DIP Episode 414 - 18 Personal Statement Don’ts

All right, welcome. My name is divine. This is episode of 414 of the Divine intervention podcast and into this podcast. I'm going to be addressing the 16 personal statement don't the 16 personal statement don't we all recognize that this is the era season. If you don't make a podcast and just come on pitfalls that I've seen from review and applications over the last couple of years. Also, say with this cycle just reviewing people's applications. Reviewing people's personal statements just kind of seen the classic errors that I feel like many people still make to this day. But again, end up shooting themselves in the foot for the for the era's application cycle. So I'm going to be talking about 16 to 17 don't offer personal statement. And as a reminder, if you're taking the US Emily exams anytime soon within the next month, I do have a test taking strategy strategy scores taking place tomorrow. That's the 15th from 5 to 7 30 PM Pacific standard time on zoom. Half a tons of people take this class found it to be profoundly helpful or discuss a lot of strategies that can really help you counter. Mbini exams counter US Emily exams and is especially attuned to people taking step two step three and shelf exams. And then we have a bio statistics boot camp that's going to be taking place on Friday the 16th from 5 to 9 PM Pacific standard time. Again, it's something that will help you a lot because these days most of the biased ask questions is hearing the exams.

They are not based on math of plug in and chugging into formulas. So memorizing those formulas is not really going to do you much of any good. The thing that's going to do you a lot of good is actually understanding the concepts. So that's one big thing that's going to be focused on during the class. You're going to see a lot of scenarios that will help you manipulate the biostatistical concepts. And then I have a 20 hour review course. This is obviously going to be for step and the bio stats classes for step one to three complex one to three. The 20 hour review courses for step two and step three and complex level two and three. And for example, your 30 year rent student and you want like a good solid review of most of the key pieces of information from all the different rotations. This will be a great class for you to take as well. It's going to be a 20 hour course. It's going to be from 48 PM Pacific standard time from Monday to Saturday next week, except Wednesday. I'll cover like more than a thousand concepts from Peds. I am surgery or beguine neuropsych bio stats ethics, communications and healthcare systems, multi systems, processes and disorders. So if focus on some bio stats, but if you want to deep dive into bio statistics, that's going to be at the biostatistic bootcamp that's going to be taking place on Friday. So if you're interested in any of these courses, shoot me an email through the website. I'll give you some more information.

So let's jump straight up into the personal statement. Don't don't. Number one is the case collection personal statement. Why do I call it the case collection personal statement? You see a bunch of you see a lot of people. They give all this. This patient that they met. That's one paragraph. And then this other patient that they met. That's the third paragraph. And then this other patient that they met. That's the third paragraph. And then this other patient that they met. Fourth paragraph is almost like you're reading a key series or a case report. As you're reading those personal statements, right? So you see these personal statements. They are very rich in stories. What he locks up. So they will literally spend like a whole paragraph literally less. A paragraph has like 10 sentences in it. They will spend like nine sentences describing this clinical encounter with a patient. And then they will spend one line describing what they learned from that patient or whatever. That's pretty ridiculous for personal statement. And again, it's something that's very common that many people do. But it's not always a winning strategy. There are some situations where it's appropriate. Most of the time it's not something that is perfectly appropriate. So guess. So please understand this. I'm not saying that you should not include patient encounters. But if like wow 90% of your personal statement is a bunch of patients and people. Is a bunch of patient encounters just a bunch of stories.

Right? And there is no substance. Something has gone horribly wrong. Right? In fact, I call the different kind of this problem is. You know, sometimes you see some people is not a bunch of patient encounters deputing. But it's just putting a bunch of stories stories about like their lives and this and that and this and that. So it's almost like you're reading like a life narrative. Okay, you didn't ask yourself, okay, this life narrative. What's the point? You don't want an admissions committee member having those kinds of thoughts on your personal statement. So again, your personal statement. Yes, you can bring in some stories, but you should also be a little more conceptual in explaining your motivations for pursuing a particular discipline in explaining what brought you into medicine in the first place. And then the second don't with a personal statement is the absence of chronology. So you see certain people's personal statements and they're just jumping all over the place literally all over the place. They just jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, all over the place. And then you're just like, man, okay, what happened first before the other? That's something I want to make sure that you make clear in a personal statement. Now, what's the third don't of a personal statement? So I talk, I think of this as like the extremes. Right? So what do I mean by the extremes? There are some personal statements that are like intensely complex literary works.

