Completing your Personal Statements – Top
Tips
The following tips are given to candidates preparing their
personal statements. They are informal and developed by the
Fellowship Unit as points to consider - they are not exhaustive. It
is recommended that you consult your faculty lead for advice.
Read the criteria given on each of the
achievement categories. The adjudicators do not work from
a different set of rules; they judge an application on the
published criteria so you should ensure your application addresses
those primarily. Yes, we want to know what you’ve been doing, but
targeted towards fulfilling the criteria. Provide evidence of
continuity of care, accessibility and three consecutive
satisfactory appraisals. If you’ve not had three tell us why.
Give examples to support your
statements. If you believe you practice patient-centred
care then show evidence of excellent communication and involvement
with patient groups; show where you’ve led changes in the practice;
give mention of feedback/letters/comments which are important.
Mention GPAQ results with improvements; details of QoF points and
comparisons; what has changed as a result of your improvements;
what audits do you do and why? Reflect on your application. Is it
too thin? Could you include more detail which would improve it?
Make it personal. Fellowship
is for you not the practice. Tell us about what’s important to you,
what standards you strive for and how you try meet them, in essence
formulate your understanding of ‘quality’ then tell us how you try
to achieve this. If your practice operates to the correct
criteria/standards then include this.
Remember the 5 Ws. We are
very aware that GPs are not the best self-promoters but we’re not
asking you to shout from the rooftops. Tell us what you’ve
been doing, when, where, why and how – chances
are this is all the adjudicators will need to make a confident
decision.
Choosing a referee. It
doesn’t need to be a name-dropping exercise. Referees don’t need to
be College members nor clinically qualified*. As long as the
referee is in the best position to attest to your evidence and
support your application then approach them. Consider what their
name, position, relationship with you would add to your application
if they were your referee.
Retrospective applications.
If your achievements have been made some time ago it’s important to
demonstrate what has changed as a result of your efforts. If you
are in active practice I.e. regularly seeing patients you should
demonstrate your practice is of sufficient quality to be acceptable
to the College.
Achievements made or pending?
Wait until you’ve accomplished what you want before you apply. If
you’re working on an MSc for example, mention that you are studying
but don’t make this the primary hook on which you hang your
application.
Cross reference but don’t
repeat. Some successes could be used in two or more
achievement categories but try to limit the detail of them within
one. Pay attention to the overall submission – does it give a full
picture? Have you applied under all the categories you could?
Achievement categories. Most
doctors of Fellowship standard will have been sufficiently active
to apply in several categories. Chose your categories carefully. If
you are very strong in just one category then submit this along
with Clinical Practice. It’s not necessarily the case of ‘the more
the merrier’. The more evidence you provide that accords with the
description of a Fellow the easier it is for assessors to recognise
your quality.
Struggling to start? If you
haven’t got an up-to-date CV then this can be a good way of
focusing your attentions and selecting the achievement categories
under which you can apply. Use your faculty leads and staff who are
incredibly supportive to read through any drafts before you
submit.
* All other candidates in active practice, i.e.
candidates not working in practices as partners, must submit
evidenced and verifiable statements from clinical colleagues who
are Members or Fellows of the College that the candidate’s clinical
performance represents safe personal medical care. (Guidance Notes
p9).