Zhang Xiao Chi, Lipman Jeremy, Jensen Randy, Parekh Kendra
Department of Emergency Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, 1120 Sansom St, Thompson Building, Suite, Philadelphia, PA 1651 USA.
Department of Surgery, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH USA.
Med Sci Educ. 2019 May 29;29(3):659-665. doi: 10.1007/s40670-019-00752-y. eCollection 2019 Sep.
The personal statement is an important part of the residency application. Although guidance exists, the composition of personal statements is not standardized; each statement reflects an applicant's unique personality. In emergency medicine (EM), the personal statement could thus provide insight into why applicants are choosing EM and what they hope to accomplish in the field that could guide advisors and applicants.
To perform a thematic analysis of personal statements from applicants accepted into an academic EM residency program to gain insight into what successful applicants include in their personal statements, why applicants are pursuing careers in emergency medicine, and anticipated career goals.
Thematic analysis was performed on ten randomly selected personal statements from matched allopathic, U.S. applicants at a single, large, urban 3-year EM residency program between 2008 and 2015. Themes and sub-themes were identified and analyzed for frequency.
Ten personal statements were analyzed. Thirty-one (31) unique themes were identified and grouped into five main themes: personal characteristics related to a career in EM (38.3%, 116/303), why I love EM (36%, 109/303), my story (13.5%, 41/303), my career in EM (8.9%, 27/303), and ideal characteristics of a residency program (3.3%, 10/303). The most common personal characteristics described were altruism and the ability to work well under pressure. Applicants love EM due to the diversity of patients and disease presentations and the ability to perform procedures.
Thematic analysis of EM applicants' personal statements highlights the uniqueness of EM as a specialty and what draws applicants to EM.
个人陈述是住院医师申请的重要组成部分。尽管有相关指导，但个人陈述的撰写并无标准化；每份陈述都反映了申请人独特的个性。因此，在急诊医学（EM）领域，个人陈述可以深入了解申请人选择急诊医学的原因以及他们希望在该领域实现的目标，这对导师和申请人都有指导作用。
对被某学术性急诊医学住院医师项目录取的申请人的个人陈述进行主题分析，以深入了解成功申请人在个人陈述中包含的内容、他们追求急诊医学职业的原因以及预期的职业目标。
对2008年至2015年间在一个大型城市的为期三年的急诊医学住院医师项目中匹配的、来自美国的、接受全科医学培训的申请人的十份随机选取的个人陈述进行主题分析。确定主题和子主题并分析其出现频率。
分析了十份个人陈述。确定了31个独特主题，并归纳为五个主要主题：与急诊医学职业相关的个人特质（38.3%，116/303）、我热爱急诊医学的原因（36%，109/303）、我的经历（13.5%，41/303）、我在急诊医学领域的职业规划（8.9%，27/303）以及住院医师项目的理想特质（3.3%，10/303）。所描述的最常见个人特质是利他主义和在压力下良好工作的能力。申请人热爱急诊医学是因为患者和疾病表现的多样性以及进行操作的能力。
对急诊医学申请人个人陈述的主题分析突出了急诊医学作为一门专业的独特性以及吸引申请人投身该领域的因素。
