Personal Statements

So, you’ve done the work experience and voluntary work, where you were able to demonstrate all your well-rounded skills. Now you’re faced with having to show off all your talents as well as your passion for medicine to an admissions office in the form of your UCAS personal statement. So how do you know what to do and what not to? Fear not, as we are here to discuss the top 10 mistakes students make when approaching their personal statements and how to avoid them.

An admission into medicine is a journey by any account. Trust me, we’ve all been there. Yet, as a graduate entrant, the journey has been even longer. You’ve taken the scenic route. An extra stop or two along the way. But now you’ve decided to prolong your education for another few years and you’re applying to study medicine!

Here, we are going to outline 6 key tips that will help to make your personal statement for graduate entry medicine stand out!

Work experience has become such an integral part of the university application that you probably wouldn’t even consider applying without it. But once you’re done, got it under your belt and moved on, how do you showcase this in your personal statement in order to get you one step closer to your career goal? Here at theMSAG, we have a clear structure and formula of how to include your work experience in your writing to highlight the skills gained in the best way possible.

Let’s talk about the dreaded personal statement. In four thousand characters (or the equivalent of 47 lines), you are expected to explain in detail why you’re interested in the course you’re applying to study, profess your love for medicine and show your willingness to dedicate your life to the cause. This is certainly not an easy task and one that leaves many aspiring medical students pulling their hair out, but stress not, because theMSAG is here to help.

Writing a personal statement can be the most challenging part of the UCAS application.So how do you know what to do and more importantly what not to do? That’s a tricky question! There is no absolute right or wrong, nor are there utter rules, however, there are a few questions you can ask yourself to determine whether you have fallen into a common pitfall and consequently avoid it.

So you’ve done the work experience, voluntary work & demonstrated your well-rounded skills. Now you’re faced with showing off all your talents, as well as your passion for medicine, in your Medical School Personal Statement. It can be quite daunting but don’t worry because we're going to look at the top 5 mistakes students make so you know what not to do.

Reflection is the most important part of your Medical School Personal Statement. It doesn’t get simpler than that. But what is reflection and how do you implement it in your personal statement? 

In order to help you write a strong personal statement for your UCAS applications, we have provided a list of 10 common mistakes you should avoid when writing your personal statement along with some good practices to help you write a personal statement that stands out from the rest!

As a medical school applicant, you are asked to describe and reflect on your experiences throughout your personal statement, your secondary application questions (for American and Canadian schools), and then in your interview. The way you discuss your experiences is at least as valuable as the experiences themselves, if not more so. This short guide aims to help you prepare your stories and anecdotes for integration into your written application or for preparation of your medical school interview.

Having a blank page in front of you is daunting. It can feel like you will never think of anything to write. However, with the help of this guide, this sensation will not last long! Once you have gone through our brainstorming exercise, your new challenge will be to decide what NOT to write. Learn how to get started with your personal statement!