 Are you starting to write your medical school personal statement and you don't know what message voice or tone to hit stick around for key tips on how to employ both creative and critical element for the best medical school personal statement coaching definitely hit subscribe hit the bell so you don't miss out on any videos I post every Tuesday throughout the cycle if you want a one on one call with me definitely book that strategy session in the description below keeping the ad comms engaged and rooting for you is number one so you want to make sure that you are as compelling as possible in the personal statement a stellar exceptional personal statement can get an on the cusp student in and move the needle for you hi i'm dr josey with write your acceptance i've worked with hundreds of students on their personal statements and i know how to help you perfect your story let's get started step one there are three easy kind of creative elements that you can bring into your essay today to really punch up the drama so the first one is to consider macro and micro elements your experiences never happen in a vacuum if you are going to tell a story about a patient encounter let's say you want to kind of as you're telling that story very quickly zoom out and give us the ambient noises or who's there any other reactions it really kind of adds dimension and depth to the moment the scene another way of doing this is to bring in dialogue very brief and use very sparingly but you can bring in dialogue to really kind of get into the middle of things right away it also adds a different voice to the essay very quickly which is nice i would caution against using kind of these very familiar quotes like be the change you want to see in the world it may be something that is so profound and powerful to you and a driving force but if it's someone else's words in that way you never know how the reader kind of perceives that quote and so you want to make sure that if it's dialogue it's really kind of leading into on a story and it's your kind of sentiment and observational knowledge that an experience that is driving the the purpose and the reason behind it and then the third one is alliteration so if you can bring in any kind of cluster of consonants that can kind of give a sing song feeling to your essay that'd be great so like counting compressions battled breaths right so these kind of cluster of consonants are nice and they give you that kind of sing song feel you can use a combination of these and you can use them sparingly this is more kind of like once you have the foundation of the essay i know exactly what you want to say then you kind of can bring in these things to punch up the drama of how you're saying it do you have an experience that you want to tell in your personal statement but you're not sure how to do it comment below i'd love to give you my two cents step two bring in critical thinking as long as it is personal observations so as long as they are anchored in something that you experience yourself you can make a comment about health care global health care diversity equity inclusion literacy education kind of as long as it is something that is not judgmental and it is kind of anchored in an experience that you experience firsthand right that you witness yourself you want to basically if you have any of these kind of commentaries you want to make sure that you test it out with kind of three barometer questions right is it polemical or divisive in any way if it is then no bueno right so you want to make sure that you are not offensive that you're always coming across from a space of understanding so that from your reader you elicit curiosity that they want to know more about you and about your thoughts and your experiences and not a skeptical kind of attitude or that you offend them so you want to make sure that it's not polemical and divisive in that sense you also want to make sure that it's personal right so that it is very very unique to who you are and the experience that you just narrated or that you've been telling in your personal statement and that is key so you can say something like although I was honored to participate in our medical mission trip that brought much needed to primary care to thousands as we picked up our tents I felt a tinge of failure because perhaps our efforts were just too small even insignificant then you can continue by following up with kind of the practice of medicine is an impossible task but to fail better is the kind of antidote or in the prescription you want to make sure that you are anchoring any commentary any critical reflection in your specific experience you want to make sure that you're balancing both creative and critical elements in your personal statement so the ad comms can see kind of those soft skills right that you're adaptable empathetic that you showcase growth that you are willing and eager to learn more and improve in your craft in your profession and so you also want to show perhaps that you know how your actions affect others I think this is one of the most under utilized kind of modes of of inquiry and if you are intentional in the stories you're telling not only the stories you're telling but also how you reflect on them and you're part of them that's key to really showing how your actions affect others if you want more expert feedback definitely book a one-on-one strategy call with me the link is in the description below if you like this video you found it helpful give us a like subscribe and please share with your pre-med friends I really appreciate it helps a ton thank you I'll see you soon