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.
Monday, June 23, 2008
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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