You read these people's personal statements and you're like, wow, this is like next level stuff here. I don't even know how like wow, you almost feel like you're reading like a textbook written in the 15th century or something like that. Right? And then there's the other end of the spectrum where you see some people's personal statements. You just see just very basic language, very, very basic language. The thing is you want to have the happy medium. Like for example, again, some of this may look like a little fact, but it's not that little. But if you're applying to a US residency program, it's just more professional to use the term physician than using the term doctor. You know, just little things like that just cannot your personal, steep any one direction versus the other. Like you see some people's personal statements and their terms, their language is just so basic, super, super basic. Like they use like extremely conversational words, like words that you would maybe see like an agosseum magazine or something like that. Folks, that's not appropriate for personal, steep it. But also again, if you have something that is so literary, like so literally so like just really hard to follow, that can be a problem in a personal statement. Now what is don't number four? Don't number four is again personal statements without linkers without linkers. What do I mean by having a personal statement without linkers?

Well, it's a personal statement where it's almost like they are discrete ideas that are described in each paragraph. And there's no link, there's no like chain that connects these different ideas together. That's not a kind of personal statement that you want to have. You want to have a personal statement that is very easy to follow. You want someone to spend literally five minutes reading the personal statement and say, oh, this is exactly what this person is all about. You don't want to have a personal statement that's just way too complex and way too difficult to follow. Now, personal statement don't number five. I call it the inspirational list, right? What do I mean by the inspirational list? You see these people, their personal statements are just chock full of these inspirational quotes, these wise words and wise sayings and everything. That's just ridiculous. That is not something you want in your personal statement, right? Again, and please, I guess I should have said this. I'm just going to put a disclaimer. Again, please, you don't necessarily have to believe anything I'm saying. I'm just seeing what I'm saying based on a lot of experience I have with this process. I've literally worked with tons of students. I've been on an admissions committee. And thankfully, I have a pretty good track record of people that, you know, I've worked with that have matched into a residency. Some of them are even attendants right now, right?

But again, please, don't, again, I may be literally selling you snake oil right now. So again, trust what, what verify, right? But the inspirational list kind of personal statement was just a bunch of inspirational quotes. That's just usually like a low, that's low form on a personal statement. I'll just encourage you not to do that. Now, the don't number six is hiding USML exam failures or past applications, right? So you see people, they feel like a USML exam or two or they've applied on errors before and did not match. And they just think that magically they can just hide it from residency programs. Again, that's pretty ridiculous, right? You can't do that. The thing is, you're becoming a physician. You're becoming a person that is supposed to be trustworthy and for, right? So if you're already hiding stuff that they're going to find out regardless, then they're just going to set it yourself up in a poor situation. So again, there are certain things that are not, that are very personal and whatnot that you can hide that don't necessarily need to be shared, especially if you don't feel comfortable sharing them. But I'll see these two categories or things you should share. There are very few circumstances where you should not share having failed the USML exam or having gone through the match before and not, not matching. Now, what's personal statement, don't number seven. Personal statement, don't number seven is the use of extremely, let me use a better term.

The use of information that really paint you in a bad light, but it's not relevant, right? You see some people and they devote big chunks of their personal statements to addressing weaknesses that don't necessarily need to be shared, right? If you have a weakness, work on it. If it's not a weakness that is particularly relevant, it's not something you should be sharing. It's almost like people, you see some people, we effectively try to torpedo the applications literally with your own hands with the stroke of your keyboard, right? So if there is information that is just, that just being to be in a super bad light, but it's not particularly necessary, that's not something that you want to particularly be bringing up in a personal statement. Now, what's personal statement, don't number eight. Don't number eight is having too many ideas, too many ideas. You see some people, you're reading their personal statement and you're like, wow, they address this idea here and in this idea and in this idea and in this idea and in this idea and in this idea. They have like 20 different ideas that they express in their personal statement. No, no, no, no, no, that's not good. That is not smart, right? Again, you want people to see a common theme shining through or like three or four big major themes shine through in your personal statement. Again, you just want people to be able to read your personal statement in five minutes. Let me tell you this.

