Why I’m Meant for Emergency Medicine: My personal statement
Today I officially found out that I MATCHED INTO EMERGENCY MEDICINE RESIDENCY! I will find out where on Friday 3/19. I am so excited, relieved, emotional, ecstatic, and all of this still feels surreal in a lot of ways. Now that I know with certainty I will have the privilege of being an Emergency Medicine Resident, I’m sharing my personal statement.
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As I mentioned in my previous post, everyone’s personal statement is going to be very different, so it’s a tough topic to offer advice on in my opinion. In general, the purpose is to tell residency programs why or how you selected your specialty. Some students may also choose to explain a unique circumstance if they had any come up in medical school or if they have any “red flags” in their application they can choose to address that here. Definitely draft this early and be ready to completely rewrite it a few times before you get a result you’re happy with. Also be sure to have some advisors read it in addition to close friends or family if you’re comfortable.
I consider myself a “mushy” and loving person, and I was nervous about having my personal statement reflect that and truly be very personal. In fact, the first draft of my personal statement was extremely dry and emotionless, so much so that my advisor who read it agreed it didn’t sound like me at all. I am thankful that my advisors encouraged me to submit this personal statement for just that reason: it does reflect who I am and my personal outlook very clearly.
As I was starting to draft my personal statement, I appreciated when I was able to read others’ examples. So in the hopes of continuing to be helpful to my medical student readers, here I’ll share my personal statement with you:
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I think one of the most important characteristics of successful emergency medicine physicians is the ability to be resilient. Resilience in my life has come to mean focusing on what’s most important, and having the ability to move forward regardless of what’s happening around me. I genuinely believe that the adversities I’ve faced thus far have been specifically preparing me to have the grit it will take to be a successful emergency medicine resident.
Being a first generation college student, my graduation from the university was a monumental moment for my family and me, so many of them flew in to celebrate. The night before the ceremony, I found my grandmother with no pulse in her hotel room, and in the days that followed, she passed away. In the months that followed, I still continued the medical school application process. That was one of the first times in my life where I had to take uncertainty and sadness and turn it into lessons of perseverance and hope, and it wasn’t the last.
While studying for Step 1, my yellow lab Holly, who truly had been my biggest support system since I was 14 years old, died suddenly of acute myeloid leukemia. While studying for Step 2, I lost my first four-legged family member, my horse Cocoa, to a likely intestinal rupture. The day I started this residency application, just weeks before I was finally starting my emergency medicine sub-internship, I had to take my [close family member] to an emergency room to be stabilized before I could take [them] to an inpatient substance abuse rehabilitation program.
My intent in sharing this with you is not to dwell on the details, because I know that every single person is facing their own battles, regardless of what we see on the surface. I have turned these traumas into lessons and strengths that I will carry with me into residency. Rather than allow my story to be defined by things out of my control, I have deliberately worked to make my story about the ways I’ve continued to move forward regardless of these tragedies. As I face these tribulations, I always find myself taking a step back and considering what is most important in my life; and every single time my dream of becoming an emergency physician is what enables me to carry on.
Emergency physicians provide some of the most meaningful moments of human compassion as they help patients and families through the intense ups and downs of their emergency room visit, which at times can be the worst days of their lives. I got a glimpse of this working over two years as a scribe in the emergency department, and later as a student. Despite these years of exposure, it took being scared for my own loved ones for me to truly start to grasp the level of responsibility that will soon lie on my shoulders. As I’ve lived through some of my worst days, the benevolence and empathy shown to me by emergency physicians and veterinarians was something I’ll never forget. I hope to bring that type of comfort to my patients someday.
In life, and definitely in emergency medicine, sometimes it feels as if everything that can go wrong does go wrong. I’ve experienced those moments at times when I needed to perform my best, and I have shown that I still have the ability to focus on the tasks at hand. When people meet me, they don’t see reflections of anguish, instead they see genuine optimism and authenticity.
As a resident, there will be countless days that push me to my limits, and times when I grieve for my patients; but I have proven that I can be resilient, and I have learned to give space to grief without letting it consume me. I’ve learned the importance of cultivating my support system, and the humility that comes with realizing that I will always have room for improvement and growth.In my life’s hardest moments, the one thing I always knew with certainty is that I am meant for, and built for emergency medicine. In residency I will continue to foster my natural ability to face the unknown with compassion and composure. I know I will always be capable of moving forward, of doing the next necessary thing, both for my patients and for myself.