patients. My exposure to healthcare abroad has increased my cross-cultural awareness, thereby motivating me to engage with patients more effectively. Whether it be for a struggling elderly student, a child with a developmental disorder, or a pre-diabetic teenager, social support must be integrated with the treatment of physical health. As a future physician, I will strive to not only provide medical treatment to my patients but also compassion and empathy. I look forward to embracing this challenging, but rewarding career.

1. Don't recycle your AMCAS personal statement

While some students simply shorten their AMCAS personal statement to use as their AACOMAS personal statement, we highly recommend you don't. Allopathic medicine and osteopathic medicine are not the same, the principles and perspectives of these two types of medicine differ greatly. The simple fact that you cannot apply to osteopathic programs through AMCAS is indicative of these differences, so simply shortening your AMCAS personal statement isn't going to show the admissions committee that you want to pursue osteopathic medicine, rather they will be able to tell that you simply shortened a different essay meant for a different school of medicine. What you write to convince an MD admissions committee of your suitability for the profession may not convince a DO admission committee.

2. Follow a specific journey

As previously mentioned, statements that take the reader through an applicant's journey, in chronological order are the most effective. Keep your journey focused and stick with a theme that reoccurs throughout your essay and is easily identified. Don't jump around to unrelated areas and don't discuss every single experience that you've had. Pick experiences that highlight your theme and strengthen your suitability for the profession.

3. Don't use cliches

You are an original person with individual thoughts, experiences, and skills. Don't rely on using tired expressions and cliches that don't allow your story to shine through. Stay away from terms that everyone uses and phrases that are commonly overused. Don't simply state that you love medicine and want to be a doctor, dive deeper into your true motivations and passions to craft a statement that is totally original and unique to you.

Your personal statement is one of the most important documents you will write in your medical career, after all, it acts as a first impression of who you are and what you can bring to the profession. A poorly written personal statement that is difficult to follow, with poor sentence structure, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes is not going to showcase the best version of you, and the reality is, the admissions committee won't be interested in getting to know you further. If you're thinking of just throwing together something quickly and submitting it, don't bother. An effective, successful personal statement takes time and many revisions in order to get it just right. It's a good idea to enlist professional help in order to create a phenomenal statement that stands out.

5. Hook the reader instantly

The opening paragraph of your AACOMAS personal statement is one of the most important factors for a successful essay. If the reader isn't interested, they likely won't continue reading your statement. The introduction is your opportunity to stand out and show the admissions committee what makes you original.

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2024 AACOMAS Personal Statement Guide

• By Med School Insiders
• January 30, 2024
• AACOMAS , Personal Statement

The AACOMAS personal statement is an opportunity to tell your story and how your journey has led you to osteopathic medicine specifically.

Why do you want to study osteopathic medicine? How do your values align with those of osteopathy? What drew you to medicine? What drives you? Admissions committees expect a lot more than a rehash of your CV. This is your chance to let an admissions committee know who you really are beyond your grades.

This post will cover AACOMAS personal statements, including how they fit within the application process, how to write a personal statement for a DO school, and common mistakes to avoid.

Not sure what application type you need to submit? Read our guide to AMCAS vs. AACOMAS vs. TMDSAS Med School Application Differences to find out how the three application services compare.

What is a Medical School Personal Statement?

Your grades and MCAT score are certainly vital pieces of your medical school application, but your personal statement is the heart. The personal statement is your chance to sell yourself to an admissions committee and speak about who you are beyond your grades and accomplishments.

Why do you want to devote your life to helping and healing people? What moments and experiences in your past crystalized your ambition to pursue medicine? When did you know you had to become an osteopathic doctor? Who in your life inspires you? What separates you from the other candidates?

This isn’t your CV in complete sentences. The personal statement is your opportunity to show the admissions committee who you are and the journey that got you to where you are today.

The Anatomy of a AACOMAS Application

Each year at the start of May, the AACOMAS application opens for submissions. Colleges begin to receive applications around mid-June. For your best chance of success, it’s important to get your application submitted as quickly as possible after submissions open.

Your chances of acceptance decrease the later you submit your application because of rolling admissions , so it’s a very bad idea to procrastinate. Staying on top of your deadlines could be the difference between acceptance and rejection. Complete your primary application as well as your secondary applications long before the actual submission deadline.

Consider our timeline below, which includes possible and ideal schedules.

The personal statement is only one piece of your primary application. In order to submit a successful application, you must work on multiple application components at once.

• GPA and MCAT Score
• Personal Statement
• Letters of Evaluation (also called Letters of Recommendation)
• Experiences and Achievements Section
• Mini Essays
• Depending on the schools you apply to, you may also be required to take a Casper test .

Read our complete AACOMAS Application Guide For DO Schools for more information about the other application components.

What Makes the AACOMAS Personal Statement Different?

The major thing that separates the AACOMAS personal statement from the AMCAS personal statement is the specificity of the initial question; instead of asking “why do you want to be a doctor,” the AACOMAS personal statement asks why you want to study osteopathic medicine.

Osteopaths (DOs) take pride in their holistic approach to patient care and focus on preventative medicine. DOs treat the person—not the symptoms. The focus of osteopathy is on recognizing the connections between different systems and organs in the body and their influence on each other. This is how DOs differentiate themselves from allopathic doctors (MDs), and these differences are the core of the osteopathic philosophy.

Therefore your personal statement must illustrate your interest in the osteopathic approach to medicine and show that you understand the values of osteopathy with clear examples from your own life.

How have your experiences shaped your aspiration to become an osteopath? The AACOMAS personal statement is your chance to demonstrate to admissions committees that you have the ability, passion, and determination it takes to succeed in osteopathic medical school.

AACOMAS Personal Statement Character Limit

The AACOMAS personal statement is the same length as the AMCAS personal statement. You are limited to 5300 characters, which is around 1.5 pages of single-spaced 12-point Times New Roman font. You don’t have a lot of room to tell your life story, which means the challenge is choosing the key moments from your life that inspired you to want to become a DO and communicating them in an engaging yet concise way.

How to Write a AACOMAS Personal Statement

1 | Take Time to Reflect on Your Past Experiences

Writing your personal statement will take a lot of time. Don’t think you’re going to be able to crank this out in an afternoon. Begin thinking about your personal statement as soon as possible, and give yourself plenty of time to brainstorm ideas and reflect on the events in your life that have led you to this point.

This is your opportunity to sell yourself to an admissions committee. What about your life and experiences make you unique? Think of your personal statement as your superhero origin story. What drives you? You may be naturally gifted in all things science and school-related, but why do you want to apply your skills to a field as demanding as medicine? Why do you want to dedicate your life to helping people?

Take The Batman. Does Batman fight crime because he’s naturally smart and strong and was born wealthy? Those things are true of Batman, but they don’t speak to why Bruce Wayne has dedicated his life to fighting crime and protecting the innocent. Seeing his parents shot and killed before his eyes forever changed Bruce Wayne and set him on the path to becoming Gotham’s dark knight. He fights in the hope that no other child in Gotham will be orphaned like he was.

Do you want to pursue medicine because you have a natural aptitude for it, or is it because of something deeper? Who in your life inspired you? What key events shaped your desire and made it clear to you that you had to become an osteopath?

2 | Illustrate Osteopathic Values

Demonstrating why you want to pursue a career in medicine is one thing, but the AACOMAS personal statement requires you to tailor your experiences to the osteopathic philosophy. Why do you want to study osteopathy specifically? What moments in your life have caused you to believe more strongly in the osteopathic approach to medicine versus the allopathic approach?

According to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), there are four osteopathic principles :

• The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind, and spirit.
• The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing, and health maintenance.
• Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.
• Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation, and the interrelationship of structure and function.

How did you find osteopathy? Did certain events in your life lead you to believe more strongly in the holistic approach of osteopathy? Did a trusted mentor inspire you to pursue a career as a DO?

Speak about these moments and how they have shaped your medical education journey. How do your values align with osteopathic medicine, and how do examples from your own life illustrate this alignment?

Read the full Philosophy of Osteopathic Medicine from AACOM.

3 | Provide Concrete Examples

It’s not enough to say you’re ‘compassionate’ or ‘driven.’ You need to demonstrate these strengths with concrete examples from your life. Admissions committees need to see your passion for osteopathic medicine reflected in the stories you share.

They’re not going to take you at your word; you need to back up your claims with tangible evidence. Sharing a story that exemplifies your better qualities is a lot more impactful to an admissions committee than simply stating that you’re resilient. How do you know you’re resilient? What are some specific moments in your life when you had to demonstrate resilience? When in your life have you displayed the qualities you want an admissions committee to know you have?

Show, don’t tell. If you want the admissions committee to know you’re hardworking, describe a moment in your life that demonstrates this quality.

4 | Develop a Narrative Across Your Application

You are applying to medical school along with thousands of fellow applicants, and many of them share your motivations, qualifications, and grades.

Standing out in this field is tough; if you and a fellow applicant have the exact same grades and clinical hours, what makes you the more appealing candidate?

Your personal statement is your chance to differentiate yourself from the competition. It’s an opportunity to tell your story. Repeating your CV but in paragraph form is monotonous and will do nothing to help you stand out amongst the competition.

A personal statement is a story, not a list of your accomplishments. The admissions committee needs to be excited to learn more about you, and you can inspire this excitement by developing a narrative across your entire application. Demonstrate how your skills and experiences make you an ideal candidate who has much to offer their program.

5 | Choose Clear and Direct Language

You may be telling a story, but don’t worry about sounding poetic. Extravagant word choices and flowery language won’t impress an admissions committee. 5300 characters is not a lot of space, so choose clear, concise language over long, complicated words and convoluted sentence structure.

If you read over a sentence and think you can simplify it—do so. Find the simplest, clearest way to convey your message.

Tools like Grammarly or the Hemingway App can help you keep your language clear, direct, and concise.

6 | Leave Enough Time to Adapt and Edit

Writing a personal statement isn’t something you’re going to start and finish in a couple of days or even a couple of weeks. You will need to spend ample time reflecting on your past in order to develop a first draft of your personal statement, and it may take several drafts before you land on something that really works.

Don’t be shy about sharing your personal statement with friends, family, and mentors. Your personal statement won’t improve without detailed, constructive feedback. For your best chances of success, speak to a mentor or professor who has been involved in the admissions process and ask them to review your personal statement. They will have invaluable insight.

If you don’t have anyone in your life to fill these shoes, consider hiring an editing service that’s able to do more than correct your spelling and grammar. For best results, your personal statement should be reviewed by people who have an intimate, behind-the-scenes understanding of what an admissions committee is really looking for.

This is why it’s so important to start this process early. You need plenty of time on either side of writing your personal statement for editing and revision . Don’t procrastinate on your personal statement; start as soon as possible.

For a more in-depth look at writing a personal statement, read our Personal Statement Guide , which includes 11 steps for starting, writing, and editing your personal statement.

Common Personal Statement Mistakes to Avoid

Please don’t make these common personal statement mistakes. The personal statement is a critical piece of your application; it deserves ample attention, careful planning, and rigorous editing.

• Failing to connect your personal statement to osteopathic values.
• Using the same personal statement for AMCAS and AACOMAS applications.
• Leaving your personal statement to the last minute. (You should begin months in advance.)
• Not developing a cohesive narrative across your application.
• Listing your accomplishments or rehashing your CV and extracurriculars.
• Overusing the word “I.”
• Using flowery language or words you found in a thesaurus.
• Explaining what medicine is all about. (The admissions committee already understands medicine.)
• Using clichés. (Every applicant likes science and wants to help people.)
• Fabricating stories or lying about your personal experiences.
• Making excuses for poor grades or a low MCAT score.
• Speaking negatively about another physician or healthcare professional.
• Pleading for an interview or acceptance.
• Making spelling or grammar errors.
• Editing your personal statement by yourself.

Make Your AACOMAS Personal Statement Stand Out

Med School Insiders will help you create a stand out AACOMAS personal statement. We offer a range of personal statement editing packages , from general editing to unlimited editing with a physician who will be there to advise you every step of the way.

