Religion/Faith in Personal Statement?

[throwaway11031]

I was hoping to get some feedback and a consensus from adcoms on mentioning my faith and religion in my personal statement? It has had a substantial impact on my path to medicine and is an integral part of my identity. I've read up on most programs have a non-discrimination policy with age, sex, ethnicity, race and usually religion is included in that category. However, I don't know if it is acceptable to bring this up since I've seen religion tends to trigger some biases and can get lumped in the same category as politics, regarding controversial topics. I don't want anyone thinking I would impose my faith on colleagues or patients for example, even if it isn't remotely implied in my personal statement, I could see that being a concern. Hopefully I am not overthinking this.

Please let me know your thoughts! Thank you so much!

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[LizzyM]

I know of some physicians in leadership positions at my school who are religious (Christian, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim). I have seen applications that make reference to Tikkun Olam and to similar references from applicants of other faith communities in the way that the teachings of the faith are inspirational and bring about a desire to practice medicine and to have the role of caring for the sick and, when possible, being instrumental in the healing of illness or injury. There is always the possibility of an implicit bias on the part of a reviewer but most schools do not put the responsibility for an interview or admission decision on a single individual and as long as you don't do anything crazy at the interview (e.g. someone asked the Dean of Admissions, "Have you been saved by Jesus? Because, if you haven't, you really can't understand where I'm coming from."), you should be fine.

Francis Collins, head of the NIH, had some things to say about his faith and religious belief in an interview last week.


You might also want to look at the schools you are considering and determine whether they have a club/group for people of your religion, that may give you a reassurance that the school is not actively discriminating against people of your faith and has admitted enough of them to form a little faith community there at the school.

 

[gyngyn]

I have seen it done well.
I have seen it done badly...very badly.

 

[throwaway11031]

I have seen it done well.
I have seen it done badly...very badly.

I know of some physicians in leadership positions at my school who are religious (Christian, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim). I have seen applications that make reference to Tikkun Olam and to similar references from applicants of other faith communities in the way that the teachings of the faith are inspirational and bring about a desire to practice medicine and to have the role of caring for the sick and, when possible, being instrumental in the healing of illness or injury. There is always the possibility of an implicit bias on the part of a reviewer but most schools do not put the responsibility for an interview or admission decision on a single individual and as long as you don't do anything crazy at the interview (e.g. someone asked the Dean of Admissions, "Have you been saved by Jesus? Because, if you haven't, you really can't understand where I'm coming from."), you should be fine.

Francis Collins, head of the NIH, had some things to say about his faith and religious belief in an interview last week.


You might also want to look at the schools you are considering and determine whether they have a club/group for people of your religion, that may give you a reassurance that the school is not actively discriminating against people of your faith and has admitted enough of them to form a little faith community there at the school.

@LizzyM and @gyngyn

Thank you very much for the response! This is quite reassuring, most programs I am applying to have clubs of my faith and Offices of Spirituality or Religious Life at the actual medical school. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't triggering any implicit biases but it appears that it could be well received. Of course I would never say anything like that at an interview, I would never put my faith on my colleagues. It is reassuring the director of the NIH is so open about his faith as well. Thanks again!

 

[Goro]

I have seen it done well.
I have seen it done badly...very badly.

Oh! Can you share????

 

[m1redsox]

I’m pretty sure every applicant from BYU mentions their LDS mission

 

[LizzyM]

I’m pretty sure every applicant from BYU mentions their LDS mission

It is otherwise a two year gap in the file so they really need to do so.

 

[MD-PhD-NonTrad]

I’m pretty sure every applicant from BYU mentions their LDS mission

How would you classify this? Is this a two year volunteering experience, is it considered paid employment? Just curious how these things work. Not applicable to me just not something I would’ve thought about.

 

[Goro]

How would you classify this? Is this a two year volunteering experience, is it considered paid employment? Just curious how these things work. Not applicable to me just not something I would’ve thought about.

Typically listed as volunteering.

 

[LizzyM]

How would you classify this? Is this a two year volunteering experience, is it considered paid employment? Just curious how these things work. Not applicable to me just not something I would’ve thought about.

