Queen’s Health Sciences: Supplementary Application Essay Examples & Templates 2023/2024

If you are looking for guidance on the Queen’s Health Sciences supplementary application, including application essay essay examples and templates, then you’ve come to the right place. 

This Application Prep guide is fully updated with this year’s 2023/2024 application (i.e. for applicants planning on starting the program in Fall 2024).

IMPORTANT: The 2023/2024 Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application comprises two main components: a written and a video response. Both are crucial for evaluating the students’ abilities. The deadline for the submission of the application is February 15, 2024, at 11:59 PM EST.

Before you dive in, it’s important to understand that the admissions committee receives thousands of applications every year. To help you stand out from the crowd, you need to demonstrate a clear sense of self, strong life experience, and exemplary communication skills.

Our ‘full student’ coaching process does exactly that. If you’re not working with a coach, be sure to read our Self-Awareness, Goal-Setting, and Interview Prep Skills Guides.

The Narrative Communication Approach™ is a particularly useful storytelling framework that helps you tell a clear and concise story, while creating an emotional connection with the reader. We typically use this approach for personal/moral essay questions, like those from Queen’s. All of our Queen’s Health Sciences essay examples and templates use this approach. 

However, we know that you’re applying to a Health Sciences program, and you’re probably used to STEM problem-based essays where you make data and evidence the stars, not personal connections. Our Deductive Communication Approach™ will help you write compelling essays that present a straightforward hypothesis and then provide compelling arguments and data to support it. 

You can use either one of these approaches for your essays, but make sure you connect with a coach to make sure you’re choosing the right approach for unique interests and experiences.

For more information about Queen’s Health Sciences, check out this page and don’t miss our Queen’s Health Sciences Program Guide.

2023/2024 Queens Health Sciences (BHSc) Supplementary Application

This year, applicants are required to:

• complete a written response in 10 minutes (285 word limit)
• and a video response with 2 minutes or preparation and 2 minutes of speaking.

The written response should be completed first, followed by the video response.

While there are no official dress code requirements, you should dress appropriately and have a stable internet connection in a quiet, comfortable space.

Accommodations and technical support are available to those who require them (reach out to suppapp@queensu.ca). We recommend you practice with your coach for optimal performance.

Queens Health Sciences Application Evaluation

In the 2024 admissions process, Queen’s is primarily looking at five factors in an applicant (rated across scores of poor, fair, good, great, and excellent):

• Initiative: The extent to which an applicant takes action, especially in the face of challenges.

• Problem-solving ability: The applicant’s capability to independently address and overcome issues.
• Resourcefulness: How well the applicant seeks out and uses supports or resources when navigating challenges.
• Application of Past Lessons/Skills: The ability to apply knowledge, lessons, or skills learned from previous experiences.
• Answers the Question: Whether the applicant addresses the posed question directly in their essay.
  

Here’s what the evaluation rubric looks like: 

There is also a final evaluation area, called ‘Communication Clarity’, rated either Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. Improving real-world skills like communication is an essential part of our ‘full student’ coaching methodology. To make sure you get a ‘Satisfactory’ on the Communication Clarity part of your evaluation, read our Narrative Communication Approach™ Guide and our Deductive Communication Approach™ Guide.

QUEENS HEALTH SCIENCES CORE COMPETENCIES 

The courses and assessments in the Queen’s Health Sciences (BHSc) program focuses on teaching students a set of 7 key skills (or ‘core competencies’) to help their graduates be better healthcare providers. 

These core competencies are: 

• Collaborator: Work effectively with other health care professionals to provide safe, high-quality, patient-centered care. 
• Communicator: Form relationships with patients and their families that facilitate the gathering and sharing of essential information for effective health care.
• Health Advocate: Contribute their expertise and influence as they work with communities or patient populations to improve health. 
• Leader: Engage with others to contribute to a vision of a high-quality health care system and take responsibility for the delivery of excellent patient care through their activities as clinicians, administrators, scholars, or teachers.
• Scholar: Demonstrate a lifelong commitment to excellence in practice through continuous learning and by teaching others, evaluating evidence, and contributing to scholarship.
• Professional: Committed to the health and well-being of individual patients and society through ethical practice, high personal standards of behaviour, accountability to the profession and society, physician-led regulation, and maintenance of personal health.
• Content Expert: Interprets and connects health sciences information, developing a depth and breadth of knowledge of the health sciences.

