As I begin working with my new advisees, I often find myself pushing them to think harder and deeper about the experiences they've had. A lot of the time, the things they've seen, felt and learned are concepts that have been well-researched and are commonly discussed in medical education. When we can, we want to use the correct terminology for the concepts. The phrases listed in the graphic above are some of my more commonly used phrases in personal statements. Even if they don't literally appear in your writing, I want all of my applicants to know what these words mean because I am certain that before this is all over, you will encounter these concepts/phrases in one space or another. Plus, I'm just convinced that if you know these things, you'll one day be a better doctor, PA or dentist.
Take the time before you get too far into your application writing to google any of these phrases along with "medicine" or "medical school" to see what comes up. You can also go to PubMed to search published articles on these topics. There are many more ideas out there that are discussed in writing, but you'll notice a theme....writing is about ideas. Not just saying over and over and over....I want to be a physician.
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