Sometimes listed as "other" as it is primarily religious, that is proselytizing, rather than community service volunteering. Some missionaries do engage in community service for a few hours per week but the bulk of their work is missionary evangelization. It is unpaid and missionaries are supported by family back home for the two year duration.
I will sometimes see the missionary service as "other" for 40 hours/wk or more and 2 hours/wk or so in a separate community serivce effort. Sometimes the two activities are combined; it may depend on how many slots are filled with other things.

 

[m1redsox]

How would you classify this? Is this a two year volunteering experience, is it considered paid employment? Just curious how these things work. Not applicable to me just not something I would’ve thought about.

For what it’s worth, I am a BYU grad and completed a mission in Argentina. I only spoke about the last year of my mission and listed it as a leadership experience because I was involved in a leadership role over other missionaries during my second year. I know some schools get upset with applicants who served proselytizing missions who list them as “volunteer experiences” because that is not the primary focus of your two years, but the applicant justifies it because you are paying your own way there as a volunteer church representative. The University of Utah definitely gives students a hard time for it.

 

[MD-PhD-NonTrad]

For what it’s worth, I am a BYU grad and completed a mission in Argentina. Since AAMC activities want you to focus on experiences during the last 5 years, I only spoke about the last year of my mission and listed it as a leadership experience because I was involved in a leadership role over other missionaries during my second year. I know some schools get upset with applicants who served proselytizing missions who list them as “volunteer experiences” because that is not the primary focus of your two years, but the applicant justifies it because you are paying your own way there as a volunteer church representative. The University of Utah definitely gives students a hard time for it.

Where is this coming from? My activities section covers the last decade....recent is important, but like 5 of my activities are >5 years old...

 

[deleted1093251]

I think it probably depends on your audience. Some may receive it fine, others less so. If it’s the majority in the institution.

Personally, I find religious motivation for medicine disingenuous. I would not be comfortable with a physician who was religious. But if I don’t know I won’t be able to do anything, right? It’s typically not an outwardly expressed facet of a person. Until it is.

 

[m1redsox]

Where is this coming from? My activities section covers the last decade....recent is important, but like 5 of my activities are >5 years old...

Sorry, misspoke on that one. I did that for my University of Utah secondary (which basically has you redo your 15 experiences section of the AMCAS). They don’t let you list dates earlier than 5 years ago on that secondary. But on the AMCAS, I did call it leadership and just talked about those experiences.

 

[LizzyM]

I think it probably depends on your audience. Some may receive it fine, others less so. If it’s the majority in the institution.

Personally, I find religious motivation for medicine disingenuous. I would not be comfortable with a physician who was religious. But if I don’t know I won’t be able to do anything, right? It’s typically not an outwardly expressed facet of a person. Until it is.

?

You wouldn't want to be cared for by a physician who keeps the Sabbath? or one who sings in the church choir and gives up sweets for Lent? You wouldn't see a physician who you overhear saying that he has cancelled his plans to make a pilgrimage to Mecca this year due to the pandemic?

What does "religious" mean to you?

 

[m1redsox]

I think it probably depends on your audience. Some may receive it fine, others less so. If it’s the majority in the institution.

Personally, I find religious motivation for medicine disingenuous. I would not be comfortable with a physician who was religious. But if I don’t know I won’t be able to do anything, right? It’s typically not an outwardly expressed facet of a person. Until it is.

Gives some discrimination vibes but okay...

Weird flex, dude. I hope you’re never on an adcom.

 

[wysdoc]

I was hoping to get some feedback and a consensus from adcoms on mentioning my faith and religion in my personal statement? It has had a substantial impact on my path to medicine and is an integral part of my identity. I've read up on most programs have a non-discrimination policy with age, sex, ethnicity, race and usually religion is included in that category. However, I don't know if it is acceptable to bring this up since I've seen religion tends to trigger some biases and can get lumped in the same category as politics, regarding controversial topics. I don't want anyone thinking I would impose my faith on colleagues or patients for example, even if it isn't remotely implied in my personal statement, I could see that being a concern. Hopefully I am not overthinking this.

Please let me know your thoughts! Thank you so much!

Mentioning or featuring it as part of your moral/ethical formation or values, should be acceptable in the personal statement.
But there has to be more of why medicine than why religion, in my opinion.
Your other essays should also feature other aspects of yourself.

 

[stinkycheeseperson]

I think it probably depends on your audience. Some may receive it fine, others less so. If it’s the majority in the institution.

