Pharmacist - Personal Statement & for Commonwealth PhD Scholarship Application

Personal statement

Instinct of survival of mankind is the cause of development of drugs. Ancient man started the use of crude drugs to alleviate the pain and symptoms of diseases long before he started recording history. In modern times miracle of medicines is taken as granted and modern man no longer fears the diseases which wiped out whole civilizations in past. Knowledge of drug discovery, and development of efficient and refined medical treatments has not only increased the life expectancy of human race but also improved the quality of life. During my childhood I was always interested in field of research and development and biographies of famous scientists were among my favorite books. My interest in the field of medical science arose from the need to find the cure of several untreatable diseases. I always aspired to become a research pharmacist to develop modernized techniques and remedies to allay the misery of patients specifically targeting the chronic diseases.

In my undergraduate course, my research project was based on the development of antiseptic and anti-inflammatory sodium chloride toothpaste. . During this project I realized that instead of theoretical course work I enjoyed conducting practical research work. I also worked on an observational and cross-sectional population based study project to find out the most commonly used HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor in Pakistani population. To collect data for this clinical project I visited several government hospitals and had the opportunity to observe the condition of patients and lack of required healthcare facilities. For further exposure in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences, I interned at Highnoon Laboratories Ltd. After completing my graduation I worked as Hospital Pharmacist at Combined Military Hospital, Lahore. During my job I got the opportunity to observe and interact with patients suffering from various maladies. My interest in research and development led me to pursue an M.Phil. degree in Pharmaceutics. Due to lack of availability of modern research labs I was unable to work on new dosage form development and had to opt other project. During my M.Phil. research, I worked on the development of a transparent Carbopol based paracetamol gel for transdermal drug delivery. Currently I am working as the Hospital Pharmacist

As a Pharmacist I am highly interested in innovations taking place in the field of medicine and hope to work on the development and design of new dosage forms. Getting a PhD degree in the field of Pharmaceutics would help me to learn the latest techniques and problem solving skills. It would train me in the stages and steps required to develop a new dosage form. This will also provide me an opportunity to observe, interact and learn from the top class scientists which are currently working to combat the diseases faced by modern man. These skills will enable me to reach my goal of becoming a research scientist in the field of medicine.

One essay per thread.

As a general personal statement, not focused on a particular prompt or scholarship program, this is over informative. The personal statement should reflect the development of your interest in a particular field of specialization. It should not encroach on the information requirements of the motivational letter or statement of purpose. You did that accidentally in this presentation. There are general requirements for a personal statement unless, the scholarship or school you are applying to have certain specific requirements that need to be reflected in the information. Since you did not supply any reference to such, I will base my review on the general requirements instead.

A personal statement should be representative of how you came to realization that you want this to be your permanent career and, that you want to grow your skills in this field. You should not however, cross into the motivational letter section. Do not present the reasons behind this interest in a detailed discussion in this essay. Instead, Talk about your current career and how you have developed a personal connection with the workplace, the patients, the work itself, and anything else that will prove a personal desire to continue developing in this career.

Dear Writer, I know you have gone through great lengths to develop this statement but here's a few recommendation

References to what you have always wanted as a kid should be avoided for a PhD application. Focus more on adult mindset
I can also see that your track record in research is not much or not well spelt out. The Mphil program you enrolled in, discuss how that strengthened your interest in research. Talk about the courses related to research you took during the program. Extensive discussion about your research project during he Mphil program would also add more weight to the write up. In general, focusing more on research motivating experiences rather than the not so related hospital work would improve your motivation letter. Thanks

Thanks a lot @Holt & @ Jibolar.