"It is not the person who has too little, but the person who always craves more, that is poor."
-Ancient Chinese Proverb
Without peace of mind, happiness cannot exist. I have always tried to do what I felt was best for me, as well as those around me. My choosing Psychiatry as a career is no exception. I chose psychiatry because it is one of the only fields of medicine that delves into the more intangible elements of disease-the mental health disorders, which have always fascinated me.
I credit part of my early interest in mental health disorders to my grandmother who is the Director of one of the largest community mental health facilities in Chicago, Illinois, where I was born and raised. I attribute the remainder of my early interest in mental health disorders to my surroundings while growing up in Chicago. Due to my surroundings, I recognized the symptoms of depression long before I could put a name to it. I regularly found myself daydreaming about what I could do to help those around me even as a child and throughout my teenage years. You can imagine my further frustration when I discovered the stigmatism associated with mental illness in my community. Amongst African Americans, and in the United States as a whole, there seemed to be a negative view of people who have mental illnesses. Somehow their chronic illnesses were different from the other more commonly talked about chronic medical illnesses such as hypertension or diabetes mellitus. Yet despite this overbearing negative public opinion, my interest in helping those who are mentally ill only continued to grow. By the time I reached medical school I had no doubt I was going to be a Psychiatrist.
Admittedly, I wavered at times, due to the various pessimistic attitudes and comments of my peers, and at times, my mentors towards the profession. Also, during my Inpatient Psychiatry rotation in my third year of medical school, I encountered my first in depth experience in the field of Psychiatry. I went in to the rotation with dreams of Freudian Psychoanalysis sessions; I left with a reality check that shook me to my core. I quickly learned that the managed care industry, large randomized controlled pharmaceutical trials, and the need for faster modes of therapy had long ago replaced the eclectic treatment form I had dreamed of. What I saw were patients who were severely psychotic, suicidal, homicidal, or a combination of the former. Most of them stayed in the inpatient unit until they were stabilized and then discharged-usually 3 days. Although a much needed service, it was not what I had in mind for my career choice or myself.
As a result, I looked into the other fields of medicine, including Internal Medicine. Internal Medicine appealed to me because it gave me the opportunity to use most of the medical knowledge I was learning in medical school, including Psychiatry. There was a strange comfort in the well-defined diagnostic methods and treatments that I routinely encountered in my rotations, yet I found myself inquiring about patients' moods and dispositions even when it may not have been essential to the case. For example, after hearing how gastric esophageal reflux disease forced a severely obese patient to change their diet, I began to inquire about symptoms of depression in addition to the commonly asked questions in the review of systems. In time, I realized that I was "hard wired" for Psychiatry. I had no desire to "shake" my love of mental disorders-organic or otherwise, however I walked away from the other specialties appreciating the importance of maintaining one's general knowledge of medicine no matter what their specialty may be.
At the beginning of my last year of medical school I was accepted to the Asklepios International Telemedicine Consortium Fellowship in Germany. During my matriculation there I spent time working with Psychiatrists and Trauma Surgeons, and helping with the Telemedical research and testing of a new Global Positioning System based Emergency Medical Response technology for Southern Germany. The new response system allowed the paramedics to enter medical data and have it transferred real-time to the Emergency Physicians- who travel to the scene of the emergency and to the hospital. The software was also programmed to translate between English and German as an incentive for the United States Army to purchase the technology. While there, I discovered that Psychiatry was practiced in the same way overseas as it is in the United States, except equal emphasis was given to pharmaceutical and to non-pharmaceutical adjunctive therapies. Areas of therapy such as psychotherapy, art and music therapy were regularly used with all of the chronic patients. It was a welcome change to what my mind had begun to accept about the practice of Psychiatry.
I came to several realizations during my time there. I realized the importance of language proficiency in the practice of medicine both in the United States and abroad. I also became truly conscious of the importance research plays in the advancement of medicine, whether that research is clinical or technological. Most importantly, I revitalized my faith in Psychiatry and re-realized the important role it plays in the healing process. These realizations were the basis of my decision not to enter the National Residency Match Program in 2004. Instead, I decided to spend the year conducting research. I have had the opportunity to work on research in HIV/AIDS in minority women in Washington, D.C. The results of the research were presented at the July 2004 AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand and published in the annals of the conference.
In early 2005 after "The Match", I spent time in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands Spain in for Spanish language proficiency training, and to experience another facet of medicine abroad. My stay in was only for 2 months, as I had already had the opportunity to study Spanish in high school and undergraduate college. The nine weeks of linguistic-cultural immersion was adequate to push my Spanish-speaking ability to a medically functional level. I plan to continue my study of Spanish with a focus on medical Spanish to implement it during my Psychiatric career.
So how have research and traveling abroad play into my career in Psychiatry? I would ultimately like to work with the World Psychiatric Organization in some capacity in the future. Politics has always interested me; its role in the advancement of medicine has already been established worldwide. My other areas of interest include Disaster and HIV/AIDS Psychiatry. Eventually, I would like to participate in collaborative international research initiatives dealing with the acute treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, especially in war torn countries.
Then again, one does not have to travel to a foreign country; you can find a "war torn" atmosphere in almost any inner-city community in the United States. Eventually I would like to start multiple multi-service, multi-ethnic community based clinics in major cities around the United States. My aim is to have the clinics funded by federal and private grants and investments as well as by the other revenue they bring in. My goal is to provide the surrounding communities, especially those of underserved populations, with mental health care, primary care, complimentary and alternative medicine and social services. I had the opportunity to work in a clinic that was very much like what I have envisioned myself creating in the future. Yet, the clinic was founded to serve a very specific population and thus was limited in its spectrum of care.
I have undeniably cast my net of future goals very wide. However, I am already on my way to fulfilling my goals and dreams. I am currently a Post Graduate Year One resident at in the George Washington University Medical Center Psychiatry Department. While the busy work schedule of Intern year has not allowed much time for dream fulfillment, I have had the chance to start attending the Hospital Emergency Preparedness meetings. I truly view this opportunity as an honor because I am one of the few residents who attend these meetings. The prospect of jointly working on a Masters of Science degree in Public Health during my residency also represents another possible "stepping stone" along my path of goal fulfillment. Regardless of how my career development unfolds, over the years, I know I will significantly impact the vast morbidity that mental health disorders represent in the world today-in our country and abroad.
Friday, June 27, 2008
SAMPLE SOP - PSYCHIATRY 1
When I started medical school 10 years ago I had just graduated with honors from a good university, and I thought I knew something. Only later did I discover how ignorant I had been about mental illness.
Back then I had no idea how common the serious mental illnesses are, and when I thought about them at all I had a vague idea that mental illness was a sort of permanent generic weirdness that ran in families: something out of Arsenic and Old Lace. My only encounter with psychiatry had been an uninspired lecture during my college pre-med seminar from a psychiatrist who seemed more odd himself than the patients he described. I still have the homework from that class on which I wrote "psychiatry is definitely a low-interest career for me."
The first hint of interest came in my required neuroscience and human behavior courses in the first year of medical school. I found the brain, with its connections to our very selves and its complex physiology, infinitely more interesting than (say) the heart, which can after all be replaced by an artificial pump and in which nearly every cell does the same thing. Still, I had a hard time imagining myself as a psychiatrist. My student clerkship in neurology should have been a clue since I thoroughly enjoyed the rotation but found the nervous system below the neck a complete bore.