We’re dedicated to creating a generation of happier, healthier, and more effective future doctors. Our Comprehensive Medical School Admissions Packages are tailored to your needs and the specific schools you are applying to. We can help you with every aspect of your application, including MCAT tutoring , mock interviews , secondary editing , and student advising. Our team is built of doctors who have years of experience serving on both MD and DO admissions committees, so you’ll receive key insights into the selection process.

Med School Insiders

2024 AACOMAS Secondary Application Guide

Learn how to create a stand out AACOMAS secondary application, including secondary deadlines, costs, the types of questions asked, and critical strategies.

2024 AACOMAS Application Guide for DO Schools

Use our AACOMAS application guide for an ideal DO school application timeline, what you need to include, mistakes to avoid, and frequently asked questions.

2024 AACOMAS Experiences and Achievements Section Guide

Learn about the AACOMAS experiences and achievements section, including why it’s important, what’s included, and how to prepare.

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Why Osteopathic Medicine Secondary Tips and Examples

Our team of editors have put together a step by step process on how to approach the most common secondary essays . Below we dive into the “Why Osteopathic Medicine” secondary prompt. 

Introduction 

Getting another secondary application is just a step closer to being accepted into medical school. For this particular “Why DO” secondary prompt , it is essential to convey your interest in osteopathic medicine beyond the surface-level perspective. Here are some tips to hopefully heighten your chances of acceptance:

Recount your own personal experiences with osteopathic medicine.

This could be shadowing osteopathic physicians or your own experiences with physicians of whom are DOs. Regardless, the key is to not just relay these experiences but make the connection to how they relate to your own motivation to become an osteopathic physician. In doing so, try to transcend the typical “holistic approach” since taking into consideration the patient in a holistic manner is certainly something many allopathic physicians do as well.

Brush up on the Osteopathic Tenets to learn more about the foundation of osteopathy: 

• The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind, and spirit.
• The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing, and health maintenance.
• Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.
• Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation, and the interrelationship of structure and function.

– American Osteopathic Association

• Discuss Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) 

This is often a point of osteopathy that interests students due to the opportunity to use hands-on skills to benefit a patient’s structure and corresponding function. Training in osteopathic medicine allows students to build a kinesthetic database to later register dysfunction in patients alongside a multitude of tissue texture changes. Osteopathic medical students are also often excellent at interpersonal communication skills and anatomy due to the additional coursework in osteopathy early in their education. To that end, if any of these points interest you, you might discuss them in terms of how they relate to you and your own goals. 

• Be specific.

This point may seem minuscule but it is essential. Let’s compare examples below:

• The hands-on approach to osteopathy is something that interests me in pursuing an education in osteopathic medicine. 
• The hands-on approach to osteopathic medicine is something of which interests me to the utmost extent due to having a hands-on learning style myself. 

As you can see, the second example is certainly more specific in that it demonstrates why the hands-on aspect of osteopathic medicine interests this student. Overall, the overarching lesson here is specificity can go a long way in demonstrating your interest in osteopathic medicine.

Why Osteopathic Medicine Essay Examples

• Recount your own personal experiences with osteopathic medicine. 
• Brush up on the Osteopathic Tenets to learn more about the foundation of osteopathy:

Why are you interested in osteopathic medicine and why are you applying to the MSUCOM? (300 words) 

The decision to pursue osteopathic medicine did not crystallize until after my friend’s brother helped me recover from an ankle sprain. It required years battling with a spinal deformity, coupled with working with an osteopathic physician to realize that I wholeheartedly believed in the principles of osteopathic medicine. The ideas that resonated with me were treating the patient as a whole and the opportunity to learn osteopathic medicine manipulation (OMM) that I found aligned with my own learning style and values. Osteopathic medicine allows me the opportunity to practice medicine with principles that could circumvent patients being treated for solely their symptoms, but rather as a whole entity, a personal goal of mine.  

Therefore, I applied to MSUCOM because of its unique electives that expose students to OMM techniques and its strong advocacy for the underserved population through community integrated medicine and Detroit Street Care. As a believer in the benefits of osteopathic medicine, I strive to have maximal exposure to contribute to raising further awareness of osteopathic medicine and its benefits. I believe MSUCOM’s unique electives that offer students early exposure to OMM techniques as well as allow students real-time feedback will serve to improve my skills and the contribution I can make. Growing up without insurance, I am familiar with the plight of the underserved population. I have served in a federally approved center that serves the underserved population at no additional cost in NJ, and I would love to participate in the community integrated medicine and Detroit street care to provide support for those most in need of care. 

I am confident that MSUCOM’s education would be the best preparation I could receive to achieve my mission of addressing the imperfections of our healthcare system in order to provide affordable care for patients and deliver holistic care that treats the whole person rather than exclusively the disease.

Why do you believe CCOM would provide you with the type of osteopathic medical education you are seeking? (1500 characters)

I want to become an osteopathic physician due to the fact that I believe medicine extends beyond temporizing solutions. It should permeate aspects of a person’s mind and body as they reciprocally affect the other. I long to practice medicine, where I am able to find a solution beyond the recovery of a patient’s body and taking into consideration the etiology. Furthermore, I want to become a physician who will build longitudinal rapport and establish a deep connection with patients. I have witnessed the immense benefit of this when patients feel a bond with their physician and strive to do similarly as an osteopathic physician myself. To that end, I am confident that CCOM will provide me with the osteopathic training necessary to curate my compassion and train me to impact patients in such a way. CCOM has established a patient-centered curriculum, which has evolved and incorporates elements of modern medicine to continuously train future physicians to practice the philosophies of osteopathic medicine. These principles ultimately align with the values I wish to possess and evolve as a medical student and future physician as well as am humbled to be considered by CCOM.

Why do you want to be an osteopathic physician? (500 characters) 

My desire to pursue osteopathic medicine began when I received OMM for an impinged shoulder. The way OMM catalyzed my body’s ability to heal when traditional anti-inflammatory medications had stopped working helped me realize there were depths and nuances to medicine that I had yet to explore. This integrated way of thinking and depth of understanding the body as a unit is something I aspire to discover as a future physician. Therefore, I feel strongly that an osteopathic medical education is an ideal fit for my goals and personality. 

Remember that there are many different ways to ask “Why osteopathic medicine?” Therefore, do not be thrown off if the secondary question is some variation of the common question. The important thing is to convey your interests in osteopathic medicine as well as how your experiences and values demonstrate this interest. My biggest piece of advice? Do not overthink it and be sure to make it true to your goals and who you are as a person. Good luck!

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Writing Your Personal Statement

What is a personal statement.

Your CV is designed to let program directors know what you have achieved. Your personal statement, on the other hand, tells them who you are as an individual (Tysinger, 1999). It is your opportunity to convey those qualities and experiences that have drawn you into the field of medicine. It is a chance to let program directors know something about your values, goals, and personality (Tysinger, 1999) – the aspects of your identity that will make you a unique asset to a residency program.

The Importance of a Personal Statement

In the 2018 program director survey conducted by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), residency program directors listed the personal statement as one of the top five factors across all specialties when selecting applicants to call for an interview (National Resident Matching Program, 2018). As such, the personal statement carries a lot of weight in terms of making an impression on a program director. A good personal statement may count for a lot when it comes to choosing if you get invited to interview at a desired residency program. The personal statement is the only aspect of your residency application over which you have complete control. As such, the personal statement is your opportunity to give residency program directors a chance to get to know the person behind the grades and assessments (Calli, 2010).

What Your Personal Statement Should Not Be

Your personal statement should not be a slightly updated version of your medical school application essay (Office of Career and Professional Development, 2012). The personal statement is a very important part of your application for residency. It should convey your enthusiasm for your profession and particularly for the specialty you have selected for your residency applications, and it should reflect how you have grown and developed during your years in medical school rather than reflecting your time before medical school (Kung, Bishop, Slanetz, & Eisenberg, 2015). It is a part of your application that you will want to commit the requisite time and effort to in order to ensure that you can convey to residency directors why you are passionate about a particular specialty and why you would be a positive addition to her or his program.

Your statement should not be an exercise in creative writing (Kung et al., 2015). Your personal statement should not be written in the form of a poem or short story. Creative attempts to stand out from the crowd will usually come across badly to program directors (Calli, 2010). Writing your personal statement is not a time to be unconventional (Kung et al., 2015).

Basic Elements in a Personal Statement

A typical personal statement will provide the reader with information on five essential elements (Kung et al., 2015):

• Who you are;
• What your motivation is for choosing the particular specialty;
• Personal attributes that make you a desirable candidate for the residency program to which you are applying;
• What you hope to experience in a residency program;
• Your future goals.

Tips for Writing Your Personal Statement

There is no one correct method for writing a personal statement. As the name suggests, each one is unique as it is designed to express your unique passion for the specialty you are applying to. However, Kung et al. (2015) have several general suggestions to guide how you write your personal statement:

• Do not write more than one page: program directors and selection committees read hundreds of personal statements each year. They will likely not want to read one that is longer than necessary. Your personal statement should be succinct, and you should ensure that every sentence counts.
• Do not use clich é s: “time heals all wounds,” “laughter is the best medicine,” avoid these and other similar clichés in your personal statement as it conveys a lack of original thinking.
• Do not exaggerate your achievements: it is quite easy for program directors to verify information in your personal statement and CV. Always be honest about your achievements and awards.
• Review other personal statements but do not plagiarize: there are countless examples of personal statements that can be easily found with a Google search. Reviewing them can be helpful for inspiration. However, make sure you do not plagiarize someone else’s work. Plagiarism will not reflect well on you. Make sure your statement is 100% your own work.
• Proofread, proofread, proofread: make sure your work is free from typos, spelling mistakes, and grammatical errors. Attention to detail is important in medicine. How you write your personal statement will be an indication to program directors of your attention to detail.
• Avoid controversial topics: certain topics, such as politics or religion, can be controversial. In a polarized society, it is quite possible that the person reading your personal statement has very different views. It is best to avoid any topic which may cause offense to the person reading your personal statement.
• If you have flaws or gaps in your application, use your personal statement to address them: you may have had to take a break from medical school, or you may have had to remediate some coursework. If there is a compelling reason for these flaws or gaps, your personal statement can give you an opportunity to explain them to program directors. 

Calli, J. (2010). Writing a winning personal statement. 

Kung, J. W., Bishop, P. M., Slanetz, P. J., & Eisenberg, R. L. (2015). Tips for the residency match: Whar residency directors are really looking for. Malden: Wiley Blackwell.

National Resident Matching Program. (2018). Results from the 2018 NRMP program director survey. Retrieved from https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/NRMP-2018-Program-Director-Survey-for-WWW.pdf

Office of Career and Professional Development. (2012). Writing residency personal statements.

Tysinger, J. W. (1999). Resumes and personal statements for health professionals (2 ed.). Tucson: Galen Press.

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The Only 3 Medical School Personal Statement Examples You Need to Read

Posted in: Applying to Medical School

Table of Contents

The personal statement is one of the most important parts of the med school application process because t his mini-essay is a critical opportunity for you to stand out from other prospective medical students by demonstrating your passion and personality, not just your grades.

Admissions committees receive hundreds or more AMCAS medical school applications , so yours should be unique and captivating. Your medical school personal statement shows admissions officers who you are beyond your high school or pre-med GPA , extracurriculars , and MCAT score . 

The best personal statements are… well, personal . This is your chance to share what life experiences have compelled you toward a career in healthcare or the medical field , and how those experiences shape the picture of your ideal future.

MedSchoolCoach has crucial advice for writing your personal statement . 

Read these examples of personal statements for prospective med students.

Writing a great medical school personal statement is a lot easier with the right support. We’ve helped numerous med school applicants craft top-notch personal statements and can do the same for you.

But first: 7 steps to writing an engaging personal statement.

Before you read these excellent examples, you need to understand the process of writing a personal statement.  

