Sample Medical School Essays

In such a vulnerable position, I experienced first-hand that importance and impact of medicine as art and science. Hallak, my gastroenterologist, treated not just my illness, but the fear and pain I possessed, and for that I am forever grateful (and fortunately, also healthy). Hallak graciously taught me about my disease on a mechanistic level, demonstrating that he understood the science of medicine as deeply as I had hoped a clinician would.

I saw my future self as a medical Sherlock Holmes-the smartest person in the room disseminating my own cleverness from on high to solve a medical problem.

I had only a mild interest in the artful, human, side of medicine.

I enjoy the thrill of mastering a topic, and then either revealing how the pieces fit to others, or using my newfound expertise in the application of solving new problems.

Thus, it’s no wonder that I found medicine invigorating.

A career as a clinician is precisely the symphony of problem solving I crave and the opportunity to love humanity I long for, making it the perfect life for me.

My initial attraction to medicine during high school came from my inquisitive nature, a desire to solve puzzles.Because of these experiences, I believe that medicine is precisely this: the application of knowledge of both humankind- our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies- and human disease towards the eradication of human pain.In this definition, I have found a means to navigate the tricky space between medicine as science and art, between my inquisitiveness and the earnest longing to benefit others, between the head and the heart.This intense passion to solve problems I now see is not itself inherently wrong and will indeed serve me well in medical school, but such a desire must be tempered by the heart.When I arrived at college, my concept of the world, and with it medicine, was completely rearranged.Your med school personal statement will arguably be the most important essay you’ll ever write…So no pressure, right?Here is an example of an effective personal statement from an accepted medical student…(more to come)View Matt’s Personal Statement Reading through mission statements of various medical schools, I have discovered an enthralling question: Is medicine science or art?My understanding of medicine as an art and a science and my desire to pursue both have only grown stronger as I have become a patient myself.Last summer, I became very ill, and spent most of my summer asleep, in the bathroom, or at the clinic, only being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the end of July.Notice: We've detected that you are using an outdated version of Internet Explorer.Please upgrade to Internet Explorer 11 or newer, or use another current web browser (such as the latest versions of Firefox, Chrome, or Safari) for optimal viewing experience.