The turning point for my career was my student psychiatry rotation at John Umstead State Hospital in Butner, North Carolina, where I learned three crucial lessons. The major psychiatric illnesses are syndromes. They are common and serious but often treatable. And I love being a psychiatrist.
My first patient had never read a psychiatry textbook but showed every textbook feature of mania. Her thoughts were confused and she was essentially unable to function. After a week of lithium the difference in her behavior and ability to function was astounding. It was obvious to me that mania was a syndrome: a collection of medical symptoms shared by many patients, usually with the same underlying physiology. The idea that her manic behavior could be merely a personal idiosyncrasy seemed ludicrous. I wanted to know right then what wasn't working right in her brain when she was ill, why it wasn't working right, and why it worked so much better with lithium.
This patient and others at the state hospital also taught me that psychiatric illnesses are the most human of all illnesses. A broken leg or an infected lung affects a peripheral part of someone: it doesn't change one's perceptions, one's emotions, one's thought patterns, even one's very self-image. I previously had no idea of the stigma patients faced in the world in general and even among the general medical community. I also had no idea that with proper diagnosis and treatment many people with psychotic illnesses could return to perfectly normal lives.
Knowing about a patient's life and social setting, theoretically important for any doctor, was finally considered a genuine part of my job. I came home enthusiastic about trying to help my patients. For the first time, I found myself reading widely in the medical literature because I cared passionately about the answers rather than because I had to. And best of all, often my patients got better, and sometimes it was even because of something I did. I loved being a psychiatrist.
These three lessons from my medical student days are still a big part of why I chose psychiatry for my medical specialty training. But why do I also do science?
In part it's because I am still fascinated with how the brain works, both in health and in illness. In part it's because of my own personality features. But a big part of the answer is my conviction that the best answers for my patients will eventually come from scientific research.
It is true that our current treatments for schizophrenia, manic-depressive illness, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depression, and panic disorder help millions of patients, and our knowledge of effective psychiatric treatments has improved more in the last 20 years than in the entire preceding history of the world. But as many readers well know, we haven't arrived yet. Most treatments leave something to be desired. For instance, antipsychotic medications have many annoying and sometimes serious side effects. Antiobsessional treatments usually reduce symptoms only partially. And none of the current treatments for these conditions is usually curative. Further knowledge of the causes and physiology behind these illnesses is bound to lead to better treatment.
I know better than to hope that all my research efforts will lead to better treatment. The progress of science tends to be more like tracing a maze than like riding down a well-marked highway. After all, the only way to know for sure which studies will be successful and which won't is to know the answer beforehand, in which case we wouldn't have to do the experiment. But even though I know there will be some blind alleys in research, I am optimistic about the long-term outcome. I take heart from remembering three of the major psychiatric illnesses of a century ago: neurosyphilis, untreated epilepsy, and mental retardation due to dietary iodine deficiency. Scientific effort in the 19th century--including work by the psychiatrists Antoine Bayle, Hans Berger, and Julius Wagner-Jauregg--succeeded in demystifying, destigmatizing, treating, curing, or even preventing millions of cases of psychiatric complications of these illnesses. There is every reason to hope that the powerful research tools of the 20th and 21st centuries will make similar advances with schizophrenia and the other major psychiatric illnesses of today.
I believe modern neuroscience research will continue to make progress despite some significant challenges. For instance, medical research nowadays depends much more than it used to on the generosity of private donors, since NIH funding hasn't generally kept up with inflation and since Federal grants now cover less of the total cost of the research effort. Furthermore, even very productive researchers face increasingly stiff competition for these NIH funds, and the medical schools which employ them are facing dire economic straits themselves. Consequently, private funding is more important than ever to help keep good research going between Federal grants. In my case, I am very grateful to NARSAD and its many donors for helping me at this early stage in my research career.
My NARSAD-funded research study was first motivated by a patient with Parkinson's disease whom I saw at the beginning of my movement disorders training. Initially she was tearful, sad, apathetic about former interests, and disinterested in food, and she was considering suicide. An hour later, when her morning dose of antiparkinsonian medication had "kicked in," she was telling jokes, showing off, and feeling "on top of the world." This woman had mood fluctuations which paralleled fluctuations in her brain dopamine levels. By comparing patients like this one to patients whose mood stays steady even though their ability to move fluctuates throughout the day, my NARSAD research will attempt to discover which areas of the brain (and which kind(s) of dopamine receptor) may be more involved with mood symptoms, and which with movement.
My other current research efforts include PET studies to determine which parts of the normal brain are more influenced by each dopamine receptor subtype, as well as PET and MRI studies of dystonia. Dystonia means characteristic twisting or pulling movements of the body (like writer's cramp or torticollis) which can occur for various reasons, including as a side effect of antipsychotic medication.
Research has its ups and downs, like any sustained effort, but I live for those days when we do a new type of study for the first time, or days when we get results that may explain how part of the brain works. Although I love these moments, what keeps me going the rest of the time is my continued contact with patients. The woman I mentioned with Parkinson's disease and medication-related mood changes is one example. Other patients--like a woman in her 80s getting treatment for the first time for lifelong Tourette syndrome, or a man with Huntington's disease and severe apathy--remind me of how much we have yet to learn about how the brain produces psychiatric symptoms.
These patients also remind me that there is an important part of medical practice outside of diagnosis, treatment or even cure. No matter how much medical science progresses, and whether or not there is a "miracle" treatment or even any treatment for a given patient, that patient will still need a doctor who is knowledgeable, compassionate, supportive and understanding. Hopefully in the future, when psychiatric illnesses are even more treatable than they are today, we as physicians will still be striving for this ideal.
Back then I had no idea how common the serious mental illnesses are, and when I thought about them at all I had a vague idea that mental illness was a sort of permanent generic weirdness that ran in families: something out of Arsenic and Old Lace. My only encounter with psychiatry had been an uninspired lecture during my college pre-med seminar from a psychiatrist who seemed more odd himself than the patients he described. I still have the homework from that class on which I wrote "psychiatry is definitely a low-interest career for me."
The first hint of interest came in my required neuroscience and human behavior courses in the first year of medical school. I found the brain, with its connections to our very selves and its complex physiology, infinitely more interesting than (say) the heart, which can after all be replaced by an artificial pump and in which nearly every cell does the same thing. Still, I had a hard time imagining myself as a psychiatrist. My student clerkship in neurology should have been a clue since I thoroughly enjoyed the rotation but found the nervous system below the neck a complete bore.
The turning point for my career was my student psychiatry rotation at John Umstead State Hospital in Butner, North Carolina, where I learned three crucial lessons. The major psychiatric illnesses are syndromes. They are common and serious but often treatable. And I love being a psychiatrist.
My first patient had never read a psychiatry textbook but showed every textbook feature of mania. Her thoughts were confused and she was essentially unable to function. After a week of lithium the difference in her behavior and ability to function was astounding. It was obvious to me that mania was a syndrome: a collection of medical symptoms shared by many patients, usually with the same underlying physiology. The idea that her manic behavior could be merely a personal idiosyncrasy seemed ludicrous. I wanted to know right then what wasn't working right in her brain when she was ill, why it wasn't working right, and why it worked so much better with lithium.
This patient and others at the state hospital also taught me that psychiatric illnesses are the most human of all illnesses. A broken leg or an infected lung affects a peripheral part of someone: it doesn't change one's perceptions, one's emotions, one's thought patterns, even one's very self-image. I previously had no idea of the stigma patients faced in the world in general and even among the general medical community. I also had no idea that with proper diagnosis and treatment many people with psychotic illnesses could return to perfectly normal lives.
