How To Structure Your Medicine Personal Statement

Medicine Personal Statement Structure

Your Medicine Personal Statement structure should cover three key elements:

• Motivation
• Exploration
• Suitability

Start With Motivation

The first part of your Personal Statement should cover your motivation to study Medicine. Think of this as your “I want to be a Doctor” paragraph – but keep it concise.

Tips For Showing Your Motivation

There are two common ways that people typically choose to show their motivation to study Medicine when writing a Medicine Personal Statement:

1. “I love studying science and people, so I want to be a Doctor”
2. “I had a medical experience that led to an epiphany, and now I want to be a Doctor”

Both of these are acceptable motivations – but you need to find a way to be unique.

Think about the following prompts:

• Why do you love science? Do you have a personal example of this?
• What is it about caring for people that inspires you? What experience sparked this?
• How do the two things above fuse together in the career of a Doctor?

If you had an experience that made you want to be a Doctor, you can certainly use that in your Personal Statement. However, don’t feel that you will be disadvantaged if this is not the case. You don’t need to manufacture a medical epiphany if there wasn’t one.

If you truly were inspired by one moment, think about these prompts:

• What was the experience exactly? What did you learn about Medicine from it?
• Why did it make you want to go to Medical School and become a Doctor?
• What did you do and where did you go from this point to explore Medicine further?

Next: Show Exploration

The next thing you need to weave into your Medicine Personal Statement structure is exploration, which means showing how you’ve explored that studying Medicine and becoming a Doctor is the right path for you.

This is the part where you focus on work experience, volunteering, community work, and wider reading. Don’t just write a list of things you’ve done though – Medical School Admissions Tutors are more interested in seeing how you reflect on your experiences.

You should be clear about what you did, and where you gained your experience. It can be good to write in detail about something specific: what happened and, crucially, what did you learn from it?

When it comes to wider reading, you should only mention texts that you’re actually familiar with and would be capable of discussing at interview.

Tips For Writing About Work Experience

• Did you work in multi-disciplinary teams in a hospital, and if so, what did this teach you?
• Did you witness a GP reassuring a patient, and what did you learn from that?
• Did you interact with patients in a care home, and how did that make you feel?
• Did you witness or experience some of the realities of being a Doctor, such as breaking bad news, and how did this affect you?

Whatever work experience examples you cite in your Personal Statement, you must be prepared to talk about these and more at interview.

Finish With Suitability

Once you’ve shown that you’re motivated to study Medicine and you’ve explored this option thoroughly, you need to explain why you’re suited to becoming a Doctor.

The best way to demonstrate suitability in your Personal Statement for Medicine is to ‘show rather than tell.’ For example, saying “I’m a very empathetic person” is easy to do. And anyone can write that on a piece of paper. It’s better if you can demonstrate it with examples from your work experience or other situations.

There is nothing wrong with using ‘buzzwords’ in your medical Personal Statement, as long as they are backed up with evidence and you can show that you understand them.

Also, remember that suitability for Medicine requires understanding what the medical profession is all about. You can establish this by speaking to medical students and Doctors, reading widely, and carrying out relevant work experience.

When To Mention Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular activities look great on your Personal Statement. In fact, some Medical Schools, such as Imperial, place a heavy emphasis on them because it shows that you’re a rounded candidate.

Regardless of what they are, you can find ways to relate your extracurricular activities to your suitability for Medicine. For example, have you been a sports team captain and demonstrated leadership? Have you worked as part of team? Do you have a hobby where empathy is important?

Remember the key rule: don’t just list your experiences in your Personal Statement. Reflect on what you’ve learned from them and how they’ve helped you to develop the skills needed to be a good Doctor, such as teamwork, leadership skills and communication skills.