So, what does this mean for your Queen’s HS application? You want to show your potential in as many of these areas as possible, through your experiences, interests, skills, goals, etc. This will show the admissions committee that your values are aligned with their teaching philosophy and that you have the potential to excel in the program.

For example, when discussing your experiences, you could talk about a time when you had to go above and beyond to collaborate effectively with a team (i.e. the ‘collaboration’ competency), like a group project at school or as the captain of your school’s debate team. Or, you could talk about how you developed your leadership skills (i.e. the ‘leader’ competency) while volunteering at your local hospital and you took the initiative to create a support group for patients and their families on the floor you are working on (i.e. the ‘health advocate’ competency). 

You don’t have to be an expert in all these areas, but the important thing is to show that you’ve thought about them and are already making the effort to develop each core competency. 

Want to learn how to articulate how your unique skills, interests, and experiences are aligned with these evaluation criteria? Connect with a coach for support.

Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application: Written – Possible Questions 2023/2024

Below are Queen’s Health Sciences SE questions. The questions you receive will be randomly generated.

As you’ll see, most of the questions prompt you to tie in your own experiences with values of inclusivity and diversity.

Types of questions may look something like:

Having trouble choosing an experience, interest, person, or issue (depending on the question you’re asked)?

Select questions that will allow you to: 

• Highlight key skills that are fundamental to who you are, like leadership, problem solving, time management etc.
• Draw upon the specific traits that Queen’s looks for like commitment and dedication.
• Showcases your values, like making an impact on the world, or connecting with people around you. 
• Be unique and authentic.
• Discuss how you evolved as a person because of the learning outcome that the experience/person initiated.

Keep reading for breakdowns/tips, templates, and examples for both types of questions. If you have questions about this year’s application and need help writing your essays, connect with a coach for 1-on-1 support.

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Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application: Written – Tips

Having a clear structure is key for answering questions on a time-crunch. Preparation is key, and practicing with your coach will help you break down the possible questions that could arise and prepare responses for them. You can then adjust them based on the actual question being asked. The worst situation is when the clock is counting down and you are fumbling over thoughts and words, leading to an incoherent and chaotic response – “uhhh, soooo”, “umm, maybe this one will work?”. To prevent this, read some of the example questions below and practice some of them with your coach. Make sure to follow a structured approach when answering.

Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application: Written – Breakdown

Queen’ questions are all open-ended and are designed to help the admissions committee learn more about you and your experiences, values, skills, interests, and goals (learn more about how to answer personal questions in our Interview Prep Guide here — these can be used for written or video/in-person questions).

Remember that your reviewers only know the surface level information, like your name and high school grades — they know nothing about who you are as a person, where you come from, and how your experiences have shaped your personality, interests, and goals.

These questions are your chance to make a lasting first impression and show what makes you unique and a perfect fit for the Queen’s BHSc program. 

You need to go beyond the surface and provide deep insight about who you are. The admissions committee wants to see that you know where you’ve come from (and where you want to go). You might not realize it, but displaying your strong self-awareness will help set you apart from other applicants — that’s why we’ve written a whole blog about it here.

If you have completed your Student Identity Blueprint™ and gone through the Discovery phase of our coaching process, these types of questions will be easy for you to answer (if you haven’t, connect with a coach to get started). 

The most important thing to remember when writing these essays is to constantly refer back to the Supplementary Essay Rubric we discussed above.

Using these criteria, the Personal Questions should draw upon a significant life experience, circumstance, or person that helped you form your identity and impacted your life to such an extent you experienced deep learning (Connection) and set yourself on the path to where you are today to accomplish your personal, academic, and career goals (Personal Growth). 

If you need help answering a Personal Question and creating an essay that gets you a “Distinguished” mark in these three criteria, connect with a coach now (and keep reading for templates and examples to help you as you’re writing your essays).

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Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application: Written – Template

Here’s a Queens Health Sciences SE template for the question: “Tell us about an experience that shaped who you are today.”

COACH’S TIP: While each template will change depending on the question, you can easily form your own template by reading our Narrative Communication Approach™ and breaking down the question into the 5 components listed below. Connect with a coach to talk out your storyline and get started on your template and essay.

