Good morning Medical Residency Applicants and Medical Fellowship Applicants! 

A biiiiiiig THANK YOU to all of our return customers!  This year and last year so many of our clients have finished their medical residency programs and are again requesting our editing service for their fellowship personal statements.  In fact, most of the 2015 projects have been for return fellowship applicants.  That is a huge compliment and we are very thankful for your loyalty. 

Every day I learn more while researching various medical fellowship programs in the United States.  As my sister and partner said yesterday, "it's the specialty on steroids."  We thoroughly enjoy working with such a select group of doctors.  I sometimes wish we had a bigger staff of talented writers to accommodate all of the requests we receive.  We are still only three editors and a consultant program director, and that has definite benefits in controlling the quality of our work.  

Since we have not felt the need to advertise in a long time, I have missed working with the doctors who land on our website through a Google search....those applying for medical residency positions.  So yesterday I fired up the original advertising campaign to go for a couple of weeks, just to pull in a few newbies.  It's a joy to showcase the interesting accomplishments and personalities of  international medical graduates who are looking for U.S. residency programs!  

Thanks also to our treasured clients who have been kind enough to recommend our services to their relatives and friends!  

Elizabeth  

Ready, Set, Upload your Medical Residency Personal Statements!

Good morning Medical Residency Applicants!

I hope you have all fine tuned your personal statements to upload this coming week in your ERAS forms.  I may be wrong on this, but as I understood from prior years' application processes, the personal statement is something you can change, even after you have uploaded it.  Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

The early bird does not necessarily ALWAYS get the worm.  Review your PS again to make sure it's airtight against grammar, spelling and punctuation errors.

It was a busy season for us here at CVPersonalstatement.com.  We enjoyed each and every one of our treasured clients.  Thank you so much for your loyalty, and for having passed around our name to your friends.  We hardly spent anything (both this year and last year) on advertising.  :)

If you decide to apply for your 2nd or 3rd target specialty, send us your draft for editing. It's not too late. We can help you express a passion for that specialty, even if you are not so enthusiastic about it.

Thanks again.
Elizabeth
cvpersonalstatement@gmail.com
618-207-3277

AAMC Website - Writing your PS

Good morning Applicants!

As you prepare the first draft of your personal statement for a medical residency or medical fellowship application for us to edit, please consider the useful information from the AAMC website about writing your personal statement:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/member-groups-sections/minority-affairs-section/transitioning-residency/writing-your-personal-statement.page?

We have published this link before, but from time to time they update the information.
Thanks!
Elizabeth

For what it's worth - PS Tips on Youtube Video about writing your Personal Statement for a Medical Residency

Good morning Medical Residency Applicants and Medical Fellowship Applicants,

I came across an interesting video this morning about writing a personal statement for your ERAS application.  "Undergroundmed" brings up some good points. 

Remember the audience...program directors who have read 1000's of personal statements.

Avoid a CV type of information in your personal statement.

Make the PS about you.  Be yourself, because you do want a program who wants YOU, not some fabricated version of yourself. 

A catchy beginning helps.

Have a POINT in your personal statement. 

I'd like to add that having one "point" to your statement is often difficult.  Of course your aim is to obtain a residency in your target specialty, and there are roundabout ways of making this clear, whether it's an internship patient example, a personal characteristic you have or role model who has influenced you.  So I would have to disagree with sticking to ONE POINT.  You are a multifaceted individual and a unique individual who has multiple assets to offer the program. If there's any one "point,"  the point is that we want to convey your ability to do well in the target specialty program.

Before you write your first draft, scan specific programs online to see exactly what it is THEY have to offer YOU.  That would definitely help with the paragraph about what kind of program you want.

We can help you with your essay.  We do not WRITE essays.  "That won't work," as my grandmother used to say.  Even in our questionnaire based essay, we select from your answers to construct your statement. 

It's time to start if you haven't.  Relax, find a couple of hours to sit down in a quiet place and start on your draft.







