Medical School Application: STAR Method Narrative Examples
Why Medicine? The STAR Method
Thesis Statement: I didn’t arrive at medicine through a single moment, but through lived experiences that revealed a pattern—one that brought together human connection, scientific inquiry, and advocacy for those who are too often unheard.
Human Connection
1. Working as a recreation therapist in long-term care and palliative care, I moved beyond theory and classroom teachings to actual, real-life patient-facing experiences where I had to face some of the most complex, emotional, and heart-wrenching cases—all while experiencing human connection like never before.
2. Situation: One experience that shaped me deeply involved a resident with end-stage dementia receiving end-of-life care.
3. She appeared frightened and restless, clearly uncomfortable, yet unable to understand what was happening or communicate how she felt.
4. Task: In that moment, my role as a recreation therapist was not to cure her or provide clinical treatment—this was beyond my scope—but to make her feel more comfortable by attending to her physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
5. Action: Using a person-centered approach, I focused on what remained accessible to her: sensory touch, such as holding and stroking her hand, speaking to her gently, playing music I knew she liked and connected to, and overall offering a calm, consistent presence.
6. Result: Soon after, I found that miraculously, through this human touch and connection, her shaking subsided, her grimace softened, and there was an increased calmness in her eyes.
7. In those moments, despite all modes of verbal communication being lost, the human bond between us revealed a depth of connection I had never experienced before. It was then that I realized I wanted a future spent caring for patients.
8. At the same time, this experience made me aware of the limits of my role: While I could provide comfort and advocate for her emotional well-being, I could not assess the physiological sources of her pain, adjust treatment, or participate in medical decision-making at the end of her life.
9. Witnessing this gap between compassionate presence and clinical action was the first moment I understood medicine as the path that would allow me to fully help my patients.
Research and Underserved Populations
1. Alongside these clinical experiences, I was also continuously drawn to scientific inquiry and research throughout my undergraduate and Master’s degrees, which led me to publishing multiple first-author manuscripts as well as to eventually pursuing a PhD, in which my thesis focused on underserved population health—specifically on the psychosocial health of older adults in rural and northern long-term care homes.
2. However, I also realized that research alone is often not enough, and that research’s true impact depends on knowledge being mobilized beyond academia to improve patient care and health equity.
3. In contrast, medicine as a field and profession stood at the intersection of where human connection, research, AND clinical action converge.
4. Building on my research training and clinical experiences in long-term care, pursuing medicine would allow me to become a physician who not only provides clinical care, but who also translates evidence and research into practice to create actionable, compassionate, person-centered change within the healthcare system.
Why McGill University?
Thesis Statement: I am drawn to McGill’s medical program because it aligns with my passion for helping underserved patient populations, my desire to grow as a physician guided by the utmost ethical and professional principles, and my commitment to research and knowledge translation to improve patient care.
- These priorities reflect McGill Medicine’s three pillars of social accountability, physicianship, and knowledge translation.
Social Accountability
1. First, McGill’s focus on social accountability resonates deeply with my commitment to and passion for supporting underserved population groups.
2. In my PhD studies, my thesis revolved around the topic of improving the psychosocial health of residents in long-term care, specifically by examining how isolation during COVID-19 outbreaks affects all aspects of health—including not only the physical, but also the psychosocial, which spans the emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual domains of health.
3. However, I was further motivated to pursue medicine so that I could eventually mobilize these findings and similar ones into clinical care, as I do believe that research’s true impact depends on knowledge being mobilized beyond academia to improve patient care and health equity.
Physicianship
1. Second, McGill’s emphasis on physicianship strongly aligns with my devotion and desire for ethical development as a healthcare provider.
2. In my work in long-term care and palliative care settings, I frequently encountered highly vulnerable situations that required practicing ethics to the highest degree.
3. Respecting patients’ wishes at the end of life, ensuring patient-informed decision-making, and understanding the legal and ethical implications of power of attorney were not abstract concepts, but daily responsibilities.
4. Through McGill’s emphasis on “physicianship,” the McGill term used to describe the intersection of being a physician/healer and also a professional, the MDCM program’s coursework (such as INDS 302: Medical Ethics and Health Law) would build on and enrich my existing experience practicing ethics within patient care.
5. McGill Med will ultimately shape me into a physician who practices with the utmost ethical standards even in the most complex, high-stakes patient cases.
Knowledge Translation
1. Finally, McGill’s commitment to knowledge translation and scientific rigor closely reflects my passion for and engagement in research.