Include these in your medical school personal statement:

• Why you’re passionate about becoming a doctor
• Your qualities that will make you a great physician
• Personal stories that demonstrate those qualities
• Specific examples of the communities you want to serve as a member of the medical field

What are the most important things to remember when writing a medical school personal statement ?

• Begin the writing process early: Give yourself plenty of time for brainstorming and to revisit your first draft, revising it based on input from family members and undergrad professors. Consult the application timeline for your target enrollment season.
• Choose a central theme: An unfocused essay will leave readers confused and uninterested. Give your statement a clear thesis in the first paragraph that guides its formation.
• Start with a hook: Grab the reader’s attention immediately with your statement’s first sentence. Instead of opening with a conventional introduction, be creative! Begin with something unexpected.
• Be the you of today, not the you of the future: Forecasting your future as a physician can come across as empty promises. Don’t get caught up in your ambitions; instead, be honest about your current situation and interest in the field of medicine.
• Demonstrate your passion: It’s not enough to simply state your interest in becoming a doctor; you have to prove it through personal stories. Show how your perspectives have been shaped by formative experiences and how those will make you an effective physician.
• Show, don’t tell : Avoid cliches that admissions committees have heard hundreds of times, like “I want to help people.” Make your writing come alive with dynamic, persuasive storytelling that recounts your personal experiences.
• Tie everything together: Conclude by wrapping up your main points. Reiterate your passion for the medical profession, your defining personal qualities, and why you’ll make a good doctor.

You can read more about our recommended method in our step-by-step guide , but those are the major points.

Example 1 — From the Stretcher to the Spotlight: My Journey to Becoming an Emergency Medicine Physician

Another siren shrieks as the emergency room doors slide open and a team of EMTs pushes a blood-soaked stretcher through the entrance. It’s the fifth ambulance to arrive tonight — and only my first clinical shadowing experience in an emergency medicine department since my premed education began.

But it wasn’t my first time in an emergency room, and I knew I was meant to be here again.

In those crucial moments on the ER floor, many of my peers learned that they stumble in high-pressure environments. A few weeks of gunshot wounds, drug overdoses, broken bones, and deep lacerations in the busiest trauma bay in the region were enough to alter their career path.

They will be better practitioners somewhere predictable, like a pediatrician in a private practice where they choose their schedules, clients, and staff.

Every healthcare provider has their specialties, and mine are on full display in those crucial moments of lifesaving care. Why am I pursuing a career in Emergency Medicine? Because I’ve seen firsthand the miracles that Emergency Medicine physicians perform.

12 years ago, I was in an emergency room… but I was the one on the stretcher.

A forest-green Saturn coupe rolled into my parent’s driveway. The driver, my best friend Kevin, had just passed his driving test and was itching to take a late-night run to the other side of town. I had ridden with Kevin and his father many times before when he held his learner’s permit. But this time, we didn’t have an adult with us, and the joyride ended differently: with a 40-mph passenger-side collision, T-boned by a drunk driver.

I distinctly recall the sensation of being lifted out of the crumpled car by a paramedic and laid onto a stretcher. A quick drive later, I was in the care of Dr. Smith, the ER resident on call that night. Without missing a beat, he assessed my condition and provided the care I needed. When my mom thanked him for saving my life, he simply responded, “It’s what he needed.”

Now I’m watching other doctors and nurses provide this life-saving care as I observe as a premed student. I see the way the staff works together like a well-oiled machine, and it reminds me of my time in high-school theater.

Everyone has a role to play, however big or small, to make the show a success. All contributions are essential to a winning performance — even the technicians working behind the scenes. That’s what true teamwork is, and I see that same dynamic in the emergency department.

Some actors freeze during performances, overcome by stage fright. Other students are too anxious to even set foot in front of an audience; they remain backstage assisting with split-second costume changes.

Not me. I felt energized under the spotlight, deftly improvising to help my co-stars when they would forget their lines. Admittedly, I wasn’t the best actor or singer in the cast, but I provided something essential: assurance under pressure. Everyone knew me as dependable, always in their corner when something went awry. I had a reputation for remaining calm and thinking on my feet.

My ability to stay unruffled under pressure was first discovered on stage, but I can use it on a very different platform providing patient care. Now, when other people freeze under the intensity of serving public health on the front lines, I can step in and provide my calm, collected guidance to see them through.

As an ER doctor, I will have to provide that stability when a nurse gets flustered by a quarrelsome patient or shaken from an irreparably injured infant. When you’re an Emergency Medicine physician, you’re not following a script. It takes an aptitude of thinking on your toes to face the fast pace and unpredictable challenges of an emergency center.

During my time shadowing, I saw experienced physicians put those assured, gentle communication skills to use. A 13-year-old boy was admitted for a knife wound he’d received on the streets. He only spoke Spanish, but it was clear he mistrusted doctors and was alarmed by the situation. In mere minutes, one of the doctors calmed the patient so he could receive care he needed.

Let me be clear: I haven’t simply gravitated toward Emergency Medicine because I liked it most. It’s not the adrenaline or the pride that compel me. I owe Emergency Medicine my life, and I want to use my life to extend the lives of other people. Every person brought into the trauma bay could be another me , no matter what they look like.

People are more than their injury, health record, or circumstances. They are not just a task to complete or a challenge to conquer.

My childhood injury gave me an appreciation for the work of ER doctors and a compassion for patients, to foster well-being when people are most broken and vulnerable. I already have the dedication to the work and the heart for patients; I just need the medical knowledge and procedural skills to perform life-saving interventions. My ability to remain calm, think on my toes, be part of a team, and work decisively without making mistakes or overlooking critical issues will serve me well as an Emergency Medicine physician.

Some ER physicians I spoke with liked to think that they’re “a different breed” than other medical professionals — but I don’t see it that way. We’re just performing a different role than the rest of the cast.

Breaking It Down

Let’s look at what qualities make this a great personal statement for med school.

• Engaging opening: The writer painted a vivid scene that immediately puts the reader in their shoes and leaves them wanting more.
• Personal examples: The writer demonstrated his ability to stay calm, work as a team, and problem-solve through theater experience, which he also uses as a comparison. And, he explained his passion for Emergency Medical care from his childhood accident.
• Organized: The writer transitions fluidly between body paragraphs, connecting stories and ideas by emphasizing parallels and hopping back and forth between time.
• Ample length: Makes full use of the AACOMAS and AMCAS application personal statement’s character limit of 5,300 characters (including spaces), which is about 850-950 words.

Unsure what traits and clinical or research experience your preferred medical school values ? You can research their admissions requirements and mission statement using the MSAR .

Example 2 — Early Clinical Work For Empathetic Patient Care

The applicant who wrote this personal statement was accepted into University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, and Tufts University School of Medicine.

As I walked briskly down the hall to keep up during our daily rounds in the ICU, I heard the steady beeping of Michelle’s cardiac monitor and saw a ruby ornament twinkling on the small Christmas tree beside her. She was always alone, but someone had decorated her room for the holidays.

It warmed my heart that I wasn’t the only one who saw her as more than a patient in a coma. I continually felt guilty that I couldn’t spend more time with her; her usual companions were ventilators, IV bags, and catheters, not to mention the golf ball-sized tumors along her spine. Every day, I thought about running to Michelle’s bedside to do anything I could for her.

Thus, I was taken aback when my advisor, who was visiting me that day, asked me if I was okay. It never crossed my mind that at age 17, my peers might not be able to handle the tragedies that healthcare workers consistently face. These situations were difficult, but they invoked humanity and compassion from me. I knew I wanted to pursue medicine. And I knew I could do it.

From my senior year of high school to my senior year of college, I continued to explore my passion for patient interaction.

At the Stepp Lab, I was charged with contacting potential study participants for a study focusing on speech symptoms in individuals with Parkinson’s Disease. The study would help future patients, but I couldn’t help but think: “What are we doing for these patients in return?” I worried that the heart and soul behind the research would get lost in the mix of acoustic data and participant ID numbers.

But my fears were put to rest by Richard, the self-proclaimed “Parkinson’s Song & Dance Man,” who recorded himself singing show tunes as part of his therapy. Knowing that he was legally blind and unable to read caller ID, I was always thrilled when he recognized my voice. The spirit in his voice indicated that my interest in him and his journey with Parkinson’s was meaningful. Talking with him inspired me to dive deeper, which led to an appreciative understanding of his time as a sergeant in the U.S. military.

It was an important reminder: my interest and care are just as important as an effective prescribed treatment plan.

Following graduation, I began my work as a medical assistant for a dermatologist. My experience with a patient, Joann, validated my ability to provide excellent hands-on patient care. Other physicians prescribed her painkillers to relieve the excruciating pain from the shingles rash, which presented as a fiery trail of blisters wrapped around her torso. But these painkillers offered no relief and made her so drowsy that she fell one night on the way to the bathroom.

Joann was tired, suffering, and beaten down. The lidocaine patches we initially prescribed would be a much safer option, but I refused for her to pay $250, as she was on the brink of losing her job. When she returned to the office a week later, she held my hand and cried tears of joy because I found her affordable patches, which helped her pain without the systemic effects.

The joy that pierced through the weariness in her eyes immediately confirmed that direct patient care like this was what I was meant to do. As I passed her a tissue, I felt ecstatic that I could make such a difference, and I sought to do more.

Since graduation, I have been volunteering at Open Door, a small pantry that serves a primarily Hispanic community of lower socioeconomic families. It is gut-wrenching to explain that we cannot give them certain items when our stock is low. After all, the fresh fruits and vegetables I serve are fundamental to their culturally-inspired meals.

For the first time, I found myself serving anguish rather than a helping hand. Usually, uplifting moments strengthen one’s desire to become a physician, but in this case, it was my ability to handle the low points that reignited my passion for aiding others.

After running out of produce one day, I was confused as to why a woman thanked me. Through translation by a fellow volunteer, I learned it was because of my positivity. She taught me that the way I approach unfavorable situations affects another’s perception and that my spirited attitude breaks through language barriers.

This volunteer work served as a wake-up call to the unacceptable fact that U.S. citizens’ health suffers due to lack of access to healthy foods. If someone cannot afford healthy foods, they may not have access to healthcare. In the future, I want to partner with other food banks to offer free services like blood pressure readings. I have always wanted to help people, but I now have a particular interest in bringing help to people who cannot afford it.

While the foundation of medicine is scientific knowledge, the foundation of healthcare is the word “care” itself. I never found out what happened to Michelle and her Christmas tree, but I still wonder about her to this day, and she has strengthened my passion to serve others. A sense of excitement and comfort stems from knowing that I will be there for people on their worst days, since I have already seen the impact my support has had.

In my mind, becoming a physician is not a choice but a natural next step to continue bringing humanity and compassion to those around me.

How did this personal statement grab and sustain attention so well?

• Personalization: Everything about this statement helps you to understand the writer, from their personal experiences to their hope for how their future career will look.
• Showing, not telling: From the first sentence, the reader is hooked. This prospective medical student has plenty of great “on paper” experience (early shadowing, clinical experience, etc.), but they showed this with storytelling, not by repeating their CV.
• Empathy: An admissions committee reading this personal statement would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this student cares deeply about their patients. They remember first names, individual details, and the emotions that each patient made them feel.
• A clear path forward: The writer doesn’t just want to work in the medical field — they have a passion for exactly how they want to impact the communities they serve. Outside of strictly medical work, they care about the way finances can limit access to healthcare and the struggle to find healthy food in food deserts around the US .

Read Next: How Hard Is It to Get Into Medical School?

Example 3 — Beyond the Diagnosis: The Importance of Individualized Care in Medicine

The applicant who wrote this personal statement was accepted into Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine and Nova Southeastern University College Of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Haywood sighs and shakes her head upon opening the chart. “I was worried about her A1C. It’s up again. Hypertension, too. Alright, let’s go.”

