Residency Application Process
How to write a personal statement
A personal statement is a student’s opportunity to introduce themselves to the residency program. A focused personal statement should aim to be about four paragraphs in length and cover: who am I, how I arrived at specialty choice, pertinent research/extracurricular experiences, and long term goals for the specialty/program.
Personal Statements should be tailored to reflect the student’s specialty choice. Students do not need a separate personal statement for every program they are applying. However, if a student is applying to preliminary or transitional programs a modified personal statement explaining the student’s end goal and aims for the preliminary training is suggested.
Writing Tips
- Aim to write in a way that is original and creative, but also articulate and includes correct grammar, punctuation and spelling.
- Avoid writing about “why I wanted to become a physician” as this letter should be more focused on specialty choice.
- Minimize the use of quotes, program directors are more interested in a student’s individual thoughts.
- Obtain feedback from a variety of sources.
- Keep the statement to about one page in length with normal font, size, paragraph spacing and one inch margins.
- Do NOT plagiarize!