personal statement Flashcards
Of the work experience placements mentioned in your personal statement, which would you regard as the most insightful?
-all provided good insight into different aspects
PHARMACY: coordination and teamwork between doctors and pharmacists , public health interventions e.g. flu + covid vaccines, centralised placement in community and clinical expertise allows them to be an accessible resource for health and medical info, lifestyle changes
OBSERVE GP: diagnosis, treatment, referrals to tertiary care, management of long term illnesses , build rapport with patients so they feel comfortable sharing issues , MDT , lifestyle changes and early prevention, recommend support groups+ mental health resources
WATFORD GENERAL: interacting with patients and their families , developing compassion, teamwork with other volunteers
In your personal statement you have referenced different types of experiences. Which do you think is most useful for medical students: shadowing experience or experience working in other caring professions such as providing care, support and services to others?
-both equally important
SHADOWING: day to day life of a doctor, decisions and dilemmas, tasks, working hours, talking to patients, finding out if this career is right for you, etc.
CARE: developing key skills e.g. compassion, empathy, teamwork which are essential for a doctor
Outline from your personal statement what you have done to prepare yourself for a career in Medicine?
-volunteer at watford general: soft skills
-work exp at histopathology lab: diagnostic process
-observe gp: communiaction, primary care
-bsms virtual work exp: tertiary care, dif. departments
-read books: realities of Jr Dr, insight into psychiatry
-write article: research aspect of medicine
Choose a book/ medical publication/ research project referenced in your personal statement. Tell me about what you learnt engaging with this resource. Why it was interesting?
article abt psychology in med:
-from observe GP i learnt that a large proportion of GP appointments are mental health related
-inspired me to delve deeper into the importance of psych in med
-link bewteen MH and physical health e.g. smoking, drug abuse, ed’s all have physical side effects but its crucial that the mental health side is also prioritised
-focus on preventative care when the issue presented is physical e,g BP, diabetes and cholesterol tests, cancer screenings, flu shots, vaccines however its imperative that similar procedures should be carried out when psychological issues arise
PRIMARY- campaigns, teaching kids
SECONDARY-supporting those higher risk
TERTIARY- those with MH issues, seek help, manage symptoms+prevent relapse
-role of psychiatry: branch of medicine concerned with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illnesses
-health/med psychology: promoting health as well as the prevention and treatment of disease and illness by focusing on how biology, psychology, behaviour and social factors influence health and illness (biopsychosocial model)
From the work experience placements mentioned in your personal statement, tell me about a time you observed challenges facing NHS staff.
(can use this example for teamwork)
PHARMACY;
-staffing issue while undertaking work exp
-manager in hospital longer than expected
-extra staff had to come in when it wasnt their shift in order to get all outstanding tasks done
-although i was there to shadow, I helped dispense and dole out prescriptions to the public
Reflecting on work experience placements written about in your personal statement, what elements of hospital operations or in health care environments would you organise differently. Why?
greater emphasis on adult social care
-no where to go once theyre able to be discharged so using up a bed
-poorer patient outcomes and quality of care
staffing levels
-barriers= amount of staff leaving beacause of pay and conditions, cost of training, would be decades until staff levels up to par
-increase med school places
-increase staff retention by increasing conditions
waiting lists and a&e waiting times
-increases mortality and morbidity
-negative view on health services so deterred
-decreased quality of care as they want to hit target
-incestivise GP to see patients
-increase size of a&e and amount of depts.
-calls to 111
From your personal statement what is your single top motivation to study medicine
key reasons:
-oppurtunity to help people at the most vulnerable times in their life
-the vocation has a huge scope for different work depending on your interests
-incredibly varied day-to-day work in clinical medicine
-diagnostic challenge posed by patients can be rewarding to solve
-can put the latest advances in medical research into practice to improve patients lives
my key reasons + how they link to my strengths:
1) help people (empathy, caring, compassion)
-volunteering at charity shop and hospital
2) huge scope for dif. work
-not set on a specific path so can go into every placement with enthusiasm and willingness to learn
-neurolgy (edx course), psychiatry (book+article), histology (wex)
3)diagnostic process
-histolgy wex
In your personal statement you outlined that medicine was a challenging career. Why do you still want to study medicine and how will you manage these challenges?