As we enter the patient’s room, I’m expecting the news about her blood sugar and pressure to fill the room. Instead, Dr. Haywood says, “Roseline! How are you doing? How’s your girl, doing well?”

Dr. Haywood continues to ask questions, genuinely interested in Roseline’s experience as a new mother. If not for the parchment-lined examination chair and anatomy posters plastered to the wall, this exchange could be happening in a grocery store. What about her A1C? Her blood pressure? Potential Type II diabetes?

As I continue to listen, Dr. Haywood discovers that Roseline’s mother moved in with her, cooking Haitian meals I recognize as high on the glycemic index. Dr. Haywood effortlessly evolves their conversation to focus on these. Being Haitian herself, she knows some traditional dishes are healthier than others and advises Roseline to avoid those that might exacerbate her high blood sugar and blood pressure. Dr. Haywood also suggests Roseline incorporate exercise by bringing her baby on a walk through her neighborhood.

During my shadowing experience, I observed one of the core components of being a physician through several encounters like this one. By establishing a relationship with her patient where Roseline was comfortable sharing the details of new motherhood, Dr. Haywood was able to individualize her approach to lowering the patient’s A1C and hypertension. Inspired by her ability to treat the whole person , I began to adopt a similar practice as a tutor for elementary kids in underserved areas of D.C.

Shaniyah did not like Zoom, or math for that matter. When I first met her as a prospective tutee online, she preferred to keep her microphone muted and would claim she was finished with her math homework after barely attempting the first problem. Realizing that basing our sessions solely on math would be fruitless, I adapted my tutoring style to incorporate some of the things for which she had a natural affinity.

The first step was acknowledging the difficulties a virtual environment posed to effective communication, particularly the ease at which distractions might take over. After sharing this with Shaniyah, she immediately disclosed her struggles to share her work with me. With this information, I found an online platform that allowed us to visualize each other’s work.

This obstacle in communication overcome, Shaniyah felt more comfortable sharing details about herself that I utilized as her tutor. Her love of soccer gave me the idea to use the concept of goal scoring to help with addition, and soon Shaniyah’s math skills and enthusiasm began to improve. As our relationship grew, so did her successes, and I suspect the feelings I experienced as her tutor are the same as a physician’s when their patient responds well to prescribed treatment.

I believe this skill, caring for someone as a whole person , that I have learned and practiced through shadowing and tutoring is the central tenet of medicine that allows a doctor to successfully treat their patients.

Inspired by talking with patients who had received life-altering organ transplants during my shadowing experience, I created a club called D.C. Donors for Georgetown University students to encourage their peers to register as organ donors or donate blood. This experience taught me that to truly serve a person, you must involve your whole person, too.

In starting this club to help those in need of transplants, I had to dedicate my time and effort beyond just my physical interactions with these patients. For instance, this involved reaching out to D.C.’s organ procurement organization to inquire about a potential partnership with my club, to which they agreed. In addition, I organized tabling events on campus, which required significant planning and communication with both club members and my university.

Though exciting, starting a club was also a difficult process, especially given the limitations the pandemic imposed on in-person meetings and events. To adapt, I had to plan more engaging meetings, designing virtual activities to make members more comfortable contributing their ideas. In addition, planning a blood drive required extensive communication with my university to ensure the safety of the staff and participants during the pandemic.

Ultimately, I believe these behind-the-scenes actions were instrumental in addressing the need for organ and blood donors in the D.C. area.

From these experiences, I have grown to believe that good medicine not only necessitates the physician cares for her patient as a whole, but also that she fully commits her whole person to the care of the patient. Tutoring and starting D.C. Donors not only allowed me to develop these skills but also to experience such fulfilling emotions: the pride I had in Shaniyah when her math improved, the gratefulness I felt when she confided in me, the steadfast commitment I expressed to transplant patients, and the joy I had in collaborating with other passionate club members.

I envision a career as a physician to demand these skills of me and more, and I have confirmed my desire to become one after feeling so enriched by practicing them.

Here’s what makes this personal statement such a good example of what works:

• Desirable qualities: The student clearly demonstrates qualities any school would want in an applicant: teachability, adaptability, leadership, organization, and empathy, to name a few. This again uses the “show, don’t tell” method, allowing the readers to understand the student without hand-holding.
• Personalized storytelling: Many in the healthcare profession will connect with experiences like the ones expressed here, such as addressing patient concerns relationally or the lack of blood donors during the recent pandemic. The writer automatically makes a personal link between themselves and the admissions committees reading this statement.
• Extensive (but not too long): Without feeling too wordy, this personal statement uses nearly all of the 5,300 characters allowed on the AMCAS application. There’s no fluff left in the final draft, only what matters.

Avoid These Common Mistakes

You can learn a lot from those personal statements. They avoid the most common mistakes that med school applicants make when writing the medical school personal statement.

Here are some things you should avoid in your personal statement if you want to be a doctor:

• Name-dropping: Admissions counselors won’t be impressed when you brag about your highly regarded family members, associates, or mentors. You need to stand on your own feet — not someone else’s.
• Dishonesty: Lies and exaggerations can torpedo your application. And they’re bad habits for anyone entering the medical field. Don’t do it.
• Unedited AI content: Artificial intelligence can help you edit and improve your writing, but don’t let it do the work for you. Your statement needs to be authentic, which means in your voice! A chatbot can’t feel or adequately convey your own empathy, compassion, trauma, drive, or personality.
• Grammatical errors and typos: Have someone reliable proofread your essay and scour it for typos, misspellings, and punctuation errors. Even free grammar-checking apps can catch mistakes!
• Telling without showing: I’ll reiterate how important it is to prove your self-descriptive statements with real-life examples. Telling without showing won’t persuade readers.
• Too many examples: Have 3-4 solid personal stories at most; only include a few that are crucial for providing your points. The more experiences you share, the less impact they’ll make.
• Fluff and filler: Cut all fluff, filler words, and irrelevant points. There are many other places you can include information in your application, such as secondary essays on your clinical experience, volunteer work, and research projects . 

You can find more valuable do’s and don’ts in our in-depth guide to writing your best personal statement .

Need extra help? We’ve got you covered.

Schedule a meeting with medschoolcoach for expert support on writing and editing your personal statement. we’re here to help you impress medical school admissions committees .

Renee Marinelli, MD

Dr. Marinelli has practiced family medicine, served on the University of California Admissions Committee, and has helped hundreds of students get into medical school. She spearheads a team of physician advisors who guide MedSchoolCoach students.

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British School of Osteopathy Personal Statements

These UCAS personal statements have been kindly provided by students applying to British School of Osteopathy. You can click on one of the links below to view the entire statement and find out if the applicant was offered a place.

You can also view our entire collection of personal statements or view personal statements for application at other universities .

Osteopathy Personal Statement Example I am interested in Osteopathy because it's about applying a practical skill; my work experience and visits to open days confirm this impression. It’s a science degree involving close work with patients, and the way it works with the body’s natural healing abilities seems harmonious...

• University specific personal statements
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How to Turn Your AMCAS (MD) Personal Statement into Your AACOMAS (DO) Personal Statement

DO schools represent a great opportunity for many medical school applicants.  However, many students find themselves applying to both MD and DO programs with most students focusing on the AMCAS portion.  So when time gets around to it, the question gets asked “should I submit the same personal statement?”

The answer is: NO .  But the good news is, it doesn’t have to be a completely new statement. AMCAS and AACOMAS used to make life difficult for applicants by having different character limits.  Fortunately, as of 2019 AACOMAS has increased the personal statement character limit to 5300 to match AMCAS, kissing the days of stress-deleting sentences goodbye.  So, how do you make sure your AACOMAS personal statement is as great as your AMCAS one?  

STEP 1: CONNECT THE EXPERIENCES INCLUDED IN YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT TO OSTEOPATHY

If you’re applying to DO schools, you should know a little bit about osteopathic medicine. A brief review of some of the tenants of osteopathic medicine:

• Holistic care – the person is a unit of body, mind, and spirit.  As such, there is a larger focus on treating the whole person beyond just physical ailments including mental, spiritual, and emotional health.
• Self-healing and self-regulation – osteopathy places large emphasis in the body’s capability to self-regulate.
• Relationship between structure and function – manipulation is crucial to osteopathic medicine.  DOs use manipulative treatment and manipulative medicine to attempt to correct health issues.
• Prevention – a focus on preventative care to eliminate illness and procedures in the future is also a major focus.

If most of your takeaways were about how much cutting edge surgery means to you or how you plan on opening up the largest research lab in the northern hemisphere, those might need to be re-adjusted to include some of the principles core to becoming a DO physician.  The point is, these experiences and the stories your telling should be able to tie into philosophies above.

STEP 2: ADJUST YOUR REFLECTIONS IN YOUR CURRENT AMCAS PARAGRAPHS

Ideally, you will just be tweaking some sentences and reflections to make them more specific to DO philosophy rather than re-writing entire paragraphs.  

For example, if part of your service experiences involved interacting with diverse underserved communities, you can draw on the themes of cultural competence as part of holistic care.  

The screening tests you performed to help diagnose early hypertension can be considered a tenant of preventative medicine.  

The physician you saw tending to a patients mental and spiritual health can tie into treating the body, mind, and spirit.

STEP 3: “WHY OSTEOPATHY?” VERSUS “WHY MEDICINE?”

The next piece of the transformation likely may necessitate adding a little bit of new material to ensure your answering the question of “why osteopathy”.  The AMCAS essay focuses on “why medicine”, and while you are going to be practicing medicine, it is important for AACOMAS to specifically address why osteopathic medicine.  You want the admissions committees to know why you want to become a DO, not to think you just copied and pasted your MD personal statement as a backup.  

Make sure to go through your essay and highlight the portions that address “why medicine” and transform them to “why osteopathy”.  This will be the most crucial part of the makeover.  

The biggest changes will likely be in your conclusion as this is usually where most fo the take-home lessons are. Spend a little extra time making sure that your conclusion answers “why DO?”

There you have it!  Now both your AACOMAS and AMCAS personal statements will be in tip-top shape.

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Personal Statement:Osteopathy 1

Osteopathy Personal Statement

I am interested in Osteopathy because it's about applying a practical skill; my work experience and visits to open days confirm this impression. It’s a science degree involving close work with patients, and the way it works with the body’s natural healing abilities seems harmonious. Osteopathy also helps people gain a better quality of life and can yield direct results, while providing an interesting career and varied working day for me, requiring case history assessment as well as practical work with the patient; the opportunities for public, private and self employed practice also attract me to the profession. I think that I am suitable for the course because I've always been scientifically inclined and, as I’ve discovered from my part time job, work well with customers when one to one. In addition I have various interests that demonstrate my manual dexterity; sewing, flute and guitar playing, and drawing being among them.

I have already undertaken some work experience with _____ at _____ Clinic in _____; I was intrigued to find out how different vertebrae influence certain areas of the body, and how Osteopathy dips into other methods of healing by demonstrating dry needling. I am hoping to undertake further placements with a clinic in Bletchley and another group of Osteopaths in _____, and planning to get a treatment or biomechanical assessment myself to get the patient’s view of the practice.

I understand Osteopathy to be a holistic science, drawing from nutrition and psychology to make a precise conclusion. Biology is my easiest subject to link to Osteopathy; giving me understanding of anatomy, nutrition, and how organs work, among other things, enhanced by my subscription to Biological Sciences Review and reading up on basic psychology. English could also be beneficial for discussing and understanding the patients’ problems and keeping them relaxed during their treatment. The ultimate opportunity to eventually set up my own clinic really inspires me to work for this.

Other than my academic achievements I have also sought to give something back to the school. I've always had an interest in sciences - the science fairs I've done are a good example of this. I worked with Year 2s in January and November 2011; and two schools for students with learning disabilities in July. Not only have they given me the chance to teach myself how to explain sciences to others; particularly those with limited knowledge of science, but they've given me a better understanding of young people and adapt my behaviour to maximise the benefit of those with psychological and/or physical disabilities. In 2009 I started my Duke of Edinburgh bronze award. The most beneficial part of the award apart from the expedition itself was the six months (which became eleven) that I worked in a local and recently established charity shop. I instantly got on well with the manager, and we worked very well as a team, working to improve the shop as well as sell the goods. I developed a distanced and professional acquaintance with the more regular customers and my customer service skills quickly escalated. In year 12 I was a prefect, a position that involves anything from supervising the canteen to talking to WWII veterans on Remembrance Day.

