Is this a good direction for my personal statement? Or should I just lie?

[StephanieZ]

I am bad at lying, so I am considering telling the truth in my personal statement. I am interested in neurological disorders. I want the world to be a better place just as much as the next guy, but helping people is not my prime motivation for wanting to be a doctor. My life's goal is to one day go into research.

"Then why not just get a PhD. straight away and go into research?"

Because I have worked with researchers and it's a dreary existence. I don't want to shut myself up in a lab. I want to work in a hospital or clinical setting. I want to see patients.

"Why not get an MD.-PhD. then?"

My stats aren't that good, I'm hoping to get into med school at all, let alone into a program that only accepts the best of the best! Plus, I would rather begin my career earlier than spend two extra years in school. I do plan to get my PhD one day, but I feel like that's something I should focus on separately so I can devote my full attention to it, rather than lumping it together with an MD.

"So why medicine?"

Because I love science and I love the brain. I began as an anthropology major because I was deeply intrigued by what it meant to be human. I became interested in cognitive science, but I realized that I hit a glass ceiling and I could go no further in my understanding without taking it on scientific terms. From there, I grew to love everything about the scientific process.
Science is a huge part of medicine. What is medicine but science applied to the problems of human physiology?


Is it a good idea to talk about this? Will it come off as unique among the thousands of letters they get, or will it be a red flag that I am not fully committed to medicine? I have a plan for my life and yes, research is the ultimate goal, but without the medical experience it will feel hollow and incomplete.

Should I just scrap this and lie about how I have a deep-seated desire to cure runny noses and headaches because helping people gives me fulfillment?

Serious question, I am not a troll. Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[NickNaylor]

I am bad at lying, so I am considering telling the truth in my personal statement. I am interested in neurological disorders. I want the world to be a better place just as much as the next guy, but helping people is not my prime motivation for wanting to be a doctor. My life's goal is to one day go into research.

"Then why not just get a PhD. straight away and go into research?"

Because I have worked with researchers and it's a dreary existence. I don't want to shut myself up in a lab. I want to work in a hospital or clinical setting. I want to see patients.

"Why not get an MD.-PhD. then?"

My stats aren't that good, I'm hoping to get into med school at all, let alone into a program that only accepts the best of the best! Plus, I would rather begin my career earlier than spend two extra years in school. I do plan to get my PhD one day, but I feel like that's something I should focus on separately so I can devote my full attention to it, rather than lumping it together with an MD.

"So why medicine?"

Because I love science and I love the brain. I began as an anthropology major because I was deeply intrigued by what it meant to be human. I became interested in cognitive science, but I realized that I hit a glass ceiling and I could go no further in my understanding without taking it on scientific terms. From there, I grew to love everything about the scientific process.
Science is a huge part of medicine. What is medicine but science applied to the problems of human physiology?


Is it a good idea to talk about this? Will it come off as unique among the thousands of letters they get, or will it be a red flag that I am not fully committed to medicine? I have a plan for my life and yes, research is the ultimate goal, but without the medical experience it will feel hollow and incomplete.

Should I just scrap this and lie about how I have a deep-seated desire to cure runny noses and headaches because helping people gives me fulfillment?

Serious question, I am not a troll. Thank you!

lol

If you have to lie about "why medicine," you should probably be thinking about whether the field is right for you, not whether or not to lie in the personal statement.

 

[mauberley]

Should I just scrap this and lie about how I have a deep-seated desire to cure runny noses and headaches because helping people gives me fulfillment?

No.

 

[bucks2010]

I am bad at lying, so I am considering telling the truth in my personal statement. I am interested in neurological disorders. I want the world to be a better place just as much as the next guy, but helping people is not my prime motivation for wanting to be a doctor. My life's goal is to one day go into research.

"Then why not just get a PhD. straight away and go into research?"

Because I have worked with researchers and it's a dreary existence. I don't want to shut myself up in a lab. I want to work in a hospital or clinical setting. I want to see patients.

"Why not get an MD.-PhD. then?"

