Medical Student Perspectives: Writing the Residency Application Personal Statement

The residency personal statement process may feel a bit like déjà vu from those days of finger-crossing about getting into medical school. While we all wrote personal statements compelling enough to get into medical school, these four years offer very few opportunities to produce reflective written work. As such, the personal statement may be a larger challenge than expected during the residency application process.

For internal medicine, the personal statement needs to explain why you are choosing a particular career path and what makes you unique. It goes without saying that it should be well written; it also needs to be succinct and direct. This is not the time to brush off your creative writing skills: we have all been warned that personal statements that use a SOAP note structure to be cute, or a yellow brick road theme to be creative are not well received by residency directors.

Keep in mind that the first paragraph and the last paragraph are what get read most often and by the most people. These two paragraphs get skimmed by the administrator to set you up with a good interviewer match, and then by your interviewer five minutes before the interview starts. Open the first paragraph with an interesting story about yourself. Readers are trying to get a sense of who you are and whether you would be a good fit for the culture and tone of the program. The temptation is high to talk about an experience with a patient. Resist the urge. Residency directors know about patients. They don’t know about you. Make yourself the subject of each sentence as often as possible.

In approaching the meat of the essay, use it as an opportunity to breathe life into your ERAS application. Use this part of the essay to explain why your activities during medical school will render you a strong, dynamic physician. Talk about your accomplishments and accolades, but remember that humility goes a long way in this profession. You may also want to talk about earlier experiences in high school or college that led to your decision to go into medicine that may not be apparent in your ERAS application.

The last paragraph is very important. It should act as a summary, but also talk about what you envision for your future. A good question to help you formulate this part of the essay is “Where do I see myself in 10 years?” You may have very specific ideas. You may not. That’s okay. The process of thinking about the future says a lot about your priorities and your goals, which ultimately are of interest to residency directors. Do not feel like this is set in stone either—if you say you want to be a cardiologist in your essay and then decide in a few years that you want to do GI instead, this essay is not going to hold you back.

Your letter should be no more than one page long. End of story.

Some other things to keep in mind:

Think twice about revealing a personal illness. This may bring about questions regarding your ability to perform.

If there is a blemish in your record, you may want to discuss whether or not to touch on it in your essay with a career advisor at your school. If you have a good explanation for the fact that you failed Step 1 (e.g., a serious death in the family), this essay is a good opportunity to explain. But if you didn’t get Honors in your first clerkship and you explain this with, “I had a hard time adjusting to third year,” residency directors are not going to feel very reassured with such an explanation.

Do not talk about the field of medicine. Your reader has been in the field a lot longer than you. Trying to sound authoritative on the subject will backfire on you.
Some tips on the writing process:
Start early. Perhaps the biggest hurdle is getting the first words on the page. Even though the whole application is not due for a few months, try to spend some time now getting your ideas on paper.

Read well written prose with attention to what makes the writing good. A professor I had in college said that to improve your writing, read good writing. So head out to your local newsstand, pick up a New Yorker or an Atlantic Monthly. As tempting as it might be to read a novel, reading non-fiction will probably be more fruitful. Pay attention to the structure and how the concepts are communicated.

Read your old personal statements. The potential for cringing is high, but remember that your essay was good enough to get you into medical school in the first place. Regardless of how much you have changed in the last four years, it is good to reflect on your reasons for entering the medical profession. Now that you have had years away from this piece of writing, note what sentences and paragraphs jump out at you both as strong and weak, and keep those in mind as you start the writing process.

Talk it through out loud. While you may not have been writing op-ed pieces during medical school, you have learned how to communicate information effectively for presentations and rounds. By talking through your ideas aloud, you may be able to make major progress in getting through that first draft.

Accept input from others. A non-medical reader may have good insight on the writing, the organization of the essay, and the content. But remember to trust your gut in terms of modifying anything. Another reader will also pick up typos and serve in a proofreading capacity—always a plus.

I would like to thank Vineet Arora, MD, MA, FACP, Associate Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the University of Chicago, and James Woodruff, MD, FACP, Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the University of Chicago, for their advice and assistance with this article.