Outside of school, my biggest hobby is photography; I’ve been interested in it since I joined the Year 2 photography club, but I’ve been pursuing it more adamantly since my mother bought a DSLR about three years ago. I used my own photography in my Art GCSE and have since used it to make up to myself the lack of art that I now do at school. In the bigger picture, Osteopathy wouldn't just be a skill for work, it would be a career to keep me on my toes, help me heal my loved ones and become more in tune with the human body.

Universities Applied to:

• British School of Osteopathy (Osteopathy (B110)) - Offer (BBC) Firm
• British College of Osteopathic Medicine (Masters in Osteopathy (B312)) - Offer (BBC) Insurance
• Oxford Brookes (Osteopathy (B310)) - Offer (BBB) Declined
• European School of Osteopathy (Osteopathy (B310)) - Offer (BCC) Withdrawn
• Leeds Met (Osteopathy (B311)) - Offer (240 UCAS points) Declined

Grades Achieved:

• Chemistry (AS) - D
• Biology (A2) - B
• Geography (A2) - B
• English Lit (A2) - B

The interview process was really what made me decide which uni I wanted to go to: BSO's interview was thorough, involving practical elements such as taking a (mock) case study and helping an elderly patient (played by the admissions officer who's about 30) move across a room, as well as a written task. In comparison, BCOM began the interview with "So what happened to chemistry?" (I got an A* at GCSE then obviously it all went wrong) and Brookes tried to hurry me along while I answered their questions, before that they were my favourite. When choosing your courses (not that there are many to pick from) you should make sure that your course is registered on the GOsC website- if not you might graduate and find that you're not actually eligible to practise.

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This time, it’s personal

Personal statement advice: tell a story, experts say, effective personal statements tell a concise but vivid story about an applicant’s uniqueness and suitability for a career in medicine..

Having reviewed thousands of personal statements over the years, admissions committee chairman John T. Pham, DO, has come up with his own rule of thumb.

“When I look at a personal statement, if it doesn’t catch my attention in the first paragraph, then I’m not interested in reading further,” says Dr. Pham, who is the vice chair of the department of family medicine at the Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest in Lebanon, Oregon.

The personal statement provides an important glimpse of a candidate’s noncognitive traits such as self-awareness, empathy, passion and fortitude. A vivid well-written essay conveying a medical school or residency program applicant’s motivations and aspirations can be a deciding factor in inviting that candidate in for an interview.

“The personal statement is really the only way you can make a memorable mark on admission committee members before you meet them,” says Benjamin K. Frederick, MD, a third-year radiology resident in Columbia, Missouri, who runs an essay-editing service called Edityour.net.

Dr. Pham advises students to have their personal statements critiqued before submitting them to medical schools or residency programs. Applicants should seek feedback on their draft essays from their classmates, physician mentors, college guidance counselors, and friends or family members with strong editorial skills, he says.

Some students take this process a step further by seeking professional help with their statements. Dr. Pham is not opposed to students’ enlisting help from private admissions consultants and essay editors as long as the personal statement reflects the applicant’s own words, insights and experiences.

But Adam Hoverman, DO, who has reviewed many personal statements to assess med school and residency applicants, is concerned that heavily edited, overly polished essays do not accurately portray a candidate’s communication skills.

“Being able to organize your thoughts and write effectively is vital for transmitting knowledge as a physician,” says Dr. Hoverman, an assistant professor of family medicine and global health at the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine in Yakima, Washington. “An essay that reflects someone else’s skill set is misleading.”

Common pitfalls

But those who provide essay-editing services argue that they help future physicians become better, more reflective communicators. If it weren’t for their help, they maintain, many talented, compassionate individuals would not gain entrance to medical school or competitive residencies.

Medical school candidates often produce personal statements that are superficial and clichéd, says Linda Abraham, the founder of Accepted.com, an admissions consulting and essay-editing firm.

“The applicants will write in very generic terms about how they want to help people, and you don’t see where this comes from,” she says. “They don’t give their background story, and they don’t provide examples.”

Dr. Frederick notes that many students try to cram too much information into their personal statements, which end up reading like CVs or résumés.

“The personal statement should be a narrative about an experience that led to personal growth in the pursuit of a medical career,” he says.

Vagueness and a lack of illustrative stories are the death knell of many personal statements, says medical school admissions consultant Cynthia Lewis, PhD.

“What I tell my applicants is that only one half of one sentence in a paragraph should be ‘This is what I did.’ The rest needs to be a reflection on why you did something,” says Dr. Lewis, founder of Lewis Associates. “What did you get out of it? How did it change you? How do you think differently about the world as a result of this experience?”

Telling a story

When Dr. Pham reads a personal statement, he wants to be wowed by the applicant’s story. Maybe the candidate decided to pursue medicine because of experiences in the Peace Corps, hardships overcome, a community service project, a family member’s battle with a disease or any other life-changing situation.

“Does the personal statement engage me from the get-go?” Dr. Pham asks himself. “Does it have a good story line and tell me a lot about the person and whether he or she is really dedicated to medicine?”

Applicants to osteopathic medical school are limited to 4,500 characters (including spaces), roughly 700 words, for their personal statement, so it must be concise and to the point. Dr. Lewis recommends that candidates divide their personal statements into three components. The first part, she says, should be a one-paragraph “uniqueness statement”—something significant the applicant has accomplished, a passionate interest or hobby, or a challenging or deeply moving experience.

She recalls one client who had several stories to choose from. When he was studying abroad in Spain, his wallet was stolen while he was traveling in England and he had to navigate Europe without his passport or any other ID. He also learned how to play flamenco guitar that year.

“You need to pick one key experience or interest and talk about it,” Dr. Lewis says. “This will say a lot about you, what you care about and how you think.”

The second part of the personal statement should describe the applicant’s journey to medicine, she says. The candidate should explain in a couple of paragraphs what initiated his or her interest in becoming a physician, what has sustained that ambition over time, and why he or she feels ready to apply to medical school.

The final part of the essay should explore the candidate’s interest in osteopathic medicine. “Don’t just say, ‘I shadowed an osteopathic physician,’ ” urges Dr. Lewis. “Explain what you learned from the experience and how you might incorporate osteopathic philosophy into your future practice.

“If you are applying to osteopathic medical schools, the people evaluating your application need to see that you have an understanding of the osteopathic approach to care.”

However, warns Dr. Pham, applicants should not try to address all of the osteopathic tenets in the essay, which would seem forced and insincere.

“Applicants should not tell us what they think we want to hear,” he insists. “We know that many students apply to both DO and MD schools. But if a student is strictly applying to osteopathic schools, it’s important to tell us why.”

Months-long process

Unlike personal statements for osteopathic medical school, which are submitted with the application through AACOMAS, those for residency can be customized to the specialty and program, as ERAS permits. But that doesn’t make them any easier to write, says Kim M. Peck, the director of academic and career guidance at the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) in East Lansing.

Residency candidates need to tell the story of how they came to be interested in a particular specialty and what their long-term career goals are, according to Peck. “I advise students to be specific,” she says. “Don’t just say, for instance, that you are good with your hands and would make a great surgeon. Give an example of how you came to realize that, including details. Did an attending compliment you when you assisted with suturing? Was it an interaction with a hospitalized patient that helped you make up your mind?”

MSUCOM’s website includes a list of 14 questions students should ask themselves before they begin writing their first draft, such as “Which course work and clinical experiences have you enjoyed the most and why?” and “What is unique about you and your experiences?”

The process of writing an effective personal statement may take months, not just days or weeks, Peck says.

“Medical students are so busy doing rotations, taking shelf exams, and jumping through all of the hoops that are part of the residency process that they often don’t have time to think about themselves and where they’re going,” she observes. “Taking considerable time to self-reflect and write a compelling personal statement is a valuable exercise that helps ensure that students are making sound, thoughtful career decisions.”

Medical communication: An overlooked skill?

Googling “medical personal statement editing” yields more than 590,000 links to services and informational websites.

“Evidently, these services have arisen because of demand: Students feel they have not been adequately prepared as premeds to write persuasive personal essays,” says Dr. Hoverman, who stresses that educators should be teaching aspiring physicians communication skills alongside biology and chemistry.

“The ability to frame your thoughts in a manner that is productive for a peer, a patient or the community is substantially relevant in all aspects of health care,” he says.

Premeds interested in educating themselves can take electives such as creative writing classes and advanced speech classes. Medical students may consider pursuing writing opportunities on their own, such as starting a blog or writing research papers or articles for medical publications.

Picking up communication skills will help aspiring physicians do much more than write better personal statements, Dr. Hoverman notes.

“Organizing clinical teams, developing treatment plans, engaging in health advocacy—all of these things require physicians to be excellent communicators,” he says. “Consequently, a personal statement should genuinely reflect an applicant’s communication skills.”

Texas-sized fun

Omed 2024 takes on texas: top things to do while visiting san antonio, a life in medicine, in memoriam: sept. 1, 2024, mental health, holding hope: honoring national physician suicide awareness day, match cycle, how signaling is shaping the 2024-2025 match season, making history, for the first time, a do is president-elect of the mississippi state medical association, previous article, next article.

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Great Medical School Personal Statement Examples (2024-2025) Insider’s Guide

A physician and former medical school admissions officer teaches you how to write your medical school personal statement, step by step. Read several full-length medical school personal statement examples for inspiration.

In this article, a former medical school admissions officer explains exactly how to write a stand-out  medical school personal statement!

Our goal is to empower you to write a medical school personal statement that reflects your individuality, truest aspirations and genuine motivations.

This guide also includes:

• Real life medical school personal statement examples
• Medical school personal statement inventory template and outline exercise
• AMCAS ,  TMDSAS , and  AACOMAS  personal statement prompts
• Advanced strategies to ensure you address everything admissions committees want to know
• The secret to writing a great medical school personal statement

So, if you want your medical school personal statement to earn more more medical school interviews, you will love this informative guide.

Let’s dive right in.

Table of Contents

Medical School Personal Statement Fundamentals

If you are getting ready to write your medical school personal statement for the 2024-2025 application year, you may already know that almost 60% of medical school applicants are not accepted every year . You have most likely also completed all of your medical school requirements and have scoured the internet for worthy medical school personal statement examples and guidance.

You know the medical school personal statement offers a crucial opportunity to show medical schools who you are beyond your GPA and MCAT score .

It provides an opportunity to express who you are as an individual, the major influences and background that have shaped your interests and values, what inspired you to pursue medicine, and what kind of a physician you envision yourself becoming.

However, with so much information online, you are not sure who to trust. We are happy you have found us!

Insider Knowledge and Expertise

Because the vast majority of people offering guidance are not former admissions officers or doctors , you must be careful when searching online.

We are real medical school admissions insiders and know what goes on behind closed doors and how to ensure your medical school personal statement has broad appeal while highlighting your most crucial accomplishments, perspectives, and insights.

With tight limits on space, it can be tough trying to decide what to include in your medical school personal statement to make sure you stand out. You must think strategically about how you want to present your personal “big picture” while showing you possess the  preprofessional competencies  med schools are seeking.

When a medical school admissions reviewer finishes reading your medical school personal statement, ask yourself:

• What are the most important things you want that person to remember about you?
• Does your medical school personal statement sum up your personality, interests, and talents?
• Does your medical school personal statement sound as if it’s written from the heart? Is it authentic?

It’s pretty obvious to most admissions reviewers when applicants are trying too hard to impress them. Being authentic and upfront about who you are is the best way to be a memorable applicant.

