personal statement medical school

Writing experts say that your personal statement can be likened to a marketing strategy.  You basically have to convince your readers that you have something good to offer and are definitely worth a try.  But compared to copywriting, admission essays cannot be based solely on claims.  You have to provide clear evidence of your skills and capabilities that will make you suitable to a medical career.

You can easily present facts and figures regarding your academic standing and accomplishments.  But when using this style of evidence, your essay may seem like a mere summary of your TOR (transcript of records) and resume.  You need to offer details that are not seen in your other application requirements.  In which case, you can always use ethos and mythos as types of evidence in your essay.

What are ethos and mythos as types of evidence in an essay?

Ethos is all about building credibility in your admission essay.  Readers should perceive you as competent and as someone who possess good character traits.  Likeability is key to persuading the admissions panel that you’re one of the best candidates for med school.

Mythos, on the other hand, is about the beliefs and perceived values of your audience.  When used as evidence for persuasive essay writing, you see yourself using metaphor, narratives, and sayings.  This is a stylistic approach to stressing important points in your argument or discussion.

Benefits of using ethos and mythos

Why med school?  Are you suited for the medical professional?  Basically, these are the questions you need to answer in your personal statement medical school.  You may have the heart-felt desire to help others or best intentions to become a doctor, but without stylish presentation of facts and arguments, you’ll have trouble getting this message across to your audience.

You can then use ethos and mythos to make your personal statement for med school more compelling and interesting.  These types of evidence will best illustrate your suitability for a medical career.  Rather than enumerating all your positive qualities, use personal experiences, thoughts, and inspirations  to express yourself better.

Through your examples, your readers will know what type of person you are, if you are patient enough to get through med school or passionate about the profession.

How to effectively use ethos and mythos in your essay

Your admission essay should not sound like a term paper.  It should feel like you’re directly speaking to your audience.  A positive ethos can make you a favorable candidate.  Focus on your positive qualities, but still be honest with your self-assessment.

Mythos as evidence is used to make your reader understand you better.  You can use methaphors and analogies to best explain yourself and appeal to them.  Through this technique, you must exhibit rhetorical control.

What qualities make doctors successful? Maybe medical doctors or even medical students themselves will have difficulty in answering when asked this question. Some may say their outstanding grades, others their excellent choice of a medical school and others their determination. These are all contributory factors toward being a successful doctor. Getting categorical answers entail additional reading and research; but if you are curious enough, here are some tips to start reading and help you become a great physician someday:

Successful doctors are excellent communicators

Active interaction with colleagues and other members of society is inevitable as well as important in medical practice. In a sample case: Dr. Cristina Yang of Grey’s Anatomy. Dr. Yang graduated with top honors from Stanford Medical School and received her PhD from Berkeley. She has excellent surgical skills and is like a walking medical textbook. Dr. Yang however is not at ease talking with her patients or able to handle well the delivery of terrible news. In this case, people skills are missing. In medical practice, a balanced medical aptitude and social skills is a must if you want to be a successful doctor. Patients are people and need special care during their unhealthy times; treating with sensitivity is necessary.

Successful doctors are keen observers

Doctors need to be observant during treatment of diseases and disorders. Some symptoms may be small or light but can be even more serious. Malaria for example starts with a tiny mosquito bite, and cancer begins with a small malignant tumor. Being keen on details is very important in medical practice as it will help you easily identify the cause of an illness of a patient or related problem. Having an eye for your patient’s situation will help you save lives. In medical practice, you have to stay alert and observant at all times before things get worse. Being vigilant helps you build a successful career in medicine.

Successful doctors are time management experts

Yes, time management is very essential to medical practice. Time management skill starts right when you enter medical school and not during medical residency only. Starting to practice time management skills during medical school does not only help you study well and get more sleep but also to build and excellent medical career. Getting well organized will help you avoid laziness and tardiness, your class schedules will be planned earlier and get you to bed on time as scheduled.

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Are you still undecided on what medical specialization to pursue? If so, it is wise to start checking your options now. To be able to select a medical specialization that fits your interest and enhances your skill, planning and assessing are necessary just like preparing your personal statement medical school. One basic thing is to check out how tight the competition is. You can find below a list of some of the most competitive medical specializations. Read on to help you decide the best choice.

Neurosurgery

Neurosurgery may appear easy but this medical specialization is actually one of the toughest fields in medical practice. Neurosurgery involves the treatment of the nervous system which is the person’s control unit. The risks are high in this field as a slight mistake may damage one part of the brain and can totally affect the whole body. A small mistake in neurosurgical operations can lead to coma, paralysis, brain damage, psychosis, or even death. Despite the many risks, medical practitioners take up neurosurgery as medical specialization.

Dermatology

Obsession to physical beauty makes dermatology as a medical specialization that is highly competitive. Even ordinary people endeavor to get the most pleasing physical beauty. More so in the movie industry where skin care services are highly in demand. Thus, despite dermatological services being expensive, dermatology remains very popular because people from the middle- to high-income level basically want to look attractive and physically beautiful. This medical practice however, is not limited to wart removal or skin whitening services. It includes the treatment of skin diseases like impetigo, acne, dermatitis, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, melanoma and eczema. Because of it being one of the most sought-after medical specializations today and the huge potential earnings, medical students go for it.

Even if the competition in neurosurgery and dermatology is tight, it is not a reason for leaving it out in your list. If you believe you are brave enough to insert an electrode into people’s brains or to remove tissue from people’s eyelids, then you are worth becoming a specialist. Remember that you will ultimately decide on your medical career and not others; if you have stated you will do anything to go through the challenges in medical school, then it’s time to prove it to yourself.

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Aside from the pressure and stress of medical school and residency, doctors confront another rigid challenge in their medical career – to select medical specializations. Listed below are some of the most popular medical specializations:

* Plastic surgery

Plastic surgery is one of the most popular medical specializations. Medical students need to understand however that it is the specialization that it is also one of the most difficult to excel in. This is because it involves enhancement of physical assets and reconstruction of physical deformities, which are complex medical procedures. Plastic surgery is a highly techical field and is always coupled with a lot of risks that can include paralysis and death.

In spite of the complexity and risks involved, the popularity of this medical specialization stems from the undeniable obsession of people to enhance their physical beauty. So, plastic surgeons will never run out of patients.

* Pediatrics

Pediatricians, aside from diagnosing signs and symptoms as well as checking possible infections, provide medical care to maintain the total health of children in all aspects. Treating children is not that simple especially if your patients cannot really say what and where it hurts. By the pediatrician’s experience, the pediatrician makes his or her diagnosis.

Aside from enjoying the treatment of children as patients, the popularity of this medical specialization is due to the fact that parents will definitely pay any amount for their children’s safety and health.

* Obstetrics and gynecology

This medical specialization is perhaps the most popular medical specialization among female doctors, but it is also open to male doctors. This medical specialization remains close to every female doctor’s heart due to its focus on parts of the anatomy that are found only in women. It deals with ensuring medical care for the reproductive health of pregnant including non-pregnant patients.

The basic fact that women get pregnant and babies are born every day assures the proliferation of medical practitioners on obstetrics and gynecology.

In the end, do not make the mistake of choosing a specialization because of its popularity or even based on the amount of salary involved. Choose a medical specialization that matches your skills, personality, and interests. If you’re not a “people person” and your dexterity is topnotch, you may want to be a surgeon.

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