2. External to my PhD and on my own time, I have contributed to several first-author publications and delivered a first-author oral presentation at clinical conferences.
3. McGill’s emphasis on integrating research with clinical practice aligns with my belief and passion to continue research as a doctor, in order to ultimately inform patient care and improve patient outcomes.
Core Strengths: Empathy and Person-Centered Care
Thesis statement: Through my experiences working in long-term care as well as through what I believe is a personal, innate, naturalistic instinct, I believe that one of my greatest strengths is my empathy and consequent ability to provide person-centered care.
1. Situation: During my time as a recreation therapist in long-term care, one of my residents was receiving palliative care. At that moment, our unit was understaffed and I was already stretched thin, so I didn’t usually have much time for personal visits.
2. Task: But I recognized that this was a rare, urgent opportunity to bring comfort to him in his final days.
3. Action: I knew my resident loved classical piano music. So, using my personal skills of knowing how to play classical piano, I spontaneously organized a piano concert.
4. I invited other residents to join, creating a communal experience and thus also meeting the daily group activity requirements of my job.
5. But I planned the concert specifically to include him, knowing how much he loved classical piano and how it could bring him comfort. I invited the resident to sit in the front row, especially as he had visual and hearing difficulties, and I also invited his family so he could share the experience with them.
6. Result: During the concert, I watched him relax, smile, and clap his hands at the end of every piece.
7. A few days after my resident had passed away, I went to offer my condolences to the family. His family brought up the piano concert and thanked me, saying how much joy the music had brought him in his final days.
8. This experience reinforced that by approaching care with creativity and adaptability, no matter how busy we are—which, in healthcare, is always—there is always a way to make time and space for empathy.
Addressing Weaknesses: Balancing Empathy
Thesis statement: Through my work in long-term care and palliative care, I have come to realize that my greatest strength—empathy—can also be my greatest weakness.
- Empathy can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, my empathy allows me to provide deeply compassionate, patient-centered care and to genuinely connect with patients during vulnerable moments.
- On the other hand, I sometimes internalize the emotional weight of my patients’ experiences too strongly, which can place me at risk of emotional burnout if not managed intentionally.
1. Situation: For example, at the beginning of my work in long-term care, I experienced significant emotional fatigue as I frequently supported residents at the end of life.
2. Task: I needed to recognize my personal limits in order to protect my emotional well-being, prevent burnout, and ultimately continue providing high-quality, compassionate care to patients every day.
3. Action: To avoid “bringing home work with me,” I intentionally implemented coping strategies, including going to the gym after work to release stress (i.e., through weightlifting) and openly sharing my emotions with my support system made of close family and friends.
4. I also released my emotions through creativity and art—including playing piano and drawing. These activities require complete concentration, which allowed for the world to melt away around me as I was absorbed in the moment of perfecting my craft.
5. Result: As a result, I felt more emotionally balanced and was able to regain my energy and show up as my best self at work every day.
6. This experience taught me that while empathy is often thought of as a strength, it must be paired with self-awareness and boundaries to sustain both personal well-being and effective patient care.
7. This experience taught me valuable skills I can carry into my future as a physician, allowing me to navigate the expected emotionally taxing demands of the profession while also continuing to practice empathy and compassion.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Healthcare
Thesis Statement: Every member of the healthcare team is invaluable—like on a sports team, every player has their job—and together, they make a difference.
1. Situation: While working evening shifts as a recreation therapist on a secured dementia unit in long-term care, I frequently encountered heightened challenges during “sundowning,” a phenomenon in which individuals with dementia experience increased confusion, agitation, and distress in the late afternoon and evening.
2. This period coincided with staff shortages, and nurses and PSWs expressed difficulty managing residents’ increased restlessness while preparing them for dinner and bedtime.
3. Task: Within the scope of being a recreation therapist, my goal was to support residents’ behavioral regulation during this high-risk period, while also easing pressure on the staff.
4. Action: I chose to remain primarily on the dementia unit during these shifts and drew on a personal skill outside my formal training—classical piano playing. I began spontaneously organizing informal piano sessions in the unit’s common living room, adapting the music in real time to residents’ responses and energy levels.
5. Result: The music had a noticeable therapeutic effect: residents who were typically restless and agitated became calmer and more settled, allowing nursing to provide the necessary medications for residents gathered in the living room.
6. Then after, PSWs and feeding assistants were able to gently remove the residents from the living room to the dining room for dinner times.