“After sitting on a medical school admissions committee for many years, I can tell you, think strategically about how you want to present your personal “big picture.” We want to know who you are as a human being.”

The Biggest Medical School Personal Statement Mistakes

The most common medical school personal statement mistake we see students make is that they write about:

• What they have accomplished
• How they have accomplished it

By including details on what you have accomplished and how, you will make yourself sound like every other medical school applicant. 

Most medical school applicants are involved in similar activities: research, clinical work, service, and social justice work. 

To stand out, you must write from the heart making it clear you haven’t marched through your premedical years and checking boxes.

We also strongly discourage applicants from using ChatGPT or any AI bot to write their medical school personal statement. Writing in your own voice is essential and using anything automated will undermine success.

The Medical School Personal Statement Secret

MedEdits students stand out in the medical school personal statement because in their personal statements they address:

WHY they have accomplished what they have.

In other words, they write in more detail about their passions, interests, and what is genuinely important to them. 

It sounds simple, we know, but by writing in a natural way, really zeroing in on WHY YOU DO WHAT YOU DO, you will appeal to a wide variety of people in a humanistic way. 

Why? How is that possible? They all have a few things in common:

• They write a narrative that is authentic and distinctive to them.
• They write a medical school personal statement with broad appeal (many different types of people will be evaluating your application; most are not physicians).
• They don’t try too hard to impress; instead they write about the most impactful experiences they have had on their path to medical school.
• They demonstrate they are humble, intellectual, compassionate, and committed to a career in medicine all at the same time.

Keep reading for a step by step approach to write your medical school personal statement.

Learn the 2024-2025 Medical School Personal Statement Prompts ( AMCAS , TMDSAS , AACOMAS )

The personal statement is the major essay portion of your primary application process. In it, you should describe yourself and your background, as well as any important early exposures to medicine, how and why medicine first piqued your interest, what you have done as a pre med, your personal experiences, and how you became increasingly fascinated with it. It’s also key to explain why medicine is the right career for you, in terms of both personal and intellectual fulfillment, and to show your commitment has continued to deepen as you learned more about the field.

The personal statement also offers you the opportunity to express who you are outside of medicine. What are your other interests? Where did you grow up? What did you enjoy about college? Figuring out what aspects of your background to highlight is important since this is one of your only chances to express to the med school admissions committee before your interview what is important to you and why.

However, it is important to consider the actual personal statement prompt for each system through which you will apply, AMCAS, AACOMAS, and TMDSAS, since each is slightly different.

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2024 AMCAS Personal Statement Prompt

The AMCAS personal statement instructions are as follows:

Use the Personal Comments Essay as an opportunity to distinguish yourself from other applicants. Consider and write your Personal Comments Essay carefully; many admissions committees place significant weight on the essay. Here are some questions that you may want to consider while writing the essay:

• Why have you selected the field of medicine?
• What motivates you to learn more about medicine?
• What do you want medical schools to know about you that hasn’t been disclosed in other sections of the application?

In addition, you may wish to include information such as:

• Unique hardships, challenges, or obstacles that may have influenced your educational pursuits
• Comments on significant fluctuations in your academic record that are not explained elsewhere in your application

As you can see, these prompts are not vague; there are fundamental questions that admissions committees want you to answer when writing your personal statement. While the content of your statement should be focused on medicine, answering the open ended third question is a bit trickier.

The  AMCAS  personal statement length is 5,300 characters with spaces maximum.

2024 TMDSAS Personal Statement Prompt

The  TMDSAS  personal statement is one of the most important pieces of your medical school application.

The TMDSAS personal statement prompt is as follows:

Explain your motivation to seek a career in medicine. Be sure to include the value of your experiences that prepare you to be a physician.

This TMDSAS prompt is very similar to the AMCAS personal statement prompt. The TMDSAS personal statement length is 5,000 characters with spaces whereas the AMCAS personal statement length is 5,300 characters with spaces. Most students use the same essay (with very minor modifications, if necessary) for both application systems.

2024 AACOMAS Personal Statement Prompt

The  AACOMAS  personal statement is for osteopathic medical schools specifically. As with the AMCAS statement, you need to lay out your journey to medicine as chronologically as possible in 5,300 characters with spaces or less. So you essentially have the same story map as for an AMCAS statement. Most important, you must show you are interested in osteopathy specifically. Therefore, when trying to decide what to include or leave out, prioritize any osteopathy experiences you have had, or those that are in line with the osteopathic philosophy of the mind-body connection, the body as self-healing, and other tenets.

Medical School Application Timeline  and When to Write your Personal Statement

Most medical school personal statements can be used for AMCAS and AACOMAS.

Know the Required Medical School Personal Statement Length

Below are the medical schools personal statement length limits for each application system. As you can see, they are all very similar. When you start brainstorming and writing your personal statement, keep these limits in mind.

AMCAS Personal Statement Length : 5,300 characters with spaces.

As per the AAMC website :  “The available space for this essay is 5,300 characters (spaces are counted as characters), or approximately one page. You will receive an error message if you exceed the available space.”

AACOMAS Personal Statement Length : 5,300 characters with spaces

TMDSAS Personal Statement Length : 5,000 characters with spaces

As per the TMDSAS Website (Page 36): “The personal essay asks you to explain your motivation to seek a career in medicine. You are asked to include the value of your experiences that prepare you to be a physician. The essay is limited to 5000 characters, including spaces.”

• Service Orientation
• Social Skills
• Cultural Competence
• Oral Communication
• Ethical Responsibility to Self and Others
• Reliability and Dependability
• Resilience and Adaptability
• Capacity for Improvement
• Critical Thinking
• Quantitative Reasoning
• Written Communication
• Scientific Inquiry

2. Why do you want to be a doctor?

This may seem pretty basic – and it is – but admissions officers need to know WHY you want to practice medicine. Many applicants make the mistake of simply listing what they have done without offering insights about those experiences that answer the question, “Why medicine?” Your reasons for wanting to be a doctor may overlap with those of other applicants. This is okay because the experiences in which you participated, the stories you can tell about those experiences, and the wisdom you gained are completely distinct—because they are only yours. 

“In admissions committee meetings we were always interested in WHY you wanted to earn a medical degree and how you would contribute to the medical school community.”

Medical school admissions committees want to know that you have explored your interest deeply and that you can reflect on the significance of these clinical experiences and volunteer work. But writing only that you “want to help people” does not support a sincere desire to become a physician; you must indicate why the medical profession in particular—rather than social work, teaching, or another “helping” profession—is your goal.

3. How have your experiences influenced you?

It is important to show how your experiences are linked and how they have influenced you. What motivated you from your experiences? In what ways did they influence your other activities? How were your future goals shaped by these experiences? Medical school admissions committees like to see a sensible progression of involvements. While not every activity needs to be logically “connected” with another, the evolution of your interests and how your experiences have nurtured your future goals and ambitions show that you are motivated and committed.

4. Who are you as a person? What are your values and ideals?

Medical school admissions committees want to know about you as an individual beyond your interests in medicine, too. This is where answering that third open ended question in the prompt becomes so important. What was interesting about your background, youth, and home life? What did you enjoy most about college? Do you have any distinctive passions or interests? They want to be convinced that you are a good person beyond your experiences. Write about those topics that are unlikely to appear elsewhere in your statement that will offer depth and interest to your work and illustrate the qualities and characteristics you possess.

Related Articles:

• How to Get into Stanford Medical School
• How to Get into NYU Medical School
• How To Get Into Columbia Medical School
• How To Get Into UT Southwestern Medical School
• How To Get Into Harvard Medical School

Complete Your Personal Inventory and Outline (Example Below)

Highlighting valuable experiences, experience-based personal inventory exercise, creating your personal inventory.

• List Important Experiences: Write down a list of the most important experiences in your life and your development. The list should be all-inclusive and comprise those experiences that had the most impact on you. Put the list, which should consist of personal, extracurricular, and academic events, in chronological order.
• Identify Key Experiences: From this list, determine which experiences you consider the most important in helping you decide to pursue a career in medicine. This “experience-oriented” approach will allow you to determine which experiences best illustrate the personal competencies admissions committees look for in your written documents. Remember that you must provide evidence for your interest in medicine and for most of the personal qualities and characteristics that medical school admissions committees want to see.
• Reflect on Influences: After making your list, think about why each “most important” experience was influential and write that down. What did you observe? What did you learn? What insights did you gain? How did the experience influence your path and choices?
• Create Illustrations: Then think of a story or illustration for why each experience was important.
• Evaluate for Significance: After doing this exercise, evaluate each experience for its significance and influence and for its “story” value. Choose to write about those experiences that not only were influential but that also will provide interesting reading, keeping in mind that your goal is to weave the pertinent experiences together into a compelling story. In making your choices, think about how you will link each experience and transition from one topic to the next.
• Plan Your Outline: Decide which of your listed experiences you will use for your introduction first (see below for more about your introduction). Then decide which experiences you will include in the body of your personal statement, create a general outline, and get writing!

Crafting Your Narrative

Craft a compelling personal statement introduction and body.

You hear conflicting advice about application essays. Some tell you not to open with a story. Others tell you to always begin with a story. Regardless of the advice you receive, be sure to do three things:

• Be true to yourself. Everyone will have an opinion regarding what you should and should not write. Follow your own instincts. Your  personal statement  should be a reflection of you, and only you.
• Start your personal statement with something catchy.  Think about the list of potential topics above.
• Don’t rush your work. Composing thoughtful documents takes time and you don’t want your writing and ideas to be sloppy and underdeveloped.

Most important is to begin with something that engages your reader. A narrative, a “story,” an anecdote written in the first or third person, is ideal. Whatever your approach, your first paragraph must grab your reader’s attention and motivate him to want to continue reading. I encourage applicants to start their personal statement by describing an experience that was especially influential in setting them on their path to medical school. This can be a personal or scholarly experience or an extracurricular one. Remember to avoid clichés and quotes and to be honest and authentic in your writing. Don’t try to be someone who you are not by trying to imitate personal statement examples you have read online or “tell them what you think they want to hear”; consistency is key and your interviewer is going to make sure that you are who you say you are!

When deciding what experiences to include in the body of your personal statement, go back to your personal inventory and identify those experiences that have been the most influential in your personal path and your path to medical school. Keep in mind that the reader wants to have an idea of who you are as a human being so don’t write your personal statement as a glorified resume. Include some information about your background and personal experiences that can give a picture of who you are as a person outside of the classroom or laboratory.

Ideally, you should choose two or three experiences to highlight in the body of your personal statement. You don’t want to write about all of your accomplishments; that is what your application entries are for!

Write Your Personal Statement Conclusion

In your conclusion, it is customary to “go full circle” by coming back to the topic—or anecdote—you introduced in the introduction, but this is not a must. Summarize why you want to be a doctor and address what you hope to achieve and your goals for medical school. Write a conclusion that is compelling and will leave the reader wanting to meet you.

Complete Personal Statement Checklist

When reading your medical school personal statement be sure it:

Shows insight and introspection

The best medical school personal statements tell a great deal about what you have learned through your experiences and the insights you have gained.

You want to tell your story by highlighting those experiences that have been the most influential on your path to medical school and to give a clear sense of chronology. You want your statement always to be logical and never to confuse your reader.

Is interesting and engaging

The best personal statements engage the reader. This doesn’t mean you must use big words or be a literary prize winner. Write in your own language and voice, but really think about your journey to medical school and the most intriguing experiences you have had.

Gives the reader a mental image of who you are

You want the reader to be able to envision you as a caregiver and a medical professional. You want to convey that you would be a compassionate provider at the bedside – someone who could cope well with crisis and adversity.

Not true. The vast majority of  personal statements  do not have themes. In fact, most are somewhat autobiographical and are just as interesting as those statements that are woven around a “theme.” It is only the very talented writer who can creatively write a personal statement around a theme, and this approach often backfires since the applicant fails to answer the three questions above.