Knowing about a patient's life and social setting, theoretically important for any doctor, was finally considered a genuine part of my job. I came home enthusiastic about trying to help my patients. For the first time, I found myself reading widely in the medical literature because I cared passionately about the answers rather than because I had to. And best of all, often my patients got better, and sometimes it was even because of something I did. I loved being a psychiatrist.
These three lessons from my medical student days are still a big part of why I chose psychiatry for my medical specialty training. But why do I also do science?
In part it's because I am still fascinated with how the brain works, both in health and in illness. In part it's because of my own personality features. But a big part of the answer is my conviction that the best answers for my patients will eventually come from scientific research.
It is true that our current treatments for schizophrenia, manic-depressive illness, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depression, and panic disorder help millions of patients, and our knowledge of effective psychiatric treatments has improved more in the last 20 years than in the entire preceding history of the world. But as many readers well know, we haven't arrived yet. Most treatments leave something to be desired. For instance, antipsychotic medications have many annoying and sometimes serious side effects. Antiobsessional treatments usually reduce symptoms only partially. And none of the current treatments for these conditions is usually curative. Further knowledge of the causes and physiology behind these illnesses is bound to lead to better treatment.
I know better than to hope that all my research efforts will lead to better treatment. The progress of science tends to be more like tracing a maze than like riding down a well-marked highway. After all, the only way to know for sure which studies will be successful and which won't is to know the answer beforehand, in which case we wouldn't have to do the experiment. But even though I know there will be some blind alleys in research, I am optimistic about the long-term outcome. I take heart from remembering three of the major psychiatric illnesses of a century ago: neurosyphilis, untreated epilepsy, and mental retardation due to dietary iodine deficiency. Scientific effort in the 19th century--including work by the psychiatrists Antoine Bayle, Hans Berger, and Julius Wagner-Jauregg--succeeded in demystifying, destigmatizing, treating, curing, or even preventing millions of cases of psychiatric complications of these illnesses. There is every reason to hope that the powerful research tools of the 20th and 21st centuries will make similar advances with schizophrenia and the other major psychiatric illnesses of today.
I believe modern neuroscience research will continue to make progress despite some significant challenges. For instance, medical research nowadays depends much more than it used to on the generosity of private donors, since NIH funding hasn't generally kept up with inflation and since Federal grants now cover less of the total cost of the research effort. Furthermore, even very productive researchers face increasingly stiff competition for these NIH funds, and the medical schools which employ them are facing dire economic straits themselves. Consequently, private funding is more important than ever to help keep good research going between Federal grants. In my case, I am very grateful to NARSAD and its many donors for helping me at this early stage in my research career.
My NARSAD-funded research study was first motivated by a patient with Parkinson's disease whom I saw at the beginning of my movement disorders training. Initially she was tearful, sad, apathetic about former interests, and disinterested in food, and she was considering suicide. An hour later, when her morning dose of antiparkinsonian medication had "kicked in," she was telling jokes, showing off, and feeling "on top of the world." This woman had mood fluctuations which paralleled fluctuations in her brain dopamine levels. By comparing patients like this one to patients whose mood stays steady even though their ability to move fluctuates throughout the day, my NARSAD research will attempt to discover which areas of the brain (and which kind(s) of dopamine receptor) may be more involved with mood symptoms, and which with movement.
My other current research efforts include PET studies to determine which parts of the normal brain are more influenced by each dopamine receptor subtype, as well as PET and MRI studies of dystonia. Dystonia means characteristic twisting or pulling movements of the body (like writer's cramp or torticollis) which can occur for various reasons, including as a side effect of antipsychotic medication.
Research has its ups and downs, like any sustained effort, but I live for those days when we do a new type of study for the first time, or days when we get results that may explain how part of the brain works. Although I love these moments, what keeps me going the rest of the time is my continued contact with patients. The woman I mentioned with Parkinson's disease and medication-related mood changes is one example. Other patients--like a woman in her 80s getting treatment for the first time for lifelong Tourette syndrome, or a man with Huntington's disease and severe apathy--remind me of how much we have yet to learn about how the brain produces psychiatric symptoms.
These patients also remind me that there is an important part of medical practice outside of diagnosis, treatment or even cure. No matter how much medical science progresses, and whether or not there is a "miracle" treatment or even any treatment for a given patient, that patient will still need a doctor who is knowledgeable, compassionate, supportive and understanding. Hopefully in the future, when psychiatric illnesses are even more treatable than they are today, we as physicians will still be striving for this ideal.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
SAMPLE SOP - ANESTHESIA
For me the magic of medicine is profoundly reinforced by how we are now able to make even major surgery virtually painless. This is where I find my greatest joy and pride in life as a practitioner of anesthesiology. I am searching for my first residency assignment and hope very much to be chosen by your program. I am a very family oriented person and my family
is now mostly on the West Coast of the U.S. So, this is the geographical location that I would prefer for my first residency assignment, preferably Washington, Oregon, or California. My family is my main support system, especially since my father recently just passed away.
I feel strongly that Chinese women have much to contribute to American medicine and that our insights are complimentary to that of physicians from the West, that we often make an excellent team. Being a team player, of course, is very Chinese. I was born in China and immigrated to Hong Kong as a child, so I was already westernized somewhat by the time that I came to the U.S. as an exchange student at the age of seventeen. This experience taught me early on to rely on myself and be a
quick thinker and learner, since I came here by myself without any relatives or knowing anyone at that time. After completing high school here, I went on to study nursing in the University and completed my BSN. Next, I worked as a nurse for five
years and then went on to medical school. I recently received my M.D. Degree.
In addition to my education, my application is strengthened considerably by my professional experience. I worked in various fields in nursing prior to going to medical school: medical, surgical, obstetric-gynecology, same-day surgery, rehab, nursing home, critical care, etc. Thus, I have already had a lot of exposure to a variety of health care settings and I am highly familiar
with the practice of many different aspects of medicine.My experience in critical care nursing is especially relevant to my decision to practice anesthesiology as a physician because I
have a lot of experience dealing with very sick patients who need to be constantly monitored and, often, in need of rapid life-saving interventions needed. I am especially accustomed to IV monitoring and numerous other procedures that the anesthesiologist needs to have mastered. I am especially comfortable working in the critical area of emergency room care. I
am someone who communicates well with non-native speakers of English and people from all walks of life. I keep a cool head in emergencies and work best under pressure. It is my hope as well to be able to use my linguistic skills in the course of my work as a resident physician in the area of anesthesiology. Since I am a native speaker of both Mandarin and Cantonese, I
might be able to make a special contribution to your program since there are so many immigrant speakers of these languages in America, especially on the West Coast.
I felt most ‘at home’ in the practice of medicine when I was doing my rotation in anesthesiology. I take great pride and find great joy in dealing with one patient at a time, physiology, pharmacology, etc. I have received excellent evaluations primarily because I give my all and I have become highly skilled at treating patients and making correct medical decisions. The greatest
contribution that I might be able to make to my society is to help people survive the Operating Room with minimal discomfort. I want to be that person who has the primary responsibility to make sure that operating room patients are safe and they do not have to suffer beyond what is absolutely necessary. This is where I find my greatest joy.