7. As a future physician, I hope to carry forward the following lessons I learned in long-term care:
- First, that no member of the care team is unimportant, and every team member deserves to feel seen, heard, and valued.
- Second, that leveraging the unique strengths of each allied health professional is often the most effective way to achieve the best patient outcomes.
Patient Advocacy and Health Equity
Thesis statement: Advocacy is essential for ensuring that every patient’s voice is heard and their needs are met with dignity.
1. Situation: My best friend, who has sickle cell anemia, was hospitalized recently after experiencing a sickle cell crisis. When I visited, she told me she was in intense pain and felt her concerns weren’t being taken seriously by the care team.
2. Task: As a concerned friend and an avid advocate for health equity, I wanted for her pain to be recognized and addressed appropriately.
3. Action: Without judgment and in a non-confrontational manner, I calmly, but surely, explained to the care team that, coming from a place of concern and care, and as a worried friend, I felt concerned for my friend who had confided in me that her pain is extremely severe.
4. I made sure to support the team rather than replace their judgment, while ensuring my friend’s needs were heard respectfully and effectively.
5. Result: As a result, the care team went to re-evaluate the situation, and shortly after, my friend was administered faster, more attentive care, which reduced her pain and improved her hospital experience.
6. This experience taught me how to combine patient advocacy, empathy, and cultural humility, all the while respecting the care team’s roles, ensuring I support patients effectively without overstepping.
7. This delicate balance can guide me in my future endeavors as a physician, where I will often need to advocate for patients firmly while also respecting my colleagues and other allied health professionals on the care team.
Leadership and Clinical Adaptability
Thesis statement: Effective leadership in healthcare requires the ability to act decisively and delegate responsibilities during critical moments.
1. Situation: During an intergenerational activity at the long-term care facility, I noticed that one resident was taking unusually deep breaths and appeared to be struggling, though no one else had noticed.
2. Task: As the lead on the activity, I needed to ensure the safety of the resident while maintaining supervision for the rest of the group.
3. Action: I quickly delegated the responsibility of leading the activity with the children to my co-worker, ensuring all other residents were monitored. I took the resident upstairs and immediately communicated my observations to the nurse on duty.
4. I then ensured that immediate care was provided by nursing to the patient, as well as that documentation was ensured, before returning to the activity.
5. Result: Following the activity, I followed up on the patient through our EMR system and saw that they were admitted to the hospital.
6. Later that day, at our afternoon Quality Improvement meeting, the nurse publicly commended me for recognizing the symptoms early and acting decisively, in a decision that may have saved the resident’s life.
7. This experience strengthened my understanding of leadership in clinical settings: including the importance of taking initiative and having the confidence to act and escalate care when something seems wrong, even if unnoticed by others. In clinical settings, patient safety depends on the ability to recognize early warning signs, act decisively, and prompt escalation of care—always choosing caution over inaction.
Navigating Conflicting Values in Care
1. Situation: While my best friend was hospitalized for a sickle cell crisis, a nurse accused her of exaggerating her pain and implied she might be seeking drugs.
2. I knew this was an example of a common stereotype about patients with sickle cell disease, which is often rooted in systemic racism and misunderstanding of the disease.
3. In this case, my values around fairness, equity, and patient advocacy clashed with the nurse’s assumptions—however, I also knew that changing values with education was possible.
4. Task: I needed to address the situation to ensure my friend received fair and appropriate care, while remaining respectful of the nurse, maintaining professionalism, and opening lines of communication (and possibly an opportunity for education).
5. Action: In a non-confrontational and private manner, I calmly approached the nurse and explained that my friend’s pain crises are extremely severe and that she had told me she is experiencing a pain score higher than 7—therefore requiring prompt intervention.
6. Framing my input respectfully and without overstepping, I calmly explained that often, sickle cell patients are not taken seriously due to systemic biases and misconceptions about the disease, including stereotypes that assume they are exaggerating their pain or seeking drugs.
7. Result: As a result, the nurse returned to speak with my friend and together, they updated her treatment plan. All the while, while collaborating with my friend, the nurse gained a better understanding of sickle cell disease.
8. As a future physician, this experience taught me to advocate for patients with empathy and cultural humility, and to communicate effectively yet respectfully with colleagues who may have different perspectives—even if those perspectives may at first make you angry.
9. This experience also grew my awareness of less common diagnoses whose treatment or lack thereof is often affected by systemic or racial biases—this awareness is essential for providing equitable, patient-centered care as a future physician.