Honesty in Personal Statement

[FriendofFriend]

Hello everyone,
I'd like to start by saying this question is not for me but for a friend of mine. He is looking into applying to Psychiatry residencies in the upcoming months. He has had personal experience with mental health and with support from family, friends, therapists, and his school was able to overcome those struggles and is almost done with his medical training. He is currently revising his personal statement and his biggest concern is being too honest with exactly what he went through and how those struggles have led him to reinforce his passion for psychiatry (this is the truth). He is considering cleaning up "sterilizing" the statement because some residents have mentioned being too honest had hurt their chances with residencies. I would like to request some guidance on this matter.

To add some clarity, when I say struggles it was more in the realm of depression, panic attacks, and suicidal ideation. I have known this person for over four years and I am confident that they will do some great work in the field however I am not an expert on how the people reading the personal statements view the world. His biggest concern is not getting into a program for being too honest and risking 5 years of hard work (there was a year off to address the struggles).

My understanding of the world is that if it's a good psychiatric program that believes in assisting people overcome their disease and improve their well being they would be excited to have someone who has first hand experience facing and overcoming difficulties with their own mental health.

Thank you for reading, I would like to request you be as honest as possible so that I can help my friend make the right decision.

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[Old&InTheWay]

How would other residents know that something they said in their personal statements have "hurt their chances" with residencies? I mean, they are residents, it's a binary condition, there's no way they could have become more of a resident with a different PS...I guess if they applied multiple cycles and all they changed was thier PS.

That said, this is a tough call. I am a big advocate of being authentic, but I would be cautious to only reveal potentially negative personal details unless they clearly are important in showing why you'll be a good candidate. In this case I would argue that first hand experiences with a medical/psych condition is not a prerequisite for being able to empathically treat patients with that condition.

 

[Psychresy]

Only be honest insofar as it helps your chances of landing an interview

 

[liquidshadow22]

Definitely do not write about this.

 

[Mad Jack]

Honesty certainly would not help his application. It is better that he channels his experience into writing about the other people that he intends to help and the ways in which he would like to make an impact rather than focusing on himself

 

[Mass Effect]

No don't do this, especially where suicidal thoughts is concerned. You're begging for the state medical board to ask for a psychiatric evaluation and submission of all your psych records prior to licensing your friend.

State Medical Licensing Boards’ Practices May Hurt Physician Mental Health

Findings uncover physician health and wellness may be impaired by state medical boards inquiries into current and previous physician mental health episodes.

labblog.uofmhealth.org

 

[brazilianpsych]

I'm not a P.D. or anything but I would definitely NOT mention things like that on my PS.

 

[NontradCA]

It would significantly hurt their chances. You can be honest about stuff when you’re an attending.

 

[TexasPhysician]

I wouldn’t have my personal statement discuss my mental health.

 

[adaptation1]

I used to think that honesty and sincerity will always win people over. Maybe in real life with friends and family. But interviews and applications for both medical school and residency are more of a game. To play it well, put your best professional face forward and raise as few red flags as possible. It's not a time for deep revelation, reflection, or sharing -- if you share too much, you are at risk of touching a few and estranging the majority. Just the way the world works. Psychiatrists have biases towards mental health issues just like everyone else. Good Luck!

 

[Basis]

I would absolutely not write about any of this in a personal statement. Sure everyone is human and can have their struggles, but this will pretty much make any program director not invite you for an interview, or not rank you if it is a home program. You(r friend) needs to avoid writing ANYTHING that will make a PD think you are going to not be able to finish residency, will be a 'problem' resident, whatever. The PD will also question your judgment as to writing about something like that in what is essentially a request to be hired and trained. Share any mild yet pleasant personal quirks only after you are in residency.

 

[ERK123]

I wrote about some similar themes in my personal statement last year, and ended up matching to my top program. I could not tell you whether or not that helped or hurt my application. I had already spoken to the program director at my top program about these aspects of my story, and received what I considered a favorable response. Other people who read my personal statement thought it was strong and appropriate. However, there is no way of knowing whether or not I did not receive certain interviews because of what I wrote. Like someone above mentioned, residents have no way of knowing what helped or hurt us get into residency.

 

[Merovinge]

I used to think that honesty and sincerity will always win people over. Maybe in real life with friends and family.

These things do win people over but they still require one's frontal cortex to modulate. There's a big difference between having integrity, dependability, and honesty as core principals to live one's life and "radical honesty" or always saying what you think. This example of the PS is no different than social interactions, we choose what to say and what to be honest about based on the circumstances and context. Radical honest is a failed experiment from a social setting, although surprisingly is being studied by some big-time business folks and may have more legs in that context.

 

[TexasPhysician]

I used to think that honesty and sincerity will always win people over. Maybe in real life with friends and family. It's not a time for deep revelation, reflection, or sharing -- if you share too much, you are at risk of touching a few and estranging the majority. Just the way the world works. Psychiatrists have biases towards mental health issues just like everyone else. Good Luck!

I don’t think that is it at all. We understand that mental health events happen and treatment is important. I have colleagues that have had health struggles, and I wouldn’t hesitate to hire them.

You are essentially interviewing for a job in residency. Its a really competitive job at that. Before this applicant shows up, I already know that this applicant needed 5 years to complete a 4 year program. That is before reading much of anything. I have a duty to educate my future residents for the good of society in a timely manner and to help those in the community receive care along the way. I want the best applicants possible to achieve these goals and more.

I have 1,000 applications and 100 interview slots for 6 people. My time to read an application and interview is very limited. i have a full patient load. In this limited time frame, you need to sell me on why you are top 6 out of 1,000.

If highlighting your year of physical health struggles, mental health struggles, academic deficiencies, inability to find a mate, or whatever issue you have had is your only tactic to show how you are the best, I wish you luck elsewhere.

Put everything you have into showing how amazing you are up front. When/if asked, explain how you have encountered issues in your life, overcome them, and you are now a stronger person that is prepared to handle the rigors of residency.

 

[FlowRate]

The strongest reason to write about something like this is if it highlights an immediate upward trend after a long period of poor performance such that it's convincing that your new, shorter-term high performance will be the long-term trend.

I think it's hard to do that with mental health disorders given the complexity of etiology, response (or lack thereof) to treatment, and generally recurrent nature. Easier with objective medical/neurologic conditions that are basically completely resolved with treatment.

 

[NontradCA]

Radical honest is a failed experiment from a social setting, although surprisingly is being studied by some big-time business folks and may have more legs in that context.

Seems to work in politics. I think the main thing is knowing your audience. As medical students applying to residencies in places they have never been, there's no reliable way of them doing so.