I received a full scholarship for my entire medical school education at the University of XXXX’s School of Medicine in XXXX, and graduated in June of 2007. I also did my rotations in XXXX and received high marks for my evaluations as well as on the XXXX. I look forward to bringing my outstanding credentials to your residency program and working shoulder to shoulder to make the experience of anesthesia everything that it should be in our modern world of advanced medicine. I want to thank you for consideration of my application.
is now mostly on the West Coast of the U.S. So, this is the geographical location that I would prefer for my first residency assignment, preferably Washington, Oregon, or California. My family is my main support system, especially since my father recently just passed away.
I feel strongly that Chinese women have much to contribute to American medicine and that our insights are complimentary to that of physicians from the West, that we often make an excellent team. Being a team player, of course, is very Chinese. I was born in China and immigrated to Hong Kong as a child, so I was already westernized somewhat by the time that I came to the U.S. as an exchange student at the age of seventeen. This experience taught me early on to rely on myself and be a
quick thinker and learner, since I came here by myself without any relatives or knowing anyone at that time. After completing high school here, I went on to study nursing in the University and completed my BSN. Next, I worked as a nurse for five
years and then went on to medical school. I recently received my M.D. Degree.
In addition to my education, my application is strengthened considerably by my professional experience. I worked in various fields in nursing prior to going to medical school: medical, surgical, obstetric-gynecology, same-day surgery, rehab, nursing home, critical care, etc. Thus, I have already had a lot of exposure to a variety of health care settings and I am highly familiar
with the practice of many different aspects of medicine.My experience in critical care nursing is especially relevant to my decision to practice anesthesiology as a physician because I
have a lot of experience dealing with very sick patients who need to be constantly monitored and, often, in need of rapid life-saving interventions needed. I am especially accustomed to IV monitoring and numerous other procedures that the anesthesiologist needs to have mastered. I am especially comfortable working in the critical area of emergency room care. I
am someone who communicates well with non-native speakers of English and people from all walks of life. I keep a cool head in emergencies and work best under pressure. It is my hope as well to be able to use my linguistic skills in the course of my work as a resident physician in the area of anesthesiology. Since I am a native speaker of both Mandarin and Cantonese, I
might be able to make a special contribution to your program since there are so many immigrant speakers of these languages in America, especially on the West Coast.
I felt most ‘at home’ in the practice of medicine when I was doing my rotation in anesthesiology. I take great pride and find great joy in dealing with one patient at a time, physiology, pharmacology, etc. I have received excellent evaluations primarily because I give my all and I have become highly skilled at treating patients and making correct medical decisions. The greatest
contribution that I might be able to make to my society is to help people survive the Operating Room with minimal discomfort. I want to be that person who has the primary responsibility to make sure that operating room patients are safe and they do not have to suffer beyond what is absolutely necessary. This is where I find my greatest joy.
I received a full scholarship for my entire medical school education at the University of XXXX’s School of Medicine in XXXX, and graduated in June of 2007. I also did my rotations in XXXX and received high marks for my evaluations as well as on the XXXX. I look forward to bringing my outstanding credentials to your residency program and working shoulder to shoulder to make the experience of anesthesia everything that it should be in our modern world of advanced medicine. I want to thank you for consideration of my application.
Monday, June 23, 2008
SAMPLE SOP - EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Emergency 911 – The Two Faces of Urban Medicine
"Call 911!" I shouted to my friend as I sprinted down the street. The young Caucasian male had been thrown fifteen yards from the site of impact and surprisingly was still conscious upon my arrival. "My name is Michael. Can you tell me your name?" In his late twenties, he gasped in response as his eyes searched desperately in every direction for help, for comfort, for assurance, for loved ones, for death, until his eyes met mine. "Flail chest", I thought to myself as I unbuttoned his shirt and placed my backpack upon his right side. "Pulse 98, respiration 28 short and quick. Help is on the way. Hang in there buddy." I urged. After assessing the patient, the gravity of the situation struck me with sobriety. The adrenaline was no longer running through my veins — this was real. His right leg was mangled with a compound fracture, and his left leg was also obviously broken. The tow-truck that had hit him looked as though it had run into a telephone pole. Traffic had ceased on the six-lane road, and a large crowd had gathered. However, no one was by my side to help. "Get me some blankets from that motel!" I yelled to a bystander and three people immediately fled. I was in charge. The patient was no longer conscious; his pulse was faint and respiration was low. "Stay with me, man!" I yelled. "15 to 1, 15 to 1", I thought as I rehearsed CPR in my mind. Suddenly he stopped breathing. Without hesitation, I removed my T-shirt and created a makeshift barrier between his mouth and mine through which I proceeded to administer two breaths. No response. And furthermore, there was no pulse. I began CPR. I continued for approximately five minutes until the paramedics arrived, but it was too late. I had lost my first patient.
Medicine. I had always imagined it as saving lives, curing ailments, alleviating pain, overall making life better for everyone. However, as I watched the paramedics pull the sheets over the victim's head, I began to tremble. I had learned my first lesson of medicine: for all its power, medicine cannot always prevail. I had experienced one of the most disheartening and demoralizing aspects of medicine and faced it. I also demonstrated then that I know how to cope with a life and death emergency with confidence, a confidence instilled in me by my certification as an Emergency Medical Technician, a confidence that I had the ability to take charge of a desperate situation and help someone in critical need. This pivotal incident confirmed my decision to pursue medicine as a career.
Of course healing, curing and saving is much more rewarding than trying and failing. As an EMT I was exposed to these satisfying aspects of medicine in a setting very new to me — urban medicine. I spent most of a summer doing ride-a-longs with the Ambulance Company in Houston. Every call we received dealt with Latino patients either speaking only Spanish or very little broken English. I suddenly realized the importance of understanding a foreign culture and language in the practice of medicine, particularly when serving an under-served majority. In transporting patients from the field to the hospitals I saw the community’s reduced access to medical care due to a lack of physicians able to communicate with and understand their patients. I decided to minor in Spanish. Having almost completed my minor, I have not only expanded my academic horizons, I have gained a cultural awareness I feel is indispensable in today's diverse society.
Throughout my undergraduate years at Berkeley I have combined my scientific interests with my passion for the Hispanic culture and language. I have even blended the two with my interests in medicine. During my sophomore year I volunteered at a medical clinic in the rural town of Chacala, Mexico. In Mexico for one month I shadowed a doctor in the clinic and was concurrently enrolled in classes for medical Spanish. It was in Chacala, hundreds of miles away from home, that I witnessed medicine practiced as I imagined it should be. Seeing the doctor treat his patients with skill and compassion as fellow human beings rather than simply diseases to be outsmarted, I realized he was truly helping the people of Chacala in a manner unique to medicine. Fascinated by this exposure to clinical medicine, I saw medicine’s ability to make a difference in people’s lives. For me the disciplines of Spanish and science have become inseparable, and I plan to pursue a career in urban medicine that allows me to integrate them.
Having seen medicine’s different sides, I view medicine as a multi-faceted profession. I have witnessed its power as a healing agent in rural Chacala, and I have seen its weakness when I met death face-to-face as an EMT. Inspired by the Latino community of Houston, I realize the benefits of viewing it from a holistic, culturally aware perspective. And whatever the outcome of the cry, "Call 911!" I look forward as a physician to experiencing the satisfaction of saving lives, curing ailments, alleviating pain, and overall making life better for my patients.
