In today's podcast, I share my top dos and don'ts for discussing childhood trauma and related events in your personal statement.
In today’s podcast, I share my top dos and don’ts for discussing childhood trauma and related events in your personal statement.
Listen to this podcast episode with the player above, or keep reading for the highlights and takeaway points.
By the way, the episodes in this podcast are recordings of our Facebook Live that we do at 3pm Eastern on most weekdays. Check out our Facebook page and like the page to be notified. Also, listen to our other podcasts on MedEd Media. If you have any questions, call me at 617-410-6747.
[00:24] Question of the Day
Q: "I've read part of your personal statement book, and you recommend telling your story that led you to medicine and your journey and all that.
My story involves childhood trauma that is definitely a piece of it that has led me this way. And my physician recommended that I do not disclose it in the personal statement.
However, I feel like it is so much a piece of my journey to medicine that I'm not sure how to exclude it. I survived childhood sexual abuse and had suppressed the memories until late in my junior year of college. I began volunteering as a sexual assault advocate. And through that training, the memory started coming back.
So then my senior year of undergrad, I did okay, my GPA went down a bit. I had a 4.0 Junior year and then a 3.6. Senior year. Freshman year was a 3.5 and my Sophomore year was a 3.7. And then I did like a DIY postbac, which was a 4.0. I had a psych major. And then I had minors in biology and chemistry, but I took about 10 years off. So I did postbac just to kind of refresh the sciences.
All the memories started coming back in my senior year of undergrad, and then I decided I needed to take time off from pursuing medicine to focus on my healing. And because I didn't think it would be fair to my future patients if I went into medical school with all that going on.
I ended up taking about 10 years off and now I am looking to get back into it. So during that time, it was partially just taking time to focus on myself. And I liked the job I was doing. I was working with people who have intellectual disabilities. I was working in group homes. I was working as a case manager. And I really enjoyed that work.
But then, in the past two years or so, I have really started to want to get back into medicine. Part of that was I went through another sexual assault. It's through the care that my physician provided me, and that empathy and compassion and wanting to be able to give that to others when they're going through a challenging situation.
It's through the care that my physician provided me and wanting to be able to give that to others when they're going through a challenging situation that has reignited the fire to want to continue pursuing medicine.
With all that being said, my question is that my trauma story is so intertwined with my medicine story and why I want to go into medicine. Is it acceptable to include the story or does it make the reader too uncomfortable to include?”
[04:13] How Do You Tell Your Story?
You need to be aware of how what you're saying is landing on other people just like you would in normal life. I'm a firm believer in you needing to tell your story, assuming it is intertwined with your reason to be a physician.
"There are good experiences that lead to people wanting to go into medicine. And there are bad experiences that lead people to want to go into medicine."
And so, the question comes down to how do you tell your story in a way that does justice for your story. How do you tell it in a way that doesn't turn out to be a graphic novel? And that the person reading it maybe has gone through similar experiences and just doesn't want to relive them.
You have to think about how all of that lands on the reader. At the end of the day, tell your story. Include the trauma because it has led to you wanting to be a physician. But "asterisk" that with the fact you said you were premed and in undergrad. Yet a lot of these feelings and memories and everything else from your original trauma really didn't start coming back up for you until later.
[06:37] Focusing on Other Things of Your Story
Our student goes on to say that the impetus for her wanting to be a physician was partially the trauma and wanting to help others. Part of it, too, was seeing her dad going back to change careers and become a PA when she was in middle school. And then the trauma restarted it later.
It's interesting that she has a lot of other things she can lean on that they would probably make a very compelling story outside of the trauma. Because she had this experience of her father being in healthcare, seeing him go through his educational journey. And seeing him taking care of this person who fell down the stairs, and what that was like.
“You don't need to focus on the trauma as to why you want to be a physician if you have other things you could potentially focus on.”
The experiences you've had can focus a lot less on your trauma. That way, you can still be true to yourself and true to your story. Focus on it in a brief way or however you want to do it and still lean on these other things as other experiences that you've had that show this is what you want to do.
[08:48] Explaining the 10 Years Off
I never want to tell someone what exactly to focus on because it truly is your story. You probably don't need to focus on trauma to talk about why you're interested in medicine. Then maybe just put in one sentence to talk about the trauma that you've been through and why you took some time off. Then you could absolutely do that without really needing to tie it into why you want to be a physician.
