personal statement

don't worry, nobody actually reads them. if you really want to have a good personal statment, make it brief. there is no orthopaedic surgeon going through hundreds of apps wanting to read the entire story of your life (like how you had hip dysplasia as an infant and knew you were meant to be a orthopaedic surgeon from the first time your legs touched a pavlik).

The personal statement is usually briefly read during the interview as they scan your application for something to talk about. The OSRR has a few samples of personal statements and CVs.

my prog director reads the ones he invites for an interview or to make the final cuts to determine if some gets an interview. just dont get too far out there - 85% of them are pretty similar anyway.

Make it personal...tell us something about you and make it brief 3-4 paragraphs is sufficient. Please avoid yoru ACL injury, fracture, or other orthopaedic condition that led you to ortho unless it is monumental and unique. If you tell me about yoru ACL in high school, you will sound like 150 other applicants.

Every institution is different. At our program, your personal statement will be read by at least three people if your app is pulled. We usually pull about 150 apps and three people read them cover-to-cover and grade all of them to get our 50-60 invites. Some programs just look at AOA, Step I and the last line of yoru LOR, but others take your application very seriously.

Three words:

Don't be weird.


In all seriousness, you have WAY more to lose with your PS than to gain. Be sincere and explain why you chose ortho, but do NOT try too hard to stand out. I have read everything from poems, to one dude who "arranged" his in the form of a musical work to emphasise his interest in music. As residents, when we all sat around looking at applications for those coming to interview, the ONLY personal statements that got brought up were the far-out ridiculous ones that we all passed around for a good laugh. No matter how clever you may think you are being, odds are, most will read your "unique" PS and write you off for a fruit. There is only one thing worse than reading one more "I knew I was destined for Orthopedics the instant I heard my ACL pop" and that is reading a bizare, off the wall PS from an otherwise competitive candidate.

Do current residents feel that the length of the PS is a real factor? I know the natural tendency of anyone filling up an application is to use all the space provided. On that note, do you feel like a shorter PS (and therefore quicker to read) would actually be favored over a full single-spaced page?

To the point is absolutely the best way to go. I have never read a PS and thought "geez, I wish that was longer".

The shear volume of applications makes reading every personal statement impossible. Even after choosing 60-100 to interview, thats a LOT of reading, and rarely does anyone read them unless an issue/red flag arises in the application. There just isn't enough time in the day.

I can tell you that odd/weird/eclectic statements make a good conversation piece (among the residents/staff that read them, like "did you think that guy/gal was a weirdo??)....really.

I think making it REALLY short would be a gamble at some programs, but I would be more inclined to read one in its entirety if it was short and sweet.

Earthdawg hit the nail right on the head!