Medicine Personal Statement Structure

Advice & Insight From Personal Statement Specialists

1. Why do you want to study Medicine?

Avoid mentioning personal experiences – These are divisive and often deter admissions tutors before they have a chance to read the rest of your personal statement
Grammatical accuracy is essential throughout the personal statement, and in particular throughout the first section.

2. Medicine related work experience

The best candidates will have work experience in at least 2 hospital settings, 1 GP setting, and 1 care home or voluntary setting.
Exceptional candidates may also have experience of attending medical conferences or health commissioning events.These demonstrate a wider interest and understanding of the medical profession.
Work experience can be difficult to arrange but it is unacceptable not to have any, as it shows a lack of commitment and perseverance.

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2A - Medical Research (Bonus Section)

This should come after your work experience. It’s not a traditional part of the medicine personal statement, however, with students increasingly completing Extended Project Qualifications, Medical Schools have almost come to expect additional research to be included in personal statements.
Whilst EPQs are useful to mention, the very best students are boasting medical journal publications. These are relatively easy to achieve with a simple letter to the editor for any recently published article. If you’re unfamiliar with how to find suitable medical journal articles, a quick search on Google Scholar will give you access to all of the latest medical publications.

3. Extra-Curricular Activities and Achievements

A common error is to sacrifice this paragraph to include more academic and work experience material.
With numerous candidates meeting the grade requirements this paragraph is arguably the most important because it can set you apart from the competition.
Universities are looking for well-rounded candidates who will contribute to their clubs and societies.
Here are some examples of extra-curricular categories you could include:

Sporting involvement – clubs, school/county/national representation
Music interests and achievements
Duke of Edinburgh
Prizes and awards – Non-academic and academic
Positions of responsibility – Prefect/Head of House/ Head Boy/ Head Girl

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4. Your ‘Medicine Attributes’

This is your opportunity to demonstrate an understanding of the challenges of being a medical student and doctor, and state how your work experiences, balanced character and academic rigour have prepared you for these challenges.