Applied Psychology (Healthcare) for Children and Young People MSc postgraduate personal statement example

Personal statement example

At the pharmacy counter where I work, parents often ask for something for a child who "just says it feels funny". One boy told me his ear was "crackly and hot"; a younger girl pointed to her stomach and said it was "sad". Those descriptions stayed with me because they were precise in their own way, even if they did not match the questions an adult might ask. Working out how children and young people make sense of illness, and how the adults around them interpret what they hear, is the area I want to study at postgraduate level.

My undergraduate degree in Psychology gave me a grounding in developmental and health psychology, research methods and statistics. A module on developmental psychology introduced me to the idea that children's understanding of their bodies develops gradually and is shaped by experience as well as by age. For my dissertation I interviewed twelve parents of children aged six to ten about the words their children used for pain and how they decided whether to seek help. I used reflexive thematic analysis, following Braun and Clarke's approach, and found it more demanding than I expected. Coding the transcripts taught me to separate what parents said their child meant from the words the child had actually used. A recurring theme was parents doubting vague complaints until a change in behaviour, such as refusing food or wanting to stay close, convinced them. My supervisor encouraged me to be modest about what a small sample could show, and I discussed this limitation clearly in the write-up. The project received a first-class mark, and it left me wanting to understand the clinical side of these questions much better than an undergraduate study could allow.

I have worked at the pharmacy for three years, at first part-time alongside my studies and now on full-time hours. I am not a clinician, and my role is to refer questions to the pharmacist rather than give advice. Still, the job has taught me to listen carefully, to notice when a parent is anxious, and to explain things simply without talking down to people. I also handle confidential information every day, which has made me careful about privacy in a practical rather than abstract way.

Outside work I have helped to run a local Brownies unit for two years. Planning weekly sessions for girls aged seven to ten has shown me how differently children of the same age engage. Some want instructions, others need to try first and ask later. When one Brownie with type 1 diabetes joined, I worked with her mother to understand her routine for snacks and blood glucose checks on outings, so that she could take part without being singled out. That experience made me think about how a long-term condition becomes part of a child's ordinary social life, not only their medical care.

I also play cello in a community orchestra. It has little to do with psychology, but weekly rehearsals have kept me disciplined about practice and comfortable being one small part of a larger group.

I am applying for an applied healthcare psychology masters because I want structured training in how psychological knowledge is used with children, young people and families in health settings. I am particularly interested in pain, long-term conditions and communication between families and professionals, and I would welcome the chance to develop my understanding of assessment, evidence-based interventions and ethical practice. In the longer term I hope to work in a psychological wellbeing or child health role within the NHS, and possibly to pursue further clinical training. I bring sound research skills, steady experience of working with the public, and a genuine curiosity about what children are telling us when their words do not quite fit our questions.