"Call 911!" I shouted to my friend as I sprinted down the street. The young Caucasian male had been thrown fifteen yards from the site of impact and surprisingly was still conscious upon my arrival. "My name is Michael. Can you tell me your name?" In his late twenties, he gasped in response as his eyes searched desperately in every direction for help, for comfort, for assurance, for loved ones, for death, until his eyes met mine. "Flail chest", I thought to myself as I unbuttoned his shirt and placed my backpack upon his right side. "Pulse 98, respiration 28 short and quick. Help is on the way. Hang in there buddy." I urged. After assessing the patient, the gravity of the situation struck me with sobriety. The adrenaline was no longer running through my veins — this was real. His right leg was mangled with a compound fracture, and his left leg was also obviously broken. The tow-truck that had hit him looked as though it had run into a telephone pole. Traffic had ceased on the six-lane road, and a large crowd had gathered. However, no one was by my side to help. "Get me some blankets from that motel!" I yelled to a bystander and three people immediately fled. I was in charge. The patient was no longer conscious; his pulse was faint and respiration was low. "Stay with me, man!" I yelled. "15 to 1, 15 to 1", I thought as I rehearsed CPR in my mind. Suddenly he stopped breathing. Without hesitation, I removed my T-shirt and created a makeshift barrier between his mouth and mine through which I proceeded to administer two breaths. No response. And furthermore, there was no pulse. I began CPR. I continued for approximately five minutes until the paramedics arrived, but it was too late. I had lost my first patient.
Medicine. I had always imagined it as saving lives, curing ailments, alleviating pain, overall making life better for everyone. However, as I watched the paramedics pull the sheets over the victim's head, I began to tremble. I had learned my first lesson of medicine: for all its power, medicine cannot always prevail. I had experienced one of the most disheartening and demoralizing aspects of medicine and faced it. I also demonstrated then that I know how to cope with a life and death emergency with confidence, a confidence instilled in me by my certification as an Emergency Medical Technician, a confidence that I had the ability to take charge of a desperate situation and help someone in critical need. This pivotal incident confirmed my decision to pursue medicine as a career.
Of course healing, curing and saving is much more rewarding than trying and failing. As an EMT I was exposed to these satisfying aspects of medicine in a setting very new to me — urban medicine. I spent most of a summer doing ride-a-longs with the Ambulance Company in Houston. Every call we received dealt with Latino patients either speaking only Spanish or very little broken English. I suddenly realized the importance of understanding a foreign culture and language in the practice of medicine, particularly when serving an under-served majority. In transporting patients from the field to the hospitals I saw the community’s reduced access to medical care due to a lack of physicians able to communicate with and understand their patients. I decided to minor in Spanish. Having almost completed my minor, I have not only expanded my academic horizons, I have gained a cultural awareness I feel is indispensable in today's diverse society.
Throughout my undergraduate years at Berkeley I have combined my scientific interests with my passion for the Hispanic culture and language. I have even blended the two with my interests in medicine. During my sophomore year I volunteered at a medical clinic in the rural town of Chacala, Mexico. In Mexico for one month I shadowed a doctor in the clinic and was concurrently enrolled in classes for medical Spanish. It was in Chacala, hundreds of miles away from home, that I witnessed medicine practiced as I imagined it should be. Seeing the doctor treat his patients with skill and compassion as fellow human beings rather than simply diseases to be outsmarted, I realized he was truly helping the people of Chacala in a manner unique to medicine. Fascinated by this exposure to clinical medicine, I saw medicine’s ability to make a difference in people’s lives. For me the disciplines of Spanish and science have become inseparable, and I plan to pursue a career in urban medicine that allows me to integrate them.
Having seen medicine’s different sides, I view medicine as a multi-faceted profession. I have witnessed its power as a healing agent in rural Chacala, and I have seen its weakness when I met death face-to-face as an EMT. Inspired by the Latino community of Houston, I realize the benefits of viewing it from a holistic, culturally aware perspective. And whatever the outcome of the cry, "Call 911!" I look forward as a physician to experiencing the satisfaction of saving lives, curing ailments, alleviating pain, and overall making life better for my patients.
SAMPLE SOP - PEDIATRICS
Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”- John F Kennedy.
I strongly believe that the responsibility of a pediatrician is to literally take care of the future of the world. This is why I am attracted to working as a pediatrician, in order to have a tremendous, long-term impact by taking an active role in the healthy development of children. I hope to bring my finally honed skills to your residency program in Pediatrics and I want to thank you for considering my application.
Being born into a family of the medically underserved in rural India, there was only one primary health care center staffed by one pediatrician and a handful of nurses. The only doctor in the clinic had been trained as a pediatrician and was seen as a god by the villagers; I was deeply impressed by how much the people genuinely loved him and this goes a
long way to explaining my early interest in becoming a pediatrician. Now, I would like to serve as an advocate for children in the community and encourage them to develop their talents and promote healthy lifestyles. I am fascinated and very enthused about opportunities in prevention of childhood health problems. I am perhaps most distinguished by my dedication to helping kids in medically underserved areas. It is my spirituality, my way of contributing to the
community, supporting and serving as a good example to my family as well. I have been groomed from early childhood for a life of service to others and I have always lived this calling in a very serious way. I believe that the seriousness that is attached to the educational process in Indian culture has helped me to become one of the most highly-motivated
doctors in the profession. Serious and dedicated are the words that best describe my character and life philosophy. Pediatrics will enable me to make the most positive and lasting impact possible over the long term, treating everywhere from two-week-old new infants check to sixteen year olds asking for contraception. I find the care of patients from
birth to adulthood to be especially satisfying since I have always had a deep and abiding special love for children and look forward forming the types of enduring relationships that a characterize a distinguished pediatrician, especially as patients and their families mature and learn over time.
Studying towards my Master of Science degree represented some of the most enriching months of my life. I have also very much benefited from doing clinical XXXX rotations in surgery, medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics, and gynecology for one year in Miraj, following my graduation from medical school. Though I have appreciated the educational opportunity represented by the treatment of adults, I have unequalled enthusiasm for my pediatric patients because I feel that I have a natural ability to create rapport with children and gain their confidence which is all important
to their successful treatment. This was the reason why I was a favorite intern for many where I worked.
After finishing these XXXX rotations, I spent one and a half years working at XXXX Hospital, also in my native India, with a broad variety of patients from various economic, social and cultural backgrounds and collaborated with national health programs established by the XXXX Organization, such as Pulse Polio and Universal Immunization programs. I also worked with various other non-profit organizations such as the XXXX’s and Rotary clubs. I have developed a
special interest in mentally and physically challenged children and bringing smiles to their faces has been incredibly rewarding. These volunteer and extracurricular experiences have helped me to develop the communication skills that I will need for fully successful relationships with pediatric patients, families, and co-workers alike.
I see practicing medicine in the United States as a personal challenge, and an enormously important professional experience. And, so, I immigrated to the United States where I would be best able to prepare myself for this challenge through the completion of a related Masters program. The fact that the incidence of childhood obesity is rapidly rising throughout the world and especially in industrialized nations such as the United States because of the sedentary lifestyle
and unhealthy dietary habits, helped to inspire me to enroll in and complete the Master of Science program in Exercise Physiology at XXXX University in Wichita Falls, Texas. I am especially intrigued by the way that lessons learned at a young age, especially those related to exercise and health choices, tend to stay with one through life and I see the pediatrician as someone who has a responsibility to encourage children and their families to practice preventive
medicine. I look forward to helping people to understand the singular importance of physical exercise for each and every member of the family, in addition to a balanced diet. I also have professional teaching experience as an assistant for an exercise prescription lab, teaching undergraduate students the importance of healthy diet and exercise.