This is one of the best ways to know they have a good personal statement. Ask yourself, can I read this personal statement in five minutes and be able to give like a one to two women, quick summary of who this person is? That's a good personal statement. Now, what is personal statement, don't number nine. The personal statement, don't number nine is being too risk-taken, too risk-taken. You see some people, they just present these extreme ideas in their personal statement, they just take some very great risks. No, the thing is there's wisdom in being able to balance things and balance it out well. If you're the kind of person that takes extreme risks, the personal statement is not the place you want to take those risks. So I will just encourage you to be balanced, be balanced. Again, just be cognizant of the world we live in right now. You just want to be balanced is what I'm going to say. You just want to be balanced. You don't want to present yourself as essentially being an extremist in your personal statement. If you do, again, that can put you in trouble. So just be wise in the way you portray yourself. Now, personal statement, don't number ten is being too cliché. Again, the thing is whether you like it or not, most of the ideas you're going to present in a personal statement are probably going to be ideas that have been seen by an admissions committee person so many times over the years. But again, the way you state that cliché point is what matters.

You see some people, their personal statement is just like, wow, this is like the classic cliché personal statement. I want to go into medicine because I want to help people. I want to go into medicine because again, that's true. But again, how about you just maybe state it in a different way? I want to go into medicine because I want to help people. I mean, there's a big difference between saying I want to be able to speak to my patients and make sure that they understand everything and help them clarify all their questions and concerns. Well, that's one way to say something. I want to be the kind of individual that provides accurate information to my patients that can help them make well-foundive health care decisions. It's a big difference. It's kind of the same thing I'm saying, but I'm just seeing it a different way. I think I've got to say this already with something else I've said, but just be mindful. Again, don't be too cliché. Yes, you express a cliché idea, but also try to explain it to me. I'm not going to be able to explain it to you. I'm not going to be able to explain it to you. I'm not going to be able to explain it to you. I'm not going to be able to explain it to you. I'm not going to be able to express a cliché idea, but also try to express it in a non-clish way. That's a smart thing to do. Another thing I will also say that maybe helpful is ask yourself, what is one thing that is unique about you, that is like your secret sauce.

That secret sauce is something you want to mention in a personal statement. You just want to show people what you're able to bring to the table that may not be commonly found in other people that are applying to that exact same resolution. And the personal statement, don't number 11, is a personal statement that is too long. You don't want to have a personal statement that is more than a page and a half. There are many schools of thought to hear on this out there that, oh, your personal statement must never exceed a page. That's not true. That is just absolutely not true. But in general, the smart play is to go and know. I mean, if you have a one-page personal statement, that's obviously a great thing. But you do have some leeway, but don't have a personal statement that is more than a page and a half long. That's almost always not a good idea. And then personal statement, don't number 12, is the personal statement that is chocolate full of achievements. You just see some people and they have these self-aggrandizing personal statements. Essentially, it's not a personal statement, it's a pride statement. They are making all these proud, seeing all these proud things about themselves. Oh, wow, there was this case and everybody missed this diagnosis, but I caught it. Wow, all these people, they made all these errors, but I didn't make a single error. The thing is, let me tell you this, people don't like to root for the proud person. People like to root for the underdog.

Pride is very distasteful. But humility is very charming. So, I'm not saying you should never mention your achievements, but again, don't make that the center point of your personal statement. That's just almost always never a good idea. And then personal statement, don't number 13, is this whole phenomenon of writing personalized personal statements for every single program. Usually, that's not a good idea. And the yield that many people get from that is not as great as people expect. Now, don't get me wrong, can you write personalized personal statements for certain programs? Yes, but is that something you should do unless you're applying to 100 programs? I write a personalized personal statement for every single one of those 100 programs. That is not smart, that is not wise, that is certainly not prudent. It just doesn't provide as much yield as you will think. Because many times when people end up doing these kinds of things, the small paragraph they write on this program sometimes just looks very disjoint compared to the other parts of their personal statement. So, if for example, they are like two or three places that you're like, wow, man, I really love these places. These are places I would really love to go to. Then yes, you can write modified personal statements and assign it to those specific programs.