The Application Process: A Timetable for Success

Written by Jeff González, M.D.,Resident, Department of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; MAC Governing Council, Resident and Fellow Section Representative

The best advice I know about the application process is summed up in 2 words: “Apply Early”. Now is the time to start. With this in mind, the following is an outline of what you need to attend to, and when:

Please note: The following timetable is particular to INTERNAL MEDICINE only, and may be applicable to most other specialty programs. However, for those residencies that are considered “early match” -- e.g., Military, Neurology, Neurosurgery, ENT, Ophthalmology, Plastic Surgery, Urology -- the deadlines will begin much earlier. PLEASE REVISE YOUR OWN SCHEDULE ACCORDINGLY.

Spring/Summer:

In the spring of your 3rd year of medical school you should:

1. Do your sub-internship and medicine electives in the specialty you’re applying to, and consider an ICU month.
2. Get a letter from your sub-internship attending, if possible (If not, definitely do an ICU month), and ask for it during your month or shortly thereafter! The longer you wait to ask for a letter, the less they remember you, the less personal the letter, and the longer it seems to take them to send it to your medical school residency coordinator. I suggest providing a copy of your C.V. along with your personal statement at this time.
3. Arrange to obtain at least one more letter from an medicine attending with whom you have worked. Have the attending send the recommendation letter to your residency coordinator, to remain there, awaiting the rest of your application. Some will tell you that the bigger the name, or the higher the title, or the more prestigious the position, the more pull the letter will have. All will agree that whoever knows you the best will write the most personal letter. Remember that you can ask for multiple letters of recommendation and, when all have been received, you can then decide which ones to forward to programs. Usually your Dean will be able to tell you which letter is stronger or weaker.

Summer:

1. Work on C.V., personal statement, and paragraphs of extra curricular activities for the Dean’s Letter.
2. Meet with Dean of Students for an official meeting. However, if possible, you really should try and meet with them much earlier than this. Again, the more familiar they are with you and what you have done in medical school, the better the “Dean’s Letter will be.
3. Figure out where you want to be for your residency, and make a BIG list. This usually entails considerations of geography and academic intensity. If you are restricted geographically, go deep and apply to many programs in that area. Use your resources: fellow students, attendings, residents, and advisors.
4. Make a list of addresses, contact names and phone numbers for all your programs of interest. You can get this from the AMA’s FREIDA Web site here. This is an excellent site to compare programs and has excellent search tools.
5. Send self-addressed postcards requesting information or call the programs directly. A fancy letter is not needed -- no one will read it! Just request a brochure and application. Be sure to specify what you want, i.e., for “a 3 year residency in internal medicine. Remember most programs now provide all their program information on-line. Their URL’s can be found on FREIDA as well.
6. Plan your winter schedule so that December and/or January are light or free. Most people take one month off and then plan for the other month during a course that is known to be flexible like Radiology, Dermatology, etc.

August:

1. Call places whose information you want but have not received.
2. Consider designing a grid/sheet to compare programs.
3. Meet with your assigned advisor to discuss the appropriateness of your list.
4. Work on polishing your C.V. and personal statement.

September:

1. You can start putting information on ERAS; refer to their website at www.aamc.org/eras.
2. Read through all of your brochures and start to narrow list somewhat (you’ll do more of this when deciding on interviews).
3. Meet with your school’s program director to discuss your list and request a Department letter. You should bring to the meeting your C.V., personal statement, your list of programs, and all of your medicine grades including clerkships, consults, sub-internships, etc.

October:

1. Finish your ERAS application and send it off. Most programs will not send interview requests until they receive the Dean’s Letter.

Around November 1:

1. The Dean’s Letter, Department of Medicine Letter, and your transcript are sent out.
2. Now is a good time to send a thank-you letter to the attendings who wrote your letters of recommendation.
3. You can check ERAS applicant information on the web to see which things each of your programs has downloaded, and/or if anything is missing.

October/November:

1. Respond to your interview offers. This is tricky. You can try and wait a little to schedule things in one city together, but if you wait too long you might not get what day you want. So play it by ear.
2. Have the suit you wore for medical school interviews dry cleaned, or buy a new one now. You will not go wrong with either of two colors: black or navy blue. Remember that often the most prestigious programs are the most conservative for the interview process.

Late November through early February:

1. Interviews: There is a controversy over whether notes are necessary after these interviews. At some institutions, for instance, they are NOT EVEN READ and may even be thrown out. However, many of us have stories of letters being written back to us, referencing these notes and assuming a level of interest/enthusiasm based on them. While they may not help, everyone agrees that they can’t hurt. Most agree that form letters, however, are a waste of everyone’s time.
2. Keep those who have written letters of recommendations up-to date on how your interviews are going and your perceptions of the programs that you are interviewing. Gather their feelings and gestalt on different programs. Your goal is to engage them in your application process in order for them to call and make a strong push for the residency of your choice. However, you cannot expect to walk into an attending’s office and say: “Do you remember writing a letter of recommendation for me 5 months ago, can you call so-and-so for me?” Instead, make this an ongoing relationship.