For the past two months, I have been enjoying the privilege of working as an observer and assistant in pediatrics, under Dr. XXXX in Wichita Falls. Here, I have come to better understood the United States health care system, the ethical and professional challenges faced by a pediatrician and to more fully appreciate the importance of having the wide base of knowledge that one needs to treat the unique and highly diverse pediatric illnesses that face the physician in America. I feel like this observer ship under Dr. XXXX is the final passage of optimal preparation for a full participation in a residency program in pediatrics. After giving my all to a residency program, I envision establishing myself in an area of the U.S. that is medically underserved and working towards
increasing the accessibility and quality of healthcare that is offered. I hope to have the opportunity to focus my energies fully on a life-long learning process concerning the most dynamic field of Pediatrics, bringing the spirit and dedication of my native India to the healing process in your health care institution
I strongly believe that the responsibility of a pediatrician is to literally take care of the future of the world. This is why I am attracted to working as a pediatrician, in order to have a tremendous, long-term impact by taking an active role in the healthy development of children. I hope to bring my finally honed skills to your residency program in Pediatrics and I want to thank you for considering my application.
Being born into a family of the medically underserved in rural India, there was only one primary health care center staffed by one pediatrician and a handful of nurses. The only doctor in the clinic had been trained as a pediatrician and was seen as a god by the villagers; I was deeply impressed by how much the people genuinely loved him and this goes a
long way to explaining my early interest in becoming a pediatrician. Now, I would like to serve as an advocate for children in the community and encourage them to develop their talents and promote healthy lifestyles. I am fascinated and very enthused about opportunities in prevention of childhood health problems. I am perhaps most distinguished by my dedication to helping kids in medically underserved areas. It is my spirituality, my way of contributing to the
community, supporting and serving as a good example to my family as well. I have been groomed from early childhood for a life of service to others and I have always lived this calling in a very serious way. I believe that the seriousness that is attached to the educational process in Indian culture has helped me to become one of the most highly-motivated
doctors in the profession. Serious and dedicated are the words that best describe my character and life philosophy. Pediatrics will enable me to make the most positive and lasting impact possible over the long term, treating everywhere from two-week-old new infants check to sixteen year olds asking for contraception. I find the care of patients from
birth to adulthood to be especially satisfying since I have always had a deep and abiding special love for children and look forward forming the types of enduring relationships that a characterize a distinguished pediatrician, especially as patients and their families mature and learn over time.
Studying towards my Master of Science degree represented some of the most enriching months of my life. I have also very much benefited from doing clinical XXXX rotations in surgery, medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics, and gynecology for one year in Miraj, following my graduation from medical school. Though I have appreciated the educational opportunity represented by the treatment of adults, I have unequalled enthusiasm for my pediatric patients because I feel that I have a natural ability to create rapport with children and gain their confidence which is all important
to their successful treatment. This was the reason why I was a favorite intern for many where I worked.
After finishing these XXXX rotations, I spent one and a half years working at XXXX Hospital, also in my native India, with a broad variety of patients from various economic, social and cultural backgrounds and collaborated with national health programs established by the XXXX Organization, such as Pulse Polio and Universal Immunization programs. I also worked with various other non-profit organizations such as the XXXX’s and Rotary clubs. I have developed a
special interest in mentally and physically challenged children and bringing smiles to their faces has been incredibly rewarding. These volunteer and extracurricular experiences have helped me to develop the communication skills that I will need for fully successful relationships with pediatric patients, families, and co-workers alike.
I see practicing medicine in the United States as a personal challenge, and an enormously important professional experience. And, so, I immigrated to the United States where I would be best able to prepare myself for this challenge through the completion of a related Masters program. The fact that the incidence of childhood obesity is rapidly rising throughout the world and especially in industrialized nations such as the United States because of the sedentary lifestyle
and unhealthy dietary habits, helped to inspire me to enroll in and complete the Master of Science program in Exercise Physiology at XXXX University in Wichita Falls, Texas. I am especially intrigued by the way that lessons learned at a young age, especially those related to exercise and health choices, tend to stay with one through life and I see the pediatrician as someone who has a responsibility to encourage children and their families to practice preventive
medicine. I look forward to helping people to understand the singular importance of physical exercise for each and every member of the family, in addition to a balanced diet. I also have professional teaching experience as an assistant for an exercise prescription lab, teaching undergraduate students the importance of healthy diet and exercise.
For the past two months, I have been enjoying the privilege of working as an observer and assistant in pediatrics, under Dr. XXXX in Wichita Falls. Here, I have come to better understood the United States health care system, the ethical and professional challenges faced by a pediatrician and to more fully appreciate the importance of having the wide base of knowledge that one needs to treat the unique and highly diverse pediatric illnesses that face the physician in America. I feel like this observer ship under Dr. XXXX is the final passage of optimal preparation for a full participation in a residency program in pediatrics. After giving my all to a residency program, I envision establishing myself in an area of the U.S. that is medically underserved and working towards
increasing the accessibility and quality of healthcare that is offered. I hope to have the opportunity to focus my energies fully on a life-long learning process concerning the most dynamic field of Pediatrics, bringing the spirit and dedication of my native India to the healing process in your health care institution
SAMPLE SOP - INTERNAL MEDICINE
I am writing this essay in support of my application for your Medical Residency Program in the area of internal medicine. I am a 29 year old Asian woman who now lives in Cambridge in the UK. I hope to be accepted into a residency program in the United States in Internal Medicine. I was born and raised in Bangalore, India and I currently hold an MBBS (India) Degree and the MRCP (UK) Degree. In addition to English, I am fully competent in written and spoken Kannada as well as Hindi. Having completed a 3 year Residency Program and having earned my MRCP here in
England, I am keen to train in a highly reputable residency program in internal medicine in the USA. My most passionate, specific focus at this time has to do with cutting edge research and development in the area of Pulmonology. I am an experienced researcher and a published author in the area of medicine, especially in the area of breathing, and I look forward to continuing to pursue my research interests in this area over the long term.
I have had additional professional experience with a Polio Immunization Program in 1998 and 1999. This position served me well as a great consciousness raising experience with respect to the importance of the exercise of preventive measures for our great masses of people: we went door to door with an oral polio vaccination program working in most of the most deprived or marginalized areas in Bangalore. As an undergraduate, student in medicine, I trained in a hospital that also served the poorer sections of society.
My country India is a poor country, and from the beginning I have come to appreciate the value of modesty at the same time that I also increasingly see vast areas in need of improvement with ever greater clarity. I look forward to continuing the practice of medicine in the West, while I will also long carry with me the great struggle with medicine that we are undergoing in India. Most of all, it is my great love for the poor, humble people, which probably best distinguishes me on an individual level. I feel strongly that many Indians have an almost natural or inbred character that orients well to the practice of the health sciences and the caring professions. I am proud to be part of this national tradition.I feel that I have most fully arrived at becoming a full-fledged, experienced doctor as a result of the experience that I have gained through my residency training in England. This experience has more fully equipped me with the most important knowledge and skills that I need to continue to become a better doctor every day,
I have a very hard working nature, a great deal of perseverance, and the ability to relate well with patients from all walks of life. Bedside manner may be my greatest asset, as I am practiced at being a soothing doctor, one who embraces the patient and takes the patient’s pain and discomfort upon herself. This is my greatest joy in life; it fills me as a human being and makes each day a most enriching human experience.
