Sample Family Medicine Personal Statement

You reached here because you are searching for examples or samples of ERAS personal statement for family medicine residency or observerships. Hopefully this will help you.

Sample 1

My life experiences have prepared me for a career in family medicine. I find such a field to require genuine interest, dedication, and the ability to communicate and relate to patients of all age groups. Upon entering medical school with an interest skin conditions, I assumed that dermatology was the field for me. I soon discovered, however, that I was interested in treating the whole person, that I wanted a career that treats the entire body, mind and spirit.

Working with patients of diverse ages and backgrounds is essential to my happiness. As a physician, I strive to positively impact my patient?s lives. Through volunteering for Hospice during college and medical school, and working in a nursing home in high school, I have enjoyed working with the elderly. In addition, I have spent 2 years as an elementary school reading tutor and volunteered for a year in the NICU and Children?s Medical Center at the University of Florida. Building a rapport with teenagers as a camp counselor has proven both rewarding and insightful. All encompassing, family medicine allows me the opportunity to work with the pediatric, adult, and geriatric populations. A vast and diverse field, family medicine provokes my interest and will continue to excite me throughout my career.

Numerous life experiences have prepared me for this path. Traveling across the country with 35 teenagers for Big Tours and working as a Resident Assistant in a college dormitory exemplify my ability to work well with others. The oldest of four children, I have taken on the role of responsibility and leadership in my life. On an individual level, I have mentored a young child for the past several years, which has impacted us both greatly. Extracurricular activities have helped to mold me in the person I am today. Outside of medicine, I have experienced whitewater rafting down the Snake River, water skiing on Lake Tahoe and hiking through Bryce Canyon. I am not only adventurous and easy to get along with but I am also a dedicated hard worker who thrives on patient care.

Volunteering for several years in a family practice office has given me insight into the successful qualities of a family physician: patience, compassion and excellent clinical skills. My various work and volunteer experiences have confirmed that family medicine offers everything I want in a career ? the ability to make a difference in the lives of patients while working in a field which I find exciting, challenging, and rewarding.

Much of my passion for family medicine stems from my desire to practice preventive medicine. The ability to retard or prevent the manifestations of disease inspires me. I intend to focus my future practice around this concept. Emphasis on treating the entire patient as a whole is also important to me. This holistic philosophy is essential to building strong relationships with patients. I want to become the best physician I can for my patients ? a good listener, an excellent diagnostician, and a loyal confidant.

To achieve these goals I have high expectations for my residency program. To develop the clinical skills essential to become an excellent family physician I must train at an institution dedicated to academic excellence and superior patient care. A strong academic setting combined with my desire to succeed will mold me into a well-trained physician. In the future I desire work in a clinical setting with an academic affiliation, which allows me the opportunity to teach what I have been taught to others. Many experiences in my life have helped me decide, unequivocally, that the field of family medicine is the path for me. My desire to treat and heal patients? medical and social troubles drives me to become a successful physician. I look forward to the future with excitement and optimism as I enter the field of family medicine.

Family Medicine Personal Statement Sample

You reached here because you are searching for examples or samples of ERAS personal statement for family medicine residency or observerships. Hopefully this will help you.


Sample 3

I am committed to becoming a family practice physician in a community that is medically under served. I believe that health is a holistic balance of the physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual, and that each individual functions within a family, a community, and a society. In providing medical care to individuals and families, I also hope to provide leadership in addressing the larger social and political issues affecting communities around the world.

My undergraduate studies focused on political science with an emphasis on international development and public policy. As intrigued as I was by politics, policy, and social systems, I came to see the practice of medicine as a more direct and personally fulfilling means of helping people. After college I had an opportunity to do extensive volunteer experience around the world, including working in a primary care clinic in Chili, working with a midwife in Turkey, and assisting with healthcare research in Cuba. My understanding of health and well-being were broadened and enriched by non-western perspectives and cultures. I have learned how much the United States has to learn about health care delivery and social support systems and a new respect for the resources and expertise the United States has to share. These experiences inspired me to enter medical school.