Late January:

1. Many agree that a letter sent out now, goes further than a post-interview “obligatory” note. It is not appropriate to mention ranking, per se, but if a particular program is your top choice, then go ahead and tell them this. You have nothing to lose; just don’t change your mind!
2. Now is the time to have any phone calls made on your behalf. Most program directors offer “one phone call” per student. Many programs also encourage “second looks”. While a few programs use this as a sign of your interest, most programs offer this for the student’s benefit. A well placed phone call or letter can often help make the distinction. Remember, most programs will meet to finalize their match list by February 5th.

Other Considerations:

There are several other issues that are often of concern to students.

The Need for Research Experience: This is an issue that always comes up. The way to approach it is two-fold. First you need to figure out if you are going to apply to a high ranking academic program and what career you want to pursue. If you are interested in academic medicine, you will find that most applicants will have performed some kind of scholarly pursuit. Many will have taken a year out, are MD-PhD, or have done research in college. Scholarship may also include leadership positions or community service activities.

However, if you have decided to pursue primary care, research is much less important. If you feel that, academically, you would benefit from research, then consider it. But, remember to speak to a wide variety of individuals for their insights.

What counts most in your application?
First, it is difficult to assess one’s own competitiveness -- i.e., grades, boards, AOA, Dean’s Letter, etc.—and different programs place importance on different things. But most programs seem to place a lot of importance on letters of recommendation. Board scores are important, but do not compromise a large portion of the evaluation process. They will help/hurt you if you are on the edge of the match list at a particular institution. In evaluating your application, how well you do in your other core clerkships particularly (OBGYN, Pediatrics, and Family Medicine) is important. If you are looking to attend a top tier program, it is very important that you receive a grade of honors for your core/introductory medicine clerkship.

Should I do an ICU rotation?
Again, this pertains to how well you have performed during your clerkships and electives. If you did not receive honors in a medicine clerkship and would like to attend a top tier program, it is recommended you take an ICU rotation. If you want to do Primary Care, it is not.

I hope the above information has been helpful and informative. And remember: “Apply Early.”

Writing Your Personal Statement

Written by Jeff Gonzalez, MD Resident, Department of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; MAC Governing Council, Resident and Fellow Section Representative

Why is the personal statement so important? It is important because it is the only part of your application that is not based on test scores or other people’s perceptions of you. For this reason committees place a heavy emphasis on the personal statement. It is the one part of your application that you have complete control of and allows you to make a personal case for yourself. Because of these reasons, however, it is so very difficult to write.

There are some basic questions that you need to address in your personal statement. These are usually divided into three paragraphs that address: 1) what got you interested in the field that you have chosen; 2) what are you looking for in a residency program; and 3) what are your expected goals in the field you have chosen. You are always free to add other commentary that is relevant to the above topics. But, make sure you discuss these 3 topics in your essay.

Your personal statement should fit onto one page when it is printed from the ERAS system. You can test this prior to submitting your statement to residency programs.

Some helpful suggestions in getting started:
1.Go back to your medical school application essay. Some students find it useful to look at that as a basis for their residency statement. Specifically the introductory and final paragraphs.

2. Find out if your school has a writing office, which can help you with your statement.

3. Use a theme to structure your essay. This helps unite all aspects of your statement.

4. Provide concrete examples that pertain to your life, goals and experiences.

5. Be concise. Refrain from using a lot of unnecessary words.

6. Begin your essay with an attention grabber: a quote, a story, an anecdote, or a riddle.

7. Finish your essay with a conclusion that refers back to the beginning of your statement and restates the theme.

8. Have your departmental program director evaluate/critique your statement. Remember they have probably seen thousands of essays and is most likely the best authority at your institution to evaluate your work.

9. Don’t be afraid to start from scratch if your essay is not working.

10. Do write about what interests you, excites you. Your reader wants to hear a positive essay not a negative one about the profession.

Mistakes to avoid in a personal statement:
1. Underestimating the importance of the personal statement.

