I recently dug up a copy of the personal statement I wrote when I was applying for residency. I’ve said before that I think these personal statements aren’t worth much. But somehow, I now feel compelled to prove it by ripping apart my own personal statement.
So here we go:
It was the same situation that I had been in dozens of times.
Well, not really. I mean, I was only a third-year …
A medical student’s personal statement: Deconstructed
I work part-time.
Some people think that women who work part-time are ruining medicine and contributing to the physician shortage. So I want to present my very reasonable list of reasons why I work part-time in a flexible job:
1. I am sick constantly. Constantly. My kids are petri dishes. And it always lasts forever. Even as I’m writing this, I’m coughing, and …
Doctors who work part time: I’m sorry that I’m ruining medicine
I wake up at 4am feeling nauseous.
I’m not that surprised. My girls have been vomiting all weekend. Not just vomiting, epic vomits. Like the kind where they vomit a lot and you think, “Wow.” Then they vomit again. And then a third time. And now it’s on the couch, the carpet, the TV, basically everywhere in a 50 foot radius. And then just when you think this may never end, …
It’s not fair to anyone for me to be working in this condition
Some of you may know that I started out in an internal medicine residency and quit for physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R). Switching residencies? Not recommended. But entirely doable.
I spent most of my first half of internship being really, really miserable. I remember sitting in the call room during my ICU month, talking to my mother about how badly I wanted to quit and what my options would be if …
Why I quit internal medicine for physiatry
It’s never so obvious to me that there’s a big essential difference between men and women as when we take a family trip to Target.
First, when you’re holding a small baby or even an older baby or even a preschooler, you get a lot of attention. People love to look at small babies. And by “people,” I mean “women” only. When I walk around with the baby, women are constantly …
The difference between male and female patients
One of the skills I really wanted to learn in med school was how to suture. It’s just one of those things that I felt like you’re supposed to know if you’re a doctor. How can you be a doctor if you don’t know how to suture?Anyway, by fourth year of med school, I had totally failed at my goal. I had already done a surgery rotation, but while …
How a doctor learned how to suture
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