Or maybe even smarter, smart ID may be, oh, you know, with the era supplemental application, if there are certain programs that you're signaling, then you can pick from those programs that you're signaling. And go ahead and write personalized personal statements for those places. Just again, something to keep in mind. But again, writing a personalized personal statement for every single program, just in general is not wise. Again, I'm not saying it offers no yield. But for the amount of work and effort you put in, the yield is very little. Your energy is more better directed towards preparing an excellent supplemental application, an excellent era's application, an excellent personal statement in and of itself. If you write the good quality personal statement, it can make really great impact on an application. I mean, I've seen people that may not have the bells and whistles, but man, they put out a good personal statement and it just really helps them with the application cycle. And then one thing the personal statement don't number 14 is IMG's and clinical experiences. One thing I've noticed amongst IM Gs, again, I reveal a lot of IMG applications, is you see IM Gs that have been like attendants in their home countries, they've completed residency already in their home countries. And then they make like zero mention of that in their personal statement. That's pretty ridiculous. Because the thing is, you're trying to get into a US residency.

Literally that extra experience you have can be your secret sauce. Now, you need to be careful. You can't make your personal statement all about the great experience you have. That's too much pride. But giving some hint or some mention of the scope of what you did in your home country is not a bad idea. Because you can show a residency program director or show a residency admissions committee that, oh wow. Okay, this person has just a little more experience than the average medical student. That can be something that can help your application. And then personal statement don't number 15 is rehashing your resume. You see some people, you could get all the ideas that they put forth in their personal statement just from reading their resumes. Again, not smart. Because the thing is, it just demonstrates a certain lack of critical thinking. If all you do in your personal statement is to just literally regurgitate your resume. That's not a smart thing to do. You won't be able to link your ideas. You want to show that you're putting like a lot of thought in putting your personal statement together to achieve a desired effect. So don't just rehash your resume. Now, item number 16, the don't number 16 is contentious issues. So again, don't go contentious. Don't go contentious. Let me tell you this. A personal statement is not a place to start going on and on and on about contentious issues.

Because the thing is, whether you like it or not, most organizations, one people that will tell the line, most organizations, one people that they will not see as problem individuals. So don't present yourself as a problem individual. Don't present yourself as some kind of activist in your personal statement. Again, I know some of what I'm saying to them, it'd be controversial. I'm an apologies, not meaning to harm anyone's mind or thought process or anything. But I'm just speaking based on experience. At the end of the day, if you don't match, there's almost no chance you have of becoming a physician in the US. So don't be a person that is seen as very extreme in their views in a personal statement. Just be wise in the way you balance the presentation of your ideas. Now, item number 17, don't number 17 is taking the recommendations of a person without experience. Here's the thing, there is a common error that some people make. The thing is, what looks like a good personal statement for getting into a medical school or getting into a residency is very different from what we make a good personal statement for another field of study. But this is something that many people don't think about. So you see some people, they'll say, oh, this person gave me this advice on my personal statement. Like literally, I'm telling you this, I've literally seen situations where people, there's this authority. In some other discipline that is not healthcare related at all.

And this authority gives them advice that, oh, you should do this, you should do this, you should do this, you should do this. And then that ends up like when you hear some of these things, you're just like, wow, this person is setting up themselves for some significant issues with the application. So just be careful. Like if you're having people review your personal statement, let it be a person that knows what they're talking about. Let it be a person that has direct experience in that area. So don't get me wrong. You can obviously make good use of the expertise of others. But the thing is, make sure that the expertise you're using is appropriate for the situation you're using them for. So just be careful about that because I've seen some people, they take these people's advice, hook, line and sinker. That's part of why you see me say at the beginning of this, you know, someone in this podcast that, hey, you're my, you're my age, me very with some of this advice I'm giving you. What I'm telling you may be pay 10 clear wrong. I mean, I'm not intentionally trying to do that. And again, working off of experience that I've had with tons and tons of applications. But be careful. I've literally seen, like for example, I've seen personal statements and again, I'm going to try to not be too specific here. But I've literally seen personal statements where some person says, oh, this person said that I should go in this direction, my personal statement.

