Appropriate response to this interview question?

[radioactive15]

If you were asked "If due to uncontrollable and unchangeable circumstances, you are prevented from becoming a physician, what would you do and/or want to be instead?" in a medical school interview, what would be an appropriate response?

Do you respond with another healthcare job (nurse, PA) or say something else (businessman, go back to college for a PhD, ...)? Do you tell them you will become a doctor in another country?

What would the interviewer want to hear?

How would you explain your decision to them?

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[jih]

Be honest and fully explain your backup plan. When adcoms ask this they are trying to gauge your planning skills and how much thought you actually gave it.

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[PugsAndHugs]

Look at your experiences and see what else they align with. I personally would never say PA because the careers are more different than people think they are . If becoming a physician is your true passion, going to PA school will not be fufilling enough.

I personally would say that I would teach, preferably at college level science/math courses. Just as a physician, as a professor you will be teaching, learning, creating plans and solving problems. I have a lot of teaching experience to back up this answer as well.

 

[MaxPlancker]

If you were the interviewer, would you want to hear some BS?

 

[piii]

lol if you go into interviews trying to answer questions based on what you think the interviewer wants to hear, you are going to have a very bad time next cycle...

 

[radioactive15]

lol if you go into interviews trying to answer questions based on what you think the interviewer wants to hear, you are going to have a very bad time next cycle...

How do you prepare for an interview and how many days in advance prior to the interview do you recommend starting preparing?

 

[piii]

How do you prepare for an interview and how many days in advance prior to the interview do you recommend starting preparing?

Use the search bar but find a list of major interview topics and read them. Think of genuine answers to the questions and articulate them out loud to your self a few times. Have good answers to the major questions:

Define yourself
Why medicine
Diversity
Challenge
Strength/ weakness
Why that school

Know your primary and secondary app cold.

Don't come off rehearsed.
Shouldn't take more than a few weeks of prep for your first one. After that, I would only spend a few hours the day before my next interviews.

 

[mpdoc2]

If you were asked "If due to uncontrollable and unchangeable circumstances, you are prevented from becoming a physician, what would you do and/or want to be instead?" in a medical school interview, what would be an appropriate response?

Do you respond with another healthcare job (nurse, PA) or say something else (businessman, go back to college for a PhD, ...)? Do you tell them you will become a doctor in another country?

What would the interviewer want to hear?

How would you explain your decision to them?

Investment banking

 

[DingoPingo]

Get a teaching certificate, learn Spanish, go abroad and serve, hopefully with Peace Corps.

My other backup is a mobile toys/antiques/jokes store that travels the world.

Also thinking about standup comedy and screenwriting.

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

If you were asked "If due to uncontrollable and unchangeable circumstances, you are prevented from becoming a physician, what would you do and/or want to be instead?" in a medical school interview, what would be an appropriate response?

Do you respond with another healthcare job (nurse, PA) or say something else (businessman, go back to college for a PhD, ...)? Do you tell them you will become a doctor in another country?

What would the interviewer want to hear?

How would you explain your decision to them?

Well that depends on the circumstance. If I am physically debilitated, I would work and volunteer to the best of my abilities in whichever field that would be most beneficial to society. If I am financially encumbered, I will settle my obligations and apply again when I am ready.

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

OSU has an interesting opinion on this question (though it's not exactly the same):

"
The best answers to “What if You Don’t Get in to Medical School this year?” always include some variation on this theme: “I will find out why I did not, address the shortfall, and then reapply.”

Persistence can be admirable. Many medical school admissions officers look favorably upon the re-applicant who applies himself and specifically addresses his shortcomings. For this reason, when the interviewer asks what you would do if you were rejected, he is trying to ascertain how committed and passionate you are about being a physician. Even though it is wise to have a backup plan, if you answer the “What will you do if you do not get into medical school?” question with “Well, I've always liked kids and teaching. I would probably get my teaching certificate and become a high school science teacher,” you may be perceived as lacking a commitment to pursue a career in medicine. When there are many other candidates who will let nothing stop them from realizing their dream of becoming a doctor, you don’t want to come off as though you will happily move on to plan B if medical school doesn’t work out. Those who truly hear the high calling of medicine will find a way. This means finding out why you were not accepted, correcting this shortcoming, and applying again. This is the kind of passion that admissions officers want to hear."

http://medicine.osu.edu/admissions/md/tips-and-advice/pages/index.aspx

 

[taco152]

OSU has an interesting opinion on this question (though it's not exactly the same):

"
The best answers to “What if You Don’t Get in to Medical School this year?” always include some variation on this theme: “I will find out why I did not, address the shortfall, and then reapply.”

