Highlight Your PA Shadowing Experience in your CASPA Personal Statement
How do you know you'll be a good PA unless you've seen one in action?
By shadowing - taking the time to follow a physician assistant through her day to observe what her work is really like.
When we interviewed admissions directors for our book "How to Write Your Physician Assistant Personal Statment" one thing was clear - experience and maturity matter.
Seeing medicine come alive through the example of an experienced practitioner can tell you whether you'll enjoy a medical career, eliminate some of your false assumptions, and perhaps provide you with a mentor or role model you can turn to as your medical education and career begin in earnest.
It will also prove to the admissions committee that you are serious PA school applicant.
13 Personal Statement Expression Examples That Focus on Shadowing
The following phrases provide some variations on the shadowing theme and can be used as a lead in point as you write your physician assistant personal statement.
1. Shoot to Thrill
How to use this in your personal statement:
Have an exciting shadowing experience? Start with an interesting expression, this is a great example, the author begins the statement with "clear the hall" which draws the reader into the story. Don't be afraid to be a little creative. You don't want to be overly dramatic, but a creative use of words can go a long way.
2. Show Insight
How to use this in your personal statement:
When you shadow you gain insights into medicine that only comes with experience. "In oncology you lose 50 percent of your patients". Start your expression with a key insight which highlights your medical knowledge and build from there. It can be subtle, this is a great example.
3. Tell and Show
How to use this in your personal statement:
You don't always have to be "showy" with your words to be effective. This author starts with a very straightforward statement "through my high school's health professions program..." Then build with a nice transition. This is a great example of simplicity done well
4. Bring Back The Wonder
How to use this in your personal statement:
Fascinated by medicine? Use a shadowing experience to bring the "wonder" back to the reader.
5. Make the Mundane Meaningful
How to use this in your personal statement:
It all started when.... It may seem cliche to begin with this type of a transitional element "My career interest in medicine grew out of..." But in this example we are introduced to Thomas Maag and provided with a straightforward account of how his experience taught the author about both the mundane, "HMOs" and meaningful, "human suffering" sides of medicine.
6. Highlight Your Volunteerism
How to use this in your personal statement:
Have a lot of volunteer experience? Make it a point to mention this in your essay. It can make a nice transition into your time spent shadowing.
7. Mention a Mentor - and how they changed your perception of medicine
How to use this in your personal statement:
Do you have a PA mentor that has changed your life? "I was floored" is a good place to start. Use power words to begin your sentence from the start to draw readers in.
8. Be an "Insider"
How to use this in your personal statement:
In this example the author demonstrates an "insider's understanding" of medicine when she states "One elderly woman suffering from dementia threw baleful stares and some choice obscenities at anyone who entered the room." We have all been there. Take a common example of something that represents humans - "beautifully flawed and vulnerable" and share this with the admission committee.
9. Highlight International Experience
How to use this in your personal statement:
Here is a nice transition into a special shadowing experience overseas. The author uses some nice subtle specifics, such as "in the winter of 2016". This can go a long way to bringing life to your writing.
10. Fill them with Kindness
How to use this in your personal statement:
"All you need is love"! We all like to be reminded of why we went into the profession to begin with. Show your best intentions and at the same time explain your shadowing experience. This is nicely done here.
11. Personal Trauma Turned "Insight Out"
How to use this in your personal statement:
Have you experience a trauma you want to touch upon in your essay. This is a great example. The author speak of his "father's death" and uses this as a very simple and extremely subtle transition into his shadowing experience. Awesome!
12. Parental Advice
How to use this in your personal statement:
Bring together shared experiences - in this example the author hints at her medical heritage when she says: "I gleaned some insights into the profession from my father", and ties this into her shadowing experience.
13. A Touch of Humor
How to use this in your personal statement:
Humor can be expressed artfully. This is a perfect example!
Time to Review
Take a moment to review these 13 examples and think about how you could implement these techniques into your own essay. Need help? Drop us a line...
*Adapted from Bodine, Paul. Perfect Phrases Series
Leave a Reply