How to Write a Letter of Motivation for the Faculty of Medicine

To write a good motivational letter for medical school, show that you would make a good doctor. But when recounting personal experiences, don't push the pity too hard, experts advise. "Shock tactics in a motivation letter won't work," says Dr. Kevin Murphy, a member of the admissions committee at Imperial College London's Faculty of Medicine (Imperial College London). - Sometimes the applicant describes how someone accidentally sawed off his leg at work somewhere in the woods, or something like that. That's not a good way to start a text."

Requirements for a motivation letter for medical school

Some medical schools look at motivation letters more strictly, others less so. For example, universities Cardiff, Leeds and Keel evaluate extracurricular application performance on formal criteria, while Oxford and Imperial College essays help the committee get an overall impression of a student, to see if they have the right qualities.

However, the motivational letter gives the applicant an opportunity to show what knowledge and experience he or she has already gained and demonstrate the skills needed in medicine, the experts agree.

"Doctoral training is tough," said Helen Diffenthal, provost of Farnborough Sixth Form College in Hampshire, "but if you can show in your motivation letter that you are serious about the work you do, you are not afraid of the challenge. Experts warn: listing places of employment without any reflection on the experience is not enough. "Very often we get essays that look more like a shopping list," notes Paul Tulon, head of student recruitment at King's College London (Kings College London). - I'd like to hear, for example, about a patient you had the opportunity to observe. Whether you helped an orderly in the hospital, watched the lead clinician work - it's equally important to us." Think also about what you did besides studying, what skills you learned. "Someone participated in scouting or was a counselor, helped with a parish support group or won a Duke of Edinburgh award," Tulon explains.

How to highlight your motivational letter

Don't be afraid to specify unusual activities - they can be used to make you stand out. "Playing in a rock band - you can explain that you're the creator and leader of it, defining the way forward," says Mike Jennings, senior lecturer at Sheffield Medical School. - It would seem, what's the connection to medicine? But that kind of experience speaks to willpower, teamwork and the ability to lead."

Medical schools give different advice on how to build a motivational letter, or the qualities they would like to see in their students. So it can be difficult to please multiple institutions with one essay. "Writing a paper to fit the criteria of all the departments you choose is about as difficult as walking through a minefield," admits Dr. Austin Spruce, who is in charge of medical admissions at Birmingham University (Birmingham University). - I suggest you write your motivation around the highest requirements of each university."

If you're applying to more than one university, find out which requirements match, which don't. "There's a certain amount of play here," Mike Jennings explains. - You can find wording that meets the requirements of multiple universities."

How to start a medical motivation letter

So you've determined what you'll write about in your motivation letter. The next challenge is where to begin. Some professors advise starting immediately in the second paragraph, writing the essay to the end, and then pulling out an interesting statement or quote to use as an introduction. "We advise writing the first paragraph at the very end," Diffenthal explains. - The first paragraph is often the weakest, so start with the second - there may be a striking phrase in the description of your experience that can easily be moved to the beginning when editing the text."

What in the introduction is better to do without? "The worst motivational letters start with, 'I want to be a doctor because my grandfather was seriously ill,'" says Kim Piper of Queen Mary University Medical School (Queen Mary University). - I would probably have doubts about an applicant who was driven to medicine by personal reasons, in which case it makes more sense for the person to become a nursing assistant than a doctor."

The application should definitely be well written and logically coherent, but be careful with complicated words. "Don't try, by writing a motivational letter, to make it smarter with a dictionary," cautions Paul Tulon. - When you don't write the way you normally speak, it's immediately noticeable."

What are the challenges in motivating for medical school

Another challenge in motivating for medical school is to present yourself in the best light and not appear to be bragging, notes Murphy: "It's a very fine line. You don't want to make loud claims that you'll make a great doctor."

Ask your elders - teachers or relatives - for help if you need it, but don't let there be many advisers. "We want to hear the voice of the young man, not his parents," says Tulon. - Let him write that he wants to change the world-when else to write about it than at eighteen?"

Be honest. Tell us how you fell in love with medicine and why you can endure all the challenges of teaching. "Your goal is to get into one school," notes Paul Tulon, "and if you get into others, that's a nice bonus."

When you apply, keep a copy of your motivation letter and be prepared to confirm everything it says-some schools use that information as a basis for interviews.

Translated by Alyona Mahneva

2022-01-14 07:13:56
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