I am a cosmopolitan young woman who has visited many different places of interest, England, Scotland and Wales, the Eastern coast of the USA (NY, NJ, Florida, and Atlanta). I have also traveled extensively in South India. My mother is a musician and teaches classical Indian music. I have grown up singing and dancing which has helped to make me a cheerful person with a sense of humor. I play the Vienna, an ancient South Indian stringed musical instrument, and I passed the state conducted exam in Indian classical music which includes a written examination as a well as a performance evaluation. Playing the Vienna helps me unwind after a days work as a physician. My father is a retired sociology and anthropology professor who has invested much of himself in his daughter’s education, helping me to better understand the multi-faceted social complexities of the practice of medicine in modern societies. Yoga has also been a part of my routine since my teenage years.
Practicing Yoga helps me become more focused and to maintain better concentration. This represents a crossover with my interests in respiratory medicine and breathing exercises. I want to thank you for consideration of my application to your residency program in Internal Medicine. I very much look forward to giving you my all as a member of your team.
England, I am keen to train in a highly reputable residency program in internal medicine in the USA. My most passionate, specific focus at this time has to do with cutting edge research and development in the area of Pulmonology. I am an experienced researcher and a published author in the area of medicine, especially in the area of breathing, and I look forward to continuing to pursue my research interests in this area over the long term.
I have had additional professional experience with a Polio Immunization Program in 1998 and 1999. This position served me well as a great consciousness raising experience with respect to the importance of the exercise of preventive measures for our great masses of people: we went door to door with an oral polio vaccination program working in most of the most deprived or marginalized areas in Bangalore. As an undergraduate, student in medicine, I trained in a hospital that also served the poorer sections of society.
My country India is a poor country, and from the beginning I have come to appreciate the value of modesty at the same time that I also increasingly see vast areas in need of improvement with ever greater clarity. I look forward to continuing the practice of medicine in the West, while I will also long carry with me the great struggle with medicine that we are undergoing in India. Most of all, it is my great love for the poor, humble people, which probably best distinguishes me on an individual level. I feel strongly that many Indians have an almost natural or inbred character that orients well to the practice of the health sciences and the caring professions. I am proud to be part of this national tradition.I feel that I have most fully arrived at becoming a full-fledged, experienced doctor as a result of the experience that I have gained through my residency training in England. This experience has more fully equipped me with the most important knowledge and skills that I need to continue to become a better doctor every day,
I have a very hard working nature, a great deal of perseverance, and the ability to relate well with patients from all walks of life. Bedside manner may be my greatest asset, as I am practiced at being a soothing doctor, one who embraces the patient and takes the patient’s pain and discomfort upon herself. This is my greatest joy in life; it fills me as a human being and makes each day a most enriching human experience.
I am a cosmopolitan young woman who has visited many different places of interest, England, Scotland and Wales, the Eastern coast of the USA (NY, NJ, Florida, and Atlanta). I have also traveled extensively in South India. My mother is a musician and teaches classical Indian music. I have grown up singing and dancing which has helped to make me a cheerful person with a sense of humor. I play the Vienna, an ancient South Indian stringed musical instrument, and I passed the state conducted exam in Indian classical music which includes a written examination as a well as a performance evaluation. Playing the Vienna helps me unwind after a days work as a physician. My father is a retired sociology and anthropology professor who has invested much of himself in his daughter’s education, helping me to better understand the multi-faceted social complexities of the practice of medicine in modern societies. Yoga has also been a part of my routine since my teenage years.
Practicing Yoga helps me become more focused and to maintain better concentration. This represents a crossover with my interests in respiratory medicine and breathing exercises. I want to thank you for consideration of my application to your residency program in Internal Medicine. I very much look forward to giving you my all as a member of your team.
SOP, Getting started - My Desk
It seems to be easy to just write down a super great SOP.But once you hold that pencil (or open you word document) an stare at the blank page, it becomes tough to even write the first letter!! (because that time you think , hmmm…so where should I begin my fantastic SOP??!!??)… and while wondering, you become anxious, you become tensed, and yeah you got it.. Lost!!!!!
Last month, I was at the UNCC Seminar for Writing Skills. The hall was packed with future journalists and writers, but amongst those were bunch of us trying to learn how to write a good SOP for our residency!
So here is what I learnt there. I hope this helps as much as it helped me:
TAKE A MOMENT: Before you sit down to write your SOP, take some time out to think about yourself. What are your strengths, your greatest positive points, your achievements, the hardships you went through to achieve what you did, motivations in your life-can be person, place, incident etc, influences in your life, your aspirations and reasons( if there are any) behind your dreams. Recollect each and every thought that you would want to pen down in order to show that you and you deserve the residency seat and no one else.
MAKE ROUGH NOTES: Once you have thought enough on this topic, start writing whatever comes in your mind.Don't worry, let your mind be free, note down each and every thing your mind is telling you. Don't worry about sequence or words or even grammar, just keep writing your thoughts, let your brain lose!!its ultimately you who will be looking at it. Don't assume what you will write will be ultimate SOP and thus you should write correct from the beginning. This is a common misconception. World famous writers jot down their thoughts randomly and then edit and organize in order to come up with final version which can make sense. You need right now is the content of your SOP, don't worry about sequence.
MAKE THE DRAFT: Once you have thought and written down all the important or relevant points, its time to labor and write the SOP. Think and write, for here thinking will become easy because you already have the content, you just need to add fancy things here and there and organize your content.
DON'T KNOW ENGLISH PROPERLY? WRITE IN YOUR LANGUAGE: There are many of us who come from different parts of the world where English is not the first language, nor it is mother tongue. Should this stop us from reaching our goals? NO
To start with, write the statement in a language you are expert in and can express yourself best. Aa aa aaa.. wait a minute….you must be thinking, have I gone nuts?!!! No. absolutely not!!
Here is the deal. Once you have written SOP, things become easy. Nest you can do is either take help of a friend who is well versed in English and try to translate your SOP in English word by word, sentence by sentence. Other method is to simple open a language converter dictionary and a thesaurus of words an then start converting your SOP in English again word by word sentence by sentence. Take help of dictionary to find English words in your language, and thesaurus to make your SOP sophisticated.
EDIT EDIT EDIT!! : When I was making my SOP, I took almost a week to come up with final draft.Why? because I would come up with things to add or edit in it. I will be in gym and something will strike me while doing cardio on treadmill. I will be driving and would remember to add something or remove something. Take time to read the SOP as many as 3-5 times and correct the mistakes if you find any.
TAKE HELP OF PEERS/FAMILY: While my friend was applying for his admission Business School, I used to see him circulating his SOP among friends and family and would ask everyone to edit any mistakes they see or advice him if he can modify the SOP in any way. I would mock at him(why would anyone want to expose his/her SOP to friends who might use content for their own!!!! Or may be think bad or laugh at him/her etc etc) …But I was wrong. I saw his friends taking active part to correct his SOP, advice him and eventually encourage him. He landed up in getting admission to the Business School he always wanted to go to.
HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF! Keep faith and confidence in yourself. Success will touch your feet, after all you worked so hard for it.
Last month, I was at the UNCC Seminar for Writing Skills. The hall was packed with future journalists and writers, but amongst those were bunch of us trying to learn how to write a good SOP for our residency!
