So you’re thinking of applying to medical school, that’s great! But, there are some things you need to know first. With only a 1 in 3 chance of getting accepted competition is fierce so you need to make sure your application stands out and that behind with your personal statement.
In this post, we teach you just how to make your personal statement stand out for the right reasons and how personal statement coaching can improve your chances of getting into the medical school of your choice.
What is a personal statement?
A medical personal statement helps universities decide who to take to the next stage of the application process to your chosen medical schools. Your personal statement is usually the first impression you will make on a university so it should include your experience, skills and qualities that you deem relevant to how you can contribute to the medical field.
A university reviewer or reviewers will read your personal statement and from there, decide to go ahead with your application and invite you to an interview or not, so it’s important to get it right and portray yourself the best way that you can.
How important is a personal statement?
If you want to get into medical school, you can’t do it without submitting an outstanding personal statement because yes universities do read them! So, how important is a medical personal statement? The answer is, very, so you need to get it right.
Your personal statement is the first point of contact for your chosen universities that you’re applying to, has to you. It should tell them who you are, what skills and experience you have that make you suited to the medical profession and why you are attracted to a career in medicine.
Sound simple? Well, not quite. Competition is fierce and we mean, really fierce. We don’t say this to deter you from applying, quite the opposite, we want you to write the best personal statement you can to give yourself the best chance of securing an interview.
However, knowing if your personal statement is good is difficult to determine, particularly for someone with no experience in going through the process before. Use the following tips, followed by a follow-up browse of the services we provide, including coaching you through and checking your personal statement, to make sure your personal statement is good enough to secure that ever-important meeting.
What should a personal statement for medicine include?
Your personal statement is only around 500 words long so you need to make every word count if you’re going to stand out. In this section, we’ve provided a list of things to consider including in your personal statement as well as some tips on how to begin writing it.
In this section, we have provided you have ideas on what to include to make your personal statement stand out.
- Include what attracts you to medicine and why you’d be a good fit
- Back up your claims with your experience, skills and qualities that show the universities why you’re suited to a career in medicine
- Talk about yourself in an authentic and true manner
- Explain why you chose that particular university and that course
- Demonstrate that you have done your research into both the medical profession you’re getting into by talking about current hot topics and how you could contribute, better still, consider writing about your niche area that you’d like to specialise in
- Show that you understand what makes a good doctor and how you have those traits
- You must demonstrate excellent grammar and punctuation skills so make sure you proofread and check it for any mistakes.
What should a personal statement for medicine NOT include?
In this section, we have provided examples of what not to include, so your personal statement doesn’t stand out for the wrong reasons.
- Don’t use cliches and quotes as this comes across as unoriginal and too forced
- You don’t need a miraculous story about why you want to become a doctor so don’t spend hours coming up with a backstory, just be honest and include the reasons why.
- Don’t waffle, and by this we mean don’t go on and on and never truly get to the point. Before writing, think about what you want to say and be clear. Jot down notes first before you start writing so you can clearly structure each point
- Don’t repeat yourself or provide too much information about your personal life, use the points above about mentioning your knowledge of the field and the university
- You don’t need to include your own medical experiences or history
- Watch out for grammatical errors or spelling mistakes as this comes across as sloppy and unprofessional
- Don’t include information they already have such as academic results or where you have studied.
How should a personal statement for medicine be structured?
Now you know what to include and what not to include to ensure your personal statement stands out for the right reasons, now you need to structure it in an easy-to-understand way so your writing flows and shows you’ve really thought about your content.
Introduction
In your introduction, you will introduce yourself and this will be the first impression that your reviewer will form of you, so it needs to be strong. Include an overview of what the reviewer is about to read. A great way to start your statement is, to be honest, sincere and clear about who you are. Don’t repeat what you have written in the main body of your statement but it needs to reflect what your personal statement is all about.
Main Body
The main body of your personal statement for medicine is the biggest part of your personal statement as this is where you should go into detail about why you want to be a doctor, how you can contribute, what qualities you have and back this up with your skills and experience as well as demonstrate your research into the medical field and your university of choice. It’s important not to make bold claims or false promises here, but to be open and honest about your expectations and goals.
Conclusion
A conclusion draws everything in but it still needs to end strong because it will be what leaves a lasting impression on the reviewer. It’s important not to include any new information in this section; you aren’t writing a story so there’s no need to end on a cliffhanger either.
A great way to end your statement is to reiterate your passion and how you can contribute to medicine in the niche you would like to specialise in. End with an overarching statement of everything you have included about yourself.
Personal statement tutoring
But after you’ve done all of this, it can still be difficult to know if your personal statement is any good and people can’t always spot their own mistakes because they’re too close to the project. This is where personal statement tutoring comes in.
The Future Medic
We have over 14 years of experience in mentoring, public speaking and the medical school admissions process. We have helped thousands of aspiring medical students successfully enter the medical schools of their choice.
All our tutors are fully qualified, British doctors who specialise in medical education and are also interviewers at medical schools, so they know what they’re looking for. We can support you through your UCAT exam, write your personal statement and coach you for your interview.
What are the benefits of using The Future Medic’s personal statement tutors?
Our team of doctors have read through thousands of personal statements as part of the medical school admissions process and knows exactly what is required to make your personal statement stand out. We’ve got some amazing support options to help you craft the perfect personal statement.
Our personal statement coaching service provides wonderful benefits for aspiring medical students such as:
- Access to experienced British doctors, medical education specialists and tutors who have coached and interviewed thousands of applicants
- 24/7 access to your tutor doctor through a dedicated WhatsApp group
- Tailor-made feedback on your personal statement which is specific to you
- Help even if you need to write your personal statement from scratch
- Personalised 1-1 lessons, with all the focus on you
- A relaxed tutoring environment- our coaching isn’t like a classroom, where only one teacher has to cater to 30 students!
- You can use our tutoring service from the comfort of your home without having to travel to a physical location
- The option is unlimited coaching hours, or between 1-20 hours
- Quick turnaround for feedback, within as little as 24 hours or 1 week
- Guidance on how to make your medicine application stand out
- Improve confidence for the interview stage at your dream medical school
- Saves you time and stress, allowing you to focus on your A-Levels, UCAT admissions test or other commitments.
So now you have everything you need to know about making your personal statement for medicine stand out, begin working on it and contact us at The Future Medic for personal support and advice.
