Residency Personal Statement for the Preliminary Year

By Michelle A. Finkel, MD

Founder, Insider Medical Admissions

Candidates who apply to certain fields – for example radiology or dermatology - need a preliminary year of training before initiating their specialty residency. I've been asked about submitting the same residency personal statement for both the desired specialty and the prelim year.

It is appropriate to use the same essay with modifications. Ensure you explicitly address why a prelim year in - let's say Internal Medicine - will advance the rest of your career. Of course, you can be honest about what your professional goals are; the reader knows you are applying for a one-year position, but it is important to include a paragraph that focuses on how the prelim program will help you.

Remember that many residency directors of preliminary programs are very eager to see specialty applicants. In other words, to successfully apply in radiology or dermatology, a candidate must have stellar grades, letters of recommendations, extracurricular activities, and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores. So, generally faculty at these programs are happy to see residency personal statements from these excellent medical students. Being frank about your career goals will oftentimes be a positive – not the negative you feel you should hide.

Finally, make sure your preliminary year residency personal statement is well-crafted – even if it is not being used for your specialty. As always, substance is key. Just like a lawyer does when s/he is trying a case in front of a judge, you must persuade with evidence. Saying you are a caring person or want to make the world a better place is not compelling, and those claims do not distinguish you from the scores of other applicants competing with you. You need to proveyour value and distinctiveness with academic, clinical, research, community service, leadership, international, and teaching achievements. To the admissions reader – preliminary or specialty -applicants are what they do – not what they say.