UCAS, the admissions service for universities in the UK, describes a personal statement as “your opportunity to sell yourself to your prospective school, college or training provider.” Students are given a 47 line, 4,000 character limit (which roughly equates to 500 words) in which to show off their appeal to the institutions of their choosing.
Here, it’s important to get into the mind of the member of admissions staff that will be reading your statement – what do they want to see? 500 words may seem like plenty, but you’ll likely find that space is at a premium when you’re trying to find the perfect formula to impress your chosen university.
The key things that medical schools will be looking for are evidence of motivation, explorative work experience and suitability for fitting into their learning environment.
Your personal statement is not only an opportunity to demonstrate your motivations for studying medicine, but also to convey a sense of insight into medicine as a career. It is a chance to reflect on your experiences thus far and outline your personal qualities which will enable you to excel as both a medical student and future doctor.
Developing an understanding about the roles and responsibilities of a doctor will help you prepare your personal statement with ease. Volunteering in your local community and undertaking work experience placements are examples of activities which may allow you to gain a deeper insight into medicine. However, reading official resources such as those produced by the General Medical Council (GMC) before you even begin to think about the content of your personal statement, can help to give your writing a clear focus and direction.
Your personal statement may be used in the selection process for interviews to a varying degree by each medical school. Having said this, on the whole, personal statements do not feature heavily in the selection process for interview. Whilst this is the case for most medical schools in the UK, a few medical schools will utilise a scoring system to assess the personal statement at some point in their selection process; either before interview (for interview selection) or at the interview itself.
If this is the case for one or more of the universities you intend to apply to, pay careful attention to any details on their website which discuss exactly what the admissions team are looking for in a personal statement. For example, the University of Oxford place a larger emphasis on showing an interest in medical science and academia.
It is important to check exactly how the medical schools you intend to apply to will use your personal statement both before and during the interview. To access the most relevant and up-to-date information you should check the websites for each of the medical schools you may apply to. If you have any queries about how your personal statement will be used, or if anything you find on their websites is unclear, email the admissions team directly.
Writing a personal statement can be daunting, but we are here to help make the process less stressful. To break it down, we have listed some essential factors you should remember to focus on when writing your own personal statement:
Goals and aspirations: You should mention your goals and aspirations and what you want to get out of a degree in medicine. What are your short-term and long-term goals?
The aim of this section is for you to establish a structure that works for you, by deciding what the main components of your personal statement will be about.
Before diving into finding the best structure for your personal statement, it is important to remember there is no set format or structure. Reading a few example statements may help to give you an idea of where you start; however it is all about finding the right balance that is appropriate for you. This balance will be based on your personal experiences and what has been important in shaping your journey towards Medicine.
You should start your personal statement with a clear introduction and end with a conclusion.
Here, we will focus on developing a structure for the main body of your personal statement. The importance of having a well-thought-out structure is that it will make your thoughts and experiences easier to follow. A good structure will help reinforce the key content of your statement, further giving admissions tutors the impression that you have a focused understanding of medicine and yourself.
There is no one way to structure the main body; in fact, there are many ways! The components you discuss will differ according to your experiences, and the weighting given to these components will largely be based on what medical schools you apply to.
Here is an example of how to divide the main body of your personal statement:
Remember, this is only one example. Alternatively, you could base your paragraphs on the qualities you want to demonstrate, such as:
These ideas are here to prompt you, so work around them based on your experiences. If there is a particularly valuable quality, such as resilience, that you are passionate about and have relevant experiences in, of course, this should be included!
The idea of convincing an admissions tutor, in around 500 words, that you are an ideal prospective medical student can be overwhelming. This, as well as the fact that they will be reading through hundreds of personal statements of people applying for the same course, might make you feel pressured to have an introduction that will grab their attention and set you aside from the majority.
A powerful introduction will state an intrinsic motivation to study medicine, whilst also outlining your understanding of the career. However, your reasons for wanting to pursue medicine do not have to be entirely crammed into your introduction.
While there is no set length for an introduction, you should make sure it is not too short that it seems rushed and neglected, but not so long that it is the same size as the paragraphs of your main body. A few sentences should be sufficient for an introduction.
It might seem logical and necessary to begin by writing the introduction, but this is not the case! It is perfectly reasonable to work on other parts of your personal statement and return to write the introduction at a later point in time. Some people even find that once they have written the majority of their personal statement, they are able to pick out points they think will work well for their introduction.
Keep in mind that depending on the interview style of the medical schools you are applying to; your personal statement can be used as part of your interview. They may pick out parts of your introduction and ask you to elaborate on them.
Check this beforehand and if applicable, remember this when stating your motivations to study medicine. If you would not be happy to talk about it in your interview, then avoid including it!