2. Underestimating the time and difficulty involved in developing the personal statement.

3. Lack of “flow”. You read the essay and have no idea what the applicant is trying to say. They jump from one tangent to another. When reading a statement like this I would rather not read the essay at all. To prevent this error you need not one, not two, but at least three people to read your essay and give you feedback. You need to revise your essay several times. Therefore, you cannot start working on the essay one week before it is due. I recommend starting to work on your personal statement in July. Remember that most attendings will ask for a copy of your personal statement in order to write a letter of recommendation. You therefore need to start early.

4. Spelling and Grammar mistakes. These can kill you. It says a lot about an applicant if they have not taken the time to carefully proof read their essay. Is this someone who pays attention to detail and will spend time taking care of patients in my hospital? No!

5. Avoid clichés.

6. Making the writing process a group effort. This does not work.

7. Being too cute. This is not an essay for college admissions where originality/strangeness is applauded. Keep it simple to the point and address the issues I have brought up before.

8. Procrastinating until the very end to begin your statement. You need to start months in advance.

9. Failing to let yourself come through. This goes back to trying to make your statement too cute. You do not want to show up to an interview and have the interviewer thinking: Am I speaking to the same person that wrote this statement?

10. Including topics in the statement that if asked to discuss you would not be able to answer, such as particular research points, volunteer activities, etc…

Sample Personal Statement

Early in medical school, I suspected I would chose a field in medicine based on a long-standing fascination with the complexity and varied nature of disease processes. With an open eye, I embarked on a rigorous year of clinical clerkships. However, while rotating through medicine, my initial interests were solidified. I found the ability to connect with patients and the development of strong emotional ties all encompassing. When taking care of patients I was focusing not on one, but multiple body systems.

The marriage in medicine between pathophysiology and man is best exemplified by MP. I had begun my month in hematology when I was first consulted on his case. Recently transferred from an OSH for management of “the worst case” of ERCP induced pancreatitis anyone had seen, his diminished platelet count of 30,000, PT of 16, and numerous schistocytes led me to believe it was disseminated intravascular coagulation(DIC). As his underlying pancreatitis was controlled his DIC resolved. The following week, now as part of the infectious disease team, I was seeing him again, this time for continual spiking fevers to 103 degrees despite negative cultures and a trial of antibiotics. Since cultures of his pancreatic cysts had been negative, we went ahead and stopped all antibiotics, and waited, believing this to be a drug fever. The days passed and MP remained in the hospital, with out much change. I moved on the the liver service, which had been his primary team, and eventually left him still fighting for his life – and me wondering if there was anything different that we could have done. Although fractured at time, I found the relationship which I developed with him and his family to be the most rewarding experience I have had as a medical student.

During medical school I have used the opportunities afforded me to broaden my networking and educational experiences in pursuit of a more well rounded medical education. During the summer after my first year I spent a month in one of the university hospitals in Madrid, Spain, gaining insight into the differences and similarities inherent in our health care systems. I found that medicine abroad is much more holistic and spiritual when compared to our system. My goal when I returned was to share these findings with my classmates. I began acting on this interest by revitalizing the William Pepper Medical Society under the guidance of the Department Chairman, Dr. Peter Traber. My responsibilities include recruiting medicine faculty to lecture students interested in internal medicine on topics that are not covered by the traditional medical curriculum, such as medical futility and alternative medicine. For many students in their pre-clinical years, this forum serves as an introduction to the field of medicine, and hence is of enormous import in medical education at the University of Pennsylvania. Another of the intriguing challenges that I have faced at Penn includes living with nine other medical students at Nu Sigma Nu, a medical school co-op. Being able to work as a team with many diverse personalities had been a formidable task, but, one that has shown me that many times you need to step back, let go of your ego and think of the broader picture. Only then can you proceed. For the next three years, I hope to join a program that will impart a solid foundation in the science and technical practice of medicine while maintaining a personal connection with the patients I see. Eventually I aspire to a career in academic medicine, which will allow me to increase my effectiveness as an educator and researcher. Academia allows for a continuous exchange of ideas as well as interaction among colleagues enabling me to contribute and keep up to date with new advances in medicine. The training and rigors of an academic institution will also strengthen my interests in combining clinical research with that o patient care. By partaking in such activities I will also be acting as an educator passing my insights to rising residents and medical students.