-every career is challenging in some aspect but my passions and the things i have done to ensure this is the right career for me has solidified my decision
-speaking to med students, junior doctors, GP’s has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and how to avoid and covercome them
my qualities: time managment, emotional regulation, communication and empathy (working at kumon, dance, volunteering, school societes)
-meds challenges are burnout, emotional wellbeing, work life balance
-i would use time management skills throughout med school and while working
-ensure that i always have a means of emotional regulation
From your personal statement explain in detail how you have shown you are a suitable candidate to study medicine
work exp:
-pharmacy: allowed me to see collaboration between GP and pharmacists and patient interaction, public health and lifestyle advice, vaccinations, community and builidng rapport (COMMUNICATION)
-lab: pathologists, while not in an acute medical setting, play a huge role in the diagnostic process which wouldn’t be possible without biomedical scientists (TEAMWORK)
-volunteering: communication with patients and helping them as best as i can (EMPATHY)
-books and talking to dr’s: expand my knowledge into the insights of med (REALISTIC VIEW)
-extracurriculars (TIME MANAGEMENT)
-writing and reading articles (PASSION)
What did you learn during your work experience?
-communication pharmacy
-teamwork lab + charity shop
-empathy volunteering
-importance of MDT and GP (observe GP)
-insight into main areas of med and structure of the nhs (bsms)
How did patient exposure affect you?
-hospital voulnteering
-allowed me to develop my communication skills and hone my empathy and compassion as there were sometimes language barriers when asking them questions or some had disabilities
-made sure to smile, have open body language and a warm tone of voice to smke them feel safe and comfortable
-interacting with patien families and nurses if they needed extra care
-witnessing how nurses and doctors speak to patients and their families (speak clear and consise and are always friendly)
Are personal statements a good indicator if someone will be a good medical student?
AGREE:
-shows dedication through work exp, volunteering, taster days, books , research
-can show their skills e.g. leadership, communication, teamwork etc
-can expand during interview and allows interviewers to gauge which students are most dedicated and best suited and those who went the extra mile
DISAGREE:
-some students unable to get work experience / volunteering oppurtunities etc. but are still passionate and dilligent students
-hard to distiguish between candidates with similar personal statements
HOWEVER:
there’s many free virtual work exps accessible to everyone
-the new system will be better as its more concise and allows students to include the most important experiences
Summarise the key points from your personal statement in 2 minutes
-volunteering: hospital setting, empathy, communication
-pharmacy: communication with GP’s, lifestyle and public health advice
-lab: teamwork and diagnostic process
-articles and books
Tell me about a time mentioned in your personal statement that you showed the ability to take responsibility for your own actions.
pharmacy:
-handing out prescriptions when patients came in and one came in picking up a prescription for her dad so i checked in the cubby’s as they’re ordered alphabetically so I looked but it wasn’t there
-afterwards the pharmacist asked me what the person wanted and i told her the prescription wasnt there and she told me that in future it would be best to consult her as she may have been prepping that box and it may’ve been ready but not bagged yet
-I understood my mistake and apologised and made sure to ask her if that occured again and I ensured to ask her any questions if there was something I was unsure of
Suppose you are asked to give advice to year 12s about what content they should include in a medical personal statement. What do you think the most important elements are and why?
-work experience (can include shadowing a consultant, GP, nurse, jr dr or volunteering at hospital , care home, charity etc.)
very important to reflect on skills used and why , keep a diary
-show they have a realistic understanding of a career in med
-passion for science and healthcare outside of academics