Reflecting on your work experiences, wider reading and other relevant activities will form the bulk of the main body of your personal statement. Reflection is imperative to a successful application. A well-reflected personal statement shows that you have given serious thought to healthcare as a life-long career, and it goes down extremely well with the admission officers. The General Medical Council (GMC) has created a guide for medical students about reflection – most of the information is transferrable to medical applicants.
It is crucial to understand that the lessons and skills that you take away from an experience are far more superior to the number of activities you have undertaken or descriptions of consultations you may have seen. Therefore, this section will delve deeper into how you should reflect on an experience whilst undertaking it, as well as how this reflection can be incorporated concisely into your personal statement.
Below are some general questions to think about when reflecting on any type of experience you have partaken in. Ranging from clinical work experience placements to leadership roles, voluntary commitments, and part-time jobs, you should ask yourself these questions when reflecting on your experiences.
The following questions will help you reflect and think critically about learning experiences. This includes anything you have read, listened to, or watched to gain a deeper insight into the life of a medical student and/or doctor.
Before you sit down and start typing away at your statement, we highly suggest that you first read through all of the reflective notes you wrote when undertaking any experience or activity that gave you an insight into medicine. This will allow you to look back at all of the wonderful experiences you have had and focus on the key points you can take away from them.
There are so many different approaches you can take to reflective writing in your personal statement, and different people prefer different methods. For example, you can structure your reflection according to Gibb’s reflective cycle. Another approach is the ‘STARR’ framework, which stands for ‘Situation, Task, Action, Result and Reflection’. This is often a favourite among applicants for medicine interviews but can also be used in the personal statement to write structured reflections.
Work experience can be loosely defined as any activity that is designed to sufficiently broaden your understanding of a particular career path. The aim of this section is to provide you with examples of the different types of work experiences you can undertake and how you should go about reflecting on them in your personal statement.
Most students will feel that work experience gives the most realistic perspective of medicine as a career. Through shadowing in consultations, watching surgeries, and perhaps even just being in a clinical environment, you will start to build your understanding of the role of a doctor.
Applying to medical school is a huge commitment, so exploring the working life of a physician is definitely a wise thing to do. Work experience allows you to gain valuable skills that may be useful throughout your university life and your career as well.
Work experience is evidence to show that you have taken the time to find out more about the realities of a career in medicine. Therefore, it is a vital aspect of not only the personal statement but your medical school application as a whole. The purpose and overall aim of your work experience will broadly fall into one or more of the following categories:
Firstly, we will consider traditional in-person work experience activities, which are usually undertaken in a healthcare environment. This can include hospital, general practice, or pharmacy shadowing placements, as well as voluntary roles in a care home or hospice. To make the most out of these types of experiences, we would recommend the following:
The above points will form the basis of your reflection, so it is important to start thinking about them as you go along with your work experience. Keep a reflective diary to jot down these thoughts and experiences. This diary will become especially useful when sitting down to write your personal statement.
Volunteering is the idea of offering your time or skills to benefit an unrelated person or organisation with no formal payment in return.
Relevant volunteering can be considered a form of work experience and can significantly enhance your personal statement. Whilst grades are important, medical schools are also highly interested in students who exhibit genuine care and compassion.
Doing voluntary work can highlight this side of you and give some insight into the life of a doctor, which is very much a caring profession. Volunteering can assist you in developing the necessary skills and qualities relevant to medicine.
The types of volunteering roles and commitments you can include in your personal statement, can vary extensively. Moreover, the volunteering you have undertaken does not need to be within a healthcare setting. It is more important that you can reflect on your experiences and appreciate how the skills you have developed are relevant to career in medicine. Below are just some examples of voluntary roles you may include in your personal statement:
When it comes to extra-curriculars, it’s easy to get confused on what you should include and how to include it in your personal statement. As an aspiring medic, you might have done many different activities at school (and outside) that may be related or seemingly have nothing to do with each other. This could range from part-time jobs to being a prefect in your school, societies, clubs, or even your personal hobbies or sporting interests.
In your personal statement, a great way to tie it all together is to use your activities to reflect on how they made you the person you are today. Instead of simply listing all of your positions or engagements, think about what qualities you were able to gain from them that would make you a better doctor.
Among others, qualities like compassion, empathy, time management, organisation, critical thinking, teamwork, and leadership are essential in medicine, but they’re not necessarily born in a hospital or through direct engagement in clinical experiences. You have probably been doing some of these activities for a really long time, now let’s frame it in a different context for your application.
In a large pool of applicants, it is easy to think, ‘Have I done enough?’. Sometimes, this can be the wrong question to ask, as most medical schools do not look at the ‘number’ of things you have done but rather how the things you’ve done can help you as a doctor.
Do not worry if you have not done a lot of activities in your time at school. The number of things you’ve done doesn’t matter as much as:
With a limited number of characters, every word counts. You want to make sure you make the most of everything you have done, but at the same time, frame it in the most effective way for your application. This is why you might want to focus on some activities over others or group some activities together to give yourself space to write about and reflect on your experiences in a more elaborate way and relate them to your future career. There are many ways you can group your activities, mainly either by the type of activity (e.g., academic, sports, or volunteering) or based on what qualities or skills you’ve developed as a result of partaking in this activity.