Medical School Personal Statement Examples and Analysis for Inspiration

AMCAS Medical School Personal Statement Example and Analysis #1 with Personal Inventory

We will use Amy to illustrate the general process of writing an application to medical school, along with providing the resulting documents. Amy will first list those experiences, personal, extracurricular, and scholarly, that have been most influential in two areas: her life in general and her path to medical school. She will put this personal inventory in chronologic order for use in composing her personal statement.

She will then select those experiences that were the most significant to her and will reflect and think about why they were important. For her application entries, Amy will write about each experience, including those that she considers influential in her life but not in her choice of medicine, in her application entries. Experiences that Amy will not write about in her activity entries or her personal statement are those that she does not consider most influential in either her life or in her choice of medicine.

• Going with my mom to work. She is a surgeon — I was very curious about what she did. I was intrigued by the relationships she had with patients and how much they valued her efforts. I also loved seeing her as “a doctor” since, to me, she was just “mom.”
• I loved biology in high school. I started to think seriously about medicine then. It was during high school that I became fascinated with biology and how the human body worked. I would say that was when I thought, “Hmm, maybe I should be a doctor.”
• Grandmother’s death, senior year of high school. My grandmother’s death was tragic. It was the first time I had ever seen someone close to me suffer. It was one of the most devastating experiences in my life.
• Global Health Trip to Guatemala my freshman year of college. I realized after going to Guatemala that I had always taken my access to health care for granted. Here I saw children who didn’t have basic health care. This made me want to become a physician so I could give more to people like those I met in Guatemala.
• Sorority involvement. Even though sorority life might seem trivial, I loved it. I learned to work with different types of people and gained some really valuable leadership experience.
• Poor grades in college science classes. I still regret that I did badly in my science classes. I think I was immature and was also too involved in other activities and didn’t have the focus I needed to do well. I had a 3.4 undergraduate GPA.
• Teaching and tutoring Jose, a child from Honduras. In a way, meeting Jose in a college tutoring program brought my Guatemala experience to my home. Jose struggled academically, and his parents were immigrants and spoke only Spanish, so they had their own challenges. I tried to help Jose as much as I could. I saw that because he lacked resources, he was at a tremendous disadvantage.
• Volunteering at Excellent Medical Center. Shadowing physicians at the medical center gave me a really broad view of medicine. I learned about different specialties, met many different patients, and saw both great and not-so-great physician role models. Counselor at Ronald McDonald House. Working with sick kids made me appreciate my health. I tried to make them happy and was so impressed with their resilience. It made me realize that good health is everything.
• Oncology research. Understanding what happens behind the scenes in research was fascinating. Not only did I gain some valuable research experience, but I learned how research is done.
• Peer health counselor. Communicating with my peers about really important medical tests gave me an idea of the tremendous responsibility that doctors have. I also learned that it is important to be sensitive, to listen, and to be open-minded when working with others.
• Clinical Summer Program. This gave me an entirely new view of medicine. I worked with the forensics department, and visiting scenes of deaths was entirely new to me. This experience added a completely new dimension to my understanding of medicine and how illness and death affect loved ones.
• Emergency department internship. Here I learned so much about how things worked in the hospital. I realized how important it was that people who worked in the clinical department were involved in creating hospital policies. This made me understand, in practical terms, how an MPH would give me the foundation to make even more change in the future.
• Master’s in public health. I decided to get an MPH for two reasons. First of all, I knew my undergraduate science GPA was an issue so I figured that graduate level courses in which I performed well would boost my record. I don’t think I will write this on my application, but I also thought the degree would give me other skills if I didn’t get into medical school, and I knew it would also give me something on which I could build during medical school and in my career since I was interested in policy work.

As you can see from Amy’s personal inventory list, she has many accomplishments that are important to her and influenced her path. The most influential personal experience that motivated her to practice medicine was her mother’s career as a practicing physician, but Amy was also motivated by watching her mother’s career evolve. Even though the death of her grandmother was devastating for Amy, she did not consider this experience especially influential in her choice to attend medical school so she didn’t write about it in her personal statement.

Amy wrote an experience-based personal statement, rich with anecdotes and detailed descriptions, to illustrate the evolution of her interest in medicine and how this motivated her to also earn a master’s in public health.

Amy’s  Medical School Personal Statement  Example:

She was sprawled across the floor of her apartment. Scattered trash, decaying food, alcohol bottles, medication vials, and cigarette butts covered the floor. I had just graduated from college, and this was my first day on rotation with the forensic pathology department as a Summer Scholar, one of my most valuable activities on the path to medical school. As the coroner deputy scanned the scene for clues to what caused this woman’s death, I saw her distraught husband. I did not know what to say other than “I am so sorry.” I listened intently as he repeated the same stories about his wife and his dismay that he never got to say goodbye. The next day, alongside the coroner as he performed the autopsy, I could not stop thinking about the grieving man.

Discerning a cause of death was not something I had previously associated with the practice of medicine. As a child, I often spent Saturday mornings with my mother, a surgeon, as she rounded on patients. I witnessed the results of her actions, as she provided her patients a renewed chance at life. I grew to honor and respect my mother’s profession. Witnessing the immense gratitude of her patients and their families, I quickly came to admire the impact she was able to make in the lives of her patients and their loved ones.

I knew I wanted to pursue a career in medicine as my mother had, and throughout high school and college I sought out clinical, research, and volunteer opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of medicine. After volunteering with cancer survivors at Camp Ronald McDonald, I was inspired to further understand this disease. Through my oncology research, I learned about therapeutic processes for treatment development. Further, following my experience administering HIV tests, I completed research on point-of-care HIV testing, to be instituted throughout 26 hospitals and clinics. I realized that research often served as a basis for change in policy and medical practice and sought out opportunities to learn more about both.

All of my medically related experiences demonstrated that people who were ‘behind the scenes’ and had limited or no clinical background made many of the decisions in health care. Witnessing the evolution of my mother’s career further underscored the impact of policy change on the practice of medicine. In particular, the limits legislation imposed on the care she could provide influenced my perspective and future goals. Patients whom my mother had successfully treated for more than a decade, and with whom she had long-standing, trusting relationships, were no longer able to see her, because of policy coverage changes. Some patients, frustrated by these limitations, simply stopped seeking the care they needed. As a senior in college, I wanted to understand how policy transformations came about and gain the tools I would need to help effect administrative and policy changes in the future as a physician. It was with this goal in mind that I decided to complete a master’s in public health program before applying to medical school.

As an MPH candidate, I am gaining insight into the theories and practices behind the complex interconnections of the healthcare system; I am learning about economics, operations, management, ethics, policy, finance, and technology and how these entities converge to impact delivery of care. A holistic understanding of this diverse, highly competitive, market-driven system will allow me, as a clinician, to find solutions to policy, public health, and administration issues. I believe that change can be more effective if those who actually practice medicine also decide where improvements need to be made.

For example, as the sole intern for the emergency department at County Medical Center, I worked to increase efficiency in the ED by evaluating and mapping patient flow. I tracked patients from point of entry to point of discharge and found that the discharge process took up nearly 35% of patients’ time. By analyzing the reasons for this situation, in collaboration with nurses and physicians who worked in the ED and had an intimate understanding of what took place in the clinical area, I was able to make practical recommendations to decrease throughput time. The medical center has already implemented these suggestions, resulting in decreased length of stays. This example illustrates the benefit of having clinicians who work ‘behind the scenes’ establish policies and procedures, impacting operational change and improving patient care. I will also apply what I have learned through this project as the business development intern at Another Local Medical Center this summer, where I will assist in strategic planning, financial analysis, and program reviews for various clinical departments.

Through my mother’s career and my own medical experiences, I have become aware of the need for clinician administrators and policymakers. My primary goal as a physician will be to care for patients, but with the knowledge and experience I have gained through my MPH, I also hope to effect positive public policy and administrative changes.

Paragraphs 1 and 2: Amy started her personal statement by illustrating a powerful experience she had when she realized that medical caregivers often feel impotent, and how this contrasted with her understanding of medicine as a little girl going with her mother to work. Recognition of this intense contrast also highlights her maturity.

P-3: She then “lists” a few experiences that were important to her.

Paragraph 4: Amy describes the commonality in some of her experiences and how her observations were substantiated by watching the evolution of her mother’s practice. She then explains how this motivated her to earn an MPH so she could create change more effectively as a physician than as a layman.

P-5: Next, she explains how her graduate degree is helping her to better understand the “issues in medicine” that she observed.

Paragraph 6: Then, an exceptional accomplishment is described, highlighting what she has learned and how she has applied it.

P-7: Finally, she effectively concludes her personal statement and summarizes the major topics addressed in her essay.

As you can see, her statement has excellent flow, is captivating and unusual, and illustrates her understanding of, and commitment to, medicine. Throughout her application entries and statement, she exhibits the personal competencies, characteristics, and qualities that medical school admissions officers are seeking. Her application also has broad appeal; reviewers who are focused on research, cultural awareness, working with the underserved, health administration and policy, teaching, or clinical medicine would all find it of interest.

Osteopathic Medical School Personal Statement

Example and Analysis #2

Medical School Personal Statement Example Background:  This is a nontraditional applicant who applied to osteopathic medical schools. With a 500 and a 504 on the  MCAT , he needed to showcase how his former career and what he learned through his work made him an asset. He also needed to convey why osteopathic medicine was an ideal fit for him. The student does an excellent job illustrating his commitment to medicine and explaining why and how he made the well-informed decision to leave his former career to pursue a career in osteopathic medicine.

What’s Good About It:  A nontraditional student with a former career, this applicant does a great job outlining how and why he decided to pursue a career in medicine. Clearly dedicated to service, he also does a great job making it clear he is a good fit for osteopathic medical school and understands this distinctions of osteopathic practice.. 

Working as a police officer, one comes to expect the unexpected, but sometimes, when the unexpected happens, one can’t help but be surprised. In November 20XX, I had been a police officer for two years when my partner and I happened to be nearby when a man had a cardiac emergency in Einstein Bagels. Entering the restaurant, I was caught off guard by the lifeless figure on the floor, surrounded by spilled food. Time paused as my partner and I began performing CPR, and my heart raced as I watched color return to the man’s pale face.

Luckily, paramedics arrived within minutes to transport him to a local hospital. Later, I watched as the family thanked the doctors who gave their loved one a renewed chance at life. That day, in the “unexpected,” I confirmed that I wanted to become a physician, something that had attracted me since childhood.

I have always been enthralled by the science of medicine and eager to help those in need but, due to life events, my path to achieving this dream has been long. My journey began following high school when I joined the U.S. Army. I was immature and needed structure, and I knew the military was an opportunity to pursue my medical ambitions. I trained as a combat medic and requested work in an emergency room of an army hospital. At the hospital, I started IVs, ran EKGs, collected vital signs, and assisted with codes. I loved every minute as I was directly involved in patient care and observed physicians methodically investigating their patients’ signs and symptoms until they reached a diagnosis. Even when dealing with difficult patients, the physicians I worked with maintained composure, showing patience and understanding while educating patients about their diseases. I observed physicians not only as clinicians but also as teachers. As a medic, I learned that I loved working with patients and being part of the healthcare team, and I gained an understanding of acute care and hospital operations.

Following my discharge in 20XX, I transferred to an army reserve hospital and continued as a combat medic until 20XX. Working as a medic at several hospitals and clinics in the area, I was exposed to osteopathic medicine and the whole body approach to patient care. I was influenced by the D.O.s’ hands-on treatment and their use of manipulative medicine as a form of therapy. I learned that the body cannot function properly if there is dysfunction in the musculoskeletal system.

In 20XX, I became a police officer to support myself as I finished my undergraduate degree and premed courses. While working the streets, I continued my patient care experiences by being the first to care for victims of gunshot wounds, stab wounds, car accidents, and other medical emergencies. In addition, I investigated many unknown causes of death with the medical examiner’s office. I often found signs of drug and alcohol abuse and learned the dangers and power of addiction. In 20XX, I finished my undergraduate degree in education and in 20XX, I completed my premed courses.

