The personal letter is a statement of your career objectives in medicine. It should be succinct but still provide the reader with an overview of who you are and where you are headed. It should include the following:

• A statement of your professional background.
• A brief overview of your academic and clinical qualifications. Although this information is on your CV you will want to provide a summary here. Expand on what is in your CV and add additional information as appropriate.
• Most of the focus of the personal letter should reflect on why you chose medicine as a career and why you are committing to the specialty you are now applying for. You may also want the personal letter to focus on why you are pursuing a particular location in your search for a residency position.
• Discuss your career goals. Explain what you want to do in your career in this specialty. Discuss the qualities that attracted you to the program.
• Finally include any humanizing information that might let the reader see who you are as a person. If there are community activities or other experiences that may be relevant include them here.

Make sure your personal letter is:

Personal

• It should be a statement that reflects your personality and style.

Relevant

• The information in your personal letter should be relevant to your residency and future training. This is not intended to be autobiographical.

Sincere

• Be honest and clear in describing yourself and your goals.

Unique

• Make your personal letter one that shows the unique qualities you bring to medicine and the residency.

NOTE: The Director of MedCAREERS will be happy to be one of the people providing feedback to learners graduating from MUN Faculty of Medicine. Simply send your CV as a Word document to one of our Directors and they will review it for you.