• Paragraph 1: Context – Initiative (<50 words)
  • Talk about the initiative you took and why, preferably related to a challenge you were experiencing related to this.

• Paragraph 2: Catalyst – Problems Solved (<100 words)
  • This is where you talk about how you had to problem solve when you were launching the initiative. Incorporate an example of past experiences or skills you leveraged.

• Paragraph 3: Outcome – Resourcefulness (<85 words)
  • This is where you can mention how resourceful you had to be to achieve the outcomes you did.

• Paragraph 4: Reflection – Summary & Learning (<50 words)
  • Summarize and conclude the essay, ensuring answer to question is very clear and coherent and capture any learnings that you want to bring forward for future experiences, such as at Queen’s.

As mentioned above, if you prefer to use a more problem-based approach, use our Deductive Communication Approach™. Before getting started on your essay, connect with a coach to determine which approach is best for your interests, experiences, and goals.

Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application: Written – Sample Response

Here’s a sample Queens Health Sciences essay example response for the question: “Tell us about an experience that made an impact on the world around you.”

REMEMBER: This is an EXAMPLE ONLY and is NOT meant for you to copy. Why? First and foremost, this is plagiarism and is a serious offense. Plagiarizing these essays will result in immediate disqualification from the admissions process. This can be easily detected using technology and application reviewers are usually trained and/or able to spot when an application isn’t original and does not align with an applicant’s background, personality, values, etc.

Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application: Video – Possible Questions

Here are some of the sample questions that applicants might encounter.

Some examples include:

• Describe how you ensure an inclusive environment that respects diverse perspectives in a team or group.
• Share an instance where you played a significant role in resolving a conflict, promoting a sense of inclusivity and respect.
• Discuss a situation where you have fostered a welcoming and safe environment, respecting diverse viewpoints.

Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application: Video – Tips

Before starting your actual video response, practice a little in front of the mirror to get into the mood of talking. Also try speaking into a recording camera beforehand as it is different from speaking directly with other people.

You could even watch this recording several times to find areas in which you could improve on. Make sure to be engaging and thoughtful by maintaining eye contact and using facial expressions.

Practicing with your coach with this is especially important as they can help you identify areas of improvement from an admissions’ perspective.

Most students estimate their interview abilities, but interviewing is a critical skill that requires a ton of practice. Leverage our interview preparation guide, find a mentor, a friend, or work with a coach, to make sure that you are prepared to answer any question.

Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application: Video – Evaluation

This is the same evaluation criteria as the written response portion. 

• Initiative: The extent to which an applicant takes action, especially in the face of challenges.
• Problem-solving ability: The applicant’s capability to independently address and overcome issues.
• Resourcefulness: How well the applicant seeks out and uses support or resources when navigating challenges.
• Application of Past Lessons/Skills: The ability to apply knowledge, lessons, or skills learned from previous experiences.
• Answers the Question: Whether the applicant addresses the posed question directly in their essay.

See how an applicant might be scored based on their level of initiative:

Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application: Video – Template

• Section 1: Context – Experience (<30 secs)
  • Introduction to the activity or organization and its foundational principles or goals.

• Section 2: Catalyst – Challenge (<30 secs)
  • A specific challenge or experience faced that highlights the core criteria or theme in focus.

• Section 3: Outcome – Impact (<30 secs)
  • Steps taken and the results achieved, showcasing growth, learning, and impact.

• Section 4: Reflection – Lessons Learned (<30 secs)
  • Reflection on the experience and its broader implications or lessons learned.

Queen’s Health Sciences Supplementary Application: Video – Sample Response

Here’s an example for the question “Discuss a situation where you have fostered a welcoming and safe environment, respecting diverse viewpoints.”

Remember, these examples are purely illustrative and are not meant to be copied. Your authenticity and originality are key to creating a compelling application. As you prepare your application, our coaching process can offer significant support, guiding you through every step and helping you craft an application that truly resonates with the admissions committee. With our expert guidance, you can approach the application process with confidence, knowing you have a dedicated team supporting your journey to success.

To help get you a bit more excited about possibly attending Queen’s Health Sciences, Youthfully Insider, HanShu, created this Day in the Life of a Queen’s Health Sciences student. Check it out below!

If you need help answering a question and creating an essay that gets you an “excellent” mark in the criteria, connect with a coach now.

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