Persistence can be admirable. Many medical school admissions officers look favorably upon the re-applicant who applies himself and specifically addresses his shortcomings. For this reason, when the interviewer asks what you would do if you were rejected, he is trying to ascertain how committed and passionate you are about being a physician. Even though it is wise to have a backup plan, if you answer the “What will you do if you do not get into medical school?” question with “Well, I've always liked kids and teaching. I would probably get my teaching certificate and become a high school science teacher,” you may be perceived as lacking a commitment to pursue a career in medicine. When there are many other candidates who will let nothing stop them from realizing their dream of becoming a doctor, you don’t want to come off as though you will happily move on to plan B if medical school doesn’t work out. Those who truly hear the high calling of medicine will find a way. This means finding out why you were not accepted, correcting this shortcoming, and applying again. This is the kind of passion that admissions officers want to hear."

http://medicine.osu.edu/admissions/md/tips-and-advice/pages/index.aspx

There are two different questions that can be asked. One is if the cycle doesn't work out, another is what would you do if medicine is out the window. This is in regards to the former.

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

There are two different questions that can be asked. One is if the cycle doesn't work out, another is what would you do if medicine is out the window. This is in regards to the former.

Yes I know that. It is still a related question.

 

[TehTeddy]

Watched this while prepping for interviews. Single best help.

I don't know, some of the advice he gives seems to contradict the advice of other interviewers here. For instance, a common piece of advice is to be conversational/natural. Trying to fit stories into every answer and connecting it back to medicine seems to be the opposite of what a natural conversation sounds like. Can anyone clarify this?

 

[Goro]

These are good answers.

Do you respond with another healthcare job (nurse, PA) or say something else (businessman, go back to college for a PhD, ...)? Do you tell them you will become a doctor in another country?

The interviewer wants to hear that you have a Plan B and you're not like the immature dolts who think that pure determination is what we seek in applicants. In addition, we're not looking for a "Medical field or bust" mindset either. If your Plan B was "becoming a concert violinist" that would be fine. But saying "I'll keep on applying until I'm 100" will get one rejected.


What would the interviewer want to hear?

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[ProspectiveKidd]

Id probably say PA. Just like that - PA. Next question. Just to let him know I'm serious about MD not PA u know what I mean.

Your thoughts?

 

[taco152]

I don't know, some of the advice he gives seems to contradict the advice of other interviewers here. For instance, a common piece of advice is to be conversational/natural. Trying to fit stories into every answer and connecting it back to medicine seems to be the opposite of what a natural conversation sounds like. Can anyone clarify this?

You want to be conversational but it's still an interview. IMHO

 

[Crayola227]

I don't know, some of the advice he gives seems to contradict the advice of other interviewers here. For instance, a common piece of advice is to be conversational/natural. Trying to fit stories into every answer and connecting it back to medicine seems to be the opposite of what a natural conversation sounds like. Can anyone clarify this?

I had two acceptances and at both I was totally stressed because we never talked about me!

One interview we spent the whole time talking about the interviewer's favorite TV show that I had never seen myself.
The the other interview we spend the whole time talking about the interviewer's career interests.

You are also being rated on your ability to listen and draw people out. That is incredibly important for a physician. Plus, studies support we like people more for how they make us feel about ourselves vs anything about them not related to that, and making someone feel good talking to you about their favorite subject (themself!) makes them like you. So I went with it and did not try to steer the conversation to anything. Likeability trumps all IMHO.

 

[Crayola227]

Id probably say PA. Just like that - PA. Next question. Just to let him know I'm serious about MD not PA u know what I mean.

Your thoughts?

My answer, essentially was, that I had seen instances where a midlevel felt very passionate about what was right for patient care and were overrided by a physician. I watched how unhappy midlevels could be having to regularly carry out such orders. Certainly in training a physician follows others' recommendations and works on a team, but the physician is the best educated and placed for advocating for their patients. This is why I would not want to be a nurse or PA. However, I was so passionate about caring for people's health, that if I failed in reapplication I would do PA or nursing so that I could care for people in that way. It is what I was born to do.

