Personal Statement: Good or bad idea?

[Friction]

I'm tossing around a couple ideas of what I want to write about and the direction I want to take my personal statement. I could certainly write about my spontaneous pneumo and how it introduced me to medicine, or how becoming a Navy Corpsman really solidified my desire to become a medical professional, but I feel that both of these are a little cliche. I'm sure ADCOMS get dozens of applicants who were traumatized in some manner, only to have a PA or Doctor rectify what had happened through the miracle of medicine.

 

I'm considering writing about my couple years of substance abuse (alcohol), my recovery, and my desire to work in this field that I feel, from first hand experience, is severely under served. Working in and around Phoenix, which has a large Native American population, I got to see firsthand the effects that alcohol can cause. And obviously, I have my own experience to draw from.

 

Anyways, I guess my question is: Would this admission hinder my admission chances, or could it be viewed as refreshing and/or different? I feel like it could be risky, but that it might also distinguish me as an applicant. Just wanted some insight before I dove in to deep.

 

Thanks, Joel

[PAK12345]

Hi Joel,

 

Personally if I were you I'd right about the substance abuse and how you overcame it and ultimately worked hard to get to where you are now. The situation motivated you to want to work in medicine as a PA. I think that's a personal statement I'd want to keep reading. I was kind of stuck in the same situation. I had a baby at a young age so that's what I wrote about. I didn't want to be judged and for the staff to think oh she has a child she won't make it through the program but I wrote about it anyway. So far I've gotten 3 interview invites and accepted into my 1st choice. Programs want to see people who are human, people who work hard and people who know what they want. Good luck!

[cinntsp]

I would skip the personal substance abuse idea and focus primarily on your experience as a corpsman and desire to help the underserved. Honesty and openness are great but don't shoot yourself in the foot in the process.

[GatorRRT]

Substance abuse has a stigma attached to it, especially in the health care realm. I'd suggest avoiding it all together and write about your corpsman experience.

[Friction]

I certainly understand there is a stigma attached to SA, especially in the medical community.

 

While my Corpsman training is awesome, I've been a Reservist the last 3.5 years and haven't had the opportunity to deploy, nor do I know if I will be able to prior to applying. I'm not necessarily in the same boat, no pun intended, as a Greenside Corpsman who's spent the last six years running sick call in addition to numerous deployments. I'll have 3 years ED tech experience come time to apply.

 

And is it even realistic for me to possibly keep something like this from everyone for 2 full years? There will come times when I am stressed and need a meeting or to talk to my sponsor. I won't mention the member, but some PM'd me saying a classmate was nearly kicked out after it became known they had a SA problem following admission.

[PM2PA]

Build yourself up with the corpsman route... IMHO substance abuse is a personal matter and has no business being in a personal statement about why you want to be accepted into a program. Tell a good story about something interesting that happened to you/you did that made a difference.

[EMEDPA]

I would leave anything about substance abuse out.

a potential adcom might read this as "if he gets stressed in pa school(which he will) he will likely relapse".

a member of my class was a "former IV drug user" and was found dead the day before finals with a needle in his arm.

too personal. leave it out.

[UGoLong]

Your personal statement is, in a sense, a marketing piece to get you selected for an interview. Accordingly, I'd leave out personal details that might cause someone to pass you by, even if they shouldn't. Overcoming an addiction is hard work and you should be proud of it. At the same time, it probably isn't the first thing about you that you would tell a complete stranger.

 

Good luck!

[EMEDPA]

Agree with above. Play to your strengths!

[Friction]

I kinda had the feeling that leaving it out would be the majority response. I guess I just need to find a creative way to weave my Corpsman experience and my civilian ED experience into a cohesive piece. Anyways, thank you for all the advice.

[UGoLong]

Friction,

 

A lot of people apply to PA school and, at least in masters programs, many of them probably have less experience than you do. If you can, I would arrange to make some campus visits and talk with the programs. I found that to be very helpful in deciding where to apply and in being more than a piece of paper when the committees meet.

 

Good luck!