Personally, I find religious motivation for medicine disingenuous. I would not be comfortable with a physician who was religious. But if I don’t know I won’t be able to do anything, right? It’s typically not an outwardly expressed facet of a person. Until it is.

ummm.... where to start with this! lol

 

[JBM16BYU]

How would you classify this? Is this a two year volunteering experience, is it considered paid employment? Just curious how these things work. Not applicable to me just not something I would’ve thought about.

I am a BYU grad who served a mission in Eastern Europe. I listed the mission as "other" since the purpose was primarily proselytizing and teaching about the church. I did list volunteering things that I did on the mission, like teaching weekly free English classes, teaching weekly free piano lessons, etc. I also mentioned leadership roles I had on the mission and described briefly what those were (about how many people I oversaw, how frequently I gave presentations, etc.) I also list my mission on my CV still, as I learned another language and have no reason to know that language otherwise. I list it under teaching experiences on the CV. Hope this helps.

 

[SCallergydoc]

When I sat on my school's admission committee, each application was reviewed by 10-15 members of the committee. If you got one or two who gave you negative marks you had no chance of getting in. Most committees will have a few agnostics or atheists so I think you need to weigh how important it is for you to include it. Not sure if including it will get you into the school but can certainly keep you out.

 

[LizzyM]

When I sat on my school's admission committee, each application was reviewed by 10-15 members of the committee. If you got one or two who gave you negative marks you had no chance of getting in. Most committees will have a few agnostics or atheists so I think you need to weigh how important it is for you to include it. Not sure if including it will get you into the school but can certainly keep you out.

Did you observe reviewers being negative toward applicants based on religion?

 

[SCallergydoc]

In short, no. This was in the 90's in the northeast and I do not recall any essays that specifically focused on religion and our classes were very diverse. Even if they did let this affect their rating I doubt anyone would admit the reason.

 

[SChocoholic]

I think it probably depends on your audience. Some may receive it fine, others less so. If it’s the majority in the institution.

Personally, I find religious motivation for medicine disingenuous. I would not be comfortable with a physician who was religious. But if I don’t know I won’t be able to do anything, right? It’s typically not an outwardly expressed facet of a person. Until it is.

This is why people are so afraid to show any kind of religious affiliation in medicine. I was one of those people and after submitting my application, I was extremely regretful that I had left off a leadership position running a club for two years because it had been religiously affiliated. Although I did already get in, and I know that my religious beliefs will not infringe on anyone’s rights, it makes me a bit sad that I overthought that decision.

 

[SCallergydoc]

I do not think you should ignore participation in religious ventures but would shy away from making it the focus of one's essay.

 

[LadyDustyBlue]

So… I’m approaching this from a Religious Studies/pre-med perspective, who left her family’s faith at a young age, but can find appreciation that it’s a part of my identity.

Discrimination can be found anywhere. With that said, know your audience, do a background check on the schools you’re submitting your applications to, and make certain that you can imagine yourself with a supportive system for people of different faiths - if indeed, this is important to you.

No matter where you apply to, know your “why” for doing so. Faith will always be a point of contention in the scientific community (for some, it’s just tough to have when life gets challenging), but there’s no reason you should be rejected (by the right school that isn’t predominantly exclusionary) if you can explain why it’s important for your journey to become who you are/be a physician.

Just remember the personal statement should be directed about what led you to apply & what you hope to achieve by gaining the privilege to learn.

 

[LizzyM]

A casual mention of one's motivation for service is not a big deal. It can be the sort of thing that goes something like, "My faith tradition teaches that one should [insert precept here about care for the poor, the orphan, etc], therefore, for the past three years I have volunteered at the ...." Then go on about how that has been a learning experience and one that motivates one toward a life of service to the sick, injured and/or dying.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Dr. Collins' memoirs and discussion of Biologos is a great read.

One's faith is central to their identity and their approach to life and healing. Some applicants put it within balance, and my experience saw most put it down in W/A or the "what else about you" secondary essays.

What's more important i feel is Interfaith interactions. Rarely will you only see just one religious group unless it is deliberate (such as genetic studies). Showing openness to other faiths including atheist, agnostic, or Wiccan is important. To be compassionate including for palliative care is fundamental. In my opinion, showing that you are receptive and can work with others from different backgrounds would be more important as an impression than how many times you go to mass or pray daily. Medicine will test your faith and religious practice... are you ready?