Personal Statement:Medicine 110 - The Student Room

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

A career in medicine is undoubtedly a difficult and challenging one because of the high levels of dedication, intelligence and hard work that it entails. These challenges are precisely what make me strive to be a doctor. I want a profession that allows me to use my creative intellect, academic curiosity and caring demeanor to contribute to people's health and wellbeing, and a job as a doctor is exactly that sort of career.

Spurred by the rich history of Levantine medicine, especially by figures such as Ibn al-Nafis, who first noted the pulmonary circulation of blood, I shadowed a paediatric endocrinologist a day a week for two years. Working with children put me in contact with patients and their parents, allowing me to observe how doctors conduct themselves in such situations. In the case of a child who needed a gender reassignment operation to treat the ambiguous genitalia caused by the child's congenital adrenal hyperplasia, I witnessed how a doctor's reassuring tone could help to put a mother's anguish to rest. This impressed upon me the positive effects deliberate communication can have in difficult situations.

My time with the endocrinologist also demonstrated the importance of reciprocity in the relationships between doctors and their patients. Patients put their health and their lives in the hands of their doctors, expecting doctors to give patients the respect and the dignity that they deserve. That relationship showed itself during intimate medical examinations. I learned that, in such situations, sensitivity and compassion are of paramount importance.

I also took part in a rotation program at a diabetes center. Interning alongside nurses, doctors and pharmacists gave me an insight into how different healthcare professionals can work together to care for the disparate needs of patients. It also helped to reinforce my ambition to be a doctor, as while nurses and pharmacists have jobs that are interesting in their own rights, the intellectual and emotional challenges specific to doctors' jobs are enough to make it more worthwhile for me.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

My interest in medicine has earned me some recognition. I was the only student invited to a seminar on growth hormones in Jordan. The seminar and question-and-answer session that followed deepened my knowledge of growth hormone deficiency. I also came to understand the toll that it can take on the physical and mental health of patients. I have also widened the scope of the diseases I am acquainted with by reading research findings on the British Student Medical Journal.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

Outside of medicine, I am a member of my school's MUN club. I have a passion for lively debate and current global affairs. MUN allows me to express that passion. I have held leadership positions in various community projects, and I am most proud of the trips to rural schools that I have helped to organize. I organized those trips to encourage interaction between volunteers and the students at those rural schools, and from experience, that sort of approach helps to bridge differences between our two groups.

I am also experienced in information technology, and designed a Linux-based operating system in the summer of 2010. My IT abilities earned me a place on my school's team for the Jordanian "App Challenge", and our team ended up in the top five. Photography, videography, writing and music are some of my other passions, and I maintain blogs and a YouTube channel that allow me to express myself creatively. These abilities culminated in the IAA Panorama, my school's first student-run online magazine. It offers the world an insight into my school.

Medicine as a practice seeks to care, and medicine as a science continues to solve problems that exist and prevent problems that one-day may exist. I believe that I understand the duty of care and clarity of thought that medicine requires and, in addition, have the intellect, fortitude and dedication to meet the challenges, present and future, that medicine brings.

Universities applied to:

• Oxford (Medicine)
• Imperial College London (Biomedical Sciences)
• Edinburgh (Medicine)
• King's College London (Medicine)
• St. Andrews (Medicine)

Grades achieved:

• IB Total - In four days

How personal statements have changed?

The current personal statement format, with three 'scaffolding' questions, was introduced by Ucas in September 2025. This personal statement was submitted before then, using the old essay-style format. It has been carefully edited into the three-question format, with all of the original wording kept.

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