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To the Editor.—
As resident applicants once again come pouring through our doors, I offer the following as a guide to the applicant's personal statement. I am sure you will see that this all-purpose statement will greatly shorten our time needed to review the applicant's folder. The following list of questions would be attached to the residency application. The candidate would simply circle the appropriate letter and submit the questionnaire. This would save hours of reading halfbaked, poorly written, and tediously similar stories. Just follow the letters circled and categorize the applicant according to your particular program needs. (And no fair smiling as you read this.)
I am interested in dermatology because of: A. The mixture of medicine and surgery. B. The mixture of academics and clinical exposure. C. The ability to see the disease. D. The wide exposure to diseases. E. My father (uncle, brother, aunt, mother, etc)