After completing my basic sciences, I took a year off to explore international, community, and public health issues. I was interested in learning about clinical practices in settings without the advantages of modern equipment and technology. I studied at a rural health care project in India, did volunteer work in Calcutta, and did HIV and TB research in Peru. When I returned to medical school to complete my clinical rotations, I found the Family Practice specialty to most closely match my interests. I liked the emphasis on continuity of care, on family systems, on prevention, and on the long-term value of community education.

My extensive experiences around the world have taught me the value of hard work, the need for patience and dedication, and the power of humility and compassion in interacting with patients and families. Even in the absence of sophisticated resources, compassionate and dedicated care givers can be a powerful healing force within communities. I am committed to using my knowledge and my skills to ease suffering.

What I seek in a residency training program is the opportunity to learn and serve within a supportive and inspirational environment. I am looking for opportunities to learn about community medicine, family counseling, healthcare policy, and community education. I want to join a team of professionals who are dedicated to making a difference in a community. In the long term I am interested in international healthcare research and possibly in teaching.

Family Medicine Personal Statement Example

You reached here because you are searching for examples or samples of ERAS personal statement for family medicine residency or observerships. Hopefully this will help you.


Sample 4

It was quite late in my academic career when I decided that I would like to become a physician; in fact, I wasn't one hundred percent certain until after I completed my undergraduate degree.
In grade nine, I was introduced to genetics and my scientific career was born. I was so fascinated that I did a research paper on genetic engineering in grade eleven for my language arts course. When I graduated from high school many of my peers in biology class had aspirations of medicine. Not me! I was going to be a PhD geneticist.

Because of my keen interest in genetics during the first two years of my undergraduate education, I sought out laboratory research experience. In the last two years of my B.Sc. program I was continually involved in research in some capacity. This invaluable experience not only helped to hone my critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, but it also helped me recognize that I like to see and work with "the big picture," especially the big medical picture.

Two other experiences in my third year of university helped further my interest in medicine. First, I started volunteering in the pediatric playroom at the university hospital. I truly enjoyed playing with the kids, especially the oncology patients. I was amazed at the resiliency and maturity of these kids battling something as devastating as cancer and still having the energy to be children. It was inspiring.

Then, shortly after Christmas of 1995 my younger brother's best friend was diagnosed with and ultimately succumbed to leukemia at the age of 15. This boy, who sat at my dinner table at least once a week for years, the same boy I drove all around the city dropping him off at malls and movies and friends' houses, became one of the oncology patients I saw at the hospital each week. Peter never achieved remission and died of a fungal infection in June 1996. I never completely understood why until I did a pediatric oncology elective at that very same hospital in my third year of medical school.
Several things happened in the fourth year of my B.Sc. program to solidify my desire to become a physician. I taught the laboratory component of the introductory genetics course to first and second year university students. It was a tremendous amount of work because it wasn't something that could be put on the "back-burner" while I was busy with my own course requirements. These students depended on me for 40% of their final grade! I had a major responsibility to help these young people learn, understand and succeed. It was unbelievably rewarding and I knew that I wanted a career that afforded me the opportunity to teach others and participate in their successes.

The final experience that convinced me that I wanted to be a physician was my three-month back-packing excursion in Europe. Apparently I did what one is supposed to do when one goes to Europe: yes, I found myself. I came back home definite that I wanted to go to medical school. The funny thing is I don't remember giving a moment?s consideration to my career aspirations while I was travelling. I just had a great time seeing new places, experiencing new cultures and, above all, meeting new people. I met people from many different countries and all walks of life and I loved every minute of it. I knew that I would meet thousands of people over the course of my career as a physician and I would have the opportunity to hear all of their stories in their own unique way. I couldn't imagine a more rewarding career.

