Personal Statements: Medical & Dental
NEW: PS Editing!
Receive detailed feedback on your medical or dental personal statement from our experienced tutoring team of medical students at Oxford/Cambridge/Imperial/UCL and dental students at KCL/Manchester/Bristol!
All personal statement edits are overseen by MyUCAT founder Ojas for quality purposes
Check out MyUCAT reviews here & many of our success stories here!
Please note: we are able to accomodate editing for other subjects, particularly pharmacy/biomedicine/5th choice options as well as most Oxford/Cambridge courses. Please do not purchase via the website in this case - reach out over WhatsApp and we will look into availability of an appropriate tutor.
Please note that we have changed both our pricing and product offering in this final week pre-UCAS deadline. Important change: only remote edits are offered.
Single Remote Edit (£40)
A single, remote and incredibly detailed edit of your medical or dental personal statement, with maximum turnaround of 48 hours. We have a target time of 12-24 hours for this editing service.
This is appropriate for both completed personal statements AND also those seeking feedback whilst part-way through the process on what needs change/modification!
We will ensure that the personal statement meets criteria of any universities that you intend to apply to - for example:
NB: requirements for all universities are virtually identical, so don't worry if you're not sure yet. However, if you have particular universities in mind e.g. Oxbridge, then we can offer university-specific guidance in this instance.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
There are two things that you must do after purchasing a personal statement edit!
(1) Please submit your statement here in an editable format (i.e. document is a yes, PDF is a no)
(2) Please WhatsApp our bookings/enquiries number to ensure that our team is aware and can pass on the statement to your tutor!
1 x 1-1 Lesson
Detailed Edit & Interview-Proofing
Work with one of our experienced medical or dental student tutors on improving your personal statement in a manner tailored to your individual needs. Receive all of the assistance and expertise above, but in a session where you can work in partnership with your tutor to make improvements.
It is important to recognise that use of the personal statement is largely at the interview stage, so discussion in a 1-1 interview-style format lends itself well to preparation.
Depending on what stage of the process you are at, the lesson could involve:
Individualised assistance on what activities are most important to include/exclude prior to commencing the writing process
Advice on editing/rephrasing and things to exclude/include in a personal statement that is partially finished or in progress
Advice on what interviews may ask relating to the personal statement in a statement that has been completed
NOTE: we are only taking remote edits for the next week - all 1-1 spots are now gone.
Importance of the Personal Statement
Though the personal statement is not the major criteria influencing shortlisting for medical or dental interviews, it is still essential that the personal statement is of a high quality. This is since:
The personal statement is often used in cases of borderline UCAT/interview performance for tie-breaking purposes
At a various universities, the personal statement may be visible to panel/MMI interviewers either before or during the interview process. It is advisable to make a good first impression, while also writing about only those things that a person would be confident discussing.
A small number medical and dental schools do also make direct use of the personal statement when shortlisting
For instance, as of 2024, Keele now scores the personal statement for medicine and uses this as the main shortlisting factor (out of 15 using these specific criteria)
For dentistry, Liverpool uses the personal statement as one of the shortlisting criteria (alongside other factors including UCAT/SJT)
Spending several weeks of the summer period reviewing the personal statement is not advisable - it is essential that the UCAT takes priority. Benefitting from our personal statement editing services can accelerate the improvement process and ensure that valuable time is retained for UCAT preparation!
Advice on Writing the Personal Statement
Please read through our detailed guide on personal statement writing below!
Introduction: it is essential to discuss a personal experience here, which can be achieved in more than one way. For some students, it is ideal to discuss a journey into medicine/dentistry in general terms. However, what is often also effective is to identify one specific experience that was particularly noteworthy, which may include illness in the family/a patient seen on work experience/a specific motivation for the medical or dental profession.
Main body:
Brainstorming ideas: start by making a list of any work experience or volunteering that you may have participated in (including free online experiences such as ObserveGP/Brighton and Sussex online work experience). Think about how you can group it into paragraphs and any key qualities that you observed (e.g. communication/teamwork). Also consider any medical/dental interests that you have or any research that you may have done (including book/essay contest/EPQ).
Framework: use the STAY framework to discuss volunteering or work experience
Situation: talk about a specific situation or case involving a healthcare worker
Theme: pick one of the themes relevant to the situation that were demonstrated (e.g. good communication/empathy/teamwork/shared decision making)
Analyse: what did the healthcare worker do specifically that demonstrated this?
You: what did you learn from the experience and/or change? Did you go on to do any reading/research following on from the experience?
At the end of the main body, you should add in any of hobbies/extracurricular activities in a couple of sentences.
Conclusion: this is a summary of the key factors mentioned in your personal statement. It is ideal to use this as an opportunity to demonstrate a realistic understanding of a medical or dental career, including many of the challenges and barriers involved.
Remember that personal statements must always be written with the interview in mind - the main usage of the personal statement is at the interview stage!
FAQ: How much research do I need?
Statements with mention of research in are appreciated anywhere, but this is particularly important if applying to research intensive top Russell Group universities such as Oxford/Cambridge/Imperial/UCL, as many of our students choose to do each year. It is important to ensure that you do still have enough on interpersonal/soft skills alongside this; no matter where you choose to apply, you are ultimately still becoming a doctor/dentist!
FAQ: Where can I find a model personal statement?
(1) This one belongs to MyUCAT Founder: Ojas Rajkumar
Successful Oxford Personal St (Ojas)
(2) This one is on a university webpage as a model personal statement
Personal Statement Webinar.pdf