Disclaimer:
The following article was originally written in 2009 for the University of Toronto medical school admissions essay. Although the advice here is still useful for general medical school essays, since 2012, the University of Toronto medical school changed its admissions process to require the applicant write 4 Brief Personal Essays instead. Don’t fret – I have a written a new step-by-step guide to help applicants with these new 4 Brief Personal Essays.
As you have read in Part 1 of this series, I strongly believe that your essay should have an overall focus on your genuine desire to not only be a physician, but one who is dedicated for the long run – that is, help the judge understand that being a physician is something you are so passionate about that they will feel motivated to do anything to help you.
Just to be clear, when I talk about showing long term dedication, I’m not saying you need to say that you will do this or that once you are a physician. What I’m saying is that you need to illustrate that you have seriously thought about your decision to apply, because individuals who are serious about applying would have done some decent research into what it means to be a physician, and yet still want to be one. Someone who shows this seriousness and maturity about life decisions is likely to be someone that will strive to do their best in their role as a physician for years to come.
In this article, we will focus on the first item the University of Toronto admissions committee wants us to comment on within our essay: Your personal background, including particular interests and extracurricular experiences.
However, I’d like to make my own modification to that statement. I think your essay should comment on your personal background, including particular interests and extracurricular experiences, which are relevant to your journey towards a career in medicine.