As someone who has always been very goal-oriented, I am looking forward to beginning my residency. My life to date has prepared me to deal with many obstacles and also has shown me the determination, resilience, strength, and caring that are a part of my character. As I look toward my future in medicine, I believe these characteristics will enable me to succeed and be a valuable asset to the profession. My experiences have been very rewarding because I have identified with patients and admired their courage in the face of an uncertain prognosis. I anticipate that working in internal medicine will be equally rewarding and look forward with enthusiasm.

Twelve Steps for Choosing a Specialty

Question

I need to declare a medical specialty before long, but I have so many conflicting feelings and thoughts about various clinical areas. How can I make the right choice?

Response from Anne Vinsel, MS, MFA Project Administrator, Graduate Medical Education, University of Utah Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

It's time for fourth year students to get serious about choosing their specialty area. Some of you are lucky, and everything lines up: you know which clinical area interests you most, your board scores and grades/letters are all in the correct range, and you have helpful professors on your side. For you, it's just a matter of doing the paperwork on time. You can stop reading here.

But I know there are many others of you out there who aren't sure what specialty to choose. Or, you're torn between 2 or 3 specialties. Or you know what you don't want but aren't sure what you do want. Or you know what you want, but aren't sure if your qualifications are strong enough. Read on!

If you're stuck, here's a decision tree to follow:

1. Find or make a list of all the specialties available directly after medical school (ie, skip fellowships).
2. Cross off the ones you definitely don't want. You don't need a string of reasons beyond the fact that you simply can't see yourself doing it long term.
3. Perform a Google™ search with the phrase "choosing a medical specialty." When I tried it, I got about 89,800,000 entries. Set a timer for no more than 1 hour and browse through the first several pages. Take some of the "what specialty are you?" quizzes. If nothing else, they will give you some ideas and possibly make you think about specialties you haven't explored. You can safely avoid making an exact ranking of specialties at this point. Just see which specialties you seem to be most suited to and which you should rule out.
4. Now, list several specialties you can see yourself doing long term, no more than 6.
5. Research those specialties in your institution. Go to the departments and make friends with the residency program coordinators. If you haven't already done so and haven't rotated in the program, arrange to shadow a faculty member for a day. Talk with 1 or 2 residents and check out the pros and cons of the specialty. Finally, ask the program coordinator if your board scores would be in a competitive range. Most program coordinators won't share their board score cut-off, but they likely would tell you if your scores are within range.
6. Narrow your list to 2 or 3 specialties. Now, and only now, talk with family and friends. Tell them you're thinking of these specialties, and get their opinions. Listen hard, and get them to articulate the basis for their opinions.
7. Delete any reasons related to job shortages or oversupply of physicians in a specialty. You don't need 200 jobs, you only need 1, and you should be prepared to relocate somewhere less attractive if you choose a specialty that's overcrowded or not in much demand. Plus, demand can change by the time you finish training.
8. Delete any reasons related to lifestyle or money, unless those concerns come from your significant other.
9. Delete heritage reasons ("Your father is a surgeon; you should be one, too").
10. Now, write down your own pros and cons, independent of all the advice and aptitude testing and board scores. Be honest here. If your priorities are lifestyle, having children during residency, income, opportunities for foreign travel, or avoiding rough circumstances, then rank them appropriately. What fascinates you, what could you be passionate about? Don't be at all logical here.
11. But do be logical in this next step. And brutally honest with yourself: Did you barely pass the boards? Internal medicine might not be for you, even if you really enjoy outpatient medicine. Do you tend to avoid or dislike patient contact? Don't consider family medicine or pediatrics. Do you have high board scores, want a benign lifestyle, but aren't very visual? Don't pick radiology.
12. If you follow all these steps, combining thoughtful reflection on what makes you happy with an objective look at your strengths and weaknesses, one option should start singing out louder than the others. And that's your specialty.

Note that you should take other people's views of your strengths and weaknesses into account, but not necessarily follow their advice. Spouses are a special case because you are making a joint life together. Still, the final decision should be yours, informed by some actual data that help you determine "the best fit" between you and your specialty-to-be.

You can do this in a week; don't procrastinate and don't make the problem bigger than it is. If you choose a specialty that turns out to be a bad fit, you can still change after the first year.

Be practical, but don't limit yourself. I know a physician who started medical school at age 38, one who had to take the boards several times, one who barely passed one of her steps by 1 point, and another who doesn't like patient care. The first one is now practicing radiology in a large private clinic, the second is a fellow in a high-risk obstetric anesthesia program at a very prestigious academic medical center after switching from surgery because of physical limitations, the third is a fellow in a neonatal intensive care unit after completing a successful pediatrics residency, and the last is working for a large drug company doing information technology, his real love.

