Explain why you want to pursue a career in medicine in your personal statement. You should make it clear why you want to be a doctor but you should avoid using clichés. Use a personal experience to explain your decision. Tell a story from your past and put emotion into it. Help the Admissions Committee see your true passion.
Let your personality come through. Avoid trite, stiff language. Your personal statement should be just that: personal. That means the language should be respectful but not awkward. Approach it as if you're telling someone you're close to but whom you highly respect why you want to be a doctor.
Include your qualifications but this doesn't mean that you should make a list. Instead, weave them into your statement through personal stories. For example, stress what you personally learned or highlight a moment that influenced you.
Include any hospital or research experience you've had in your personal statement. Again, don't make a list. Explain it and include personal stories. Hospital and research experience should be included in your personal statement because most medical schools highly value, and most likely expect, you to have these types of experiences.
Make your personal statement interesting. Try approaching the personal statement as you might a fictional story. You have to hook the reader, as in the principles of creative writing. Open with an interesting or thought-provoking line that will make the reader want to know more about you. Include real emotion in the statement and show how you've changed, matured and developed through your experiences, just as a fictional character would in a story.
Avoid wordiness. Your personal statement needs to be concise. That means you need to stay focused on relevant subjects. You don't have that much space to explain why you want to be a doctor, give details about your experiences, tell a personal story and convey your passion for medicine. Make sure every sentence and every word haves a distinct purpose that will enlighten, engage, interest or impress the admissions committee.
Mention your weaknesses if your record shows some deficiencies or poor grades at times. Don't dwell on them but explain the situation and how you've worked to improve yourself. Turn any negatives into positives by stressing what you did to overcome the problem.
Pay attention to the structure of your personal statement. The sentences and paragraphs should move seamlessly from one to the next. Use active voice and action verbs and vary your sentence structure as much as possible. This will make your statement easier and more enjoyable for the admissions committee to read.
Revise your personal statement over and over again until you are happy with the results. To help in the revision phase, ask various people to read it and offer feedback. If possible, ask fellow medical students, professors or doctors you know to critique your personal statement. They will know more about personal statements than other people.