Transitional/Prelim essay

[AF M4]

Hi everyone, does anyone know what to write about in their personal essay when they're applying for a transitional or prelim medicine slot? I have a somewhat complicated situation because I'm on the Air Force HPSP and want to do EM and so my personal statement and LORs are all very EM oriented. This year the AF is matching very few EM spots though, and so their policy (changed this year) is to take everyone who didn't match to their respective programs, put them in a one-year internship (can be trans, prelim med or prelim surg), get them licensed and then a 2-year tour as a flight surgeon. Anyway, now that I've been told I have to apply for one of these internships, I have no idea how or what I'm supposed to write about in applying to a transitional or prelim med spot (I don't want to do surgery). Any ideas? Thanks.

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[raspberry swirl]

there's nothing wrong with talking about why you love ER, mention that new requirements in the military are such that you are applying for a transitional/pre-lim year, and talk about how that will help make you a stronger ER physician. thats what i sort of did- im applying for psych, but also a DO traditional internship. i talked about psych, and how the traditional year will make me a stronger physican overall, etc. i would be honest- i dont think it will hurt you. everyone applying for a transitional/prelim year is going on to something else once its over, so there's no reason to infer othewise. if ER is what you are passionate about, then writing about that will ultimately sound better than making something up.