How to Write a Medical Residency Personal Statement

The process for planning your Personal Statement can be broken down into the following steps:

• • Pick a specialty for your Personal Statement
  • Research the specialty and create a list of characteristics specific to the field, for example:
    • • Involves long-term relationships with patients
      • Requires problem-solving skills
      • Emphasizes strong imagery skills
  • Get ready to brainstorm ideas most relevant to the specialty:
    • • Your interest in the specialty
      • Your positive personality characteristics
      • Experiences, anecdotes, and personal stories that exemplify your traits
      • Any red flags you may have to smooth over
      • What you are looking for in a residency program and what you hope to add
      • Short-term goals and long-term vision
  • Organize these ideas into a cohesive outline

• • Start where you can (it doesn’t have to be the beginning)
  • If you get stuck, move on and start writing another section
  • Focus on getting your ideas out (you can polish them later)
  • Go back and fill in missing sections and add transitions
  • Read your first draft aloud - revising it as you go

The process for planning your Personal Statement can be broken down into the following steps:

• • Get feedback from trusted mentors BEFORE you spend precious time trying to perfect your statement
  • Understand that your mentors are likely not professional writers; you are certain to receive varied feedback
  • Add or remove content as needed
  • Edit the statement to be error-free
  • Polish your work to perfection

If the writing or editing process sounds too overwhelming or time-consuming, consider working with Residency Statement, which has the authority of 13+ years and 20,000 clients worth of experience to ensure confidence in your perfected Personal Statement.

Struggling with a first draft? Learn more about our Writing Service (S-WS).

Need help with editing? Learn more about our Editing Service (S-ES).