Wanting to learn more about primary care medicine, in 20XX I volunteered at a community health clinic that treats underserved populations. Shadowing a family physician, I learned about the physical exam as I looked into ears and listened to the hearts and lungs of patients with her guidance. I paid close attention as she expressed the need for more PCPs and the important roles they play in preventing disease and reducing ER visits by treating and educating patients early in the disease process. This was evident as numerous patients were treated for high cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, and diabetes, all conditions that can be resolved or improved by lifestyle changes. I learned that these changes are not always easy for many in underserved populations as healthier food is often more expensive and sometimes money for prescriptions is not available. This experience opened my eyes to the challenges of being a physician in an underserved area.

The idea of disease prevention stayed with me as I thought about the man who needed CPR. Could early detection and education about heart disease have prevented his “unexpected” cardiac event? My experiences in health care and law enforcement have confirmed my desire to be an osteopathic physician and to treat the patients of the local area. I want to eliminate as many medical surprises as I can.

Texas Medical School Personal Statement Example and Analysis #3

Medical School Personal Statement Example Background:  This applicant, who grew up with modest means, should be an inspiration to us all. Rather than allowing limited resources to stand in his way, he took advantage of everything that was available to him. He commuted to college from home and had a part-time job so he was stretched thin, and his initial college performance suffered. However, he worked hard and his grades improved. Most medical school admissions committees seek out applicants like this because, by overcoming adversity and succeeding with limited resources, they demonstrate exceptional perseverance, maturity, and dedication. His accomplishments are, by themselves, impressive and he does an outstanding job of detailing his path, challenges, and commitment to medicine. He received multiple acceptances to top medical schools and was offered scholarships.

What’s Good About It:  This student does a great job opening his personal statement with a beautifully written introduction that immediately takes the reader to Central America. He then explains his path, why he did poorly early in college, and goes on to discuss his academic interests and pursuits. He is also clearly invested in research and articulates that he is intellectually curious, motivated, hard working, compassionate and committed to a career in medicine by explaining his experiences using interesting language and details. This is an intriguing statement that makes clear the applicant is worthy of an interview invitation. Finally, the student expresses his interest in attending medical school in Texas.

They were learning the basics of carpentry and agriculture. The air was muggy and hot, but these young boys seemed unaffected, though I and my fellow college students sweated and often complained. As time passed, I started to have a greater appreciation for the challenges these boys faced. These orphans, whom I met and trained in rural Central America as a member of The Project, had little. They dreamed of using these basic skills to earn a living wage. Abandoned by their families, they knew this was their only opportunity to re-enter society as self- sufficient individuals. I stood by them in the fields and tutored them after class. And while I tried my best to instill in them a strong work ethic, it was the boys who instilled in me a desire to help those in need. They gave me a new perspective on my decision to become a doctor.

I don’t know exactly when I decided to become a physician; I have had this goal for a long time. I grew up in the inner city of A City, in Texas and attended magnet schools. My family knew little about higher education, and I learned to seek out my own opportunities and advice. I attended The University with the goal of gaining admission to medical school. When I started college, I lacked the maturity to focus on academics and performed poorly. Then I traveled to Central America. Since I was one of the few students who spoke Spanish, many of the boys felt comfortable talking with me. They saw me as a role model.

The boys worked hard so that they could learn trades that would help them to be productive members of society. It was then I realized that my grandparents, who immigrated to the US so I would have access to greater opportunities, had done the same. I felt like I was wasting what they had sacrificed for me. When I returned to University in the fall, I made academics my priority and committed myself to learn more about medicine.

Through my major in neuroscience, I strengthened my understanding of how we perceive and experience life. In systems neurobiology, I learned the physiology of the nervous system. Teaching everything from basic neural circuits to complex sensory pathways, Professor X provided me with the knowledge necessary to conduct research in Parkinson’s disease. My research focused on the ability of antioxidants to prevent the onset of Parkinson’s, and while my project was only a pilot study at the time, Professor X encouraged me to present it at the National Research Conference. During my senior year, I developed the study into a formal research project, recruiting the help of professors of statistics and biochemistry.

Working at the School of Medicine reinforced my analytical skills. I spent my summer in the department of emergency medicine, working with the department chair, Dr. Excellent. Through Dr. Excellent’s mentorship, I participated in a retrospective study analyzing patient charts to determine the efficacy of D-dimer assays in predicting blood clots. The direct clinical relevance of my research strengthened my commitment and motivated my decision to seek out more clinical research opportunities.

A growing awareness of the role of human compassion in healing has also influenced my choice to pursue a career in medicine. It is something no animal model or cell culture can ever duplicate or rival. Working in clinical research has allowed me to see the selflessness of many physicians and patients and their mutual desire to help others. As a research study assistant in the department of surgery, I educate and enroll patients in clinical trials. One such study examines the role of pre-operative substance administration in tumor progression. Patients enrolled in this study underwent six weeks of therapy before having the affected organ surgically excised. Observing how patients were willing to participate in this research to benefit others helped me understand the resiliency of the human spirit.

Working in clinical trials has enabled me to further explore my passion for science, while helping others. Through my undergraduate coursework and participation in volunteer groups I have had many opportunities to solidify my goal to become a physician. As I am working, I sometimes think about my second summer in Central America. I recall how one day, after I had turned countless rows of soil in scorching heat, one of the boys told me that I was a trabajador verdadero—a true worker. I paused as I realized the significance of this comment. While the boy may not have been able to articulate it, he knew I could identify with him. What the boy didn’t know, however, was that had my grandparents not decided to immigrate to the US, I would not have the great privilege of seizing opportunities in this country and writing this essay today. I look forward to the next step of my education and hope to return home to Texas where I look forward to serving the communities I call home.

Final Thoughts

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To mention or not to mention osteopathic medicine in the Personal Statement?

• Thread starter DarkHorizon
• Start date May 29, 2008

DarkHorizon

Full member.

• May 29, 2008

DarkHorizon said: Should I explain why I am drawn to osteopathic medicine in my PS or should I just stick to the question why medicine? Is it better to wait for the secondaries to explain the osteopathic part or should I do that in the PS? Also, should I explain bad grades as well or wait until secondaries/interviews to do that? Click to expand...

Do you have a reason for the bad grades (family or personal issues)? Unless there are extenuating circumstances I don't see what you should mention.  

Jack Daniel

In memory of riley jane.

I would save that for secondaries so you have sth different to write about, in fact they will usually ask you that for secondaries  

Yes, you need to include this into your personal statement. You don't have to go into fine detail, but the adcoms do need to see your understanding of the profession. Multiple people, both current medical students and members of interview panels have told me that it is a MUST to have this in your personal statement.  

theserbatron

Put mo' chamomile on it.

i second the suggestion of keeping osteopathic out of your statement. i think your personal statement should talk about why you want to be a physician in the first place. WHY MEDICINE? is the big question they all ask. every secondary will ask you about your experiences with osteopathic physicians and why you would want to be a DO. i would save those juicy nuggets for the secondaries; you don't want to spill all the beans in your personal statement and just reiterate the same stuff in your secondaries.  

I have a letter from a DO and was able to answer all the questions on the primary that related to Osteopathic Medicine. I am not including it in my personal statement. My advisor never mentioned to include in my PS and neither have others that read the PS.  

TexasTriathlete

I wouldn't write anything about osteopathic medicine unless you really know what you're talking about. I mean really know. Because the people who will read this will likely have a better grasp of the concept than you. If you write something that sounds like you're paraphrasing the AOA website, you run the risk of them thinking you're an idiot. Don't mention bad grades and then try to make excuses for them. Stay positive. I mentioned mine, but only to show a contrast with my significant, sustained turnaround. And even then, I didn't dwell on it or make excuses. I just kind of said that the light came on and I'm here to stay.  

A lot of the secondary applications will ask you specifically "Why Osteopathic Medicine?" so you'll have a plenty of opportunity to talk about it in your application. I'd save the space in the PS for "Why medicine?" and other things that might not get mentioned elsewhere. Unless, of course, Osteopathic medicine is the cornerstone of why you have chosen medicine, in which case is should go into your PS. As for bad grades, you can include an enclosure in with your secondary application explaining the circumstances if they are significant (ie. illness, family tragedy, etc.).  

fate, not a pH of 8

• May 31, 2008

TexasTriathlete said: Don't mention bad grades and then try to make excuses for them. Stay positive. I mentioned mine, but only to show a contrast with my significant, sustained turnaround. And even then, I didn't dwell on it or make excuses. I just kind of said that the light came on and I'm here to stay. Click to expand...

MichiganEMTInt

Every admissions advisor I have talked with said it is essential to mention OM in your personal statement. You should demonstrate that you have at least some knowledge and/or interest in osteopathic medicine to the schools. IMO this might help give them a better "pre-secondary" impression of you. How would you fit into the student body of osteopathic medical school? Maybe tell about an experience you've had where you learned more about what osteopathic medicine is about and how it interested you.  

I think you show mention it, at least briefly. If you like a Michigan State's website, they say something like, "its disrespectful not to mention osteopathic medicine in your personal statement." Then they go onto say, "why apply if you don't know anything about it?" But i think this differs from school to school. Apparently, Michigan is big on OMT, so they may be more hardcore osteopathic opposed to other schools.  

Doctor4Life1769

**tr0llin, ridin dirty**.

cliquesh said: I think you show mention it, at least briefly. If you like a Michigan State's website, they say something like, "its disrespectful not to mention osteopathic medicine in your personal statement." Then they go onto say, "why apply if you don't know anything about it?" But i think this differs from school to school. Apparently, Michigan is big on OMT, so they may be more hardcore osteopathic opposed to other schools . Click to expand...

I am applying only to DO schools and I mentioned wanting to become a Doctor of Osteopathy. In for a penny in for a pound as shrek says.  

Ocho, for not applying to GA-PCOM, you are a huge douche.  

Doctor4Life1769 said: Oh really now? Any evidence? Anyways, I would not mention "osteopathic medicine." I used the same personal statement that AMCAS required. Talk about yourself and your interests, what have you done to develop these interests, how do you know medicine MAY be right for you, etc. I applied to both MD and DO programs b/c my instate programs were MD. It does not matter at all. If you want to go into "osteopathic medicine" hold your horses until you get that secondary or bring it up in an interview. In the secondary, as far as I could remember, it was mainly an excuse to collect another $50-70 by asking almost the same things so I gave them almost the same things. In my interview, I was never asked "why DO?" However, I do know of other classmates who were. If you are asked that question, then that is the time to have your thoughts collected and give something unique, not some run-of-the-mill "I like the holistic approach shpeel" b/c it'll make you sound like a quack who knows nothing about medicine, nonetheless Osteopathic Medicine. There is nothing unique b/w MD and DO outside of the OMT from my experience so far. Yes, maybe MDs in the past weren't too keen on patient care and touching the patient etc etc, but now even they are focusing a lot more on patient care and looking at the "whole person" when seeing them. Click to expand...

cliquesh said: My 'evidence' is just that Michigan, in the last few years, updated their OMT labs, and several books I have read descrbed the new labs as "amazing" and "beautiful." Additionally, Michagan employees full time OMT instructors, whereas most other schools have part-time instructors. So, yes, my assertion that Michigan is into osteopathy is just a guess, and I could be wrong. By the way Doctor4life, do you enjoy being a pre-D.O.? From your writing, it seems like you would have preffered going the MD route, which is kind of the way I feel. But, nevertheless, are you satisfied with your current path? Click to expand...

TexasTriathlete said: Ocho, for not applying to GA-PCOM, you are a huge douche. Click to expand...

• Jun 1, 2008

I think you may be missing the point a bit. A personal statement is, well...personal. As you can probably tell from the diversity of responses you've gotten, there is no formula for what should or should not be included. What is vastly more important that whatever you write is genuine and comes from your experience. It's usually extremely easy to tell from a PS who is laying on the BS they think the adcom wants to hear and who is being honest.  

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