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.