My stats aren't that good, I'm hoping to get into med school at all, let alone into a program that only accepts the best of the best! Plus, I would rather begin my career earlier than spend two extra years in school. I do plan to get my PhD one day, but I feel like that's something I should focus on separately so I can devote my full attention to it, rather than lumping it together with an MD.

"So why medicine?"

Because I love science and I love the brain. I began as an anthropology major because I was deeply intrigued by what it meant to be human. I became interested in cognitive science, but I realized that I hit a glass ceiling and I could go no further in my understanding without taking it on scientific terms. From there, I grew to love everything about the scientific process.
Science is a huge part of medicine. What is medicine but science applied to the problems of human physiology?


Is it a good idea to talk about this? Will it come off as unique among the thousands of letters they get, or will it be a red flag that I am not fully committed to medicine? I have a plan for my life and yes, research is the ultimate goal, but without the medical experience it will feel hollow and incomplete.

Should I just scrap this and lie about how I have a deep-seated desire to cure runny noses and headaches because helping people gives me fulfillment?

Serious question, I am not a troll. Thank you!

I'm a little confused. You say you want to do research one day, but you then say you don't want to be in a lab. Do you want to do clinical research? What kind of research do you envision and how do you know you would enjoy it (because from what you said, you haven't had any positive experiences so far).

Your notions of the MD/PhD seem a bit misinformed - I recommend reading the MD/PhD forums for more information. MD/PhD programs were designed for someone in your scenario, albeit they primarily aim with those intending to pursue basic/translational science research. Also doing an MD/PhD does not "cheapen" the PhD - you will still have earned it and dedicated 3+ years of your time to it. The experience does differ from the "straight" PhD route but not much - again, check out the MD/PhD forums.

Also do you have any clinical experience yet? Because medicine has many more aspects than just the scientific/physiological aspects you alluded to.

I think you need to take some more time to explore both medicine (through volunteering, jobs, shadowing etc.) AND research (through research experience) before committing yourself to an MD / PhD / MD/PhD / etc. because from your post it sounds like you sort of have an idea of what you want to do, but not a very good idea of how to get there and whether you would enjoy it.

 

[DrShazam]

It seems the end point of your research in neurological disorders would be helping people indirectly, so you can always approach the personal statement like that . And you have a very unique story. You can already use some of the stuff you wrote here in your personal statement. Except for the part about not wanting to help people, or not wanting to cure runny noses.

 

[StephanieZ]

I'm a little confused. You say you want to do research one day, but you then say you don't want to be in a lab. Do you want to do clinical research? What kind of research do you envision and how do you know you would enjoy it (because from what you said, you haven't had any positive experiences so far).

Also do you have any clinical experience yet? Because medicine has many more aspects than just the scientific/physiological aspects you alluded to.

I didn't mean to imply that I've had no positive experience with research. Just that it's not ALL I want to do. Doing only research with no patient interaction would make me miserable. Just as doing just patient care and never getting into research would make me feel unfulfilled.

And I've had some experience working as an EMT-B. I am well acquainted with the practical, no frills aspect of medicine. I'm not deluded, I know being a doctor isn't going to be like House, lol.

This is what I envision myself doing: I want to get my MD with a specialty in neurology and practice for awhile. I want to see patients and take some time to flesh out where my true interests lie in that field. Then I would like to pursue a fellowship or PhD to give me more of an opportunity to do research. I'm not saying I want to completely abandon being a physician, I just want both. I was thinking that one day opening my own practice and taking on other people would give me a bit of freedom to pursue research while still seeing patients. Does this sound feasible? I know it's a lot and I know it's going to take decades to make all of this possible, but I'm not looking to settle into a career and be done. I'm pretty committed to constantly improving and working towards something for the rest of my life.

 

[Whatyousay]

I'm pretty sure adcoms will be able to see through your BS, since it's what they do for a living.

 

[bucks2010]

I didn't mean to imply that I've had no positive experience with research. Just that it's not ALL I want to do. Doing only research with no patient interaction would make me miserable. Just as doing just patient care and never getting into research would make me feel unfulfilled.