The short answer is yes if you want to, but – make sure you’re not just taking up space by listing them. You don’t need to elaborate on them too much if you don’t want to, but try to strike the balance so as to show the admissions committee you value your time spent doing these hobbies, but at the same time you’re not taking away from all the other elements of your personal statement. You could also relate them to having a work-life balance – an essential trait in medicine.
This is your final chance to make an impression on the admissions tutor, so make it count! The aim of your conclusion should be to tie together the key points that you included in the main body of your personal statement. Along with the introduction, this is one of the most difficult parts to write, so writing both at the end, after you have a coherent idea of the flow of your piece is advisable.
Ideally, it should only be a few sentences long. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to revisit your conclusion multiple times before submitting. It is important to end on a confident note by expressing a real passion for medicine.
Now that you have written your personal statement, the hard part is over, right? Well, in all honesty, you might find yourself spending more time editing your personal statement than writing it! It is important to give yourself enough time to perfect your personal statement before the deadline.
Our advice at this point is – before you start editing, put your personal statement away. By the time you have finished writing, you will have read and re-read it countless times in the process. You need to take the time away from it to get a fresh look. This will be invaluable when you start editing.
First things first, triple-check that your word processor has spell-check on with UK English, so that you can correct any spelling mistakes. It may sound obvious; however, technology can often malfunction!
You are a school-age pupil, so the piece should sound like you wrote it. It does not have to sound like you have taken letter-writing classes and have used a thesaurus on every other word. However, you also need to come across as professional. It is best not to use contractions such as don’t (do not), as it is too informal. Make sure you have used a combination of long and short sentences so that it has structure, as well as making sure every sentence doesn’t start with ‘I’.
There are many ways of making sure your personal statement reads well. One method, which is particularly helpful is to read your personal statement aloud to someone else. It becomes very obvious when a sentence is too long and does not flow or make sense when you say it aloud. The person listening will be able to tell you which parts do not sound right.
When we write, we often overestimate how well the writing sounds because you will, of course, know what you meant to say. However, to another person and the admissions team reading it – you want them to know exactly what you mean, rather than having to decode paragraphs that are not crystal clear.
You could try asking an English teacher at your school, or a friend who is studying English to read through it. The spelling, grammar and syntax are independent of the content, so this could be really useful in ensuring it flows well.
Whilst it may seem tempting to gain as many opinions as possible on your personal statement, it is better to seek the advice of a few trusted individuals. The medicine personal statement is, by nature, a subjective piece of writing. Having too many people read your personal statement and suggest changes, can become quite confusing and stressful very quickly! Here’s how you can avoid this situation:
Once you’ve followed the steps and tips we have outlined, your personal statement is all ready to be submitted. You’ve finished another step in your application to med school! You’re essentially mid-way through the application process; you should be proud of yourself that you have made it this far.
Next, you should think about references from your teachers and prepare yourself for a medical school interview. Interviews can be intimidating, but don’t worry! We have created a guide to help you understand the process and how to complete the interviews to the best of your ability.
If you need some work experience to help enhance your med school application, we are here to help! At Premed, we offer in-person and online work experience to ensure you get a taste of life in the medical field. Boost your chances of getting into medical school by applying to one of our work experience courses today.
When writing a personal statement for medicine, you should focus on including relevant work experience and any volunteer work. The majority of your writing should focus on these aspects as it is important to reflect on your experiences and how this makes the ideal candidate to study medicine. You may also want to include a few short sentences about some extra-curricular activities you partake in as well.
Don’t be generic about why you want to study medicine. You should demonstrate you have a passion for helping people by providing examples through any work experience or volunteering. Remember, an admissions tutor will read hundreds of personal statements so your application needs to be personal to you.
Additionally, don’t provide general statements about your skills and experiences or simply list them. You should reflect on your experience and skills by supplying concrete examples to support your statements. This will show you can demonstrate these skills, enhancing your application.
What your personal statement should contain may differ from university to university but there are some common trends. For example, you should focus on writing about your skills and work experience and reflect on what you have learned from them. It is also ideal to state you understand what a career in medicine entails and how you are prepared to manage the challenges that come with a career in medicine.
There are several ways you can structure a personal statement, there is no set structure! The way you write your personal statement should be personal to you based on your own experiences. An example of how you can structure your personal statement is:
Another example of a personal statement structure is:
Remember, you also need to include an introduction and conclusion!
You have a limit of 4,000 characters for your personal statement based on UCAS guidelines. This is equivalent to approximately 550-1,000 words. This shows you need to be precise with what you include in your personal statement as you are limited by the words you have.
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