 

Medical residency interviews, personal statements and sounding like yourself

Dear Med. Residency and Med. Fellowship applicants,
There is almost always a fresh and authentic quality to the original draft you send to us for editing.  Our goal is to bring out the best in you and to clarify what you have said, while keeping the original feel to your statement.  WE DO NOT WANT YOU TO SOUND LIKE ERNEST HEMINGWAY.  I can't emphasize enough that your personal statement needs to reflect the best you, but the best AUTHENTIC you, with your own examples and unique experiences. For our questionnaire-based personal statement, we ask you many questions about such examples and experiences, and draw exactly on those for your essay.  Bottom line is: You definitely want to live up to your personal statement during your interview.  Be yourself, soul search into your bank of experiences, include what made you decide on your particular specialty, and why you think you are suited for that specialty.
Thanks, and we hope to hear from you soon!
Elizabeth

What can CVPersonalstatement.com offer you?

Good morning Medical Residency and Medical Fellowship applicants,

Our boutique service offers you a two draft process.  That means you have the ability to make corrections and improvements in our 1st draft to you; then we incorporate those changes and complete the 2nd draft. CVPersonalstatement is operated by two partners only and we also have one outstanding writer who helps us.  Our medical consultant has recently been promoted to PROGRAM DIRECTOR.  So basically you have four very dedicated and creative people working for you on your project.

Call us for more information about different levels of editing.

Thanks!

Elizabeth

Body Language & Interviews

Good morning medical residency and medical fellowship applicants!

Body language and communication styles vary from country to country and from situation to situation.  For example, pointing at the listener while you speak is considered acceptable in a few settings (like mother to a naughty child), whereas in an interview and many other social or business settings, it's a definite "no-no" and considered quite offensive.   Earlier this week I came across a good article in Arab News, which I follow in my personal Twitter account.  The author, Shaden Abdulrahman, gave some very useful advice.  I'd like to add that these tips would be great to apply in many other non-interview settings, such as when taking a patient's history, morning rounds or even in nonprofessional social settings. I have learned a thing or two myself, and plan to stop my excessive nodding when other people are talking! 
http://careers.arabnews.com/en/page/?aid=311 - (that's the link, but here is the text):

1.  Bad Posture

Leaning back is lazy or arrogant, leaning forward is aggressive and slouching is just lazy. Instead, sit tall and straighten your back as much as possible. 

2. Crossed Arms

According to psychology crossing arms often signals defensiveness and resistance. Open your arms at your sides to appear approachable and receiving. This will put your interviewer at ease and make them feel comfortable communicating with you. 

3. Hands Behind Back

Clasping hands behind the back may signal resistance and could mean to the other person that you’re hiding something. It’s important that you appear open and approachable so don’t try to control your body gestures by keeping your hands still behind your back. 

4. Pointing

Pointing and excessive hands movement results in invading the other person’s space aggressively. You certainly don’t want that to happen in an interview.

5. Breaking Eye Contact

Don't stare, but try to hold your interviewers gaze for one extra second before breaking away. Do this especially at the beginning when you introduce yourself and shake hands with the interviewer.

 6. Excessive Nodding

Many people nod a lot during interviews out of anxiety and their desire to appear agreeable and friendly. Nod once or twice with a smile of agreement but don’t over do it or you will appear nervous, silly or trying too hard.

 7. Fidgeting

Stop fidgeting. It distracts your interviewer and you definitely want them to focus on what you have to say not on your moving hands or the sound of coins jingling in your pocket.

 8. Unwanted facial expressions

It is crucial for your facial expressions to match your tone. If you want to express your enthusiasm for working at the company but your facial expressions convey that the mere idea of that is torturing you, forget about being hired.

 9. Shifty Eyes

Distracted or upward eye movements can suggest someone is lying or not sure of themselves. It's important to look someone directly in the eye to convey confidence and certainty.

 10. Staring

While it's important to be confident and look the interviewer in the eye, you have to break away. Locking eyes with someone for an extended period of time can be interpreted as aggressive, not to mention creepy.