And I've had some experience working as an EMT-B. I am well acquainted with the practical, no frills aspect of medicine. I'm not deluded, I know being a doctor isn't going to be like House, lol.

This is what I envision myself doing: I want to get my MD with a specialty in neurology and practice for awhile. I want to see patients and take some time to flesh out where my true interests lie in that field. Then I would like to pursue a fellowship or PhD to give me more of an opportunity to do research. I'm not saying I want to completely abandon being a physician, I just want both. I was thinking that one day opening my own practice and taking on other people would give me a bit of freedom to pursue research while still seeing patients. Does this sound feasible? I know it's a lot and I know it's going to take decades to make all of this possible, but I'm not looking to settle into a career and be done. I'm pretty committed to constantly improving and working towards something for the rest of my life.

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, that sounds perfectly feasible and I don't think your motivations for having an MD are bad, and you shouldn't lie about your motivations. What you describe sounds somewhat similar to academic practice. Many physicians do research with just an MD, and there are several schools (Pitt and CCLCM for example) that offer 5-year programs (i.e. MD/MS) that are designed for people who want to do research but aren't hardcore enough for an MD/PhD (IMHO an MD/PhD is best for basic science researchers, and from what it sounds like you haven't figured out your interests yet so it's probably best not to commit).

I would check out the thread called "Academic medicine mentor thread". It has a lot of good advice I think you might find useful.

 

[vc7777]

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, that sounds perfectly feasible and I don't think your motivations for having an MD are bad, and you shouldn't lie about your motivations. What you describe sounds somewhat similar to academic practice. Many physicians do research with just an MD, and there are several schools (Pitt and CCLCM for example) that offer 5-year programs (i.e. MD/MS) that are designed for people who want to do research but aren't hardcore enough for an MD/PhD (IMHO an MD/PhD is best for basic science researchers, and from what it sounds like you haven't figured out your interests yet so it's probably best not to commit).

Um, this is a little off-the-mark. MD/PhD is a different career path. The oft-quoted "80% in the lab, 20% clinical" career of a MD/PhD has some truths to it. But this is neither better or worse than an MD/MS education. MD/MS students are not less committed to a research career just because they do not pursue an MD/PhD. I certainly am not "softcore".

 

[vc7777]

I didn't mean to imply that I've had no positive experience with research. Just that it's not ALL I want to do. Doing only research with no patient interaction would make me miserable. Just as doing just patient care and never getting into research would make me feel unfulfilled.

And I've had some experience working as an EMT-B. I am well acquainted with the practical, no frills aspect of medicine. I'm not deluded, I know being a doctor isn't going to be like House, lol.

This is what I envision myself doing: I want to get my MD with a specialty in neurology and practice for awhile. I want to see patients and take some time to flesh out where my true interests lie in that field. Then I would like to pursue a fellowship or PhD to give me more of an opportunity to do research. I'm not saying I want to completely abandon being a physician, I just want both. I was thinking that one day opening my own practice and taking on other people would give me a bit of freedom to pursue research while still seeing patients. Does this sound feasible? I know it's a lot and I know it's going to take decades to make all of this possible, but I'm not looking to settle into a career and be done. I'm pretty committed to constantly improving and working towards something for the rest of my life.

Overall, I think you have been candid - more-so than many people on this forum. I don't think it is trollish.

However, I do agree that you should seriously shadow and consider both separate career paths (straight medicine and straight research) before moving ahead.

I think you should also check out The Brain Science Podcast to get a glimpse into the lives of successful neuro-scientists. Many people in clinical settings (e.g., working with patients) have degrees OTHER than MDs. So please don't think MDs have cornered the market on patient contact.

It's OK at this stage in the game to "want it all". I have to point out that the best laid plans of mice and men, oft go awry. Be sure you could be happy with just practicing medicine, for example. Backup plans are great - unless you are miserable.

Finally, please note that having a private practice and performing meaningful research are less compatible that perhaps you realize. I will not say "mutually exclusive" - but it is less likely for you to get funding with a small independent practice than if you were at a major research hospital/institute.