And that direction that that person is seen to going, maybe a good direction for them. But it may be a bad direction for like the 98% of programs within that discipline. So the fact that a program director really cherishes one particular style does not necessarily mean that that particular style is going to be cherished by 95 other program directors. The key thing you're trying to achieve with a personal statement is that the points you present and the style you presented with is agreeable to a large number of people, not a small minority. You don't want to elite large numbers of people with the personal statement that you put out. So just be careful about that. And then I guess I'll call this. Don't number 18 is grammatical errors, right? You don't want to have grammatical errors. That's just a horrible thing to do. That's almost never smart. That's almost never wise. So obviously spend time editing your application for grammatical errors. So thank you for listening to me. As I do at the end of every podcast, I do offer one or one tutoring for all the USML exams. Step one to step three, all the complex exams, complex level one to three. The only thing I don't do is women. I don't do it to women. I also do it for shelf exams and pre clinical med school exams. And then I have a series of review courses that may be helpful to you. Again, as I said at the beginning, I have a 20 hour step two, step three, complex two and three review course.

I have a four hour biostatistics bootcamp. That's for step one to three and complex one to three. And then have a test against strategies class that is for step two and three and for NBME shelf exams. And then I also help with applications, right? So the supplemental application, the era's application, personal statements, mock interviews. These are things I've done with for many years with many different people for many different disciplines, many of which are now residents and some of which are now attendance. So I've worked with a lot of people. I have a lot of experience with even being on an admissions committee. So if that's something you need help with, shoot me an email through the website and I'll give you some more information. And then I have a You Tube channel, the Divine Intervention US Emily podcast and videos. That's where I post the videos that I make. And then I also have these podcasts, at least the most recent 150 on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts and Spotify. So if you go on any of those mediums, just look for the Divine Intervention podcast and you find it there. And then the final thing I want to talk about is I have a new website called Divine Intervention, Life Lessons.com. It also has a podcast on Apple podcasts called the Divine Intervention Life Lessons podcast. And basically I was born out of a lot of people saying, oh, Divine, I love the little life lessons you put at the end of your podcast.

So I decided to start our website where I focus exclusively on life lessons. And I use a biblical basis, many of you know I'm a Christian. I use a biblical basis to address many of those ideas. I make about two podcasts a week. So right now we have more than a hundred actually. And the goal is just to, you know, intent of 15 minutes roughly address common problems that are faced by humanity from a biblical perspective. So thank you for listening to me today. I wish all the very best to your application. Have a wonderful rest of your week and God bless. Bye for now.

Making it a "case collection" by dedicating too many paragraphs to individual patient anecdotes without synthesizing them into a core theme.

It must be mentioned; this experience can serve as a crucial part of the application's "secret sauce" and should not be omitted.

Linkers (transitions) are necessary to connect discrete ideas, creating a cohesive narrative chain rather than separate paragraphs.

Humility. While accomplishments should be mentioned, they should not be the central focus of the essay.

Inspirational quotes or "wise sayings" (the inspirational list).

It becomes difficult for the admissions committee member to follow, hindering comprehension. The goal is clarity and accessibility.

It should generally not exceed one and a half pages (though one page is often ideal).

The effort-to-yield ratio is poor; the energy is better spent perfecting an excellent general application that can make a broad impact.

Overly basic, conversational, or slang terms.

Aim for 3-4 big, common threads or major themes that unify the essay.

Being perceived as an extremist or "problem individual," which can negatively impact fit with the residency program culture.

It should generally not exceed one and a half pages (though one page is often ideal).

The effort-to-yield ratio is poor; the energy is better spent perfecting an excellent general application that can make a broad impact.

Overly basic, conversational, or slang terms.

Aim for 3-4 big, common threads or major themes that unify the essay.

Being perceived as an extremist or "problem individual," which can negatively impact fit with the residency program culture.