How do I tell interviewers I'm not interested in a specialty that I've done many activities for?

[breaklinedestroyed]

My undergrad consisted a lot of extracurricular activities in a certain specialty, from research to volunteering to clinical experiences. I've been getting asked repetitively at interviews if I'm planning on entering that specialty, and honestly...probably not. I see my future more related to primary care and community health. Although I do have substantial (but slightly less) extracurriculars that show this, I'm getting the feeling that the interviewers are actually not believing my true intentions! The reason I've spent so much time with this specialty is because it gave me highly involved hands-on work in labs and with patients as merely an undergraduate, and while it is interesting and rewarding, I don't see myself doing it forever. However, those I speak to stay convinced that I want to go into this specialty.

I'm having trouble communicating this to my interviewers and convincing them of my true goals since primary care is at the opposite end of the spectrum as a specialty. Any thoughts?

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[AspiringERMD]

I would explain it as you just did. Makes sense to me.

 

[EMDO2018]

lol so you did a lot of stuff for derm ( or some similar lucrative specialty), now you want to play the "I totally want primary care" game, in hopes that it gets you in somewhere.

 

[Ismet]

My undergrad consisted a lot of extracurricular activities in a certain specialty, from research to volunteering to clinical experiences. I've been getting asked repetitively at interviews if I'm planning on entering that specialty, and honestly...probably not. I see my future more related to primary care and community health. Although I do have substantial (but slightly less) extracurriculars that show this, I'm getting the feeling that the interviewers are actually not believing my true intentions! The reason I've spent so much time with this specialty is because it gave me highly involved hands-on work in labs and with patients as merely an undergraduate, and while it is interesting and rewarding, I don't see myself doing it forever. However, those I speak to stay convinced that I want to go into this specialty.

I'm having trouble communicating this to my interviewers and convincing them of my true goals since primary care is at the opposite end of the spectrum as a specialty. Any thoughts?

Interviewers don't expect you to know what you want to do. They expect you to enter med school with an open mind. Have you shadowed anyone in primary care? Use that as an example to highlight your interest. You don't need to prove to anyone that you know what you want to go into or that you know what you don't want to go into. And it's perfectly fine to say something like, "While I enjoyed the exposure and doing research in X field, I would like to use medical school to explore different areas of medicine." And follow with your example of exposure to primary care, if applicable.

I was in a similar situation, I majored in neuroscience, did neuro research at NIH and at my school, volunteered in the neurology department, and a certain neuro topic was a key part of my PS. As much as I enjoyed the research and the science, I think the clinical practice of neurology is boring and I am certainly not cut out for neurosurgery. Of course I didn't say it like that in an interview, as you need to be very respectful when addressing things you don't necessarily like. But it's fine to go in open minded and say that you are not focused on one specific specialty.

 

[DokterMom]

Or that you realize your exposure to different fields of medicine at this point in your life is far too limited to make such an important decision. Humility and recognizing your own inexperience is a plus at this point in your journey.