Upon entering medical school I had no idea what type of medicine I wanted to practice. I had originally anticipated that I would become a specialist of some description. However after completing all of my core clinical rotations and especially my family medicine rotation, I now can only envision myself as a family doctor. I can honestly say that I enjoyed all of my rotations. I loved working with the geriatric population in my internal medicine and family medicine rotations. I also enjoyed obstetrics & gynecology and pediatrics. I particularly enjoyed primary care medicine and preventative medicine. I also value the portability and flexibility of family medicine. As a family physician I intend to provide primary care medicine with an emphasis on prevention of disease to my pediatric, obstetrical and geriatric patients.

I'm interested in family medicine programs that will allow exposure to a wide variety of patients, especially in ethnicity and pathology. I'm seeking valuable experience in inpatient and ambulatory geriatrics, pediatrics, obstetrics & gynecology and surgery. I'm also seeking programs that emphasize teaching and clinical research. Finally, I'm interested in working with people who enjoy their jobs and working in an environment where support and camaraderie are of the utmost importance.

Example of Family Medicine Personal Statement

You reached here because you are searching for examples or samples of ERAS personal statement for family medicine residency or observerships. Hopefully this will help you.


Sample 2

In my journey through medical school, I have realized that pursuing a career in family medicine will allow me to address several of my special interests while also allowing me to serve me community effectively. I came to medical school after having taught eighth grade, and I knew that I wanted to be able to provide health services to adolescents. Additionally, my interests include a commitment to medically underserved populations and preventive medicine and a love of teaching. By incorporating these interests into a full-service practice, including obstetrics and hospital medicine, I believe that I can truly meet the needs of my community as well as my own personal career goals.

My interest in adolescent populations is one of the main reasons I am opting for a career in family medicine. Teenagers fall through the cracks so easily, and often end up without a primary health care provider. Since the attitudes and behaviors of a lifetime are often cemented during the teen years, I believe it is vitally important that young people have a physician with whom they are comfortable discussing their physical and emotional needs and concerns. As patients, teenagers tend to respond more readily to a compassionate atmosphere involving someone who wants to help them learn to help themselves. By integrating the various aspects of family medicine ? including pediatrics, general medicine, psychiatry, and OB-GYN ? the whole adolescent can be treated.

I also hope to address the needs of the special populations. For a number of years, I watched my sister suffer with the physical disabilities that accompanied her mental retardation. I was often frustrated by the lack of understanding of her needs demonstrated by the medical community. I began to recognize a similar pattern among her friends who were disabled - their medical needs were also not often being met. Having volunteered with the Special Olympics on both state and international levels, I have been exposed even more to the needs that the special populations present, and the ways that I can most effectively contribute to their healthy lifestyles. I look forward to incorporating this population into my practice.

I have learned that people with substance abuse issues present a special set of challenges, and I plan to use what I have learned in a prevention effort in my community. My mother began a non-profit halfway house program when I was in high school, and I have had the opportunity to watch it grow into a multi-facility program which now includes over 80 beds for men, women, and veterans in recovery. The exposure has been phenomenal, and I genuinely see the importance of recognizing addiction issues and working to address them in every way possible.

Family medicine offers me the opportunity to commit myself to serving my patients who have needs in all areas of medicine. By integrating my own special interests including underserved populations, prevention, and teaching into the delivery of health care to the whole family, I believe I can realize the goals I have set for myself as a physician.

I had some academic difficulties in the basic sciences as a result of my difficulties with test taking. I was able to address these difficulties in a decelerated curriculum that allowed me to spread out the traditional preclinical courses and focus on each course in more depth. The curriculum also allowed me to further develop my interests, both inside and outside of medicine. I was able to complete more electives and participate in extracurricular activities ? including research in domestic violence, and a number of teaching and outreach prevention programs. Returning to the full-time curriculum for my clinical clerkships, I have been able to bring to my clinical work the skills and insight I developed from my extracurricular activities. Though it was personally difficult for me to accept a change in the course I had planned, I am grateful for the additional enriching opportunities. I am greatly looking forward to having the opportunity to enhance my residency and career with the interests and abilities that I have fostered during medical school.