"There are lots of different angles as long as you think it's true to your story."
You also don't need to focus on that in your personal statement saying that you're already doing research about trauma. Because that's less about why you want to go into medicine and more about your passions within medicine.
[10:56] Talking about ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)
ACEs stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences, which is a list of adverse childhood events that have happened usually before the age of 18. It includes neglect, abuse, parents with a mental illness, and a variety of things. The higher your score, the higher prevalence of long-term health issues, higher addiction, obesity, and all kinds of stuff.
Dax Shepard actually hosts The Armchair Expert where he's very open talking about his trauma from a young age and what he's been through. And he has had so many experts on the show talking about ACES. And he does a good job talking about mental illness.
Now, our student's concern is that when the admissions people are reading her personal statement, they will automatically assume she’ll have those other issues. Especially with the stigma associated with mental illness, that is a valid concern.
But I think her track record of a solid GPA, taking the time off, and everything she's doing in between those shows she has the dedication, motivation, and she’s competent enough. And that’s assuming she gets a solid score on her MCAT and that she’s taking the next steps of applying to medical school.
From a mental health perspective, if you have been or are addicted to medications or drugs or whatever it is, a lot of times you don't have the foresight. You don't have the motivation to do a lot of things you need to do to get to that point.
“Actions speak louder than the potential negative consequences that may be seen from the ACEs study.”
That being said, I don't think the student should address this in her personal statement. Instead, she can address this in her secondary essays. That being said, she would have to be prepared to talk about this if it comes up in the interview.
Whether you had childhood trauma or not, there are students out there who don't do well mentally in medical school, and they need to take a break. And that's okay, too.
[16:15] Looking for Shadowing Opportunities
Q: "Trying to get shadowing hours is near impossible right now with COVID. Do you have any recommendations for a script you would use for cold calls?"
A: The far majority of places you're going to call are going to say no because of the risk to patients. They're more concerned about their patients than they are with helping you get shadowing hours. But I wouldn't worry about it because unfortunately, at this point, there are lots of virtual shadowing opportunities. And while not ideal, it's better than nothing. Check out eShadowing.
“The only place where you're going to get any sort of exposure is paid opportunities.”
The volunteer opportunities just aren't going to be there likely. And the only way you’re probably going to get exposure is paid opportunities. For instance, becoming a phlebotomist, going through EMT training, becoming an EMT. And it may be very location-dependent.
You may be in an area that just has a very low positivity rate, very low transmission in the community, and things may be loosening up. And that's great. If you can do that, awesome. But having a job would get you the exposure you need, whether you're a scribe or an EMT, phlebotomist, etc.
[17:59] Clinical Experience
Our student is working as a staff in a group home for people with intellectual disabilities. So she has the clinical experience but she just doesn't have the shadowing.
When you're in a setting like that, usually there is a clinical director or medical director, or some physician that comes in once a day or once a week to check on patients. Because you're already working there, you will probably have the best opportunity to shadow because you are already a part of that community. You're already being exposed to those patients and those patients are being exposed to you there.
So go to the physician or whoever else you need to go to. Ask if you could stay an extra hour after your shift, obviously off the clock, or come in an hour early off the clock. Or you can come in on the day off the clock and just shadow them.
There's always a mix up in the language when you're talking about non-clinical volunteer hours or like either working at the soup kitchen, etc.
“There's a big misconception around volunteer versus clinical experience. Clinical experience can be paid or unpaid, it doesn't matter.”
There are some schools that like volunteering, they want to see that you're going to Habitat for Humanity or that you're working at the soup kitchen. You're doing other things outside of medicine to spend your time with.
[20:52] Focus on Taking Care of Yourself
But again, with COVID, it's out the window for almost everyone. There are homeless people right now that still need a place to eat and they still need a warm meal. And so usually, those places are going to be less concerned about volunteers coming in because it's not a health care setting. And so there probably are a lot of volunteer opportunities out there outside of a clinical setting.
I wouldn't worry about clinical volunteering because you're working in a clinical setting. And you don't have to have because you're working in a clinical setting, you're getting paid for it. You don't have to have unpaid clinical experience.
“Don't worry about the application. Worry about you taking care of yourself. So don't try to force your way into the community into these risky situations just for the application.”
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