I don't know if this is what they want to hear but it was true and the interviewer seemed to heartily approve of my answer.
n=1

 

[NimbleNavigator]

lol if you go into interviews trying to answer questions based on what you think the interviewer wants to hear, you are going to have a very bad time next cycle...

Oh yeah, great advice.

"So why do you want to be a doctor?"

"Chicks, money, power, and chicks."

"So why do you want to attend this school?"

"Dude I just wanna be an MD. Frankly, I had never even heard of this school before I put together a school list."

 

[ProspectiveKidd]

My answer, essentially was, that I had seen instances where a midlevel felt very passionate about what was right for patient care and were overrided by a physician. I watched how unhappy midlevels could be having to regularly carry out such orders. Certainly in training a physician follows others' recommendations and works on a team, but the physician is the best educated and placed for advocating for their patients. This is why I would not want to be a nurse or PA. However, I was so passionate about caring for people's health, that if I failed in reapplication I would do PA or nursing so that I could care for people in that way. It is what I was born to do.

I don't know if this is what they want to hear but it was true and the interviewer seemed to heartily approve of my answer.
n=1

Thats a good answer. Thats exactly how I feel about it. Quite frankly I don't want to know a fraction of what my physician counterparts do when we work side by side in practice if I can help it.

 

[Syns]

I'd respond with a combination of probing and reflection.

The circumstances that led to you abandoning your pursuit of a MD would dictate next steps more than anything you've experienced. Closing the book on your desire to pursue medicine may be a untenable knee-jerk reaction or due to an event so YUUUGE it forces you to re-calibrate practical expectations of your potential.

So on, and...

 

[memory tcells]

This was a standard required question on the interview sheet when i was actively part of a adcom and was common at schools. You would have also seen it on secondaries. What is your Plan B? I would get answers from the gunning over achievers that they would of course get into medical school, that the scenario wouldnt occur so no need to think about it, etc. That was considered a "blackball" answer: no matter the candidate's record, he/she would be rejected almost solely on that basis.

There is no answer that they want to hear. What they want to hear is how you think, what you have thought about, if there is anything in your record you have shown interest in is actually a driving force. So answer consider the question an answer truthfully

During one of my interviews, another interviewee was asked the same question during their interview, albeit it was worded differently. After he gave his honest answer the interviewer said the correct answer was in essence: keep working hard to become a physician anyways. He argued back and forth with the interviewer for his answer lol. Never found out the result of that interview but I doubt it went well.

 

[ChrisMack390]

The answer comes down to what specific question is asked. I think that "what will you do if you don't get into med school this year?" and "what would you do if you found out you can never be a doctor?" are two very different questions.

For the former, you should have some reasonable plan of re-assessing your app, fixing it, and trying again.

The latter is more of a thought experiment about what other career might make you nearly as happy as medicine. Personally I would say teaching because I think it is similar to being a physician on several levels (but I also have reasons I prefer medicine). Answering nursing or PA to this is really a cop out. I'd reject you for inability to play with rhetorical questions.

 

[LizzyM]

I'll tell you what I want to hear:

If medicine were not an option, due to outside circumstances (like all the med schools in the world closed for 10 years), what would your alternate career plan be?

What is satisfying about being a physician? Now based on that answer, what other careers are there that would be satisfying and fulfilling to you? Why?

 

[Crayola227]

I was trying to get across commitment to the MD without being that crazy person saying "I'll reapply until I'm 100" but asserting that my love of patients was such that I would end up with them one way or the other, even if that meant nursing or PA. You don't want to get pegged as "they should just go be a nurse then" but also don't want to get pegged as "not that committed to healthcare, they should just go be whatever." I usually tacked onto my response that if I didn't become a health professional at all I would be a teacher.

I felt my response was well crafted to address all these points to assert why MD not nurse or PA, that my commitment to healthcare was deep and authentic so nursing or PA only if reapplication totally failed, but that I also had enough interest to have a second career choice, again, one that still supports that a commitment to altruism and being the "type" for medicine.

That said, of of what I said was true and was also supported by my application overall.