Craft a Standout Residency App: Start Now, Get Personal

Optimizing your residency application is more important than ever. Why? Because program directors admit that many applicants’ credentials increasingly appear the same.

Criteria that were once distinguishing factors — like grades, exam scores, and rankings — are becoming less meaningful, as many have shifted to pass-fail or become suspect to biases. That means the application review is geared more toward the qualities of candidates, but it’s your job to tell that story.

And relying on signaling isn’t a guarantee of landing an interview.

“You can signal to the program that you have strong interest in joining them for training, but other things that tend to occur is that you really have to use that impact statement to really distinguish yourself from others,” said Matthew Tuck, MD, internal medicine residency site director at Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and co-author of an article in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education discussing the challenges faced by residency program directors.

Here are some ways to make your residency application stand out from the crowd.

Get on the Radar

There may be a thousand candidates who want the same spot you do. Take steps now to increase the likelihood that reviewers won’t just notice your application — they’ll be looking for it.

In a word, that means networking.

Connect with recruiters or residency program officials at conferences, seek out a visiting student or clerkship option, and simply ask to learn more about a program.

“I often have students that will reach out to me and say, ‘You know, I’m really interested in Mayo. Could we set up a 15-minute meeting just to ask a little bit more about the program and also to tell you a little bit about me?” said Diego Suarez, MD, associate program director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “I’ll sit down, I’ll answer the questions about the program, but I also listen to them. What are they looking for? And sometimes, get to know who they are even before I’m reviewing their application.”

Suarez also attends conferences, such as the Annual Medical Education Conference, and noted that this is another way he may meet candidates before ever reviewing an application.

Remember, It’s About Matching

It’s important to view the process as “bidirectional,” Suarez said. Your application needs to convey your goals, passions, and accomplishments while reflecting the values, mission, and needs of your desired programs.

Research the programs to understand their missions and other details such as the curricula and key players. Social media accounts, such as on Facebook and Instagram, may also reflect program values that can then be incorporated into what you choose to highlight in your application.

“For example, if someone has a strong research background, they may want to apply to make that evident in their application that they’re interested in research, or if they have a strong belief in serving the underserved, they may want to go to a program that has those offerings and that mission,” said Tuck.

He cautioned that letters of recommendation tend to be uniformly laudatory. Given the space limitations for personal statements and essays in the ERAS system, which most residency programs use, the letters are an area to convey part of your story that doesn’t fit easily elsewhere. Consider asking the writers of your letters of recommendation to highlight certain qualities or experiences. That can save precious space in other sections to bring up things that only you can say.

Also, elect not to review letters beforehand. There is a checkbox in the application to waive your right to review, and this can be a red flag if you don’t waive it, Tuck said.

Tell the Story of You

The personal statement essay and impactful experiences essay are prime places in the application to distinguish yourself.

“The advice that I give applicants is this is where it’s really important to reflect early on and be able to succinctly yet eloquently tell programs who you are, your unique set of skills, and how you can use those to advance the mission of the program,” Suarez said. “Because at the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to.”

The first paragraph needs to grab the reader, and to achieve that, it’s best to commit to a brainstorming and writing process that takes time.

“Tell the story only you can tell,” advised Preeti Malani, MD, MSJ, a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who has participated in residency candidate interviews. She also edits the JAMA “A Piece of My Mind” section, which accepts about 5% of submitted essays.

To make that first paragraph memorable, try a writing exercise, rehearse options aloud to someone, or study great writing (Malani suggests the pieces from “Forty Years of A Piece of My Mind” for inspiration). Don’t underestimate how important the first paragraph is.

“You want to write something that people want to continue to read. I know that sounds sort of, ‘of course,’ but you’d be surprised how often it doesn’t happen. You want to lead with something compelling,” said Malani.

Try an exercise that starts with the phrase, “The thing about me is…” suggested Roy Peter Clark, PhD, a renowned writing coach and author or editor of 22 books, including Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer and Writing Short: Word Craft for Fast Times.

“Or, I would read that essay prompt, and I would print it out, and I’d take a pen, and I’d circle parts that were immediately interesting to me,” Clark said. “And then I’d probably, since I like to do this as a writer and as a coach, I’d probably talk to somebody about it,” said Clark.

Make It Personal and Concise

The impactful experiences essay is limited to 750 characters (about 150 words), which is a really challenging task. The essay prompt itself is more than 1500 characters.

“We’re looking for the story of the individual, and the most impactful statements that I’ve read have been very personal,” Tuck said. “So to the extent that applicants feel comfortable telling a very personal story, those things are going to jump out to the programs.”

“For example, I had someone this last week who applied and put in their impactful statement about growing up with a brachial plexus, or a nerve injury under the arm, which left her without the use of her hand, and she had to go through physical therapy for a number of years,” he said. “Therefore, she really understood the other side of medicine and really wanted to make a difference for others in the future so that patients like her had a good experience in the medical system.”

A personal story will likely be more powerful than a narrative explaining why someone wants to go into a specific field, Tuck said.

The character count for the impactful experiences essay may sound intimidating. Don’t worry about that at the outset, said Clark, who has a forthcoming book on college essay writing.

First, write it long-form.

“I’m going to write it full and say what I want to say,” he explained. “Then, I’m going to make it more concise and brief. Gravity comes from selection, and not compression.”

If the first draft has five anecdotes, make it three. If there are three examples of something, pick one.

Follow these four steps in the writing process: Pick something to write about. Collect the material. Focus and select. And finally, draft and revise.

“How do you test the quality of the work? Number one, do you like it?” Clark said. “Number two, can you read it to somebody else? And don’t hand it to them; read it to them. Before you do that, read it out loud to yourself.”