Cleaner Teeth and a Kick-Ass Personal Statement

Can you write a kick-ass personal statement for medical school in only five minutes a day? I have a great method that will get you exactly that.

Before I tell you this awesome writing technique, let me put things into a bit of context:

1) It's really hard to find the time to sit down and spend four hours writing an amazing essay; most applicants try to do this right before the application deadlines and it's super stressful.

2) It's really hard to write an essay that goes beyond the stereotype of "I want to be a doctor because I want to help people."

OK, so I have a magic solution to the problem. I'll give you the solution, but I want you to promise in the comments below that you'll give this a try. Here's the deal:

1. Get a single subject notebook, spiral book, bluebook or similar

2. Put this notebook and a pen next to the sink where you brush your teeth. Move other stuff out of the way if you have to; if your sink is small, get a clipboard.

3. Every time you brush your teeth, write a one- to two-sentence answer to the question, "Why do you want to be a doctor?" You cannot repeat the same answer twice.

Do this for three months. In three months, you'll have around 90 sentences. Ninety reasons why.

OK, now here's the best part. Get a highlighter; bring your list of reasons and your highlighter to a close friend, someone who knows you really well. Ask him or her to read your reasons, and highlight the ones that are really moving, that really speak to your friend.

Do this three times with three different people -- your close friend and classmate, a professor who knows you well, and your on campus premed adviser.

By the end of the process, you'll have maybe 10 awesome statements of why you want to be a doctor. Arrange those into an outline and you're well on your way to a great personal statement.

And cleaner, whiter teeth. And a lower dental bill.

Tags: admissions, medical, personal, school, statement, writing

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Comment by Don Osborne on July 31, 2012 at 3:53pm: Ah - I'm on the other side of the coin on this one.

I don't really care who i get the feedback from; people who highlight a sentence that I already know is cliche tells me a lot about the quality of their response; people who complain that there's toothpaste on my notes also get disqualified.

But when I get a response like this, "Wow, this sentence made me [cry, smile, want to be a doctor too]" -- then that's paydirt.

Bottom line: It's the quality of the response I'm after.

Comment by Omar Baig on July 31, 2012 at 3:45pm: Agreed. I think its critical to get the feedback from the right three people. This implies that it's really important for you to let people get to know you over time.

Comment by Don Osborne on July 31, 2012 at 3:41pm: Great point, Omar!

We also tend to see things the same way as the herd, so the question "Why do you want to be a doctor?" is hard because it's difficult to sift through all the bs and find an answer that feels real.

That's why this method is so useful; since you can't repeat reasons you are forced to come up with more and better, original, unique statements.

Pretty soon you find yourself ... and an authentic motivation to medicine.

Gotta love that!

Comment by Omar Baig on July 31, 2012 at 3:38pm: Don,

I like the idea of getting feedback from other people. Oftentimes people see things in us which we miss as we all have blind spots. This is a key reason why coaching works so well in just about every endeavor.