ERAS Personal Statement Example - Psychiatry (June 2025)
- Josh
- 33 minutes ago
- 7 min read
The following psychiatry residency personal statement example has been made up in its entirety. I wrote it completely from scratch.
Below my example is a discussion of this personal statement’s elements and why I made many of the choices I made while writing it.
Be warned: This is not a traditional personal statement. Writing this way is not for everybody. In fact, it probably wouldn’t be the best choice for most applicants. I do it here to emphasize that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to present yourself in a personal statement. For different (and more traditional) examples, check out these ones I share below. They will be helpful to you even if you’re not applying to their specialties.
***SIDENOTE: When done right, I have seen unconventional writing like this work extremely well and lead to some very improbable matches!***
Why should you hire me to help with your personal statement and/or any other aspect of your ERAS application? Because I can help you STAND OUT above all your competition. I have YEARS of experience assisting countless students match into their dream residency programs.
Plus, your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed.
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ERAS Personal Statement Example - Psychiatry
I do not come from the most enlightened family. Growing up, I learned from them that anyone with anxiety or depression – anyone who “complained” about anything if I’m fully honest – should be considered weak. Mental health? If you can walk and talk, you’re healthy. Get to work. And mental illness? That was reserved for “crazy” people.
All that said, my family members are kind human beings. Also, they love me. This means they listen to me. Sometimes they even consider some of the wild things I say.
I realized I had a passion for psychiatry in medical school. It was like a bright light flipping on inside my head, and I have not seen the world the same way ever since. It made perfect sense: The brain, like any other organ, doesn’t always function optimally. Patients with mental illnesses aren’t weak. They’re ill! It was SO simple yet SO important.
Supercharged, I called my parents. They weren’t particularly impressed. “Oh honey,” my mom said, “doctors always think they know everything.”
My mother was only half kidding. In the years since then, we have had many long conversations about psychiatry, and my family has become increasingly receptive to learning about mental health. Just like me, they also now have a different perspective. Astoundingly, my father is even actively being treated for anxiety. It is one of my life’s biggest achievements so far. Thanks to a combination of medication and behavioral therapy, he says he feels like he can breathe properly for the first time he can remember.
Recently, during my emergency medicine rotation, I couldn’t help but think of my dad when a 32-year-old male presented to the ED with chest pain, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and tingling in his extremities. The patient was convinced he was having a heart attack. However, each of our tests came back negative, and we administered a low dose of lorazepam once we ruled out an MI. The man’s symptoms soon began to abate.
When we advised the patient that he might have suffered a panic attack, he was incredulous. He was a big, rugged construction foreman, the kind of guy who would accidentally break his thumb with a hammer, wrap it in a dirty rag, and then get back to the job at hand. Brought down by a little anxiety? No way.
When I had a free moment, I went back to him. I told him about my dad, interestingly enough also a construction foreman, though a bit older and with a few more mashed and mangled fingers. Hearing this from me, the patient mentioned how nice it was that someone who “spoke his language” was going to be a doctor. And, though surprised when I described my father’s mental health journey, he soon opened up about the stress he was dealing with between his job and his recent divorce. Then he admitted to self-medicating with “more than the usual amount” of alcohol.
Before the patient’s discharge, I gained his agreement to follow up with his PCP about his mental health. He realized he was heading down an unhealthy path, and he thanked me for reminding him that help was available, that he didn’t have to take on everything himself.
Hopefully the 30 minutes I spent talking with the patient was the beginning of a positive change in his life. I did not have the privilege of following up to find out. However, later, during my psych rotations, I was most fulfilled by the relationships I was able to build. I enjoyed watching my patients’ progress. Like when, after a few weeks of inpatient treatment, a woman with schizophrenia improved dramatically. Or when, shortly after we began him on medication and therapy, a young man suffering from depression smiled with tearful relief as he told me that he finally felt his black cloud lifting.
With those patients in mind, I recognize that I will be extremely lucky to enter psychiatry residency, humbled to take this next step toward a career spent doing something I am so passionate about. There are countless others out there like my family members: people who would greatly benefit from a kind listening ear and some gentle and non-judgmental persuasion. I consider each one of those individuals an opportunity to make a difference, a chance to play my part in working towards dissolving the stigma around mental health.
