The personal statement is a onepage essay outlining your motivations, interests and strengths as they pertain to being a successful resident. Although writing the personal statement is often a difficult task, a good statement will pay off in the end. Programs may use personal statements to check for qualities that are not readily apparent in an application or curriculum vitae. Most often they are used simply to learn more about you as an individual. Later in the process, your interview will partially supplant your personal statement for providing a snapshot of you as an individual.

Individual programs and reviewers assign varying degrees of weight to the personal statement. Some readers carefully review statements while others will only skim through them. Since you do not know exactly how it will be read, it is important to cover your bases by writing a high quality statement. Start drafting your statement early in the process since you will need some time to revise it and have proofreaders review it. You may also want to provide it, along with your CV, for those who are writing recommendation letters for you.

Begin your writing process by answering the following questions:

• What are my reasons for choosing a particular specialty?

• How will I apply the training I receive from a program (what are my career goals)?

• Why should a program select me?

• What contributions can I make to the specialty and the residency program?

• What accomplishments do I want to emphasize?

• What outside interests do I have?

Your answers to these questions may overlap and be combined with one another. Regardless of the approach or style you use in writing, it is important to answer some of these questions within your statement. Do not feel you have to answer them all (although you should answer the first three), just strike a comfortable balance between past, present and future, as well as between professional and personal realms.

Other important tips to remember to include:

• Put your name and NRMP identification number at the top of the page.

• Begin and end the statement in a strong, engaging manner.

• Do not rehash your CV in the personal statement.

• A statement should emit confidence and self-worth, not arrogance.

• Know your audience - understand what they are looking for.

• Attempts to compensate for serious weaknesses in your application should be avoided. If you must discuss them, they should be handled carefully, quickly and with a positive tenor.

• Vary your wording and sentence structure.

• Edit and proofread your work carefully - revise to a reasonable extent.

• Ask faculty, your advisor and someone in the specialty to proofread the content of your statement.

• Ask the Office of Student Affairs staff to proofread your statement for grammatical and typing errors. We are here to help!

Areas to avoid in writing a personal statement:

• Clichés or tired analogies and metaphors (e.g. "life is a journey.")

• Over generalizing - saying you are hardworking, etc. rings hollow without specific examples to back it up.

• Loaded topics - avoid discussing or alluding to such areas as politics and religion.

• Stay away from financial and lifestyle reasons in a personal statement.

• Gimmicky writing - if you are considering making your statement unusual enough to stand out, know that you may be taking a big risk by using gimmicks. Anything odd or unusual will sometimes be regarded negatively. This does not mean you have to be boring, just that selection committees are, by nature, conservative. Creative writing is good, just don't make it your focus.

• Misspellings & poor grammar - obvious, but critical.

Lastly, the Office of Student Affairs is available to meet with you individually to review your personal statement and shape it into a quality finished product. We will review your statement for grammatical and other composition errors and suggest ways to strengthen your writing and tailor it to your needs. We have several helpful resource books.