So here is what I learnt there. I hope this helps as much as it helped me:
TAKE A MOMENT: Before you sit down to write your SOP, take some time out to think about yourself. What are your strengths, your greatest positive points, your achievements, the hardships you went through to achieve what you did, motivations in your life-can be person, place, incident etc, influences in your life, your aspirations and reasons( if there are any) behind your dreams. Recollect each and every thought that you would want to pen down in order to show that you and you deserve the residency seat and no one else.
MAKE ROUGH NOTES: Once you have thought enough on this topic, start writing whatever comes in your mind.Don't worry, let your mind be free, note down each and every thing your mind is telling you. Don't worry about sequence or words or even grammar, just keep writing your thoughts, let your brain lose!!its ultimately you who will be looking at it. Don't assume what you will write will be ultimate SOP and thus you should write correct from the beginning. This is a common misconception. World famous writers jot down their thoughts randomly and then edit and organize in order to come up with final version which can make sense. You need right now is the content of your SOP, don't worry about sequence.
MAKE THE DRAFT: Once you have thought and written down all the important or relevant points, its time to labor and write the SOP. Think and write, for here thinking will become easy because you already have the content, you just need to add fancy things here and there and organize your content.
DON'T KNOW ENGLISH PROPERLY? WRITE IN YOUR LANGUAGE: There are many of us who come from different parts of the world where English is not the first language, nor it is mother tongue. Should this stop us from reaching our goals? NO
To start with, write the statement in a language you are expert in and can express yourself best. Aa aa aaa.. wait a minute….you must be thinking, have I gone nuts?!!! No. absolutely not!!
Here is the deal. Once you have written SOP, things become easy. Nest you can do is either take help of a friend who is well versed in English and try to translate your SOP in English word by word, sentence by sentence. Other method is to simple open a language converter dictionary and a thesaurus of words an then start converting your SOP in English again word by word sentence by sentence. Take help of dictionary to find English words in your language, and thesaurus to make your SOP sophisticated.
EDIT EDIT EDIT!! : When I was making my SOP, I took almost a week to come up with final draft.Why? because I would come up with things to add or edit in it. I will be in gym and something will strike me while doing cardio on treadmill. I will be driving and would remember to add something or remove something. Take time to read the SOP as many as 3-5 times and correct the mistakes if you find any.
TAKE HELP OF PEERS/FAMILY: While my friend was applying for his admission Business School, I used to see him circulating his SOP among friends and family and would ask everyone to edit any mistakes they see or advice him if he can modify the SOP in any way. I would mock at him(why would anyone want to expose his/her SOP to friends who might use content for their own!!!! Or may be think bad or laugh at him/her etc etc) …But I was wrong. I saw his friends taking active part to correct his SOP, advice him and eventually encourage him. He landed up in getting admission to the Business School he always wanted to go to.
HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF! Keep faith and confidence in yourself. Success will touch your feet, after all you worked so hard for it.
A Special Request
As you all know copying directly from this blog and writing in your SOP will not be good as the PD [Progrma Director] has the software to compare your SOP with that of the online ones, like this. So I kindly advise you not copy the exact words, but use this blog to frame your SOP in an organised way. I will keep on updating the sample Sops on this blog so that every one of us will be benefited.
Thanking you
Sincerely
Triplehelix
Thanking you
Sincerely
Triplehelix
Four critical pieces of a residency SOP
Focus on the Specialty
Your rotations let you sample each medical specialty. By now, you should have a pretty clear idea which one you want to pursue. Just tell the residency committee how you reached that decision. What convinced you that you wanted to know more about neurology, and that you could never see yourself setting broken bones? What is it about delivering babies that thrills you more than caring for them after they're born? Use anecdotes to illustrate your story and bring out your unique experiences and perspectives. Most importantly, where do you see yourself in the future? Make your choice unambiguous and your commitment undeniable.
Focus on Your Strengths
You've gained some valuable technical skills and exposure to clinical practice, but so have all your classmates. Which of your unique qualities will make your #1 residency program rank you as their #1 choice? Your personal experiences, both in medical school and outside, reveal a lot more about you than your C.V. and USMLE step exams. A good way to think about this is in the context of what's needed for that specialty. Will the listening skills you developed in college debate help you as a family practitioner? Have your quick reflexes, honed through years of playing piano, prepared you for the technical dexterity you'll need in emergency medicine? Will your teamwork skills developed as captain of your soccer team improve your coordination as part of a surgical team? Select specific examples that demonstrate your strengths and make your essay come alive.
Focus on the Program
You obviously don't want to write about your love for pediatric medicine if you're applying for a surgical residency program. What's less obvious is that you can - and should - write about the specific advantages of a research-oriented residency program in one essay and the benefits of a purely clinical experience in another. You can even write a different personal statement for every program. It sounds like a lot of extra work, but don't underestimate the bonus points you can get for this approach. Tailoring your essay to specific programs or types of programs demonstrates that you've done your homework and are genuinely interested.
Tips for Better Writing
Now that you have an idea what to write about, you need to know how to write it. Your tone of voice should be personable, but professional. Your story should be interesting and draw the reader into the story with specific examples, but use humor sparingly. Throughout your writing, keep your purpose in mind - you're trying to land the interview, not detail every aspect of your medical school training or research project.
Your rotations let you sample each medical specialty. By now, you should have a pretty clear idea which one you want to pursue. Just tell the residency committee how you reached that decision. What convinced you that you wanted to know more about neurology, and that you could never see yourself setting broken bones? What is it about delivering babies that thrills you more than caring for them after they're born? Use anecdotes to illustrate your story and bring out your unique experiences and perspectives. Most importantly, where do you see yourself in the future? Make your choice unambiguous and your commitment undeniable.
Focus on Your Strengths
You've gained some valuable technical skills and exposure to clinical practice, but so have all your classmates. Which of your unique qualities will make your #1 residency program rank you as their #1 choice? Your personal experiences, both in medical school and outside, reveal a lot more about you than your C.V. and USMLE step exams. A good way to think about this is in the context of what's needed for that specialty. Will the listening skills you developed in college debate help you as a family practitioner? Have your quick reflexes, honed through years of playing piano, prepared you for the technical dexterity you'll need in emergency medicine? Will your teamwork skills developed as captain of your soccer team improve your coordination as part of a surgical team? Select specific examples that demonstrate your strengths and make your essay come alive.
Focus on the Program
You obviously don't want to write about your love for pediatric medicine if you're applying for a surgical residency program. What's less obvious is that you can - and should - write about the specific advantages of a research-oriented residency program in one essay and the benefits of a purely clinical experience in another. You can even write a different personal statement for every program. It sounds like a lot of extra work, but don't underestimate the bonus points you can get for this approach. Tailoring your essay to specific programs or types of programs demonstrates that you've done your homework and are genuinely interested.
Tips for Better Writing
Now that you have an idea what to write about, you need to know how to write it. Your tone of voice should be personable, but professional. Your story should be interesting and draw the reader into the story with specific examples, but use humor sparingly. Throughout your writing, keep your purpose in mind - you're trying to land the interview, not detail every aspect of your medical school training or research project.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
To get into medical school, you explained why you wanted to be a physician. Now that you're an M.D./D.O., you need to secure that critical Residency interview so you can show them what you've got. To that end, your personal statement should give the residency committee a taste of what you're all about, and make them want more.
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