I envision practicing inpatient and outpatient psychiatry one day, contributing time to both research and volunteer work. Toward that, I hope to join a residency program with solid leadership and plentiful extracurricular learning opportunities.
Thank you for your time.
Discussion
Personal Statement Length
The optimal ERAS personal statement length is between 600 and 800 words, with shorter almost always being better. This one is 767 words.
Tone
The personal statement example’s tone is what makes it unique. It’s very conversational, using CAPITALIZED and italicized words (yes, you can use italics in ERAS), incomplete sentences, contractions (I’m, you’re, haven’t, etc.), and even a bit of clunky non-textbook grammar.
The highlighted sentence above is the clearest example of clunky grammar. It's not incorrect, though I can hear my high school English teacher gasping in horror. I use it here because speaking this way creates a more personal narrative. It might rub some readers the wrong way, but the readers who like it will REALLY like it.
Do you want to stand out? This is one way to do it.
The paragraphs are short and punchy, and there are many of them. 13 to be exact, whereas a more traditional personal statement might have 3-5.
***SIDENOTE: I almost always prefer short paragraphs over big paragraphs. More white space gives readers the impression they’re reading faster, which they like.***
And the writer comes across as almost mercilessly honest. “I do not come from the most enlightened family,” they open with. This is by design. Not only will it jar the reader a little bit and sharpen their attention, but it lets them know that they can trust what the applicant says.
There is also a lot of advanced grammar in here. In your personal statement, be careful with punctuation like semicolons, colons, and dashes – if you use them incorrectly, you risk turning certain readers off.
Structure
This personal statement is a bit different from my other examples in that it does not bother to answer the basic “Why medicine in the first place?” question. Instead, it launches straight into an account that addresses why the student is passionate about psychiatry.
While it doesn’t exactly follow my Cheeseburger Method, which I go into great detail about in my residency personal statement writing guide, this example still consists of the three core elements:
Element 1 (The Introduction or Top Bun):
My normal advice is that you should try to answer the following two questions in the introduction of your personal statement:
1) Why did you choose to pursue medicine?
2) Why are you passionate about your chosen specialty?
It’s okay to skip the first question, but you absolutely have to answer the second one.
Many people will tell you that you must grab your reader’s attention with the first couple of sentences. Be careful with that! Instead of mind-blowing, I recommend you attempt to be interesting and authentic. This will grab attention and help you stand out without the risk of sounding like you’re trying too hard.
Anyway, thanks to their unique voice and story, this student comes off as interesting and authentic.
Element 2 (The Middle or The Meat):
The student uses their father to transition into their patient story, which makes up the "meat" of their personal statement.
You want this section to show off why you’ll be an awesome resident in your chosen specialty.
Via their patient story, the student portrays that they are empathetic and great with people. It’s also made clear that psychiatry is always on their mind.
And it doesn’t matter that the story takes place during an EM rotation. Despite its setting, the story relates to psychiatry, and specifically covers the stigma that the student introduces earlier.
After the story, the student transitions into more about why they love psychiatry. Then they touch on two very brief examples of patients they impacted during their psychiatry rotations, and both of illustrate that the student is relationship-oriented and tenacious.
Element 3 (The Conclusion or Bottom Bun):
The student begins to wind down by saying how excited they are about residency. Then they tie back to their introduction by mentioning their family again. This brings everything full circle, which is very satisfying for readers.
Finally, they briefly discuss what they’re looking for in a residency program. They keep it general. This is ideal because getting too specific about expectations can come across as presumptuous.
A Bonus Tip:
Above, you'll see that I used "psych" instead of "psychiatry". Using abbreviations is consistent with this personal statement's informal tone. However, I recommend that even applicants going for a formal tone consider utilizing abbreviations when mentioning their specialty.
I say this because, in this extremely short document, you'll likely be repeating your specialty quite a bit. Changing up the terminology will make your personal statement more readable, which will make readers like it more. They might not even notice the subtle variation, but it will make a difference to their subconscious as they plow through dozens or hundreds of applications.
So, where possible, alternate "psychiatry" with "psych", "internal medicine" with "IM", "family medicine" with "FM", etc.
My full ERAS personal statement writing guide goes into great detail about my methods. And please feel free to check out all the services I offer. Reach out to me to request help today!