Embellishing personal statements – The hardships of objectivity

Dear Sir

We read with interest the recent publication by Kumwenda et al. (2013) which described the embellishment of personal statements by prospective medical students applying through the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS). In principle, we thoroughly agree that this system is subject to abuse and should be modified to improve objectivity; however, we would add that there are significant hindrances to improving this process which were not mentioned in this original article.

First it is imperative to understand that not all things can be checked or proven. For example, work experience is a necessity for prospective medical students and though we may be able to determine placement length and hours worked, personal experiences, skills and knowledge attained is difficult to assess for any observer and these are crucial components to a candidate's overall success in the application process.

Furthermore, the additional costs to medical schools would create reservations about following-up evidence on UCAS personal statements, especially as each medical school will incur thousands of applications. Assessing validity of a sub-population may be a medium ground between reducing fraudulent information and costs. Though this may not stop exaggerations of the truth which are difficult to follow up, we hypothesise that it could hinder those fraudulent claims which are easier to follow up (e.g. length of work placement, assigned duties).

The above points illustrate the paramount importance of the interview. The interview separates those candidates who are and are not worthy of an offer, however it is equally important to distinguish these groups from the candidates who use deceptive methods to attain an interview in the first place. Though some candidates may still “slip through the cracks”, the interview process can minimise this through experienced interview techniques (Edwards et al. 1990).

In conclusion we believe the contribution by Kumwenda et al. to Medical Teacher should be commended as it highlights an important issue, and we welcome change for more objectivity within medical school admissions.