Even if you are "nonstandard," you can find a specialty you will love and which will value you. Good luck!

AMA opposes SGR proposal

Based on conversations with policymakers, the AMA cannot support an emerging proposal to address the flawed Medicare physician payment formula. The result in five years would be steeper cuts for physician practices, making it much more difficult—if not impossible—to achieve the objective of permanently repealing the “sustainable growth rate” (SGR).

It is our understanding that a draft proposal developed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate congressional leadership would provide for statutory updates of 2.2 percent for the remainder of 2010 and an additional 1 percent increase in 2011. Short-term positive updates are no doubt attractive. From 2012 through 2014, physician updates would be determined by two expenditure targets that were proposed by H.R. 3961. We believe updates during this period would likely produce modest increases for E&M services and no less than a freeze for other Medicare services. In 2015, physician payments would be scheduled to revert back to the current SGR formula with a projected cut of no more than 37 percent. While this cut would result in a 2015 conversion factor in line with that projected under current law, the update baseline will continue to fall during these five years as a result of the underlying SGR formula. By 2015, we believe that the price tag to permanently repeal the SGR, or even to extend the proposed 2012-2014 policy, could exceed $500 billion.

The AMA fully appreciates the fiscal challenges confronting Congress and our nation today. The cost of permanently eliminating the currently scheduled Medicare cuts is approximately $250 billion. For the last several years, Congress has chosen short-term remedies that have resulted in larger future physician payment cuts and made it much more expensive to scrap a formula that Democrats and Republicans have both said should be repealed. Five years ago, the price tag for repealing the SGR was $49 billion.

Twice this year, Congress has allowed 30-day extensions to expire, creating turmoil for patients and physicians because a 21 percent cut became the operative policy. On June 1, the current extension will expire again.

Failure by Congress and the Obama Administration to properly solve this issue will intensify access problems for seniors and military families enrolled in the TRICARE program, and severely undermine implementation of recently enacted health system reform legislation. An existing physician shortage will be magnified and steeper cuts will prevent practice and delivery innovations.

Everyone in the health care community and Congress would like to see this problem go away. However, the AMA believes that greater long-term insolvency is too steep a price to pay for a temporary solution. We believe that policymakers must once again go back to the drawing board and make the tough decisions necessary to provide the funding to fulfill the obligations made to Medicare patients and military families, without steep cuts for medical services.

Contact your members of Congress. Urge them to pass legislation to avert a 21 percent cut on June 1 without increasing the cost of a permanent solution, and preserve access to medical services for Medicare patients and military families. We should not mortgage the future of the private practice of medicine. Growing the problem is not the solution!

Will a Negative Evaluation Ruin My Residency Options?

Question

How should I deal with negative evaluations, especially ones that are written by attendings and may end up in my dean's letter?

Response from Sara Cohen, MD Polytrauma and Brain Injury Fellow, Boston Veteran's Administration Hospital, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

The best way to deal with a negative evaluation is the same as the best approach to any medical condition: prevention, prevention, prevention! If you're having problems during a rotation, the first time you hear about it shouldn't be while reading your evaluation. If you feel that your attending doesn't think you're performing up to speed, ask him or her what you can do to improve. Even if you think you're doing well during a rotation, it's always a good idea to schedule a mid-rotation evaluation, just to see what areas of your performance need improvement. If nothing else, the attending will likely applaud your initiative and appreciate the efforts you make to become a better clinician.

That said, if it's too late and a negative evaluation is already staring you in the face, read it carefully and be honest with yourself: Are the criticisms justified? Ask your fellow med students and supervising residents if they feel that the evaluation was fair. Sometimes personalities can clash and an attending may write an overly harsh evaluation that isn't indicative of your performance. If you feel that this is the case, it's usually a good idea to speak with the clerkship director and express your concerns. At some institutions, the burden of proof lies with the attending to demonstrate that he or she gave the student constructive feedback and allowed for a chance to improve. If the evaluation is determined to be unjust, it may be removed from your record.

