For lots of students, the personal statement is quite intimidating. Trying to sell yourself to potential universities can seem like a big chunk of work, but the advantage of applying to medicine is that it is out of the way early!

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The most important step is to plan! Jot down any ideas and reflections you could include (see sections needed below) and try to arrange them into a coherent order before you start writing properly. It will take a few revisions (especially when cutting down the character count) but figuring out how you want to present yourself on paper to your chosen universities is also good preparation for interview topics, so a lot of the advice here is applicable at that stage as well.

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Topics you need to write about include work experience, extra-curricular activities/volunteering and why you have a sincere interest in pursuing the degree. Some people choose to write about how their school subjects apply to medicine; this is required for certain universities and is a matter of personal preference for others.

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The introduction and conclusion only need to be several sentences to open naturally and tie up with an impact. Your closing words should be genuine and show motivation for the future – hopefully memorable but not cheesy!

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Writing about your experiences

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Your personal statement is where you relate your learning, work experience, volunteering (absolutely vital for medicine) and hobbies to your personal skills and qualities, and particularly how these would apply to medicine as a career and to your studies. Prove that you have found out about it and are well-suited to the course!

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Even the generic skills gained from activities as diverse as theatre and sport can be linked to medicine, because this career involves a massive range of personal and professional skills. Illustrating interests outside of medicine makes you a well-rounded person that can relate to patients more easily, and you can demonstrate enthusiasm to the interviewer – it could even turn out to be an interest of theirs as well.

 

A crucial aspect is reflection, which is proving that you learnt from your experiences. Simply listing activities and interests or abilities and qualities doesn’t tell admissions staff anything about you as a person – anyone can do that. You need to link what you took from specific examples to the development of your skills and traits.

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When writing about these experiences, don’t write as if you have finished developing skills – you can always improve, and the reason you are going to university is to learn! Show a real willingness to always better yourself; for example, did a particular experience prompt you to explore something further or do something differently?

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Medicine in particular involves years of study after graduating, is always changing and demands learning to adapt to different social groups. If you have something you’d like to become more skilled at, studying medicine should bring that out and this illustrates that you never stop learning.

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Why you want to study medicine

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Explaining why you want to study the subject is crucial – this needs to come from you! Justify these reasons throughout, by demonstrating how your work experience, volunteering, extra-curricular activities and memorable experiences confirmed that this is the career for you. Be honest and genuinely know why you want to do this career, and you will avoid clichés.

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Try not to write about some magical moment of realisation that made you want to be a doctor. Unless it is sincere, admissions staff will see countless poor examples of this. Instead, an event may have caused you to go on and find out more by yourself or change your point of view. Most importantly, do not lie - you will be found out!

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Show enthusiasm for medicine, because the people who are reading your statement will want to teach someone who is passionate about the subject. If you did work experience in something else, briefly link what you did there to what you prefer about medicine in comparison.

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Demonstrate awareness of duties and qualities of a doctor (see GMC Tomorrow’s Doctors, which is a document for potential applicants) – for example, that you observed their importance on work experience. Personally engaging with these show that you know what the job entails; it’s not a huge aspect of your piece, but a few quick examples will help you to stand out.

 

Show that you’ve thought about what the negatives of the sector are and how you plan to deal with them, because it’s not all perfect! Briefly prove you are aware of something such as administrative work taking up a lot of time, that the job can be stressful, you need to be organised to have a good work-life balance, the system is under financial stress so we cannot provide all we would like to or that patients may have unrealistic demands. Consider one or two, but don’t make them a major focus.

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Other tips

 

If you have a particular area of personal interest or unique memorable experience, you could make this a theme for your personal statement – a little like a story of your development and how you took this forward. Take time to brainstorm around these topics to see if one could be useful.

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University websites or information days often indicate specific things they look for, which varies between medical schools. Attempting to cater to all of these is tricky, but the advice above should be applicable for all. Marking criteria for some are available online.

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Be as succinct as possible to keep the character count down and minimise editing later on. Write with strong, positive sentences that present you as proactive and professional person. It is tricky getting the balance between professional and friendly, so your writing style counts for a lot!

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Ask other people for feedback, like teachers (especially careers) and people in the know. However, not everyone will say the same thing, so take advice with a pinch of salt because this is your piece of work! Proofing for spelling and grammar from a few people is absolutely vital (even if it is a bit embarrassing having them read it) - mistakes mean an immediate bad impression.

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UCAS reference

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Your referee should be someone who knows you well and knows what needs to be included in a medical application (usually a teacher). If you know there are particular things that the university wants to see, ask your referee to include them. Medicine is quite specific so lots of staff will appreciate guidance with this - the advice above applies and universities should again provide advice. Top tip: if there are things you can’t fit in your personal statement, request that your referee puts them in the reference!