However, if the clerkship director does a thorough investigation and strongly feels that the evaluation is accurate, it's usually a good idea to stop there; you might earn yourself some enemies by persisting in your attempts to have the evaluation removed. Try to remember that evaluations serve a purpose: This is constructive feedback that should be used to improve your performance and become a better physician. It's better to discover your weak areas early rather than when you're farther along in your training and it's harder to change. Use the negative evaluation as a guide for the things that you must change in order to do well on future rotations in the same field. If you are interested in matching in internal medicine and you did poorly on your medicine clerkship, this will likely be outweighed by a stellar performance on your medicine subinternship.

As for how this negative evaluation will affect your dean's letter, remember that the dean is on your side. Although the dean's letter (also known as the Medical School Performance Evaluation) must accurately convey your performance in medical school, the dean has an interest in helping you and your classmates land the residencies of your choice. Every comment from every evaluation cannot possibly be included in the letter, so the dean usually will focus only on negative issues that arise repeatedly. Therefore, a single poor evaluation likely will be downplayed. Furthermore, if you can prove to the dean that you've made an effort to improve your performance in the areas where you received repeated negative evaluations, this can be emphasized in your letter.

For example, a good friend of mine had trouble waking up on time for his ob/gyn rotation, and his tardiness was noted in his evaluation. He subsequently made a special effort to show up early every morning and even was complimented in a later evaluation for his punctuality. Because he made an effort to change, the dean told him that he would emphasize in his letter that he took the negative criticism in an earlier evaluation and used it to become a better student.

Unfortunately, sometimes there's nothing you can do about a bad evaluation. Perhaps it came late in the year or it's not possible to improve on the particular criticisms. At that point, it's important to know that the evaluation may be included in your dean's letter and so you should be prepared to give an articulate explanation if asked about it during an interview. Acknowledge the criticisms and explain what you will do to improve in the future in order to make you a better physician.

The most important thing to remember is not to panic. Few medical students have an absolutely spotless application, and one negative evaluation likely isn't going to destroy your chances of matching at the residency of your choice.

Should I Disclose My Marital Status at Residency Interviews?

Question

My fiancée and I have decided to apply for the couple's match, but we are unsure about whether to disclose that information as we interview. What are our options?

Thomas E. Robey, MD, PhD Resident, Emergency Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut

As if you need any more stress than is already involved in the residency match process! You are about to do it with the most important person in your life. Make sure your harness is securely fastened; you are about to depart on a 6-month roller-coaster ride. At least, that is what last year felt like for my wife and me.

There is a lot to say about the couple's match process. First, go to the National Resident Matching Program Website for some couple's basics. That site gives a good idea of how to rank your programs. How to talk about being a couple is a harder task; like the rest of your interview, it cannot hurt to practice.

In general, I recommend disclosing that you are couple's matching. There are a few good reasons to keep mum on the match, but in most cases, the reasons to disclose overshadow these. You do not have to tell anyone, but be warned: programs often talk to each other. If your better half brings it up, it may get back to your program director that you are also couple's matching.

You have an option of checking a box on your application and writing your partner's name. If you do that, some programs may ask you about your significant other. Other questioners hesitate to bring up the issue in the interview, fearing they are walking a fine line regarding illegal interview questions. If you do want to bring it up, the interview is the safest place to do so. You can gauge the conversation, and do not have to mention it with all of your interviewers at each hospital. In the end, I am pretty sure it helped me to talk about my wife.

Here are some reasons to bring up the couple's match:

• Couples come together and are usually happier residents.
• Program directors may lobby others in the same institution or city to invite your partner to interview.
• Your department may communicate with your partner's program after making the rank list, encouraging the second program to bump him or her up on the list.

If there is talking between programs, I have heard that the stronger applicant usually carries the weaker one. In the end, rank list movement only happens if the programs communicate with each other (this is variable); they know to communicate only if you have told them.

Almost every interviewer asked me about one of the hobbies I listed on my application. It is likely that your significant other is more important in shaping you than your favorite sport or craft. So why not bring up that you are part of a couple? Here are some things to consider before telling all:

• Matching in the same department, especially if it is a small class, is tough if you are from the same school as your partner.
• Same-sex partners may be wary of announcing their orientation to strangers, even if they are future colleagues.

It is unfortunate that each of these cases still exists, but revealing yourself as a couple could still yield long-term benefit. Who would want to work at a place where there is discrimination? Programs may also make exceptions to a general policy of 1 matched student per school.

In the end, this is a decision you and your partner must make together. Whatever you decide, going through the match together is a way to grow closer. Come match day, at least you can count on being in the same city as your best friend!